On holiday everyday

As demands for environmentally conscious landscaping increase, the onus is being placed on developers and landscape designers alike to ensure large-scale landscaping is sympathetic to local environs, not just aesthetically pleasing.

Recent legislative changes in regards to water conservation have impacted on landscaping within developments such as Magenta Shores, says Mark Small, director of ET Landscapes.

"The brief called for ET Landscapes to create and sustain a tropical landscape that could stand up to the severe coastal conditions. To meet the brief and be in compliance meant sourcing plants with a pre-existing tolerance to those conditions."

The feature element of the landscaping is the more than 60 mature palm trees. Sourced from a site adjacent to Dee Why beach, one crew worked on removing and transporting the trees to the site, whilst Small led another crew replanting them.

"It took ten days and was one of the challenges associated with the job, but because the palms were from a similar location and were already coast-hardened, it's been very successful," says Small.

Landscaping to date has been carried out in two stages. The first stage consisted of the resort's 80 villas as well as the first 42 golf houses, and took 8 months. The second stage includes another 42 golf houses and 10 beach houses with associated paving and retaining works. To ensure the plants remain viable in their new environment, ET Landscapes installed an automated watering system to maintain a predetermined level of irrigation.

"Utilising the development's own recycled water, soil sensors ensure the landscaped areas receive the equivalent of 25mm of rainfall every seven days, if needed," says Small.

For details, contact ET Landscapes, PO Box 2, Oatlands, NSW 2117, phone (02) 9683 2075, fax (02) 9630 6874, mobile 0471 666 671.

Story by: Trendsideas