The most prominent change in the field of global garden management recently is that public gardens and botanical gardens are shifting from simple landscape maintenance to climate-adaptive operational management systems. Public green spaces in major cities across Europe, North America, and Australia are showing a trend of adopting key maintenance strategies—such as redesigning irrigation schedules, managing soil organic matter, using evaporation-reducing mulching, and increasing the proportion of drought-tolerant plants—to respond to high temperatures, precipitation imbalances, and stricter water usage regulations.
Background of these changes lies the dual challenge of mitigating the urban heat island effect and addressing water scarcity. In major metropolitan areas such as London, Barcelona, Melbourne, and California, as summer heat and droughts become recurring, multi-layered planting and low-watering garden management suited to local climates are being evaluated as more sustainable practices than high-maintenance, lawn-centered green spaces. There is also a growing recognition that the success of garden management is directly linked not only to maintaining aesthetics but also to urban resilience, reducing public costs, and preserving ecological functions.
From an operational perspective, the refinement of water management techniques is key. Recently, public garden management agencies have been expanding management methods such as adjusting watering volumes based on soil moisture conditions, suspending watering based on rainfall forecasts, and differentiating watering according to planting characteristics by zone. This is advantageous for reducing water waste and alleviating plant stress compared to uniform sprinkler-centered management, and it also has the effect of shifting the response standards of maintenance personnel to be more data-driven.
Soil and pest management are also being reorganized alongside this. As climate stress increases, plants become more vulnerable to pests and diseases; therefore, recent garden management emphasizes preventive care that combines soil structure improvement, composting, drainage stabilization, tree vitality restoration, and monitoring of early signs, rather than chemical responses. Particularly in botanical gardens and large public gardens, where the conservation value of collected plants is significant, zone management and stricter inspection cycles to prevent the spread of pests and diseases have become key pillars of operation.
The spread of biodiversity-centered management techniques is also a recent trend. In countries such as the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands, public garden operations are moving beyond exhibition-style management focused on long-lasting flowering plants to incorporate maintenance methods that consider pollinating insects and habitats for native species. Adjusting mowing cycles, preserving fallen leaves and some dead trees, and expanding the planting of native species are interpreted not as measures to reduce management intensity, but as active management aimed at maintaining ecological functions.
This trend has significant implications for the Korean market as well. Domestic local governments, public institutions, and landscape operators need to re-examine their existing uniform lawn and shrub management systems in light of the recurring summer torrential rains and heatwaves. By integrating water-saving irrigation facilities, maintenance focused on soil improvement, climate-adapted planting designs, and early pest and disease monitoring systems, it is possible to simultaneously aim for reduced operating costs, maintained landscape quality, carbon reduction, and the preservation of biodiversity. Recently, the core of global garden management has been shifting from more frequent maintenance to more precise maintenance.
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