Planting Specifications

This section should help you to read and create planting specifications

What is a specification?

Who are they for?

  • The construction team

  • Businesses quoting on the job

  • Sometimes the council or engineers

Topics that might be cover in planting specifications

  • Sourcing

  • Stock inspection

  • Storage and handling

  • Weed removal

  • Set out of site and placement

  • Planting procedure

  • Mulch

  • Soil preparation

  • Watering

  • Compaction

  • Drainage

  • Staking

  • Pruning

  • Tree protection

  • Maintenance

  • Feeding

Writing Specifications

Clarity

Use plain English. Your objective is to have the person reading it understand what you are trying to communicate.

Define

If you use terms that might not be understood by your audience, include a section of definitions.

Accuracy

Say what you mean. Make sure you have made a desirable choice specific to this site.

Succinctness

Say it once and in one place.  Every time you repeat yourself is a chance for contradiction.  It also means more to alter later if something changes in the project. Keep it succinct and to the point.

Number

Numbering your items makes it easy to communicate with other people.

Structure

Create a logical structure for the document.

Writing Style

Use the present tense

Positive

Write in the positive not the negative where possible. Describe what the finished quality should be.

Demolition

Removal of weeds - Is herbicide acceptable? What other poisons are acceptable? Is there time available for killing weeds? Have all noxious weeds been removed?

Removal of debris - What size objects need to be removed?

Testing for contamination - What contaminants must be removed?

Removal of vegetation

Removal of trees - Application for permits.

Tree Protection

Stockpiling - What, where and how should soil be kept on site?

Erosion Control

Tree Protection

Arborist - Does pruning need to be carried out by an arborist for access?

Stockpiling - Do you need to limit storage of materials to avoid compaction?

Roots - What size roots can be severed without needing an arborist?

Temporary Fencing - Is fencing necessary for exclusion zones? At what distance? What duration?

Soil

Standards - AS4419

Method - Whether to amend soil or to remove and import soil or a combination.

Cultivation - Is it necessary? What depth? Is the compaction significate enough to impede root growth?

Deep Ripping - Can the compacted sublayer be ripped without disturbing the topsoil?

Compost - Should this be added for the palette of plants that you are using? What should it be made from? How do you ensure it is weed free?

Structure - What structural attributes should the soil have?

Gypsum - Will it work on the soil type? Is it necessary? What are the application rates?

pH - What is the acceptable pH range for the soil for your palette of plants? What methods are you allowing for modifying pH? Do you need to make amendments to the pH of the soil in position?

Sourcing - Is there a preferred supplier or are you just setting parameters?

Weather and compaction - Should you be moving soil around sites with machinery when soil is saturated?

Drainage rate - At what speed does water need to permeate through the soil?

Testing - Does post amendment testing need to be undertaken?

Hole Preparation

Depth - Should it be dug to the root ball depth? Should it sit flush with, slightly below or slightly above the adjacent ground height? Should it allow for a berm? Should the soil be recompacted if dug out too deep?

Width - Should the width of hole be relative to the width of the root ball?

Drainage - Do drainage trenches need to be incorporated?

Pots

Standards - AS 3743 Potting Mixes

Plant Stock

Rejection - What would mean that a plant needed to be rejected

Conditions - How long and in what conditions must plant stock be kept before planting? How is appropriate water supplied?

Apical dominance - Should there a dominant leader the continues up for trees?

Trunk - Should it be straight? Is it not Important? Do you want character?

Root inspection - Are the roots in proportion to the foliage?

Turf

Responsibilities - Health of turf until handover of project

Quality - What should the qualities of the turf supplied be?

Soil Preparation - What should the soil characteristics be? Do they need to import soil?

Installation - Does the soil need to be watered in preparation for laying?

Tamping - Should tamping or rolling be undertaken after the laying?

Watering after installation

Fertilising - Should slow-release fertiliser be used in topsoil before laying turf?

Top dressing - Does the turf need to be top dressed?

Timing - How long after delivery must the turf be installed within? Does this change throughout the year? How long after excavating turf does it need to be on site?

Pattern - How should sections be placed or staggered?

Direction - Which direction should the sections be laid in reference to the slope?

Weather - Is the weather too severe for installation.

Weeds - Check for weeds

Mulching

Standards - AS 4454 and AS 3743

Grading - What is the maximum size of chips or stone? Should they be uniform? What should not be present in the mix?

Composting - Should it be pre-composted?

Where - Do you need to keep away from the stems of plants?

Depth - How thick should it be laid? How does this change depending on whether there is an irrigation system and what kind of irrigation system is used?

Order - Before or after plant and irrigation installation?

Berm - Do you need to create a berm to keep water in?

Installation

Fertilising - Do you wish to add fertilisers at time of installation?

Staking

When - When is staking required? For what size plants?

Timing - When do they need to be taken away so that the specimen doesn’t become reliant on it?

Depth - How far into the ground do they need to be sunk?

Material - What are they made from, and what thickness and length?

Quantity - How many are to be used per specimen?

Where - Where in relation to the root ball should the stakes be placed? Where in relation to prevailing winds?

Protection - Do you need a collar guard to protect from animals and frost applied at the same time.

Ties - What material should be used? What tension should be applied?

Transplanting

Preparation

Pruning

Watering

Root Barrier

Root barrier - Is it necessary to stop a plants roots system working its way under a fence, under paving or into an adjacent bed?

Depth - What is appropriate for that plant?

Material - Which?

Top Height - Should it be flush with the soil or mulch?

Maintenance

Fertilising - Slow-release vs liquid fertiliser. Organic vs synthesised.

Pruning - Do multiple dominant stems need to be pruned back to a single leader? What happens with dead and diseased wood?

Weeding - Is herbicide acceptable?

Replacement - If something dies what is the process for choosing a replacement?

Pests and diseases - How should they be monitored and recorded? What controls can be undertaken?

Irrigation

Who is responsible for watering after plants have been installed? For how long or at what point does it become the responsibility of the client?

Which sort of system is to be installed? Is it your job, the construction teams, or an irrigation company to design it?

Method - Drip, pop-ups, micro sprays, misters, drip line, drip tape.

Session Outline

  • What is a specification?

  • Writing a specification

  • Activity: Write a specification

Resources

Plant Specifications Database - James Urban

Landscape Standards Manual - City of Greater Geelong

Landscape Design Manual - City of Ballarat

Housing: Design & Construction Specification - Department of Communities, Housing WA

Presentations


Activity

Write a specification document including the topics: Soil, mulching and plant installation