ABP Melbourne School of Design, Landscape Architecture (LARC20001)
DLS 2021 Assign One
Designing Living Systems Assignment One (5%) Coordinator: Alexander Felson Tutors: Rhys Cousins and Mahin Shiraz
1A Selecting a Plant Species and Layer
Figure 1 Grassy Eucalypt Woodland of the Victorian volcanic plain
Description: Plants, soils, and associated species are all part of designing living systems. We will start through an understanding of a natural Australian plant community and the plants that make up this community. You can start by studying the layers of the plant community including the canopy, under-story, shrub, and ground layers where applicable. You will be given a species in one of these layers, but you should understand how the overall composition works. You should consider the aesthetics, form, and function of your species. i) Your Information Student Name: Tutorial Class: Plant Knowledge Background: Degree Focus:
Jessie (Jiaqi) Sun Tutorial 10 Learnt ‘Natural History’ Quite focused
ii) Nomenclature Plant common name: Genus (Generic name, Capitalised): species (Specific epithet, lowercase): Family name (capitalised, ends with …ceae): Meaning of the genus Latin Name: iii) Plant Characteristics Plant Type (circle one): Mature Height: Mature Width: Growth pattern:
Myrtle Wattle, Red-stem Wattle Acacia A. myrtifolia Fabaceae Acacia is reference to the thorny stems, spiny
Canopy Understorey Shrub 3m 3m Upright standing
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Ground layer
ABP Melbourne School of Design, Landscape Architecture (LARC20001) Growth Rate: Drought Tolerance: Compaction Tolerance: Light Tolerance: Preferred soil type: Evergreen vs Deciduous (leaves drop): Woody, herbaceous: Leaf type (Simple, compound, needles): Phenology (flowering period): Flower colour: Habitat benefits (birds, insects, bats):
DLS 2021 Assign One
Medium Low tolerance N/A Semishade to full sun Sand or gravelly sand Shallow infertile soil Evergreen herbaceous single August, September, October Cream-yellow or yellow Attractive to insect-and seed-eating birds
*please make attempt to find all the plant characteristics above. If you can’t discuss with your tutor.
1B Vegetative Community Description: To understand a vegetative community, we will focus on a natural Australian plant community and how this be translated to an urban context. We will assign a plant community to you, and you should consider the textures, density and organisation of the plants. This is often defined as ecosystem structure and includes the vertical structure of the plant community developed as plants grow in distinct soils (and often low nutrient soils in Australia) and compete for sunlight. Provide your responses in the table and spaces below for drawings.
i)
Allocated vegetation community Vegetation Community: EVC21: Shrubby Dry Forest EVC Number: VVP_0163 Important Species: • Eucalyptus spp. • Spyridium parvifolium • Acacia myrtifolia • Banksia marginata • Hakea sericea s.l. • Hibbertia stricta s.l. • Platylobium obtusangulum • Isopogon ceratophyllus • Pultenaea humilis • Acrotriche serrulate • Drosera peltate ssp. Auriculata • Xanthorrhoea australis
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ABP Melbourne School of Design, Landscape Architecture (LARC20001) • •
DLS 2021 Assign One
Lepidosperma semiteres Poa australis spp. agg.
Figure 2 Rhett A Butler mongabay.com
ii) Section Based on your understanding of the information of your EVC benchmark, draw on the next page an indicative section of this vegetation community in its natural environment. Items to include in the drawing & labels. Focus on the textures, spacing and structure of your EVC: • Vegetation drawn accurately in scale with appropriate density, spacing, form and texture; • A drawing scaled for your vegetation community with a human figure (1.7m) for scale; • Reference to soil type, topography and the physical environment, water and localities; • State of the vegetative community in terms of current coverage compared to the past.
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ABP Melbourne School of Design, Landscape Architecture (LARC20001)
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DLS 2021 Assign One
ABP Melbourne School of Design, Landscape Architecture (LARC20001)
DLS 2021 Assign One
1C Urbanizing your Vegetative Community i) Scenario You are tasked to curate a temporary vegetation community installation in the city, similar to what artist Linda Tegg did in 2014 in front of the State Library of Victoria, and what Cambridge University did in 2020: https://youtu.be/0oAWSASBIDQ https://architectureau.com/articles/gone-to-seed-grasslands-at-the-state-library-of-victoria/ https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2020-06-03/cambridge-lawn-transformed-into-wildflowermeadow-in-bid-to-increase-biodiversity/ There are three potential sites/urban scenarios to choose from, on the next page, or you are free to pick your own site. You should make a case for why you selected that site. One can select a site based on where you feel your vegetative community will be most suitable and draw an indicative section of this vegetation community in that urban format. Consider for example, the following items to help you pick the suitable urban scenario: - Aesthetics and what is currently existing; - The amount of space; - Microclimate such as sun/shade, wind, humidity, etc.; - Site soil and topography (consider the built environment as part of this).
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ABP Melbourne School of Design, Landscape Architecture (LARC20001)
Scenario 1: In the middle of the University of Melbourne’s South Lawn
Scenario 2: A small site within one of the Melbourne’s Laneways
Scenario 3: Southbank Boulevard by the river
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DLS 2021 Assign One
ABP Melbourne School of Design, Landscape Architecture (LARC20001)
DLS 2021 Assign One
Figure 3 Montgomery Park Collage
Location: Urban Ecology Park Scenario-Montgomery Park Size: Approximately 3.2 hectares The given specie Acacia myrtifolia have the habitat benefit on attracting insects and seed-eating birds. Correspondingly, these species are currently live in this Park as local fauna. Thus, planting Acacia myrtifolia is a good choice. The Montgomery park has large area and mostly exposed to the sun, which provides good atmosphere for Shrubby dry forest as they need semi to full sun shading.
