From observation to application
Applied projects, methods and innovations for real-world challenges in water, agriculture, horticulture and green cities.
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Relative humidity alone does not describe atmospheric demand. VPD helps explain how temperature and humidity interact with stomata, transpiration, irrigation and the root zone.
Drip irrigation is precise, but precision at the emitter does not guarantee efficient water use in the root zone. Soil texture, emitter spacing, irrigation duration and root distribution determine where the water actually goes.
A street tree needs more than a bigger tree pit. Explore how rootable soil volume, compaction, drainage, oxygen and connected planting space determine whether urban trees can reach maturity.
Fly over farmland in a dry region, and you may spot perfect green circles in the sand. These are pivot fields. Pivot irrigation is a modern, low-waste way to water crops, and it is spreading fast across Africa. The idea is simple: a long sprinkler arm turns around a central point, so water reaches every […]
No machine cools a street like a tree does. Meanwhile, our cities keep getting hotter, wetter and more polluted. In an era of climate change, that matters more each year. So planners everywhere are rediscovering the oldest piece of climate technology we have. In a city, large trees especially do a lot of good — […]
Cities feel climate change first. To begin with, summers grow hotter and cloudbursts grow heavier. Meanwhile, most cities are covered in stone, asphalt and bare roofs. That is a problem, but also an opportunity. After all, every flat roof is unused space. However, cover it with plants, and it starts working for the city. In […]
Big problems do not always need big machines. The Water Pyramid makes drinking water for a whole village. However, its tiny German cousin serves just one family: the Watercone. This small cone of clear plastic sits on a pan of salt or dirty water. Sunlight does the rest. One cone yields about 1 to 1.5 […]
Can a simple ditch bring a desert back to life? Yes, it can. Dutch inventor Peter Westerveld proved it in Africa. His method is called contour trenching. You dig trenches in dry land, and they catch the rain. As a result, plants return — even in places with less than 100 mm of rain per […]
How do you grow a tree in a desert, without any drip line or water truck? Dutch inventor Pieter Hoff found a simple answer: the Waterboxx. This smart bucket collects dew and rain. Then it feeds that water to a tree sapling, drop by drop. Today, his invention has helped plant 2,000,000 trees in 55 […]
Lack of water threatens drinking water and food crops in many warm regions. However, Dutch engineer Martijn Nitzsche found a clever answer: the Water Pyramid. This large solar still turns salt or dirty water into clean drinking water. Moreover, it needs nothing but sunlight. Twenty years on, the pyramid has a strong track record. Meanwhile, […]
“The visible symptom is rarely the whole story. Observation becomes understanding — and understanding becomes better practice.”