C6 Landscaping
Relates to Healthy Living Practices
- improving nutrition: the ability to store, prepare and cook food
- reducing the impacts of over-crowding
- reducing the negative effects of animals, insects and vermin
- reducing the health impacts of dust
- controlling the temperature of the living environment
Landscape strategies for the whole community will support individual household efforts to grow food plants, ground covers and shade trees related to the Healthy Living Practices. References to the use of plants and landscape to support Healthy Living Practices have been made throughout this guide. In particular, see B7 Reducing the health impacts of dust, which discusses the use of landscaping to control dust and B8 Controlling the temperature of the living environment, which includes ideas for shade trees and wind breaks.
This section considers ‘hard landscaping’ such a pavers, fences and earth mounds, and ‘soft landscaping’ such as planting and cultivating trees.
Design and specification
Consider:
- constructing planted earth mounds or planting vines on high fences throughout the community, for use as wind breaks in colder climates
- fencing all houses and buildings, and planting vines on the fences to stop dust
- planting shade trees and food plants along walkways and around places where people meet
- developing a community nursery to grow plants for household gardens, food plants and plants used for traditional ceremonies and crafts
- planting drought tolerant grasses on sports fields, and using stormwater or stored rainwater on the grass
- growing drought tolerant ground covers on open, unsealed areas to reduce dust
- capturing stormwater from roads, paths and open areas and using it to water plants
- planting trees or building earth mounds to prevent cars using unsealed tracks that cause dust and erosion
- developing a program to seal all roads in the community to reduce dust
- using native plants that need little water, wherever possible
- planting woodlots for communities that need fire wood for cooking or heating
- planning to make the public areas and houses more accessible to people with disabilities.
Maintenance
As part of cyclical maintenance:
- employ and equip a parks and gardens team to maintain landscaping throughout the community.
| Landscaping | Percentage of houses | Total houses surveyed |
|---|---|---|
| Outside cooking areas | 41% | 3662 |
| Windbreak planting | 22% | 3662 |
| Food planting | 25% | 3662 |
| Fenced yard | ||
| No fenced yard | 31% | 3661 |
| Yard >= 900 sq m | 37% | 3661 |
| Yard < 900 sq m | 33% | 3661 |
| Fence and gate OK | 41% | 2952 |
| Fence and gate not OK | 45% | 2389 |
| Working motor cars in yard | ||
| No working motor cars in yard | 56% | 3660 |
| 1 working motor car in yard | 28% | 3660 |
| 2 working motor cars in yard | 10% | 3660 |
| 3 or more working motor cars in yard | 6% | 3660 |
Standards and references
Centre for Appropriate Technology ‘Rainwater harvesting’, Bush Tech Brief #4, Our Place, 17, Winter 2002 Alice Springs, http://www.icat.org.au/documents/btb4.pdf