New Perspectives in Design and Maintenance of habitat ... · 3,3 5,2 5,6 9,1 9,1 11,2 14,7 Average amount of maintenance for different planting concepts at Hermannshof (sorted by

Public Parks and Gardens 2017: We love plants!

Conference in Malmö, Sweden, 30. March 2017

Prof. Cassian Schmidt, Hochschule Geisenheim UniversityDirector of Hermannshof display and trials garden, Weinheim (Germany)

New Perspectives in Design and Maintenance of habitat-based Perennial Plantings

Content:

1. Planting habitats: Horticultural ecosystems in the garden

2. Time-saving maintenance systems for perennial plantings

3. Natural vegetation types as a template and inspiration for planting design

4. Prairie style plantings at Hermannshof

5. Mixed perennial plantings – a new way of bringing perennials back into the city

New Perspectives in Design and Maintenance of Habitat-based Perennial Plantings

The concept of habitat-based perennial plantings in Germany:

The fundamental idea of this approach is growing perennial plants in the garden according to their natural habitat requirements as well as according to their aesthetical qualities.

The habitat-based design concept of the „Lebensbereiche“ (garden habitats) has been developed and published by Prof. Richard Hansen and Hermann Muessel (University of Applied Sciences, Weihenstephan) in the early 1980ies.

Hemannshof displays a series of large informal beds, planted according to Richard Hansen’s ecological planting habitatsincluding:

• woodland • woodland margin • steppe and rocky steppe• dry open ground • moist open ground • water margin• water• border

Plantings of perennials according to their garden habitats (“Lebensbereiche”)

woodlandwoodland / / woodlandwoodland marginmargin

steppe and steppe and rockyrocky steppesteppe

drydry openopen groundground

waterwater / / waterwater marginmargin

Hermannshof in summer: view from the pond over the central lawn to the giant Sequoia

Malus hupehensis, Syringa x chinensis and Davidia involucrata

The historic Wisteria-pergola, planted in 1924

Hermannshof garden in April with the gardener’s house in the background

Photo: Philippe Perdereau

Naturalistic planting style at Hermannshof, Weinheim

“The New German Style”Naturalistic and Habitat-based Planting Style

Natural plant communities are often used as a templa te for designing plant associations in the garden. Nevertheless, they are never exact copies, but enhanced abstractions, which are set into a horticultural context.

The plantings are combinations of wild species as well as selections and hybrids of perennials, which have preserved their wild character.

The perennials are combined in a very naturalistic style. Each species is arranged in informal and intermingled groups according to their natural sociability to evoke an meadow-like effect. This makes the most obvious difference to the conventional English style borders. Seasonal change and defined peaks of blooming are crucial design features.

The dynamics of ecological processes are part of the design concept and the specific maintenance strategies.

Woodland planting inspired by the east-Asian monsoon forest with Hakonechloa macra‘Albo-striata‘, Astilboides tabularis and Magnolia tripetala

Asian woodland planting

Eastern North American Woodland with Dogwoods ( Cornus florida and C. nuttallii), early May

Moist open ground / moist woodland margin: Hemerocallis citrina, Astrantia, Lilium henryi

Moist meadow planting in mid-May with Iris sibirica ‘Caesar‘s Brother‘, Euphorbia palustris, Hemerocallis middendorfii

Dry habitats : Salvia-Achillea-planting with central-Asian steppe plants

Dry steppe-hillside planting with Melica ciliata and Verbascum speciosum in June

Naturalistic steppe planting with Stipa pulcherrima var. nudicostata and Euphorbia segueriana var. niciciana in June

Dry steppe: Tulipa clusiana ‘Peppermint Stick‘ (front) and ‘Cynthia‘ and orange Tulipa whittalii

Mediterranean guarrige-planting with Lavandula, Santolina, Stipa, Melica at Hermannshof

Planting of North-American perennials, Hermannshof

Mesic habitats: Naturalistic, prairie-inspired plantings at Hermannshof

Mesic Borders: Stylized planting with North-American perennials in August

North-American tall perennials with Helenium und Heliopsis in early August

The North American perennial plantings in April: Cercis siliquastrum , Tulipa ‘Dordogne’

The North American perennial plantings in early August

Aster-border with Aster novi-belgii, Aster novae-angliae and Dahlia coccinea, October

Content:

1. Planting habitats: Horticultural ecosystems in the garden

2. Time-saving maintenance systems for perennial plantings

3. Natural vegetation types as a template and inspiration for planting design

4. Prairie style plantings at Hermannshof

5. Mixed perennial plantings – a new way of bringing perennials back into the city

New Perspectives in Design and Maintenance of Habitat-based Perennial Plantings

Further development of the „New German Style“into a more intermingled meadow-like „matrix planting style“ in the late 1990ties:

