Considering sites for Marlboro Township's Living Memorial. Photo: Lindsay Campbell

Maintenance

Outdoor spaces will remain attractive, safe and functional only if properly maintained. Ease of maintenance should be incorporated into the design. Importantly, the sponsoring group must recognize the continual need for maintenance, equipment, and plant material replacement.

A rich and diverse planting design need not require high-maintenance. Designs where maintenance costs are low require careful material selection and coordinated operation procedures. They often require a larger initial capital and maintenance input to ensure they are successfully established. Maintenance is an investment.
  • Select materials that are disease & drought resistant, pest-free, and suited for the region's climate. Plants native to an area often meet these criteria.
  • Select trees and shrubs that require little or no pruning.
  • Use plantings of greater show and higher maintenance close to high-use areas, with trees and shrubs with lower maintenance needs (but not necessarily lower interest) in areas of less use.
  • Use plantings that have "self-cleaning" blossoms which fall to the ground after blooming, eliminating the need for deadheading.
  • Juxtapose materials with long or different blooming periods to extend seasonal interest.
  • Emphasize perennials with long blooming periods instead of annuals to minimize planting efforts.
Balance the advantages and disadvantages of annuals and perennials, incorporating both with careful selection of material and location. Perennials can provide a long life span but require labor-intensive care with weeding, staking, pruning and dividing. Select perennials with long seasons of display that are self-supporting and perhaps tolerant of herbicides if such are used. Annuals require, of course, annual planting though they provide a long season of color. Locate annuals in highly visible, high-use areas near seating and other key locations to minimize their volume but maximize their impact. Considerations for maintenance need to be incorporated into the design process from the beginning, not on an ad hoc basis, at a later date, or in response to some problem.
  • Understand the maintenance implications of design and material choices. A drip irrigation system may be cost effective when one considers the long-term costs of manual watering and restrictions on water use during drought years. Consider growth rates, habit and leaf litter in plant selections to minimize routine operations such as pruning, clipping and sweeping.
  • Understand the available resources. Is there a maintenance program already in place? What is the scope, organization and budget? What are the standards and are they appropriate to the design? With certain maintenance operations (such as pruning) it is often equally important to know what to do as what not to do.
  • Consider long-range/short-range cost efficiency. High quality materials frequently are less costly in the long run than those that need frequent attention or replacement. When prioritizing material quality and maintenance requirements, carefully locate and minimize areas requiring frequent maintenance disruptions.
  • Consider the setting created with the maintenance program. While safety and security are paramount concerns to be addressed, consider the Living Memorial’s care within the natural order. Perhaps every leaf is not in place, every plant bed not pristine, nor every spent blossom picked. After all, Nature will take its own course, a fact that is in part celebrated by the concept of the Living Memorial.
Perhaps there is a much larger lesson to learn: that nature will take its own course in our lives as well – that we too are part of the natural order. To quote Landscape Designer Vince Healy,

"the garden reminds us that it is forgivable to have elements in our lives that seem out of place, elements which may be quite in place according to some concept of order that we do not as yet understand."

Perhaps this is how the Living Memorial creates opportunity. The opportunity for individuals to make that connection, that personal relationship with nature in their own way, on their own terms and at their own pace.