Page 48 - Hong Kong Green School Guide

3. Green School Guide - 3.1 Green School Sites
Hong Kong Green School Guide 46
• Drainage provision for planting areas;
• Trees with deep and wide roots may be difficult to be planted in existing
school grounds without intruding existing surfaces;
• Some plants may require extra care or pruning by a professional gardener;
• Frequent irrigation can be labour intensive; and
• Extra cost may be required to avoid disturbance to underground utilities.
c. Solutions
• Select area with sufficient daylight and avoid area with long hours of shading;
• Assess patterns of passenger flow and plan greenery to encourage frequent
contact with the plants;
• Planting densities, selection of species and method of irrigation can be
assessed by a Landscape Architect and/or Landscape Contractor;
• For plants requiring deeper soil, raised planters can be considered. The
required soil depth should be evaluated by a Landscape Architect and/or
Landscape Contractor as per plant species;
• Select native, hardy and drought-tolerant plant species that requires low
maintenance (such as occasional pruning only);
• Select small trees with less aggressive root systems or shrubs to fit in the
space;
• For more information on irrigation, please refer to Water Efficient Irrigation
section in this Guide;
• For existing schools plan to grow additional planting on grounds, Authorised
Person (AP) should be consulted with regard to compliance to building
regulations, such as Code of Practice for Fire Safety in Buildings 2011;
• For planting on ground, automatic irrigation system is not recommended
for school site as the cost of maintenance the system is considered higher
than manual watering. However, automatic irrigation system is more useful
for roof green situation where access to the planting area is more difficult.
Please refer to Water Efficient Irrigation section for more information; and
• Check position of underground utilities before deciding on planting areas and
types.
d. Professional Help
• Authorised Person (AP) – Appendix A (2)
• Landscape Architect – Appendix A (3)
• Registered Structural Engineer (RSE) – Appendix A (4)
• Landscape Contractor – Appendix B (1)