LANDSCAPING

RECOGNISANCE SURVEY
This involves going at to the site mapping
at the different areas of interest, noting
the soil type in the site if it's one that
needs improvement also pointing out
the different materials that will be
needed this is because the materials
that would be needed for a park are not
the same with the one for a newly
constructed road or a football field, also
the layout of the terrain, climate of the
area and the estimated cost.

LAND PREPARATION
CLEARING
The site is prepared awaiting the arrival of the seedlings;
this involves clearing the land of existing grasses, trees,
stones, stumps e.t.c this could be carried out by tools
ranging from a simple tools such as cutlasses, hoes e.t.c
to machines e.g. tractor bulldozer depending on the site
and the project scale.
LAND LAYOUT
This involves aligning the different holes for the seedlings
in architect's desired pattern i.e. allocating the definite
position for the seedling and usually done by putting
sticks or pegs. Between each seedling holes are the
seedlings enspacement and it's dependent on the plant
type and the depth is also a factor of the plant type to be
planted, the use of ropes in lining out is important here.

 APPLICATION OF FERTILIZER/MANURE OR TOP SOILS

The soil nature and type is what determines if the soil is
to be improved with any of the above it is not
compulsory to use fertilizer in landscaping usually not
advisable unless in a case where the site soils are very
poor due to severe lost of nutrient {leaching} top soils
or forest soil are preferred the reasons are as follows;
1. The quantity to apply may be a problem
2. Not all soils are deficient in nitrogen phosphorous and
potassium
3. Organic manure {poultry/birds droppings} contains
ammonium
4. Days spent in waiting to allow fertilizer ferment. Each
hole that was dug is applied manure or fertilizer and
left for 2-3 days allowing fermentation and planting
begins on the 3 day.

PLANTING
When planting a seedling it is best to remove the
bag to allow effective root growth since polythene
bags hardly decay. To do this you have to mould
the bag {press tightly together the bag and sand}
and the polythene is torn off with the aid of a
razor blade and carefully placed in the hole, one
can also choose to plant without removing the
bag to save time and cover with sand around the
seedlings base the sand should be sloped down
ward the stem not flatten to avoid water logging
around the plant. Immediately after planting
watering should commence, deep watering is
advice here but avoid excess watering {water
logged} compare to sparingly watery in nursery.

WATERING, WEEDING AND BEATING UP

The numbers of times watering is done
depends on the region since climate and
soil varies with areas/regions, but standard
watering should be done morning and
evening for the first week and once for the
next week. Weeding should commence a
month time after weeds {unwanted
plants} starts growing, usually done with
care to avoid removing plants planted.
Beating up is the replacement of dead
seedlings or deformed seedlings with new
ones

MAINTENANCE
Activities such as trimming, pruning, pinching off, thinning,
deadheading e.t.c this activities are carried out to perpetuate
continuity of plants{shrub and tree}
TRIMMING/ PRUNING: - landscaping architect mayattempt to
control the shape of woody plants such as trees and shrubs by
removing branches growing in the wrong direction. They also
prune to remove damaged, disease, or dead branches.
Landscaping architect prune plants at different times of the year,
depending on how they hope to affect the plant's growth.
PINCHING OFF:- pinching off, encourages healthy, bushy plant
growth. Pinching off methods vary depending on the type of
plant, but generally gardeners remove the tallest early stalks,
encouraging more stem development when plants are young.
THINNING:- this is the removal of plants from a stand either
because they are dead or to avoid overcrowding.
DEADHEADING:- Many plants stop flowering once they set seed,
so to make plants produce flowers longer, gardeners can remove
the faded flowers before they produce seed, a technique called
deadheading.