Maintenance has long been a question in the landscaping industry when it comes to natural areas.Many landscape firms walk away from a project once it wraps, and owners, cities, and counties are faced with their own in-house crews to maintain that design or plan.This is something that has kept managers up at night because most crews don’t know what to do.They don’t know how to care for native plants.
This lack of training has previously gone unaddressed, but now is getting some attention. At River Action’s spring meetings with site managers of QC Wild Places, the managers told us that crews know how to get in there, spray any weeds, mow, and move on to the next prairie.With some training on identifying native plants, how to recognize soil types, knowledge of proper plant combinations, and the contribution to the maintenance plan, they can maintain the natural areas optimally.
River Action is collaborating with the US Fish and Wildlife Service Rock Island Field Office to hold two-day workshops this fall for city and county maintenance employees.Day One will cover plant identification, soil types, design plans, rain and drought-resistant plants, and procedures after expected flooding. Day Two will be about how to manage through observation, and will contain field trips to prairies and woodlands.
Maintenance isn’t sexy, but nobody wants to throw money away by planting something beautiful,and then from the day you have the ribbon-cutting ceremony, it starts a slow, steady decline.An investment in a prairie, woodland, or marsh deserves some follow-up care, not unlike how you might care for a high-performance car.
Maintenance will still continue to be a struggle, managers believe, but crews who know the difference between an invasive weed and a native one and which to pull will ease those concerns.
Which brings me to one last thought. Can landscape architecture be taught in schools?
Students should learn what sustainable landscapes are, how they function, how rain affects the landscape, and how understanding those principles informs the way we design for the future. Their curriculum could also include field trips so that they can observe what nature is doing and why native plantings can help the environment. We are all stewards of the land, but if we are managing yards or landscapes, we need to understand them. Public education can do that.