What Landscape Designers Actually Want to Specify with Emily Bell

In this episode of Rooted in Innovation, the team sits down with Emily Bell, a landscape designer and founder of Emily Bell Landscape Design, to talk about real-world challenges—and smart solutions—in site planning. From stormwater management to tree stabilization, Emily shares the tools she actually specifies, including TreeStaple, Silver Cells, CarbonSmart wood, and ProFlow pavers. They also tackle the realities of budget constraints, developer resistance, and the all-too-common spec-and-switch problem. If you're in urban planning, landscape architecture, or product development, this is the episode to rethink what belongs in your design toolbelt.

Timecodes:

00:00 – Welcome and introduction to Emily Bell

01:10 – Core site challenges: drainage, trees, and materials

03:08 – Developer pushback and the value engineering dilemma

04:20 – What makes TreeStaple so useful in the real world

06:05 – ProFlow pavers: where they fit and why they matter

08:20 – Cost vs benefit in spec decisions

09:33 – CarbonSmart wood and circular material sourcing

12:22 – Specifier considerations and contractor habits

14:04 – Urban vs rural: where these tools shine

15:35 – Silver Cells explained and why they’re needed

18:11 – When it’s too late for root management

19:07 – Personal design inspiration from transit and urban systems

21:24 – How travel shapes Emily’s landscape perspective

23:08 – What makes a product worth advocating for

25:21 – Examples of product trends that don’t work

27:00 – Collaboration between specifier, contractor, and client

28:31 – The spec battle: why holding the line matters

30:04 – Final thoughts on tools that elevate site performance

31:08 – Closing remarks and call to advocate smarter tools

Resources:

Have an upcoming landscaping project? Contact Tree Staple for a quote treestaple.com

Connect with Jim Mancini on LinkedIn

Connect with Dionisio Roman III on LinkedIn
Connect with Emily Bell on LinkedIn