Hwang: It will take some time before people can accept landscape that is allowed to grow naturally
Source: Hwang Yun Hye/NUS
Hwang’s pilot project, called ‘From Lawn to Forest Garden’, is a 2,500 sq m garden that was fenced up and left to grow without human intervention for two years
Hwang Yun Hye is researching how low-maintenance landscaping can help reduce costs for property developers and homeowners. According to Hwang, an assistant professor for the master programme of landscape architecture at the National University of Singapore’s Department of Architecture, it takes about $144,000 a year to mow the lawn at the 50ha Kent Ridge campus.
Hwang’s pilot project called “From Lawn to Forest Garden” on a 2,500 sq m site beside NUS’s Ventus Building on Kent Ridge Drive demonstrates how a landscape design that requires minimal maintenance has benefited the university by being less labour-intensive in terms of mowing or weeding. In the past, the site had just grass and several Tembusu trees. Even then, it required mowing and weeding every fortnight.
Hwang decided to fence it up and let nature take its course without human intervention. After two years, when the fences were removed, Hwang went in to weed out aggressive plant species to prevent overcrowding. Flowering and fruiting plants were protected and encouraged to grow to provide a food source for fauna. The garden was then left to grow spontaneously over time.
A 70m boardwalk was later added to allow visitors to view the plant and animal habitats in the garden. The management of the garden is limited to periodic maintenance of its perimeter to make it visually attractive. Dillenia suffruticosa, a plant that traps water and encourages mosquito breeding is also removed, and overhanging branches are pruned back from the boardwalk.
“It will take some time and public awareness before people can accept landscape that is allowed to grow naturally,” says Hwang. “However, the lower maintenance cost will prove to be attractive to homeowners.”
Her pilot project serves as an ecological stepping stone between Kent Ridge Forest and Clementi Woodland Park, she adds. It has become a natural refuge for animals such as a pair of spotted owls, which are critically endangered in Singapore. The garden has also become an outdoor laboratory for students and researchers and allows policymakers to observe the feasibility of implementing similar projects, she says.
The project won the International Federation of Landscape Architects’ Nature Conservation award 2017.
Prior to coming to Singapore in 2009, Hwang was design director at SOMC Environmental Design and Landscape Corporation in South Korea. In 2007, she was selected “Design Leader of Next Generation (6th)” by the Korean Ministry of Commerce and Korean Institute of Design Promotion. Hwang is also an accredited member of the Singapore Institute of Landscape Architects, the Asian Cultural Landscape Association and the American Society of Landscape Architecture.
Hwang obtained her post professional master’s degree in landscape architecture from Harvard University in 2009 before joining the NUS Department of Architecture.
She is one of five judges on the panel for the inaugural EdgeProp Excellence Awards Singapore. She believes the awards will lead to better landscape design in real estate. “Others will study and try to outdo the winners,” she says. “That will influence the development of landscape design.”
Source: Hwang Yun Hye/NUS
The perimeter of the garden is maintained periodically to make it visually attractive
Source: Hwang Yun Hye/NUS
The garden has become an outdoor laboratory for students and researchers
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This article, written by Lin Zhiqin, appeared in EdgeProp Pullout, Issue 799 (Oct 2, 2017)