What does it meant by maintenance and management of green areas?
The topic is quite broad to be able to describe it in a single paragraph, some indispensable operations can be indicated.
Green is an irreplaceable heritage that belongs to everyone, for this reason it must be defended and protected.
The beauty of a landscape does not depend only on the design, the location of plants, bushes, flowers, creepers, annuals or perennials that make it up, but above all on the health that distinguishes it.
For this reason, targeted and professional maintenance can make a real difference.
The lawn is the most attractive natural surface, but requires care and attention all year round, temperatures, excesses or narrowness of nutrients, can damage it. Cutting and irrigation are indispensable such as selective weeding, aerating and fertilizing.
Trees, bushes and hedges require pruning, anti-cryptogamic and pesticide treatments, balanced fertilizations and the right irrigation.
The annual flowerbeds must be cleaned from the weeds constantly, regularly wet and to keep them at their maximum beauty the seedlings must be replaced at the end of their vegetative cycle.
The operations to be carried out throughout the year are many and different according to the different types of gardens.
A well-kept and harmonious garden becomes the natural extension of the house, it must harmonize with the tastes of the owner and the extreme variability that distinguishes our island.
The green area is like a puzzle, for everything to work at its best it is necessary that plants and furnishings compensate each other perfectly.
In designing greenery, a professional takes into account the variables of each plant, evaluating the impact it will have not only from an aesthetic point of view, but also on specifications such as soil, insolation, water resources, growth and final use.
Creating a beautiful garden requires experience and competence and it is always advisable to contact an expert who will be able to indicate the most suitable solutions.
Bushes
it is possible to transplant most of the bushes even when they are adults, provided that their roots are prepared, and the foliage has been reduced. Conifers, however, are difficult to move when they are very large.
The roots of the plants are formed by those that anchor the plant to the ground and by other thinner ones that bring nourishment, placed at the tip of the first ones. Some roots have one or two large roots that reach considerable depths, with a structure not unlike that of their branches: as a general principle, consider that the underground root development is equivalent to that of the crown.
Digging too close to the trunk of a shrub, you will damage both the support roots and the nourishment roots: the larger and older the specimen, the greater the problem.
Up to two or three years, plants have a limited root system because they have little weight to counterbalance. They can be moved easily, always bearing in mind that the more land is taken the less damage will be done to the roots.
Older bushes should be prepared for transplanting one year in advance, cutting the soil around them with a blade, or a hoe for a radius of 500 mm.
This will encourage denser and easier to move roots in the following spring. These same shrubs should be vigorously pruned to decrease the perspiration surface of the crown, less sprayed due to the partial cutting of the roots.
Before removing a bush from its original place, dig the pit to which it is intended (which is wide and deep). It is important that the operation itself is as fast as possible, so that the exposed roots do not have time to dry (ideal and transplant in cloudy, windless weather, because both the sun and the dryness of the air are harmful). If there are delays in transplanting, lay the bush in a temporary excavation.
To remove the bush from its housing, dig around the roots as gently as possible with a pitchfork, freeing them. Cut the roots too long. Working around the plant, break the ground and lever upwards.
When the bush is free, examine the state of the roots and their size, enlarging the hole to which it is destined to the right extent. Before proceeding with the transplant, put a forkful of organic fertilizer or compost and a handful of bone meal on the bottom of the hole.
Transfer the bush with as much of its land as possible; widen any loose roots, cut the broken ones with the shears and bring back the previously removed earth, shaking the bush so as not to leave holes.
Before the final carryover, drive a peg into the ground without damaging the roots. Complete the filling by stepping on the ground, until at the end, it has the same height as before without covering the collar of the trunk. If the soil is dry, water abundantly to allow the earth to settle properly around the roots. Finally, tie the bush to the support peg with a plastic tie.
Perennials
They grow quickly and, if you are at the beginning of the planting of your garden, they have the advantage of becoming adults in one season; on the other hand, it is wrong to think that they have too long a life: any vegetation dies, at a certain point, of old age, it depends only on the duration of its life (lupines for example, do not last more than five years, while peonies arrive even ten).
You can be quite energetic in dividing your perennials because it is very unlikely that you will harm them permanently; if you do not do this until spring, it is easy that you cannot recognize them without foliage and you could destroy their vital point or potential jets.
Many herbaceous plants sow themselves and one of the great pleasures of a mixed border and discover some unexpected specimens during the season: these results are much more interesting than you may have planned.
Unlike woody shrubs, herbaceous plants tend to die down to ground level at the end of their season.
This type of plants constitutes the main element of a flowery border: most of them will flourish very well near bushes and their insertion in a mixed and much easier border than in a single herbaceous one.
A border of perennial herbaceous plants needs to be twice the height of the tallest type of essences that are normally up to two or three meters high: these sizes are often a surprise and you can correct these proportions only if they are present; that in all likelihood you will have to widen the flowerbed in the fall. In addition, perennials tend to spread towards the lawn making its maintenance difficult (taking into account the possibility of bordering the flowerbed with stones or bricks).
The soil should be prepared a few weeks in advance before planting the perennials, so that it can settle.
Dig the soil as deeply as possible, incorporating organic fertilizer or bone meal.
At best, prepare the area in the fall for planting in the spring. In a particularly light soil you can also plant in the autumn.
