Ebbsfleet Public Realm Planting Guide

Use this guidance to inform the specification of trees and planting in your public realm project, and embed a viable management strategy for planting that can be sustained into the future.

How to use the planting guidance

The guidance is intended to be used in steps 2 and 3 of the public realm design process, and in conjunction with;

Section 2 : Landscape Character Overview Section 4 : Exemplary Public Realm Designs

For example, the typical plans for each of the 6 public realm typologies provide design guidance on the appropriate location, arrangement and quantity of trees and understorey planting. This guidance is then further developed in this chapter to clarify the vision, the application of the planting design principles, and technical considerations for the soft landscape within the public realm.

Items considered within this soft landscape strategy include street trees, understorey planting, and rain gardens.

The planting strategy is further developed through additional guidance outlining the technical challenges and the management and maintenance requirements for the hard landscape.

Applying landscape narratives

The section begins by translating the 4 landscape narratives defined in Section 2 into a series of planting design principles.

This includes detailed advice on how the ‘Garden of England’ can be translated into a family of design elements for neighbourhood parks,

Delivering high performing planting

Seven general design principles for all planting summarises the key aspects of the evaluation framework that have been formative to the development of the planting strategy.

This section includes detailed advice on how the ‘Garden of England’ can be translated into a family of design elements for neighbourhood parks, how trees are to be integrated into the various levels of streets, and how pictorial planting and rain gardens can play a role in the understorey planting of the public realm.

In addition, this section is supported by recommendations for the integration of vertical and roof landscapes.

Technical guidance

The final part of this section focuses on providing technical guidance for planting within Ebbsfleet. In this part, advice is given on key technical items such as soil conditions, soil permeability, the use of water, biodiversity, micro-climate, tree planting, and tree pit drainage. Additionally, two typical details for tree pits have been provided. One detail provides guidance on tree planting within the soft landscape while the other provides guidance on tree planting within the hard landscape.

Management and maintenance for planting

The chapter concludes with a series of pages outlining the management and maintenance requirements for soft landscape. The management and maintenance requirements are organised by planting type in a series of tables that provide a general description, location of application, life expectancy, outline maintenance / management specification, and an anticipated frequency.

It is expected that these management and maintenance tables are first reviewed in step 2 of the design process. At this stage the design team should review and confirm the life expectancy and management requirements align with the design guidance for each typology within their project area. Then in step 3, a more thorough review and analysis of these tables should be carried out as part of the establishment of the planting palette. It is expected that during this step the team evaluates and demonstrates the design meets the maintenance and management requirements through the analysing of alternative options. Further details of how this fits into the overall design process can be found in Chapter 1 of this document.