It often gets overlooked once a landscape scheme has been installed, whether it be a wildflower grassland, urban trees, front garden shrub planting or roof garden and podium landscapes, the contractor walks away and the landscape fails.
As well as the appropriate preparation prior to planting, the watering regime for the landscape elements is absolutely essential to avoiding plant failures. This can then lead to expensive plant replacement costs, delays in the programme and affect sales.
All plants must be watered-in following planting and the watering regime must continue for at least two years to ensure the landscape elements establish. For many landscape elements, the watering and management needs to continue in perpetuity to ensure it survives and delivers what it is designed to do. This is especially the case for roof gardens and podium landscapes.
Management plans are written into the majority of planning conditions and should be implemented as such. The COVID-19 restrictions have lifted to allow maintenance activities. Other options exist such as automatic irrigation systems, so there is no excuse for allowing the landscape to fail.
This time of year is crucial for watering with hot temperatures and limited rain, you can see the effect on even the most established of landscapes – just look at the yellow/ brown grass in the parks and playing fields.
In addition to the production of management and maintenance plans, ACD Environmental also undertake landscape audits to review the installed landscapes and can provide feedback and recommendations to ensure the landscape does establish and deliver on the visual amenity, the green infrastructure, the biodiversity and the combat to climate change.
