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Our Area's Own Urban Naturalist By Abby Meaux Conques
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ne of the things I love about Lafayette are these little pockets of professionals who are doing great things in their niche corners of their prospective markets. The difference between Anytown, USA and our city (in my opinion) is the willingness to take time to speak with you about their craft and the genuine intrigue about your interest in said niche. Marcus Descant, landscape horticulturist and owner of The Urban Naturalist, happens to be one of those very people. I popped over to his lush corner lot at 216 Madison Street, where he has a walk-up self check-out area where you can purchase plants and herbs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week via posted instructions. Follow the area behind the counter and find tables upon tables of flats and trays filled with plants, herbs, vegetables and flowers. Descant got his green-thumb beginning working with his brother performing lawn maintenance before shifting gears and working on farms. In 2006 he bought the home where he and his family reside now and where the land serves as The Urban Naturalist. The land functioned as his personal garden for six years where he experimented with edible plants and herbs, learning as his plants grew. In the midst of opening his garden for business, he ventured into the landscaping world to lend his
knowledge of our prairie to area residents. “I got constant advice from all these wonderful people in the horticulture world...like the ones who started the Sunset Herb and Garden Festival. Many of them were older than me and were very happy to hand down their advice so we could keep growing alive with our generation,” he said. Descant uses his landscaping techniques and pragmatic knowledge of native plants to serve both functional and aesthetic purposes. For example, native prairie plants have the ability to hold a great deal of moisture. You may see up to a foot of a plant, but those roots run very deep and can act like large sponge beds, actually aiding local drainage problems. In addition to implementing an observant, multi-faceted approach to landscaping, Descant is also mindful of the plastic he uses to house his grows. His business is run entirely off of waste plastic that other landscapers gladly drop off to him. “Our exchange is plastic for plants - all those little black plant buckets are used for 3 weeks, but they last 400 years,” Descant said. “We need to take responsibility for our footprint.” Some of his best sellers are ready-togo pots which operate as cut-away profiles of small startup gardens, such as vegetable gardens. “They’re a great place to start for beginners,” he explained. Other popular items are his $30 flats. “People drive in from Baton Rouge and New Orleans for these flats. If you know about certain master plants and their worth, you know some of these flats have expensive plants that come out to $5 a plant.”
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