Landscaping is a critical element in improving both the function and appearance of rainwater recycling and stormwater management practices‎.‎ Designing landscaped areas to soak up rainfall runoff from building and paved areas helps protect water quality in local creeks and waterways‎.‎ These landscape designs reduce polluted runoff and help prevent creek erosion‎.‎ As the runoff flows over vegetation and soil in the landscaped area‎,‎ the water percolates into the ground and pollutants are filtered out or broken down by the soil and plants‎.‎ As Mike Breedlove‎,‎ landscape architect and head of Breedlove Land Planning in Conyers‎,‎ GA‎,‎ likes to say‎,‎ ‎"‎The role of the landscape architect is to successfully marry mankind to nature‎.‎‎"‎ His statement is even more succinct than the description used by the American Society of Landscape Architects ‎(‎ASLA‎)‎‎,‎ which highlights how landscape architects use a comprehensive working knowledge of architecture‎,‎ civil engineering‎,‎ and urban planning to ‎"‎design aesthetic and practical relationships with