Carpi Foundation: The redevelopment of the Santacroce Park
On 14 September, in the beautiful Sala dei Giuristi at the Palazzo della Ragione in Bergamo Alta, the Carpi Foundation and the redevelopment of Parco Santacroce were discussed.
Mrs. Zaffignani, writer and godmother of the birtgarden and natural garden, and Mrs. Elisabetta Pozzetti, landscape designer and editor-in-chief of Villegiardini, presented the Carpi Foundation and the transformation of the Santacroce Park from peri-city green to a city park.
The presentation was possible thanks to the will of Arketipos and the entire organization of Masters of the Landscape 2022.
26 hectares of green space purchased by the Carpi savings bank foundation in the south-west of Carpi near the center, but also at the motorway exit.
Carpi Foundation: Objectives of the transformation of the Santacroce Park
In 2019 it was decided to redevelop the park. We started from an already important plant heritage: 3000 plants.
The Santacroce Park was assigned to the President of the foundation and was for agricultural use. With this redevelopment, the aim was to amplify the social vocation of greenery.
First objective of the redevelopment of the Santacroce Park: Economic sustainability
The first important thing that had to be done is to make it work: without this step it is unfortunately not possible to do anything.
Economic sustainability at the service of recreational spaces.
Second objective of the redevelopment of the Santacroce Park: Encourage planting
The second objective was to encourage planting, bringing them from 3000 to 10,000 even with essences of important dimensions.
To respect the budgets, they used volunteering and created a super-condominium for volunteering in Carpi, a building made available to the municipality where all the associations were brought together so that they were also able to benefit from interactions useful to all of them by combining intent and strength. This initiative contributed to the creation of the Park.
The intention is to restore the plain forest that already exists in that area.
The fruit trees used are the forgotten ones. In fact, they found a company that cultivated them and chose them to “cultivate” the memory in addition to the plant. They do not need treatments and have very good fruits. 70 plants for Forgotten Food.
Even the vegetable garden, when inserted, will follow these principles. Young and old will be involved in its creation.
These are the arguments that create a common thread with the manifestation of the Masters of the Landscape that is taking place.
Mrs. Zaffignani deals with the interaction between soil, plants and climate. It tells us about an avenue of plane trees and one of the existing lime trees to be preserved.
The focus of the redevelopment of the Santacroce Park
The Park will have 5 focuses: the forest, the water, the native mixed hedge and the orchard.
The Wood will be an example of a plain wood, as already mentioned with the presence of the Farnia – the oak par excellence!
The mixed tree-lined hedge will consist of hawthorn, dog rose, hazel, lantana, privet, laburnum, blackthorn, dogwood etc.
In this regard, you can learn more about the subject with this video https://youtu.be/WGFUpuYHakY and on the site iscapeproject.eu
Santacroce Carpi Park: Ecological choices
The links inserted above will give you information on the studies carried out in Europe on hedges that absorb pollution.
The hedges we are talking about are on the edge of the crops and represent an ecological corridor for the animals that are thus able to move.
The hedges must be made up of high but also low essences.
This type of composition is a shelter for nesting (for example the Prunus spinosa) and food, with autumn berries. Flowers in spring, on the other hand, are used by insects and insects are food for birds and other animals.
In addition, natural ditches have been preserved that collect water and in which we have seen aquatic plants settle independently.
The lawn is also full of life! the design choice was not to cut them all, but only the walkways to allow children to enjoy the tall grass and flowery meadows in spring.
We have identified an Italian company that has prepared and studied special mixtures of Italian seeds both for the areas of full sun and for those more shaded by the foliage of the trees. The new flowery meadow area, which covers an area of ​​over 15,000 square meters, was sown in March 2022. The complete flowering of the lawn, being composed of annual species and perennial species, will take place no earlier than two-three years, the minimum time necessary for the formation of a flowering meadow of wild species.
Mrs. Rita Baraldi of the CSR of Bologna will now explain to us what are the Mitigation Potentials of this SantaCroce Park operation.
Santacroce Carpi Park: Mitigation potentials
The first potential is the absorption of CO2, the second is the absorption and capture of atmospheric pollutants
Carbon dioxide continues to rise and is a greenhouse gas which is jointly responsible for the increase in temperature.
Europe wears the black jersey in the improvement compared to 2009.
The Po Valley is called a gas chamber. Why? Because it is closed between mountains and a sea which is however closed.
Medical studies have also been concerned with the benefit of green in public health for cardiovascular diseases.
In New York, the Community Gardens (born from them in the 1970s) have given a significant reduction in abortions.
In an area of ​​synergy with the natural world, cut plants that throw back must be facilitated.
The project for the redevelopment of the Santacroce Carpi Park
But who actually carried out the executive drawings of the project and followed the construction work?
Studio Rocco Giardini in Brescia, specialized in the landscape design of private and collective green spaces for a long time, was in charge of the executive drawings and the direction of the works.
We leave, thanking them, that it is Rocco Srl itself to talk to us about their fundamental contribution to the work:
Starting from a preliminary project, carried out by Vivai Mati in collaboration with Dr. Zaffignani and approved by the CRC Foundation, our firm took care of making it executive.
To do this, after several inspections and photographic surveys, it was necessary to carry out an in-depth study of the flows and the positioning of the various structures provided within the Park such as kiosks, greenery theater, vegetable garden and educational areas, parking areas, all in the respect for existing trees that are already well developed.
The executive project was born from a synergy of professionals, landscape architects, agronomists, architects, set designers and engineers of our staff who, in addition to the design of the green, followed the plant engineering part, from irrigation and lighting to the study of materials for natural and draining flooring. , entering a very accurate level of detail.
In the design phase, some precautions were taken to preserve and promote biodiversity, such as the inclusion of wetlands on the sides of the irrigation canal and the maintenance of large areas with unmown flowering rustic lawns.
The realization of the redevelopment works of the Park
The first construction phase of the Santacroce Park, pending the conclusion of the authorization process for the change of land use, focused on the planting of plants and shrubs.
For this first work step we have carefully chosen the plants in the nursery, using only potted trees and native species.
During the construction phases, with the collaboration of specialized topographers, we traced on the field all the executive project carried out, from the paths to the positioning of the main structures and plants.
Later we followed all the phases of the planting; for each intervention area, the characteristics of the soil and any measures to improve the planting site were assessed during the excavation, in order to ensure optimal living conditions for the plants. Our technicians also took care of detecting the biometric data of each individual plant, then collected in a database provided to the CNR for studies on the absorption of carbon dioxide.
THE ADVICE OF THE WORLD OF THE GARDEN
If you want to deepen the discussion of the Community Garden, you will find a lot of material on the net and you can find out from your Municipality on what its policies are in this regard and (why not) the green professionals could also propose solutions to the Municipality.
Now on horseback! Work awaits us! Our new wonderful outdoor space is about to be born!
GOOD WORK and … if you have any questions please write to info@mondodelgiardino.com
Sources of images: the first photo is taken from google maps; the plan of the park from above is taken from modenatoday.it; the images of the project are taken from temponews.it;