PHTYO Day!
Pushing the field of phytoremediation forward on PHTYO Day! Phyto Day offers various demonstrations to prevent landfill chemicals from spreading! These scientists were the minds behind some of the case studies featured in Kate Kennen and Niall Kirkwood's book Phyto:...
Inside/Out Tour This Thursday!
Inside/Out continues! Join us outside as we explore Hood Park and learn about how landscape architecture projects and planning are turning this site from gravel to green. Charlestown’s Hood Park -- a former freight depot, industrial landmark, and Hood Milk dairy plant...
Support our Pollinators!
The Monarch butterfly is an icon among pollinators - however the decline of vital plant species have put them, along with many other insects, at risk. Monarch butterflies have developed a specialist relationship with milkweed (Asclepias spp.), evolving to utilize the...
Fireflies at Blessing of the Bay!
Fireflies have arrived! In collaboration with Mystic River Watershed and DCR, Offshoots Inc. has just completed a new Art Installation at the Blessing of the Bay Meadow. Designed and built by local artist @carolynlcreative, the installation consists of 32 fireflies...
Be on the lookout for the Spotted Lantern Fly!
This time of year it is super important to be on the look out for the Spotted Lantern Fly! This little guy, while very beautiful, is our decimating native plant communities and agricultural systems. The Spotted Lantern Fly originates in Asia; because it did not evolve...
Researchers find wetland plant can filter PFAS chemicals!
PFAS is a BIG emerging contaminant of concern, and new studies are starting to pop up looking at how plants can help remediate polluted waters - check out this new study will likely impact the phytoremediation world! Conducted by Australian and Chinese researchers,...
Communication and Privacy Policy
Privacy Policy for Offshoots, Inc. Privacy Policy Last updated: January 06, 2025 This Privacy Policy describes Our policies and procedures on the collection, use and disclosure of Your information when You use the Service and tells You about Your privacy rights and...
Stacking functions with ecological noise barriers
Noise barriers are often costly and serve only a single purpose; we are excited to have discovered Ramo, a company that offers green barriers, a form of stacking ecological functions and integrating phytotechnology. Check out their website:...
Mycofiltration Project
We’re so excited to announce we’ve been selected by MassDOT to conduct a yearlong research project concerning mycofiltration treatment for stormwater management. Mycofiltration is a nascent stormwater management technology that utilizes mycelium or fungal webs as...
Completed Hood Construction
And that's a wrap! The Offshoots installation team has finished installing the Hood Park project located at 6 Stack Street! Here is a time-lapse of some of the installation. [video width="1280" height="718"...
Charlestown Patriot-Bridge Writes About Offshoot’s Hood Project
Our Hood project was written up in the local paper, the Charlestown Patriot-Bridge. Read the full article here
Ipswich Middle Schoolers Get a Lesson in Ecology
The other week, Kate Kennen of Offshoots along with Joanne and Kylie from Studio MNLA ran an 'Ipswich Green Team' session for 6th through 8th graders at our New England Biolabs Childcare Facility Project. Students learned the importance of wetlands, native ecologies,...
Free Webinar! Phytotechnology: A Nature-Based Approach to Containing Contamination
Save the Date! On Wednesday, July 28th, from 1:00-2:30PM EDT the US EPA's Soak Up the Rain New England Webinar Series presents, "Phytotechnology: a Nature-Based Approach to Containing Contamination." Jessica Dominguez and Juan Perez of EPA Region 1 will join Kate...
Help Bring Art to the Blessing of the Bay Boathouse!
The Mystic River Watershed Association has launched a campaign to bring public art to the Blessing of the Bay Boathouse in Somerville. They are calling on the community to get involved by doing one or both of the following: 1) send a favorite photograph from along the...
Mulch = Crime Against Horticulture?
Another great post from North Creek Nurseries that gets into the pros and cons of various types of mulch and mulching in general. Read the full article here: https://mailchi.mp/northcreeknurseries/mulch-crime-against-horticulture Photo Credit: Gardeners...
