ONE: Rain gardens, vegetated swales, dry stream bed gardens - by whatever name (one potential client referred to it as a "glorified ditch") these stormwater management facilities are challenging and fun to design and implement. Especially in small spaces. My goal is to include stormwater management facilities in every design.
TWO: Water gardens - not as difficult as I thought they would be. It's been awe-inspiring to watch a 'Black Magic' colocasia grow from three small leaves into giant, beautiful gorgeousness, with runners spreading all over the place!
THREE: The challenge of improving the streetscape on Main Street - what are low-cost, creative ways to invest in making our Main Street business district more "beautiful" when there is no money available? And how do you convince "the people" that it's important enough to pay attention to? I installed two "mini-gardens' this fall in empty tree wells along Main Street to demonstrate that treating the tree well essentially like a container (perennials, a shrub or ornamental grass, some annuals and bulbs) can look (almost) as nice as a street tree (and certainly nicer than a mostly-dead tree or gravel!).