Figure 4 Montgomery Park Existing Condition
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ABP Melbourne School of Design, Landscape Architecture (LARC20001)
DLS 2021 Assign One
Figure 5 Analysis Plan
Eucalyptus can be planted around north and west side of the park. It can receive most natural light due to its height. Medium to small shrub can be planted in front of the tall trees. They would not block the sunlight because they are only up to 3 metres. Moreover, the height of each species could create layers and hierarchy for Montgomery park. The tall Eucalyptus Canopy trees would act as vertical threshold, which could enhance the dense feeling while people walk into the site. Figure 6 Vegetation Plan
Shrubby Dry Forest have low tolerance to drought. Meanwhile the developed site has added lots of wetlands inside the park which provide more water resource for the site. Therefore, Shrubby dry forest is really suitable to plant in Montgomery Park
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ABP Melbourne School of Design, Landscape Architecture (LARC20001)
DLS 2021 Assign One
Reference List Victoria State Government, viewed 1 st August 2021, https://www.environment.vic.gov.au/biodiversity/bioregions-and-evc-benchmarks Royal Botanic Garden Victoria 2013, Acacia myrtifolia, viewed 1 st August 2021, https://bpg.unimelb.edu.au/plant.jsp?id=40 Entwisle, T.J.; Maslin, B.R.; Cowan, R.S.; Court, A.B. 1996, viewed 1 st August 2021, https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/71f40fab-0f6d-4b84-8e37-bbfae90b13d4 Val Stajsic, 2018, Eucalyptus cypellocarpa, viewed 1 st August 2021, https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/0f8d3b3f-01d1-4347-abeb-d8568a21f826 Val Stajsic, 2018, Eucalyptus obliqua, viewed 1 st August 2021, https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/080ef661-c542-4ae3-94d0-9e57c3629818 Spyridium parvifolium 2013, viewed 1 st August 2021, https://bpg.unimelb.edu.au/plant.jsp?id=2287 Val Stajsic, 2019, Banksia marginata, viewed 1 st August 2021, https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/d53901b2-4f12-47e6-a8ad-7f57b8d32c42 Val Stajsic, 2019, Platylobium obtusangulum, viewed 1 st August 2021, https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/caf9d416-8ab0-4776-b75e-05367ff7e505 Foreman, D.B. 1996, Isopogon ceratophyllus, viewed 1 st August 2021, https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/6d7726e7-c8be-4324-8977-d21f01d7758e Val Stajsic, 2019, Pultenaea humilis, viewed 1 st August 2021, https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/67df3567-51fa-4c77-80f6-d2a800ef0c98 Conn,B.J,1994, Xanthorrhoea australis, viewed 1 st August 2021, https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/c8e03894-4b9c-4af5-84c1-1cddfa2e613d Wilson K.L. 1994, Lepidosperma semiteres, viewed 1 st August 2021, https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/e70245d4-f1d4-4df2-870c-ff6d70b91fdf
Figure List Section Drawing: Fagg.M, photograph, viewed 3 rd August 2021, https://www.canbr.gov.au/images/photo_cd/301311226902/080.html Farrow.R photograph, viewed 3 rd August 2021, https://treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/eucalyptus/eucalyptus-melliodora/ Gregory Moore, Stringbark is tough as boots (and gave us the word ‘Eucalyptus’), viewed 3 rd August 2021, https://theconversation.com/stringybark-is-tough-as-boots-and-gave-us-the-word-eucalyptus-100528 Charsley F.A., drawing, viewed 3 rd August 2021, http://plantillustrations.org/illustration.php?id_illustration=334670&SID=0&mobile=broad&size=1 Bushland flora, photograph, viewed 3 rd August 2021, https://bushlandflora.com.au/product/banksiamarginata-dwarf-common-product-name-mini-marg/ Mickscogs, photograph, viewed 3 rd August 2021, https://regionalcognisance.wordpress.com/2016/04/28/xanthorrhoea-australis/
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ABP Melbourne School of Design, Landscape Architecture (LARC20001)
DLS 2021 Assign One
Carl Rayner and Gail Slykhuis , viewed 3 rd August 2021, http://angair.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=934:rapier-and-sword-sedges-in-ourdistrict&catid=2&Itemid=207 Figure 3. Montgomery Park Collage Base Image: Zoe Metherell, Amy Hahs and Mark McDonnell, 2013, viewed 5 th August, Urban Ecology Park Scenario for Montgomery Park, http://arcue.botany.unimelb.edu.au/ Bottom: Carl Rayner and Gail Slykhuis, viewed 5 th August, http://angair.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=934:rapier-and-sword-sedges-in-ourdistrict&catid=2&Itemid=207 Top: Kennedyh, 2007, viewed 5 th August, https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/172335/#b Figure 4. Zoe Metherell, Amy Hahs and Mark McDonnell, 2013, viewed 5 th August, Montgomery Park Existing Condition,p.26, http://arcue.botany.unimelb.edu.au/ Figure 5. Zoe Metherell, Amy Hahs and Mark McDonnell, 2013, viewed 5 th August, Analysis Plan,p.20, http://arcue.botany.unimelb.edu.au/ Figure 6. Zoe Metherell, Amy Hahs and Mark McDonnell, 2013, viewed 5 th August, Vegetation Plan,p.39, http://arcue.botany.unimelb.edu.au/
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