LANDSCAPING: GARDENS AND PARKS

EDITOR'S NOTE

LANDSCAPING: GARDENS AND PARKS

Have you ever been to some outdoor spaces and been awed at the picturesque ambience of that environment? Have you been to certain places and all you want to do is get out of there almost immediately?

Do you wonder why some places feel like paradise and green while other places, well you know....?

The difference is simple, it is called Landscaping.
This is an aspect of FM with the expertise in horticulture and artistic design that modifies land-forms, terrains by growing and maintaining plants (gardening) and sometimes using lighting settings with the goal of creating a healthy, serene and beautiful environment.

You can achieve this phenomenon in your immediate environment; it begins with a plant, but if you are too busy to tend to it, you could employ our services to help you plant, nurture and maintain your own garden.


PATIENCE E.C. OKONTA

 

It is an art of beautification. It involves the maintenance of the ground (i.e., floor, soil) or aerial view of land mass usually to enhance the appearance of an arena, building or structure.
Landscaping also refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land. It may involve lighting conditions, gardening (planting and maintenance of flower beds) and decorating of the outer environment including bodies of water (creating artificial spring, fountain and pools).

The most recent form of landscaping adopted by the Lagos state government is the "Green Lagos scheme". Lagos state adopted this initiative as a measure to a greener, healthier and sustainable Lagos

The goal was to restore the beauty and green ambience of the state and to mitigate the effect of climate change, in other words to protect the environment from the adverse effect of global warming.

I understand there are rules with stipulated fines for offenders (i.e. people who defile the parks by littering, defecating, loitering and any other disorderly conduct), although I am not sure this is taken seriously in this new political dispensation or has ever been but we can still see and appreciate the scenery and aesthetics it adds to the Lagos environment.

This is just one aspect of landscaping and we can already feel the tremendous effect. I am aware that other states have taken the cue from the last dispensation to emulate the "green culture".
Examples of landscaping are: the Dolphin Park, Freedom Park, Palmgrove and Onipanu Gardens and so on.
Thus, Landscaping is an aspect of FM that is gaining widespread patronage especially in the more recent past.

Wide expanse of land laying fallow can be converted to beautiful floral gardens. This can be achieved by engaging the services of a horticulturist or a gardener. This is because landscaping on a large scale requires understanding of the land: soil quality, topography, if it requires filling/grading or not and the kind of plant that is suitable for that region.

However, we have to develop a maintenance culture otherwise these efforts will be a waste. That is why we need to employ the services of skilled horticulturists or FM firms which render such professional services to keep the plants alive and pruned. They help to ensure that on daily basis (or depending on the contract) that the parks/gardens are watered, trimmed and cleaned (e.g. picking of litters and clearing of dead plants).

Apart from beauty and aesthetics, there are health benefits of growing plants and flowers. They help absorb excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and produce abundant oxygen for all living creatures. They also provide shades from excess sunlight; the sight of these parks has a soothing effect too; they also prevent erosion of top soil.

You may need to start your own little garden to discover other benefits of this aspect of landscaping.
So why don't you plant a tree today and make conscious effort to improve the ecosystem around you... It begins with just a seed.

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