Drought-resilient orchard and meadows
Small plots of the Gavoglio park are used as cultivation areas using drip irrigation systems. Different fruit trees grow in these plots and they are considered social spaces where people can stay with nature and obtain its benefits. The orchards help to create an area of cohesion and social sharing, while they also have an important role in Mediterranean cities in terms of the sustainability of urban ecosystems.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
An orchard with low irrigation and maintenance needs has been chosen for the park. In order to allow the usability of the areas, a system of ramps and terraces was built by a system of gabions. The fruit trees are placed in a 100x100x100 cm hole filled with topsoil. The trees are structurally maintained by wooden supports that help to stabilise them - the stakes should be driven into the plant hole before planting to a depth of 50-80 cm, one stake if the plant is a shrub or tree less than 1.8 m and 2-3 stakes in other cases. Since the orchard can be assimilated to an agricultural crop, denser planting distance (5x5 m) has been chosen.
Potential for replication and upscaling
The goal of urban orchards is the one called 'tree to table', that is the direct passage from tree to table for a healthier diet and with economic repercussions in support of some of the most disadvantaged categories. But the intentions go much further as it gives the green not only an aesthetic value, but also a productive one - an aspect that had never been considered until now. It can also be considered a social experiment, given that the urban public orchard was born as a shared space where citizens, usually from the neighbourhood, take care of the trees or shrubs directly from plantation to harvest, sometimes even going further with the management of cooking workshops.
