** Media Advisory**

National Landscape Architecture Month Set for April 2005

Please post on your calendar of events and include in your editorial calendar:

The American Society of Landscape Architects has declared April 2005 as National Landscape Architecture Month. The theme will be Design for Active Living, highlighting ways landscape architecture and community design affect daily activity levels, and, in turn, overall health. For more information, please visit: www.asla.org/lamonth/index.html.

Studies show that access to resources such as parks, recreational facilities, bicycle paths, walking trails, and sidewalks can greatly increase physical activity among residents, lowering obesity and improving health.

Many ASLA chapters will work with students from local schools to help them identify safe walking and biking routes between their schools and homes, so they may increase their daily physical activity levels. Local landscape architects will use the National Center for Bicycling and Walking’s checklists to help children issue walkability and bikeability “report cards” on their communities.

In addition, the national office of ASLA can provide local resources for the following topics in planning for National Landscape Architecture Month in April:

• Spring landscape ideas. April is the perfect time for homeowners to focus on the exteriors of their homes. Landscape architects can help them identify the best options to maximize their enjoyment for year-round outdoor living.
• Landscape architecture is the best investment a homeowner can make. Studies show that landscape improvements can increase a home’s value by up to 15 percent—much better than kitchen or bath renovations. Spending on residential landscape design has tripled in the past five years and is trending upwards.
• Local “Active Living” sites. Landscape architects can identify local projects where active living components have been designed back into the community, such as a beautiful, walkable downtown streetscape, a park, or an accessible civic space.
• Historic landscape architecture landmarks. Every community has a local landscape that is a landmark for residents, whether it is a civic square, a monument, a park, or recreational facility. Local landscape architects can help tell the compelling stories of these landmarks, how they were created, what makes them popular, and how they will be improved and preserved for generations to come.

Founded in 1899, ASLA is the national professional association for landscape architects representing more than 15,000 members. Landscape architecture is a comprehensive discipline of land analysis, planning, design, management, preservation, and rehabilitation. ASLA promotes the landscape architecture profession and advances the practice through advocacy, education, communication and fellowship. More information on landscape architecture is available on the web at www.asla.org.

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