The aim of this project was to develop a more effective and efficient method for selecting plant species that will produce a greater planting success strike rate that will also lead to better planting design decisions by engineers, road planners, landscape architects and horticulturalists involved in landscape development projects in South Australia. This project seeks to research and evaluate contemporary medium to large scale planting design applications in South Australia as to the success and failure of plant selection and adaptability. The outcome has been the development of a computer aided plant selection software package (SAVEG) that provides a more effective and efficient method for selecting plant species and to assist groups with limited local plant knowledge in selecting plants for specific situations that are unique to Adelaide and its surrounding areas. SAVEG has been designed to perform a number of basic functions to achieve this: (1) Provide a user friendly computer aided plant selection tool to enable a more informed selection of plant species for planting design projects determined by planting design outcomes rather than on economic or scientific outcomes; (2) Provide detailed information on indigenous and resident exotic plant species in South Australia; (3) Create a list of plants indigenous to a particular area within South Australia via online mapping facilities; (4) Provide a facility to document information through printout and report making functions; (5) Provide a useful teaching mechanism for both secondary and tertiary levels. (A)
Samenvatting