Urban Landscape Solutions and its sister company New Horizen Nursery, undertake major rehabilitation and environmental projects. The diversity of the sites spans from wetlands in the Winelands, to the mountains in the little Karoo.
Rehabilitation and environmental projects include:
Veld rehabilitation is the process of restoring the unique vegetation of an area. The goal being to restore a similar cover to the original endemic veld flora, by means of planting propagated plant material collected from the vicinity of a site and/or by means of re-introducing endemic seeds through use of a hydroseeder.
All projects involve botanical assessments and environmental impact studies in order to assess and specify what needs to be done to ensure minimal environmental damage, and to make certain that the original vegetation is rehabilitated to the site.
'Search and Rescue' is the process of 'searching' for plants on a site where earthworks are to take place, in order to 'rescue' the plant from imminent destruction.
Plants are removed from their original location and either transplanted to 'safe' areas or removed from site and taken to New Horizen Nursery where they are planted into containers, to be returned to site after all construction work is completed, when the site is ready for rehabilitation.
The removal of plants is executed strictly according to government and environmental regulations and laws.
A botanical assessment of which plants can be grown from seed, cuttings or splits is done first.
The collection of seed for rehabilitation and hydroseeding projects consists of two components:
Seed collection normally takes place in the immediate vicinity of the site to be re-established. This is to conserve the genetics of the endemic plant growth, a very important factor to ensure viable sustainability and integrity of environmental rehabilitation work in specific fragile environments. Collection of seed for hydroseeding is a lengthy process, as seeds are ready for harvesting at different times of the year. Environmental factors need to be kept in consideration such as wind, rain and the endemic wildlife that influence the availability.
This collected seed is brought back to New Horizen Nursery where it is cleaned, sorted and kept in appropriate conditions which are particular to a plant species. Collection of seed for 'growing on' purposes depends on plant species specified as per the botanical assessment. All seed harvesting is executed strictly according to government and environmental regulations and laws.
The collection of plant material to be propagated and grown, and then returned to site as well-established plants also happens in the immediate vicinity of the site to be rehabilitated. As with the seed collection, this is to ensure the conservation of the genetics of the endemic vegetation.
The collected plant material is taken to New Horizen Nursery where the propagation process begins. Cuttings are made and rooted, after which they are planted into appropriate containers to be grown into well-rooted specimens for their re-establishment.
Species collected are specified as per the botanical assessment, and the collection of plant material is done strictly according to government and environmental regulations and laws.
Hydroseeding is a planting or sowing process that uses a slurry of seed and other components. This process is used to reintroduce endemic seed collected from the site. With the use of a Finn Hydroseeder, this mixture is applied as the final stage, for example, after roadworks are completed and the saved topsoil from site has been returned to the area.
This mixture consists of a combination of seed collected from site (pre-soaked in a smoke seed primer), organic fertiliser, water soluble polymer (soil binder), water absorbent polymer and microbial inoculants. The Hydroseeder has an agitator in the tank to prevent heavier seeds from sinking and lighter seeds from floating. This ensures an effective and even spread of the seed mixture all over areas to be sprayed.
This involves the spreading of plant mulch that has been chipped. This mulch retains seed which will propagate into young plant growth, as well as serving to keep in moisture.
Services offered by New Horizen Nursery include contract growing, thus ensuring plants are ready for a specific project. This includes the growing of plants needed for nearly all biomes found in the Cape Peninsula and the wider Western Cape.
Urban Landscape Solutions and New Horizen Nursery are proud to be undertaking projects of this scale and significance, and continue to work at rehabilitating and protecting the environment.
If you'd like a QUOTE or some more information, please contact us +27 (0)21 551 7010
(Off. Hrs) or email us anytime on info@urbanlandscape.co.za
Lourens River flood 
Cogmanskloof Rehabilitation
Plant search
Seed collection
