Commercial Landscaping of Public Spaces
Commercial Landscaping of public spaces provides quality open green and accessible places for the community. From walkable shady streets to the commercial landscaping around libraries, museums, and community centres, these landscaped areas form the heart of local communities.
It is through these areas that many people in local communities connect, play, walk or cycle. In these ways, commercial landscaping supports the health and well being of local communities as well as provides essential environmental habitats for indigenous species. The design of the commercial building landscape has a significant impact on the success of these public spaces.
The History of Public Spaces
Many of the public spaces we see in cities today are reflections of ancient public spaces. Public spaces for democratic political discussion have their roots in the ancient Greek Agora of the Polis and were extended to the ancient Roman Fora. The Romans were also instrumental in spreading the Greek peristyle courtyard garden, which later evolved into the cloistered abbey garden and courtyard, throughout Europe.
Ancient public spaces were primarily functional as market places, thoroughfares, and meeting places, and, as such, were social spaces.
The Persians, Babylonians, and Assyrians
Going back even further, Persian gardens are described in the old testament as pleasure gardens. The gardens were designed to enable cool water and shade to be enjoyed in private. The landscaping also included man made hills with terraces planted with shrubs and trees.
Greek Gardens of the Classical Period
Sports and public places were both big parts of Greek culture. Sports grounds developed into the academy and the lyceum, and people gathered in these places. The public spaces in Greek life included groves of shade trees, which are essential in a Mediterranean garden. Also included were some porticoes, spectator seating, and the exercise ground itself. It was around this time that a courtyard garden design with rows of columns supporting roofs over covered walkways became part of the urban lifestyle. This garden design became known as "peristyle" from the Greek word "peri" meaning around (as in perimeter) and "style," which means column. It is thought that this style of architecture originated in temples like the Temple of Hera at Samos and was then adopted for domestic buildings.
Greek Gardens of the Hellenistic Period
The death of Alexander the great was the start of a new age in Greece where the country was less Athens centric. New luxurious gardens or pleasure grounds had sprung in the Greek colonies. Notable amongst these were the gardens at Syracuse and Alexandria. These gardens were more influenced by gardens in the east. Under Alexander the great Macedonia had formed a huge empire stretching from Macedonia to parts of India. Within the empire the spread of people brought architecture and landscaping to different cities. After the death of Alexander, the empire was divided, and the various kings spent money on gardens and architecture to impress their guests.
Pleasure Gardens
According to historian John Plumb, the 1700s in London was an age of commercialised leisure. This was largely due to rising incomes and the growth of the middle class in Britain. New ideas emerged about how people could converse and socialise with each other one of these being the pleasure garden. On the rural outskirts of eighteen century London, pleasure gardens sprang up in places like Hampstead, Ranelagh and Vauxhall.
The Cremorne Gardens on the banks of the Yarra
The Cremorne Gardens, on the banks of the Yarra near Richmond, was Melbourne's first amusement park. The concept of the gardens was based on the Cremorne Gardens in Chelsea, London.
Botanical Gardens
For hundreds of years, botanical gardens, such as the Royal Melbourne Botanical Gardens, have formed important public spaces for communities.
Commercial Landscaping Goals in Public Spaces
The aim of the commercial landscaping design of public spaces should be to make the public space a welcoming and inclusive place for the enjoyment of people of all ages and abilities. This will necessitate the landscape architect designing wheelchair access, bridges, and ramps. The designers and urban planners need to consider the users as the primary focus of the landscape design.
Commercial Landscaping Design
Well designed commercial landscaping should also enhance the opportunities for socialising, recreation, and relaxation and, along with the aesthetic goals, contribute to the local character of the neighbourhood.
To these ends, the commercial landscaping and the facilities should where possible include a diversity of activities. Some examples of these include tennis courts, barbeques, scooter tracks, outdoor gyms as well as tranquil areas like urban wetlands. It is essential that these are community facilities that are often available for a wide range of users at different times of the day.
Commercial Landscape Installation. Durable outdoor furniture for parks and public spaces
The provision of comfortable and durable seating is also an essential part of commercial landscaping design. People in public spaces need areas for relaxing and recovering, as well as just having a chat with friends.
https://youtu.be/xGs8clMlGgY
(Design by Angelo Carrafa Landscape Architects (ACLA) Commercial Landscape Architects )
Seating is particularly important for elderly members of the local community. Where possible, curved seating will enable people to chat, hear and see each other better. This curved furniture design will benefit the hearing impaired when chatting with friends.
