Public garden development: horticulture, hardscape and irrigation delivered as one contract.

Because plant failure in public landscapes is overwhelmingly a soil and drainage problem rather than a species problem: compacted subgrade left over from construction, poor drainage, and inadequate depth of usable soil. Amending and grading properly before planting is far cheaper than replacing plants twice.

By site conditions (climate, soil, sun and shade, exposure, available water) and by the maintenance capacity the owner will realistically have. Native and locally adapted species reduce water and maintenance demand substantially. A palette that requires intensive irrigation and skilled care will decline as soon as the establishment period ends.

Yes, and it is often the sensible source where a treatment plant is available on or near the site, subject to the water meeting the quality expected for landscape irrigation and to the distribution being kept separate and clearly identified from potable lines. The source has to be settled at design stage because it affects pipe material, filtration and emitter selection.

It is a defined period after planting during which the contractor waters, weeds, prunes, replaces failures and brings the planting to established condition. Plants are alive at handover but not yet independent; without an establishment obligation the failure risk transfers to an owner who has not yet organised maintenance, and losses in the first season are heavy.

The owner (commonly a municipal garden department, an estate or a society) usually through a horticulture maintenance contract. The handover should include the planting schedule, the irrigation layout and controller settings, and a season-by-season maintenance calendar, so that whoever takes over is not guessing at what was installed.

The proportion of hardscape to softscape, the extent and type of irrigation, the size and species of the plant material, lighting, and how much soil correction the site needs. Sites handed over compacted and full of construction debris cost significantly more to prepare, which is why an early site assessment changes the estimate more than the planting plan does.

By delivering horticulture, irrigation and civil works under one responsibility. Split contracts fail where irrigation lines cross paths, where drainage was another party's scope, and where planting waits on hardscape. A single EPC scope removes the interface argument and puts one party accountable for the garden actually growing.