Landscaping, Plants

Environmental Landscaping

4 May 2021

Take your Landscaping to the Next Level

With high energy use and water depletion happening every day in the world, more steps must be taken in the right direction to help save these resources for future generations to come and to create a healthier environment overall. Landscaping is one of those steps in the right direction.

Plants play a vital and important part when it comes to sustainable landscaping. There are many factors to take into consideration when selecting the type of plants to be added to your open space. Choosing native plants is the most sustainable option as it reduces the number of toxic substances required to ensure the plant’s health and its ability to thrive in its new environment.

Native plants improve air quality, lower carbon emissions and attract a variety of birds, butterflies, insects and pollinators to the area. When native plants are reintroduced to a residential area, they have the ability to regenerate ecosystems that have been fragmented. Xeriscaping, the practise of landscaping with minimal use of water, has been used all over the world since the early 1980s. Its main focus is to efficiently use less precious water to keep the plants alive and therefore preventing wastage. This style of planting lends itself perfectly to Qatar’s hot and harsh climate.

The Core Principles

The core principles when using Xeriscaping techniques to design a landscape are:

Investigation into the area. A thorough investigation of the area including the position of the sun, soil quality and water supply ensures that all contingencies are covered.

Limiting the usage of turf. In a desert climate turf needs a lot of water to ensure it remains healthy, ultimately leading to an increase of water usage. Limiting the amount of turf and substituting it with water efficient plants, such as succulents, cycas and cacti will be beneficial to the environment. Pebbles, statues and decorative pots can be an attractive addition to add texture to the overall design. Mulches are indispensable to retain moisture and nutrients.

Clustering the same plants or similar genus together. The process of clustering plants together gives them visual weight in the overall design and ensures that they are not lost in an often abstract landscape. Another advantage is the same plants require the same water, nutrients and soil type, therefore limiting the amount of variation needed in the design style.

The right irrigation system. The demand for water is at an all-time high. With proper design and plant selection, the need for irrigation can be reduced. Fitting an environmentally friendly irrigation system minimizes wastage by evenly distributing the right amount of water to each plant.

The most important principle to ensure the continuation of a thriving landscape upon completion of the project, is to hire a professional plant maintenance team.

In general, cities are made of materials like concrete and asphalt. These materials absorb energy from the sun and therefore heat up more quickly than open areas with less buildings. Aside from the effective Xeriscaping landscaping techniques there are many additional ways to improve the environment with landscaping design solutions that can prove essential in both water conservation and cooling efforts, whilst also lowering energy costs, reducing emissions and waste. By incorporating gardens, green roofs and green walls with native plants, the solar radiation is reflected rather than absorbed and can also produce natural shade from the sun. This helps to reduce the temperature of the local microclimate and mitigate the urban heat effect, providing an overall healthier climate.

Qatar and the Environment

Qatar has devoted considerable attention, planning and resources into the beautification of its urban areas, establishing national targets to reduce emissions. The natural landscape, an open desert, is steadily being transformed into a more sustainable environmental space, whether it be in the city or in more widespread residential areas.

Our Plant Nursery

Plaza Hollandi has a large plant nursery in Umm Salal, near exit 24 off the Shamal road. Our qualified staff cultivate, prune and grow plants, trees and shrubs which are used in our landscaping projects. We have the privilege of employing plant and tree experts (also known as “the Doctors”) who have been internationally trained in their profession, enabling them to recommend the perfect plants and trees for each landscaping project and ensuring they remain in perfect condition. With this knowledge, they look after our collection daily, monitoring their growth, health and strength by supplying the correct nutrients and vitamins. They nurture tiny seedlings into fully grown healthy plants and trees that will bring colour, scent and structure to your outdoor space. This results in a minimization of the carbon footprint, appealing to our increasingly environmentally conscious customers. The same attention to detail is also given to our customers throughout their landscaping journey and beyond, with our plant maintenance service.

Our professional landscape design team and Dutch-trained horticultural specialists have over 25 years’ experience of working in Qatar. They have managed to transform areas in and around parks, sport clubs, educational campuses, hotels, offices and private homes into lush green lands by integrating their professional skills and experience. With their in-depth knowledge of different styles of gardens suitable for the local climatic conditions and working with the practise of Xeriscaping, they are often a first choice for Qatari residents when making plans for their outdoor space. The knowledge of our professionals ensures that the tailor-made landscape design will suit the customer’s requirements, adding natural beauty and bringing a long lasting environmental impact to the surroundings.