Landscaping Infrastructure
Much of the cost of commercial landscaping of public spaces is in the hardscaping infrastructure. This includes structures such as flowing insitu concrete retaining walls, agricultural drainage, irrigation systems, and concrete paths.
https://youtu.be/1YnAVLc0hzs
Commuter thoroughfares and Size, Location, and Important Interfaces
Some other important factors for the success of the commercial landscaping of public space include size, location, and interfaces with adjoining properties. Ideally, pathways will provide a commuting thoroughfare for walking or cycling as well as a pleasant stroll for exercise.
The sustainability of Commercial Landscaping Designs
Modern commercial landscaping makes extensive use of drought tolerant Australian Native plants and drip irrigation systems. Attractive Australian native grasses are used in both mass planting and individual planting schemes. Where they are planted as individual plants, it is expected that they will naturally spread to fill an area. Much more use of rainwater harvesting is happening in commercial landscaping, as well as the use of rain gardens, permeable concrete and permeable paving to filter and retain storm water in commercial landscapes as well as apartment blocks. There is also a trend in commercial landscaping towards much greater use of recycled materials for the construction of asphalt roads and paths, as well as the use of eco-concrete.
Commercial Landscaping for Active Living
The University of South Australia conducted a study in 2009 on the relationship between active living and the provision of public open space. Amongst the key findings of the study were that attractive commercial landscaping leads to a higher likelihood of people being physically active. This is just one more way that the aesthetic design of commercial landscaping contributes to the health and wellbeing of the community. Another key finding was that "high quality open space design and amenities are crucial."
Commercial Landscaping to attract visitors
Well designed and constructed commercial landscaping will serve to attract visitors to the public space by providing important street appeal. When attractive vistas are available from the adjacent properties and thoroughfares, the public space becomes a people magnet. Commercial landscaping through the provision of trees, shrubs, and other greenery will create an aesthetic that people will want to visit. One important factor in Melbourne's commercial landscaping is the provision of shade trees over seating areas and car parks. As with residential landscaping, the kerb appeal of a public space is important.
https://youtu.be/X1ssfmwrpjE
What makes a great public space?
What makes a public space great? An explanation from the Project for Public Spaces
To quote from the Project for Public Spaces: "Great public spaces are those places where celebrations are held, social and economic exchanges occur, friends run into each other, and cultures mix. They are the 'front porches' of our public institutions – libraries, field houses, schools – where we interact with each other and government. When theses spaces work well, they serve as the stage for our public lives." – Project for Public Spaces
Related Commercial Landscaping information from Red's Landscaping Melbourne
Commercial Construction and Landscaping
Balwyn Landscaping – Commercial Project
Commercial Landscaper Melbourne
Melbourne Landscaper – Mill Park Leisure
Blogs to Follow @RedsLandscaping
https://medium.com/@redslandscaping/
https://redslandscapingau.wordpress.com/
https://redslandscapingau.blogspot.com/
https://redslandscaping.edublogs.org/
More information on Public Spaces and Commercial Landscaping
Public Space at the Crossroads of everything.
A glossary of Road Diet Stratergies.
What is Public Space and Why does it need protecting.
Landscape Australia. The Politics of Public Space
Urban design guidelines for Public Space
Melbourne Parks and Public spaces
Victorian Walks and Public Spaces
Landscape Design Credit ACLA
© 2022 Reds Landscaping and Civil – Quality landscaping Melbourne
Soft and Hard Landscaping, Residential Home and Civil projects across Australia by Reds Landscaping and Design
5 Steps for a Great Melbourne Lawn
Lawn renovation is best done in early Autumn in Melbourne gardens. Take the time to assess your lawn and plan for some renovation and repair work. Start by walking over your lawn and checking for any bald patches, or high spots or dips.
Lawn Irrigation Systems
Turn on your irrigation system and check if all parts of the lawn are getting adequate water. If you cannot push the tines of a fork into the bald patches, then the topsoil might be compressed or the irrigation might not be reaching that spot. Also check for weeds and other pests and diseases whilst you are there.
What is the best treatment for grass?
Step 1: Lawn Weed Removal
The first step in a successful lawn renovation is to remove the weeds. If the weather is sunny, you could use a selective spray, but do not be afraid of digging the weeds out by hand.
