The exhibition is arranged in a manner that shows how at the beginning of the eighteenth century a new worldview began to emerge in England. It then allows the viewer to see how this ethos—Romanticism—reached its full expression in the late-eighteenth century poetry of William Wordsworth as well as in the writings of Rousseau and Goethe. In addition, watercolor paintings of J. M. W. Turner and Caspar David Friedrich demonstrate how Romanticism flourished in the first half of the nineteenth century. America’s most significant contribution to Romanticism in landscape design: “Greensward,” the original pen-and-ink plan of Central Park prepared in 1857 by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, also will be on display.

With expanding urbanization and increased competition for scarce resources, cities and local communities face immense challenges ranging from overburdened infrastructure to decreasing amounts of green space. Sustainable design practices can mitigate the effects of rising greenhouse gas emissions, aid in adaptation to climate change, clean air and water, reduce the urban heat island effect and increase the health and well being of residents all while providing significant long-term savings through lower heating and cooling energy costs, higher property values and viable, livable communities. The guides provide the “best of the best” resources and award-winning projects that offer real economic, social and environmental benefits.

The five online resources include:

* Green Infrastructure (www.asla.org/greeninfrastructure) covers park systems, wildlife habitat and corridors, urban forestry and green roofs.
* Sustainable Transportation (www.asla.org/sustainabletransport) covers sustainable transportation planning, sitting sustainable transportation infrastructure, designing safe and visually appealing transportation infrastructure, green streets and reducing the urban heat island effect.
* Sustainable Urban Development (www.asla.org/sustainableurban) covers fighting sprawl, sustainable zoning, reusing brownfields, investing in downtowns, open spaces and sustainable urban design.
* Livable Communities (www.asla.org/livable) covers sustainable land use, place making, green schools, sustainable housing, sustainable employment growth and health, safety and security.
* Combating Climate Change with Landscape Architecture (www.asla.org/climatechange) covers site planning, open spaces, plant selection, stormwater management and other areas.

ASLA is also looking for additional or new resources on these topics. Those interested in submitting research, case studies or other items can contact ASLA at info@asla.org.

@ Businesswire

If so, you have a truly inexpensive opportunity to boost your home’s curb appeal.

By spending $500 to $3,000 on plants and materials and a few hours of time, you can achieve a well-landscaped look without shelling out for professional help.

Besides the personal enjoyment you’ll get from a prettier yard, landscaping adds more value than almost any other home renovation.

A recent Michigan State University study found that depending on where the house is located, high-quality landscaping adds 5 percent to 11 percent to its price.

If you have no immediate plans to move, all the better: Landscaping is the one home improvement that actually appreciates over time.

So how do you decide which projects to tackle? That depends on how long you think you’ll be around to enjoy the results.

If you’re selling in a year or less
Edge the beds Cutting fresh edges where grass meets mulch makes the lawn look well kept. A move as simple as curving the edge of your flower beds could increase the value of your home by 1 percent, says horticulture professor Bridget Behe, the lead researcher on the MSU study.

Also, if your foundation plants are overgrown, widening the beds by two feet will make the shrubs seem smaller.

Nourish the grass For truly lush turf, ideally you should start regular fertilizer treatments a year before listing the house. But you can green up the lawn with just a single application.

Spend $45 on a broadcast spreader, which quickly distributes fertilizer over a lawn, enabling you to nourish a quarter-acre lot in about 10 minutes.

For a yard that size, expect each monthly application to cost about $20 (for straight fertilizer) to $30 (with weed killer).

Scatter color throughout For about $1 a plant, you can blanket your yard with petunias, impatiens and other small annuals that will flower throughout the current growing season.

Also invest a few hundred dollars in some larger perennials and in shrubs that stand at least four feet high.

“A few good-size plants have more sex appeal than 20 little ones,” says Chicago landscape architect Douglas Hoerr.

If you’re improving for the long-term
Cut back the jungle Many everyday yard plants, such as azaleas, forsythia, hollies and rhododendrons, will fill out with new growth after a season or so even if you hack them down to stumps, says Christopher Valenti, a landscape contractor in Lewes, Del.

Be careful, though, of yews and junipers, which won’t grow new leaves on old wood and may need to be removed altogether if they’re severely overgrown.

Add drama with foliage A distinctive yard will make your home more appealing to buyers, says Los Angeles realtor Dana Frank. So replace plants that don’t flower, or provide interesting foliage with eye-catching alternatives, like a patch of blackeyed Susans, a flowering crabapple or a cutleaf Japanese maple.

If you’re planning to stay put, you don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars for big plants. You’ll save 50 percent or more by buying small ones and waiting a few seasons to get the full visual impact (when planting, make sure to space them based on the mature size listed on the label, not how they look now).

Consider new angles Most yards have almost all the plants along the foundation and the property lines. But if you place yours throughout different parts of the property, you’ll create a depth of field that makes your home look farther away from the road, says architect Hoerr.

Try putting some near the house’s corners to accentuate its shape, others near the street to define the yard, and some in between, where they can block unfortunate views and be admired from indoors. Many nurseries offer free design help to buyers.

Cover your rear It’s nice to wave hello to your neighbors out front, but the backyard should be a private space. If yours feels overexposed, fencing can offer a quick fix.

For each eight-foot section, you’ll pay about $100 (for a plain cedar stockade fence) to $300 (for an elaborate Victorian model), plus another $50 to $150 a section for installation.

You can also achieve the same effect at a much lower cost by planting small evergreen shrubs, although you’ll have to wait a few seasons for full coverage.

Or, rather than pruning those hulking foundation plants, hire a landscaper to transplant them along the property line. As long as they’re healthy and evergreen, it’s a great way to maximize the value of the plants you already own.