Forget About Bug Zappers, ASLA Says, but Get a Sheep

As the gardening season gets under way, refinement is definitely in, according to the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).

Bug zappers are out. Landscape fantasies and porches are in, ASLA suggests in a list of landscape features whose times have come--or gone--or come again.

With possibly some self-interest showing, the organization says that hiring professional designers instead of the kid next door is definitely in. Joining men’s garden clubs also is in, while taking one’s ease in a hammock and drinking beer is out.

Other items on the “in” list include night lighting, grottoes, horseshoe pits, street trees, porches, picket fences, drip irrigation and shopping at reliable nurseries.

Considered “out” by ASLA are bug zappers, barbecue pits, Zen gardens, uninterrupted concrete, decks, chain link fences, sprinklers and getting your supplies at roadside stands.

The organization also is big on porch and tree swings, while disdaining gliders and swing sets. It favors putterers’ gardens over maintenance-free gardens and classic furnishings over aluminum chairs.

One major change this season: employing sheep instead of riding mowers to control a fast-growing lawn.