Step 2: Aeration of the Lawn
To make this job easier, give the grass a really good soak or do it just after a good rain. Using a granulated or spray on soil wetter will help too. The slugs of soil should come up the aerator tines and drop out onto your lawn.
If you have a smaller area of lawn, then Bunnings has a hand held aerator that is reasonably priced. You can get a cyclone aerator at around $55–$60. This is money well spent.
Hand Held Aerator. Great for renovation work.
The holes made by the aerator will allow oxygen, water, and nutrients to quickly get to the roots. This is especially important if you have some high traffic areas that may have had some compression and wear.
Step 3: Over Sow Grass Seeds
If you have hybrid roll out grass, then you will not find grass seeds of the exact same type of grass. Your local plant nursery will be able to suggest something that looks similar. Sowing lawn seeds in early Autumn means that the new lawn grass has all winter and spring to get established before the next hot summer.
Step 4: Top dress the lawn
Top dress with either a high quality sandy loam with a little organic matter or a course sand. The course sand works well in high traffic areas, but a topsoil high in organic matter is better at holding moisture. For real problem areas, try top dressing with a cheap fine textured potting mix. When topdressing, take care to fill any low points and bring the level up evenly to any paths or edges. Protruding pavers can make a real mess of your mower blades if the lawn is lower than your pavers. Depending on the type of topsoil you have, you may want to topdress with some gypsum to break up the clay. The gypsum will penetrate deep into the lawn through the aeration holes.
Topdressing with cheap potting mix
For small bald patches in your lawn, a cheap fine potting mix can be a good alternative to sandy loam. The whole nature strip below has been repaired this way, and the rapid growth in the grass is amazing. The potting mix helps to keep the grass seeds moist for germination and can provide some protection from birds.
Step 5: Apply Soil Wetter and liquid fertilizer to your lawn
Give your grass a liquid fertiliser like Neutrog Seamungus as well as some more soil wetter. The liquid fertiliser will encourage plant and root growth. The soil wetter is required as often the top dress soils are hydrophobic, resulting in the water just running off the soil. If you repeat this last step for 3 or 4 weeks, the results will be amazing.
The Lawn Topsoil Conundrum
For hard wearing lawns, the topsoil needs to be a sandy loam. This type of topsoil should also be used when topdressing the high traffic areas of your lawn. This will also mean that the area will require regular watering or an irrigation system to stay green as the soil moisture content will be lower in these areas. One solution to this problem is to use a product like Neutrog Seamungus after aerating to help the soil retain moisture. We have had some success using this product on some of our commercial landscaping lawns.
Restoring Commercial Landscaping Lawns
When restoring commercial landscaping lawns, many of the same principles apply as they would to a very large residential area.
The use of mechanical spreaders and mechanical aerators is required to do economical restoration of a large area. Many lawns in public spaces need to be very hard wearing, so sandy loam topsoils and irrigation systems using harvested rainwater are often used. Often, there is a trade-off between attractive green grass and sustainability, with areas browning off a little over summer. Couch grass will often brown in the colder months, but this is not a major concern either.
Many commercial landscapes will use a hard wearing kikuyu in either an instant roll out or by hydroseeding or hydromulching.
The Lawn in Landscape Design.
The lawn has been part of landscape design for centuries. Lawns were established as a vital element of garden design during the 18th century. Eighteenth-century landscape designers stylised English pastoral scenery around English Manor Houses as a central part of the landscape design. In those days, cheap labour with scythes enabled lawn maintenance on the rolling green hills close to the stately home. With modern landscape design, the maintenance of the lawn is a critical factor in good landscape design. The grassed area cannot be too steep or uneven for mowing with a rotary mower. Our 3D design package enables all of these items to be checked as part of the landscape design package.
Related Landscaping Ideas from Red's Landscaping
Melbourne Landscaping Topsoil Types
Commercial Landscaping of Public Spaces.
5 tips for Drought Tolerant Landscaping in Melbourne
Landscaping Melbourne with Climbing Plants
Screening Plants for Garden Privacy
New Home Construction Landscaping
5 Melbourne Garden Weeds and how to prevent them.
13 Best landscapers of all time.
3 Best Types of Concrete Retaining Wall
© Copyright 2020 Red’s Landscape Gardening – Melbourne Landscaper
Red’s Landscaping YouTube Channel
Red’s Landscaping Pinterest Boards
More information on Lawns
https://youtu.be/fthOLgWQXdo
https://youtu.be/WYpGk82vpck
How to improve hydrophobic soil
