Viburnum: Important Guidelines For Landscape Design

Many viburnum species are popular as landscape plants. However, while implementing this on newly developed residential subdivisions or city land, you must ensure that your landscape design conforms to the official standards set by the authorities. An example of such standards is the Landscape Design Manual (LDM) of the City of Ballarat. This LDM provides a detailed guide for specification, installation and maintenance of any landscape within the city.

The City Of Ballarat LDM Requirements

This LDM consist of a wide range of specifications to ensure the best horticultural and conservation practices. Here is just a sample of them.

Firstly, it's recommended that material be obtained from within the site of your landscape development. In case, you have to bring in imported soil, you would need to have written approval. However, this imported fill would necessitate external testing and certification even before it's delivered on to the site. This is meant to prevent introduction of deleterious material such as weeds, vegetation, building waste, debris, rock and asbestos. Obviously such unwanted material would not only be unsightly, but also potentially hazardous.

Take note that you must follow the applicable Australian Standards in spreading and compacting of structural fill. Moreover, you must never use topsoil, vegetation debris, rock, building waste and rock floaters as filling. Therefore, you must ensure that earthworks involving removal of unwanted materials such as excavated rocks comply with the requisite Environmental Management Plan.

During this process, you would need to apply an effective system for sediment control. This is meant to minimize erosion during the period in which the landscape site is not yet adequately stabilized. Fortunately, there exist various methods for sediment control, which include:

- Hay bale sediment fence: These hay bales are embedded in the ground and butted tightly together along the contours of the land.

- Geotextile sediment fence: The geotextile fabric is secured with its bottom buried in the ground to make it secure, hence ensuring that water doesn't pass underneath it untreated.

- Grass filter strip: Grass filters are used on footpaths adjacent to the kerb. They consist of single roll turfs placed along the kerb and 1.5m long strips placed perpendicular to the kerb at 10 m intervals.

In situations that existing trees are retained within the site, protection measures must be applied. Such protection measures include (based on the Australian Standard AS4970 - Protection of Trees on Development Sites):

- Before commencing of any work, a Tree Protection Zone (TPZ) must be set up consisting of an erect 1.8 m high temporary chain wire fence at the tree's drip line.

- This TPZ should remain completely free of access, soil disturbance, stockpiling of materials, storage of machinery and excavation works during the construction period.

- Heavy metal or plywood sheets placed on course bark mulch should be used for short term protection, incase temporary vehicular movement is necessary across the TPZ.

- You should apply bore holes rather than open trenches within the root zone of any trees that are retained in order to avoid root severance.

- Any root excavation must be carried out by qualified arborists through hand digging or using an air knife; instead of using mechanical equipment or backhoes, which can cause root tearing.


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