Economic aspects in the use of perennials and the impacts of climate change are getting more significant:

- Reduction of maintenance expenses- Development of new maintenance strategies - Stimulation of dynamic processes to enhance stability in horticultural plant communities

- Promotion of a naturalistic look

3. Time-saving maintenance systems for perennial plantings

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Average amount of maintenance for different planting concepts at Hermannshof (sorted by average of years 2000(sorted by average of years 2000 --2009)2009)

Grouped plantings of tall and vigerous

perennials (sunny to semi-shade)

Mixed borders, consisting of short-lived or

hybridized perennials and annuals

Grouped plantings of unhybridized perennials(mainly sunny)

Rocky steppe- and steppe plantings (full sun)

Woodland edge and sunny margins(sunny to semi-shade / off sun)

Meadow-like mixed plantings (mainly sunny)

Shade plantings (semi-shade to shade)

Average of working minutes/ m² / year

MaxîmumMinimumEverage

10 15 205

nach GRIME (1985) in DIERSCHKE, H. (1994):Pflanzensoziologie

SS

CC

RR

StressStress

Disturbance

Disturbance

Com

petit

ion

Com

petit

ion

TheThe CC--SS--R System: Triangel of R System: Triangel of thethe threethree mainmain ecologicalecologicalsurvivalsurvival strategiestrategie typestypes of of plantsplants ((GrimeGrime 1985)1985)

Competitive strategy (C)vigorous, highly competitive, fast growing, tall, long-lived plants

Ruderal strategy (R) short-lived, fast growing pioneer plants, tolerant to disturbances

Stress tolerance strategy (S)slow growing, poorly competitive, short growing, long-lived plants

1. C-maintenance system for competitive planting types

Competitors: include robust and vigorous perennial combinations f or sunny or lightly shaded locations, prairie or meadow-type plantings, moist-soil plantings using species of wetland or tall-herb community origin, and woodland edge.

Maintenance systems for perennial plantings

Maintenance: low to moderate (7 to 12 minutes per year per square meter). The previous season’s plant remains are cut back with a mower in late winter, chopping up stems and left in situ to act as a self composting mulch.

1. C-maintenance system for competitive planting types

Maintenance systems for perennial plantings

The early-summer-blooming vegetation is mowed in early July, the shreddered material is used as a organic mulch in the planting. Meadow plants are well adapted to be cut back in summer and are able to develop new growth quickly.

Moist meadow planting in mid-May with Iris sibirica ‘Caesar‘s Brother‘, Euphorbia palustris, Hemerocallis middendorfii, Bistorta officinalis (Hermannshof, Weinheim)

Moist meadow planting in mid-May with Iris sibirica, Hemerocallis middendorfii, Bistorta officinalis and Alchemilla mollis (Hermannshof, Weinheim)

2. S-maintenance system for stress tolerant planting types

Stress tolerators include dryinclude dry --habitat plantings, steppe, gravel garden, dry roof habitat plantings, steppe, gravel garden, dry roof garden, Mediterraneangarden, Mediterranean --type plantings, waterside and deep shade. type plantings, waterside and deep shade.

Long lived, often slow growing plants. Environmental stresses liLong lived, often slow growing plants. Environmental stresses li mit weed growth. mit weed growth. Mineral mulching is often beneficial, for aesthetic reasons and Mineral mulching is often beneficial, for aesthetic reasons and moisturemoisture --retentionretention ..

Maintenance systems for perennial plantings

2. S-maintenance system for stress tolerant planting types

Example:

Salvia-Achillea planting, , dry open ground, well drained soil

Improvement of maintenance methods to support a stressful environment:

-Use of machinery

-Mineral mulching

-No irrigation

-No soil disturbance

-No fertilizing

Maintenance systems for perennial plantings

Example: Salvia-Achillea planting, Hermannshof, Weinheim

Maintenance systems for perennial plantings

DryDry--habitat and steppe plantingshabitat and steppe plantings

Naturalistic steppe-planting with Achillea filipendulina ‘Gold Plate‘ and Salvia nemorosa in June (Hermannshof, Weinheim)

NovemberNovember

SeptemberSeptember

Maintenance is low to very low (average 5 to 7 minutes per year per square meter). The dried plant remains are cut down to the ground with a strimmer in late winter and raked off the side to maintain a low nutrients level of the soil.

