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 the land‎.‎" This integrative function of landscape architecture makes the profession seem a natural spawning ground for the innovation needed to successfully meet the considerable challenges posed by stormwater‎-related pollution and erosion‎.‎ Fencing or hiding stormwater facilities out of view not only loses the opportunity to create an aesthetically pleasing site design‎,‎ but also sends the message that stormwater is an attractive nuisance‎.‎ Furthermore‎,‎ constructing rain parks is becoming an essential part for urban landscape planning‎.‎