Category LANDSCAPE PLANNING

The objective of Xeriscape maintenance is to discourage water-demanding new growth on plants. In other words, keep plants healthy, but do not encourage growth at all times. Depending on your current level of maintenance, this may require you to fertilize less often with less fertilizer, to prune only when necessary and lightly when essential and, of course, to irrigate less. Remember, a Xeriscape-type landscape is a low-maintenance landscape. By working smarter, not harder, in the landscape, you’ll save time, energy and water without sacrificing the beauty of the environment. Proper watering, weeding and pruning, mowing, and limited fertilization and pest control will keep your Xeriscape healthy and beautiful...

A water-wise landscape requires a minimal amount of supplemental water from irrigation. When irrigation is used, water is applied efficiently and effectively to make every drop count (Wade et al., 2002). Irrigating lawns, gardens, and landscapes can be accomplished either manually or with an automatic irrigation system. Manual watering with a hand-held hose tends to be the most water-efficient method. Using irrigation water efficiently also requires us to select the appropriate type of irrigation for the plants and for each area of the landscape...

Appropriate plant selection means selecting plants that not only are compatible with the design but also are well suited to the planting site and local environment. It involves selecting plants according to the soil type and light level of the site. Ideally, the plants you select should be adaptable to local fluctuations in temperature and soil moisture. Most plants have a place in Xeriscape. It is important to use healthy plants adapted to our area (that is, plants that can take hot, humid weather as well as hot, dry weather), plant them in the right place, and give careful attention to getting them well established (Figure 1). Encouraging the growth of deep roots by preparing the soil and using appropriate irrigation practices is crucial to helping plants establish themselves...

Turfgrass is one of the most versatile and functional plants in the landscape. It provides one of the best recreational surfaces for outdoor activities. From a water management standpoint, turf is recognized as one of the most effective plant covers to reduce runoff and erosion while recharging the ground water, which results in more efficient use of rainfall (Wade et al., 2002). Along with minimizing turf perimeter, an important factor in conserving water in lawn areas is selecting a water-conserving, warm-season turfgrass species and cultivar. Warm-season species recommended for North Carolina are centipedegrass, zoysiagrass, and bermudagrass...

A thorough analysis of both the physical and chemical characteristics of the soil is important when developing a water-wise landscape. Since plants with deep roots continue to have access to moisture after surface soil begins to dry out, a primary goal of Xeriscape is to encourage plants to develop deep root systems. In urban areas where the soil may be compacted, it will often be necessary to physically improve your soil before you can grow deep-rooted plants. Physical improvement of soil involves tilling to break up compaction and provide aeration and adding organic matter to keep soil porous. In addition, it may be necessary to chemically improve the soil with nutrients or other materials...

The first step in planning a water-efficient landscape is the process of the site analysis (Kelly, et al., 1991) One of the most important steps is to plan your landscape design. First assess the topography and determine drainage patterns. Examine your site conditions and pinpoint both shady and sunny areas. Decide whether any of the existing vegetation should be preserved. A base map is a plan of the property drawn to scale on graph paper showing the location of the house, its orientation to the sun, other structures on the site, unusual features such as stone outcroppings and existing vegetation (Wade et al., 2002).

To begin your plan, overlay the base map and site analysis sheet with another piece of tracing paper...

Ayten Ozyavuz1 and Murat Ozyavuz2 1Namik Kemal University 2Namik Kemal University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Landscape Architecture, Tekirdag

Turkey

1. Introduction

The term Xeriscape comes from the Greek word xeros, meaning dry. The concept originated in Denver, Colorado, in the early 1980s. Because of severe drought conditions, Denver had rationed water and prohibited irrigation of lawns and yards. A number of terms describe waterconserving landscaping. Among them are "xeriscaping," "low water use," "droughttolerant," waterwise," and "desert" landscaping. Xeriscaping, a widely promoted term the past several years, is a word of Greek origin with xeros meaning dry, combined with landscaping...

Plantation: Plants were planted into the pits where piles were situated according to the project. Trees whose northern sides were marked with oil paint were brought to the planting field and they were placed in a way to face the same direction and stand straight. Pits were irrigated with plenty of water before plantation.

Refilling removal pit after plantation: Pits that were formed during plantation were filled with soil. In this way roots could be ventilated and they were protected from drying and dying. Soil that was used for filling had a pervious structure and was mixed with organic substance.

Protection of Stem: Stems were wrapped with sacks in order to protect newly grown trees from sunburn, frost cracks, damages of winds and cold.

Supporting of root fescue: Newly transplanted trees...

Time effect has a big importance in the success of removal and transfer of plants. As a general rule, overcast and flurry weather should be preferred. But as the tree mover rented from Karabuk Municipality had to be returned maximum two days later, the process had to be carried out in sunny days.

Transplantation season is also important in order to continue a healthy life and adapt quickly to the new soil. Early spring is the most proper season for transplantation as vegetation time doesn’t completely start in this season. More careful removal, transfer and maintenance are needed for plantations that are made in the seasons except transplantation seasons...

After choosing the species to be transplanted, the project was prepared in order to place the chosen species on the field and the project was drawn on computer (Figure 12). According to this project, in order to determine the exact places of plants, piles on which plant species were written were penetrated one by one on the ground and application work was carried out.

4.3.1 Features of mechanic tree mover

Working style and features of tree removing and planting machine can be summarized as: The machine works with a hydraulic system; hydraulic pump of the system is placed in the vehicle on which the machine is mounted. The machine is composed of 4 strong lifter arms, digging unit, hydraulic system and a trailer system by which the tree will be carried and
some other parts...