Salvia-Achillea planting, Hermannshof Weinheim

S-maintenance system for stress tolerant planting types

Example: Woodland planting with ground-covering, mostlylow and partly evergreen perennials, ferns and bulbs.

Maintenance systems for perennial plantings

S-maintenance system for stress tolerant planting types

Maintenance systems for perennial plantings

Woodland plantingwith low ground-covering plants and spring bulbs

Example: Mallow and Artichoke bedshort lived annuals and perennials forthe border

3. R-maintenance system for ruderal (pioneer) plantingtypes ((conventionalconventional maintenancemaintenance withwith periodicperiodic soilsoil disturbancesdisturbances))

Maintenance systems for perennial plantings

Examble: Mallow and Artichoke bed. Allium ‘Mount Everest‘, Lupinus in May

Content:

1. Planting habitats: Horticultural ecosystems in the garden

2. Time-saving maintenance systems for perennial plantings

3. Natural vegetation types as a template and inspiration for planting design

4. Prairie style plantings at Hermannshof

5. Mixed perennial plantings – a new way of bringing perennials back into the city

New Perspectives in Design and Maintenance of Habitat-based Perennial Plantings

Natural vegetation types as a template and inspiration for the use of plants.

Today, plant use in urban green spaces is situated in the tense atmosphere of ecology, aesthetics and maintenance costs.

Stress- and disturbance-tolerant grassland communities like the North-American prairie or the east-European and central-Asian steppe can provide templates for the design.

They also can work as good reference models for new planting concepts, which are manageable with an reduced amount of maintenance.

Nowadays, in Europe, the term “Prairie planting“ is incorrectly used as a synonym for any kind of meadow-like naturalistic style of planting.

Natural plant communities as templates for planting design (tall grass prairie with Ratibida, Monarda and Silphium in Illinois, USA)

Natural plant communities as templates for planting design: Oak savanna (tall grass prairie and savanna at Shaw Nature Reserve, Missouri, USA)

Prairie planting with Camassia leichtlinii subsp. sucksdorfii in late April Hermannshof

Naturalistic meadow-like prairie planting with Silphium laciniatum and Echinacea in late July (Hermannshof, Weinheim) Design: Cassian Schmidt

Naturalistic meadow-like prairie planting with Nyssa and Solidago rigida in October(Hermannshof, Weinheim) Design: Cassian Schmidt

Annual meadow with Castilleja indivisa, Phlox drummondii (Gonzales Co., Texas, USA)

A natural annual meadow in Central-Texas with Thelesperma and Castilleja indivisa

A seeded annual meadow mix with Coreopsis tinctoriaas a temporally event in public park in Germany

Grünprojekt Ladenburg 2005

Inspiration of the central-Asian steppe:Salvia deserta, Achillea asiatica, Galium verum

Chon-Kemin valley, Tien-Shan, Kyrgyzstan

Steppe-inspired Salvia-Achillea-planting at ABB company grounds

Chon-Kemin valley, Tien-Shan, KyrgyzstanInspiration of the central-Asian steppe:Salvia deserta, Achnatherum splendens, Galium

Steppe-inspired Salvia-Achillea-planting with Achillea ‘Coronation Gold‘, Salvia nemorosa, Verbascum and Allium (Hermannshof, Weinheim)

Content:

1. Planting habitats: Horticultural ecosystems in the garden

2. Time-saving maintenance systems for perennial plantings

3. Natural vegetation types as a template and inspiration for planting design

4. Prairie style plantings at Hermannshof

5. Mixed perennial plantings – a new way of bringing perennials back into the city

New Perspectives in Design and Maintenance of Habitat-based Perennial Plantings

4. Prairie style plantings at Hermannshof:

- Development of formulaic new horticultural plant communities with randomized pattern and reduced maintenance requirements.

- Assessment of new prairie plant species

- Prairie plant mixtures developed at Hermannshof:„Indian Summer“„Prairie Morning“„Prairie Summer“

- Standardization of planting concepts and their impacts on public green spaces

Dry prairie planting „Prairie Morning“ with Echinacea simulata, Nassella tenuissima

Dry prairie planting „Prairie Morning“ with Amorpha canescens, Echinacea tennesseensis

Dry prairie planting „Indian Summer“ with Echinacea paradoxa, Nassella, Penstemon

Prairie mixed planting „Prairie Summer“ after 5 years (July 2009), Weinheim (planted 2004)

Prairie mixed planting „Prairie Summer“ after 5 years (October 2009, Weinheim )

Content:

1. Planting habitats: Horticultural ecosystems in the garden

2. Time-saving maintenance systems for perennial plantings

3. Natural vegetation types as a template and inspiration for planting design

4. Prairie style plantings at Hermannshof

5. Mixed perennial plantings – a new way of bringing perennials back into the city

New Perspectives in Design and Maintenance of Habitat-based Perennial Plantings

Attractive green for clever gardeners - Formulaic perennial mixed plantings

34 different planting modules for diverse situations and habitats have been developed over the last 15 years by collaborating institutions of the „Arbeitskreis Pflanzenverwendung“(studying group for plant use and planting design). The modules have been assessed at least for 5 years and are marketed by the German perennial growers association (BdS).

