Landscape Sketch Plan

The Watson Micro-forest team is excited to present the draft Landscape Sketch Plan prepared by Edwina Robinson from The Climate Factory with advice from various experts including University of Canberra Play expert, Cathy Hope, on nature play aspects and Adam Shipp on indigenous plantings. Scroll down to see…

How the Plan was prepared

The brief, as set out in our crowdfunding campaign, was to design a micro-forest of 1,500 native plants underpinned by water-harvesting to reduce the need for irrigation. The micro-forest would incorporate a forest classroom, nature play, seating, Indigenous bushfood, and opportunities for signage.

At our Community Design Workshop on 31 March 2021, participants shared ideas for the design based on the themes of education, habitat, nature play, Indigenous culture, maintenance and inclusivity. There was significant support for including smaller and larger meeting places, meaningful indigenous engagement, and signage linking to digital resources. Bird habitat, water play, tunnels and accessibility for all ages also received a lot of support. The workshop report is available here.

The Draft Plan is also inspired by Majura Pre-School and Primary School students who created art to design the micro-forest. The students were particularly fond of creek beds, bridges, shelters and things to climb. Some of them wrote quite specific directions that left us in no doubt of what they envisaged (see pictures below)!

About the Plan

Features

The Landscape Sketch Plan features patches of densely planted vegetation (the ‘micro-forests’), a medium-sized open area surrounded by boulder and timber bench seating which could serve as a forest classroom or other gathering space, natural play elements (including a timber boardwalk, stepping logs, ‘campsite’, dry creek bed, angled climbing ladder, concrete tunnel, and shop-front), deciduous trees for winter sun and summer shade, a picnic bench, timber seating and informal rock seating, bushfood feature gardens, and pollinator beds.

Safety and accessibility

It has been designed in anticipation of TCCS requirements (ie the Government body responsible for approving the Plan) including the 3m wide mowing strips. Safety has been taken into account, for example by ensuring line of sight from various perspectives through the micro-forest area, while still creating semi-enclosed spaces and nooks for people to enjoy - places to ‘hide’ are especially important for children’s play, and Design Workshop participants emphasised the need for some more intimate meeting spaces. The natural play elements are designed to be accessible but also provide important elements of challenge. The open-ended nature of the design allows children and adults of all abilities to choose how they wish to interact with the space.

Maintenance

The Plan is also designed to be low maintenance. Water harvesting and soil improvement techniques will be used to maximise the use of natural rainfall and minimise irrigation. Dense planting, mulch and weed barriers will help keep weeds at bay. Plant selection will focus on hardy, drought tolerant species that don’t need too much attention. A maintenance group will be formed to care for the Micro-forest, with some assistance from the ACT Government (eg to mow grassy areas, and provide top-up mulch).

Budget and staging

Please note that some elements are subject to additional grant funding (applications pending). In particular, nature play features will be prioritised according to available funds. Watson Micro-forest budget information is available here.

Signage linked to online resources is an important component of the micro-forest and will be incorporated at a later date once the Plan is settled. We hope also to offer a free workshop focussed on Indigenous cultural history of the site and featuring bush-food tastings, as well as an Indigenous cleansing ceremony prior to planting. This is subject to a cultural grant funding application currently being considered by the ACT Government.