As with the house, it is not possible to develop a beautiful garden without a project to start with.
A garden has succeeded well if it is enjoyed by the owner.
This only happens if the garden reflects our tastes and partly changes our lifestyle, pushing us to spend more time outdoors.
The garden designer conceives the garden on the basis of the needs and tastes of the client.
In this way the garden is born from the interaction between designer and owner.
The garden project allows us to understand what our green space will look like before proceeding with its realization.
The space outside our home thus becomes a space that belongs to us because it is the result of our creative work.
The garden design illustrates the subdivision of the areas and the appearance of the various environments, and the proposed plants are shown with their size, bearing, blooms, color and seasonality.
It provides a solution about how to illuminate the garden and how to facilitate its management over time.
To perform all the tasks necessary for the design of gardens, the green designer has specific training in different areas.
It is necessary to have knowledge of architectural design to define the shape and structure of the garden.
It is necessary to know the plants and their characteristics, through notions of botany and agronomy.
Also required is the ability to design plumbing and electrical systems serving the garden.
The garden designer is present on site and coordinates the work of all the workers involved in the creation of gardens.
The role of the gardener in the realization
Once the garden project has been finalized with the cost estimates, the competent manpower necessary for the realization is selected.
The designer of the green chooses together with the owners the companies to which the works will be assigned.
Construction companies intervene first and deal with the modeling of the soil and the built parts.
Plumbers and electricians prepare the necessary systems for irrigation and lighting of the garden.
The garden designer chooses from the nursery the plants that have been included in the project.
Only at this point do gardeners intervene.
The gardener takes care of the planting of green elements on the basis of the planting plan provided by the green designer.
Gardeners carry out surface tillage of the soil and sowing of turf.
Often they complete the lawn irrigation system and carry out the laying of the dripping wing for watering plants.
So the role of the gardener is concentrated in the final stages of the process of making the garden.
Obviously the garden always includes the presence of plants, but it is not said that the plantation is the predominant part in its creation.
This is not the case of gardens that require land modeling or the construction of terraces, or where there are a swimming pool and large paved areas.
The work of the gardener is relevant in all cases where the garden takes on a very natural appearance and in which it is not necessary to change its orography.
In all other cases the main jobs are carried out by the workers who intervene before the gardener.
The role of the gardener in the management of the garden
The role of the gardener is essential especially after the realization of the garden.
Plants and trees are living beings that grow and evolve over time.
It is important to take care of the garden especially in the first seasons after its creation.
It is commonplace to think that the garden needs continuous work and that it is always expensive.
If the plants are chosen correctly, especially for the size they reach when mature, annual pruning interventions will not be necessary.
Pruning is bad for plants, it stresses them and shortens their life cycle.
Plants do not need to be pruned for their own well-being.
Pruning is practically superfluous in the garden and irreparably disfigures its appearance if it is done drastically as in the case of capitulation.
Instead, we need to focus on creating a fertile soil and a resilient ecosystem for our plants.
Fertility is achieved by avoiding destructive tillage of the soil and limiting the use of chemical fertilizers.
Instead, it is necessary to provide organic substance and ensure the presence of bacteria, fungi and beneficial microorganisms that make the soil alive.
The gardener must handle the plants respectfully and ensuring their engraftment.
The natural shape of trees and shrubs must be respected, making only targeted and measured adjustments.
The goal is to ensure that the garden takes on the desired appearance over the course of two or three years from planting.
The skills of the gardener
In Italy there is no defined course of study for the profession of gardener.
There are very good schools, such as the Agricultural School of the Park of Monza, which organize courses aimed at training professionals working in the field of ornamental greenery.
Unfortunately, however, few gardeners have an academic training that has prepared them to carry out this profession.
In many cases it is thought that it is enough to equip yourself with a pair of shears to be able to become gardeners.
It’s not like that.
Although the gardener is a practical job, experience alone is not enough to be able to carry it out correctly.
The experience transmitted by experienced gardeners to the youngsters is a mechanical teaching if it is not supported by adequate theoretical preparation.
Often long-term gardeners make mistakes that they are not aware of, and that they pass on to the less experienced ones. .
This is largely due to the fact that in the past people who was first a farmer became a gardener.
Practices borrowed from agriculture have therefore moved on to the field of gardening, with which they have little to do.
For this reason it happens to witness incorrect pruning of ornamental plants, to which typical methods of fruit growing are applied.
The competent gardener must possess the basics of agronomy and botany.
It is necessary to know the physiology of plants, their methods of defense, the times of year in which they are more or less vulnerable, to avoid damaging them by performing wrong operations at the wrong time.
The prepared gardener must therefore focus on correct agronomic practices and good management of plant elements.
This is possible only if he combines a good theoretical preparation with the experience gained in the field.
To avoid making mistakes, it is a good idea to inquire about the training path followed by the gardener to whom we are addressing, and choose accordingly.