The mixed planting principle for perennial plantings:

� Layers of functional types and their proportions in the mixture:

• Structural plants (height over 70 - 100 cm) (1- 15 %) • Seasonal theme plants (height over 40 cm) (25-40 %)

(seasonally dominant species)• Companion plants (height 40-70 cm) (10-40 %)

• Ground cover plants (height 5- 30 cm) (30-50 %) • Filler plants (short-lived, self-sowing species) (5-10 % )

Additional proportion:• Scattered plants/ geophytes (20-50 bulbs per m²)

� no planting plan is necessary� plants are laid out and planted in a random pattern� planting: 6-9 plants per m²� using tested and standardized planting modules

designed for different garden habitats

New standardized planting concepts

design layer

functional layer

Random matrix-like pattern of species and functional types in a mixed planting

drawing : C. Schmidt/ P. Trindade, 2013

Structural plants

Companion plants

Filler plants (short-lived)

Ground cover plants

Bulbs and corms

Planting scheme of a mixed planting (matrix)

B 3, Bahnhof Bensheim/ Bergstraße, Juni 2011

Design: City of Bensheim and Cassian Schmidt

„Silver Summer“ planting at Mannheim, June 2010 (planted in 2007)

Maintenance seminary for gardeners stuff and landscapers of the city of Mannheim

maintenance calendar for plantings on dry open ground and traffic islands(for mixed planting modules like „Silbersommer“, „Blütenwoge“, „Blütenschleier“)

additional planting of bulbs

winter protection

fertilizing

irrigation

mulching

winter cut back

selective cut back (in fall)

selective cut back or dead heading in summer

weed control/ removing seedlings

DDNNOOSSAAJJJJMMAAMMFFJJmaintenancemaintenancecategoriescategories

optional, mainly species without good winter aspect

not necessary, only on pure mineral substrates, 5-10 g N/ m²

Salvia nemorosa(to prevent self-sowing)

on demand, every 2- 5 years

down to soil level, with machinery, before emergence of geophytes, Festuca mairei only down to 20 cm

mineral materials (gritt 8-16 mm) on demand, every 5 years, layer of 2 –3 cm, before emergence of geophytes

not necessary, except in the first year of planting

not necessary

weeding, not hoeing

A prairie planting for moister soils with supplemental drip irri gation (science and congress center, Darmstadt)

photo: Johannes Winter

Planting design: Cassian Schmidt

Inspired by grass landscapes and savannas: Technology park at Munich-Riem, Large scale planting designed by Heiner Luz, Munich

Perennial mixed planting, ABB company grounds at Ladenburg, Design: Bettina Jaugstetter

Perennial mixed planting, ABB company grounds at Ladenburg, Design: Bettina Jaugstetter

Perennial mixed planting with Calamagrotsis arundinacea ’Waldenbuch’

Design: Bettina Jaugstetter

Federal gardens exhibition (BUGA) Koblenz 2011, Design: Petra PelzPrairie-inspired planting, visually enhanced by Allium stipitatum ‘Mount Everest'

Prairie-inspired planting with Echinacea, Baptisia, Nassella , Rudbeckia maximaWisley Gardens (GB), The Glasshouse Gardens, Design: Tom Stuart Smith

Piet Oudolf’s new meadow garden at Hummelo Design: Piet Oudolf Hummelo (2014)

Meadow-like planting with Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan‘, Perovskia ‘Blue Spire‘and Sannguisorba officinalis ‘Pink Tanna‘ at Trädgardsföreningen - Gothenburg (Sweden) Design: Ulf Nordfjell

Prärieansaat/ Savanne, Laholm, Süd-Schweden Design: Peter Gaunitz

Seeded prairie with Ratibida pinnata , Monarda fistulosa and Eryngium yuccifoliumat Laholm city park (Sweden) Design by Peter Gaunitz

Thank you for your Attention!

Prof. Cassian Schmidt, Schau- und Sichtungsgarten Hermannshof, Weinheim

www.sichtungsgarten-hermannshof.deInfo@sichtungsgarten-hermannshof.de