Landscape Technician Sources

Ongoing landscape transformation worldwide has raised global concerns and there is a need to rethink landscaping to protect the environment. This is especially true for previously developed sites, currently abandoned or underused. Instead of consuming green lands, these derelict landscapes need to be redeveloped and given new life, enabling their transition to an increasingly sustainable urban setting. In this scenario, the present book, considers a set of subjects that highlight the diverse nature of the scientific domains associated with landscape reclamation, emphasizing the need to acknowledge that the contribution of each sustainability dimension is equally important. This will offer complementary development opportunities, while enabling redeveloped landscapes to fulfill multiple functions in an integrated way and underline the relevance of multifunctionality to promote sustainable landscape reclamation, planning, and development.

Neighbourhood landscapes are the quintessential forms of urban landscapes in most cities worldwide. They are pervasive, and hence experienced by the large majority of urban dwellers in their everyday life. More than parks, nature reserves or nature areas which are visited as destinations, neighbourhood landscapes provide the most immediate, frequent and convenient form of nature experienced by urban dwellers on a daily basis. They are also valuable as social spaces to bring residents together, foster social ties, and strengthen communities. Despite their importance, surprisingly little has been written to guide the planning and design of neighbourhood landscapes.

With the notion of landscape urbanism long neglected, interlinkages between ecology and
architecture in the built environment are becoming visible. Yet, the diversity in understandings of the
interconnections between cities and nature is the starting point for our research interest. This volume
contains nine thoroughly refereed contributions concerning a wide range of topics in landscape
architecture and urban green infrastructure. While some papers attempt to conceptualize the relation
further, others clearly have an empirical focus. Thereby, this special issue provides a rich body of
work, and will act as a starting point for further studies on biophilic urbanism and integrative policies,
such as the sustainable development goals of the United Nations.

Currently, the vast majority of North America’s container-grown nursery crops are produced using soilless growing substrates and fertilized with controlled-release fertilizers (CRF). The most commonly used CRF include Polyon, Nutricote, Osmocote, and Acer. Each brand has different products, or fertilizers with different nutrient component ratios (e.g., N:P:K), with applications aimed towards different crops and regional environmental situations (e.g., water quality). Different growers, and even the same grower when producing different crops, often vary the fertilizer frequencies, rates, and application methods (e.g., incorporation, top-dressing,dibble, or combinations).