Las Vegas to Tap Out on Turf
The Southern Nevada Water Authority says ornamental grass requires four times as much water as drought-tolerant landscaping. Facing a long-term and worsening drought, officials believe banning ornamental grass can reduce annual water consumption by roughly 15% and...
Matching Phyto Species to Contaminants
Ron Zalensky, a contributor to Phyto: Principles and Resources for Site Remediation and Landscape, is a member of a research team that has developed a new contaminant prioritization tool that has the potential to increase the effectiveness of environmental approaches...
Why You Should Plant Oaks
Great article by @awaytogarden in the @nytimes yesterday on the value of oak trees and how these long lived giants support more life forms then any other trees in a North America. Plant some oaks! Read the full article from The New York Times here Featured image by...
Cut Back for Spring
Its almost time for Spring cleaning!...and Spring cut backs! Northcreek Nursery has a great article explaining how they do cut backs in early Spring just as plants are waking up. Everyone performs spring cut backs a little differently, but they explain tools that they...
Offshoots and Partners Win Calahan Park Master Planning Project in Burlington, VT!
Our team at Offshoots, Inc., in collaboration with Horsley Witten Group, Duncan Wisniewski Architecture, and Stone Environmental, is excited to announce that we’ve been selected to create a Master Plan for Calahan Park in Burlington, VT! Offshoots will lead the...
Senior Associate Terry Kinsler Featured in New England Home Magazine
Our very own Terry Kinsler was featured in the March-April Issue of New England Home Magazine! The client made a simple request: “I want white flowers and a secret garden.” Providing this on a small lot with a close neighbor required thoughtful study of the views to...
Offshoots and Partners Win Malden River Works Project!
Hot off the DRAFT-Board! Offshoots is excited to announce we will be acting as horticultural and phytoremediation consultants for the design and construction of The City of Malden’s first public riverfront park! The project - led by Landing Studio and Horsley Witten...
Low Maintenance Native Alternatives to Lawn
Native grasses and sedges can be used to give a similar look as conventional lawn, but with the added benefits of: Low maintenance - (no fertilizing, weeding, irrigating, weekly mowing) Increased ecological value (deep roots benefiting hydrology, and food and habitat...
Milkweed attracts and kills Spotted Lanternfly!
Spotted Lanternfly is attracted to milkweed (Asclepias sp.) for it's thick, sweet sap, but has not co-evolved with the plant like the endangered Monarch butterfly and so falls victim to its toxins. Read the full article from North Creek Nurseries...
Spotted Lanternfly Detections in MA
Keep an eye out for invasive Spotted Lanternfly (SLF)! Two dead specimens were found in Milford and Norwood, MA, and the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) was notified that nursery stock bearing spotted lanternfly adults and eggs may have been...
India’s 1 Million Trees Phytoremediation Project
By the end of 2020, Fiinovation aims to plant 1 million trees in a phytoremediation-based initiative called Ecotopia. Trees will be used combat the effects of rapid industrialization and urbanization; absorb greenhouse gases, increase evaporation and transpiration,...
Superfund, Meet Super Plants
Plant microbiologist Sharon Doty is using microbes naturally associated with Poplar to increase success of phytoremediation efforts. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/science/superfund-plant-microbiome.html?smid=em-share
We are working remotely!
To Offshoots friends and family, We wanted to make you aware of our plan during these difficult times. In order to protect the health of our clients and staff, Offshoots is implementing the following policies: - Our office is open for business and all design projects...
Phytomining in the New York Times
"What if, as a partial substitute to traditional, energy-intensive and environmentally costly mining and smelting, the world harvested nickel plants?" Read the New York Times article here
Kate presenting at the Resilient Landscapes Symposium
Kate will be presenting her talk "Phytoremediation: Pollution Purging Plants" at the Resilient Landscapes Symposium this spring at the University of Wisconsin Madison. Can plants help remediate a site's contaminants when soil or water testing reveals something...