Parks: Design and Management

This is a book about designing, planning, managing, publicizing, and maintaining a truly outstanding park. It's the first work to integrate all the diverse aspects necessary to succeed: from planning the kinds of diversified spaces today's park users require... to galvanizing public support... to selecting low-maintenance plants and trees.
Whether you're a landscape architect, an urban planner, or a park manager, you'll find in this single, comprehensive reference precisely the information you're looking for - and have been unable to find anywhere else! Among the subjects covered: park-user issues surrounding traffic islands, parking lots, park trails, ballfields, and bridges; playground safety issues, including compliance with national standards from CPSC and ASTM as well as accessibility requirements mandated by ADA; master plans for a variety of different park designs - all of which can be modified for existing site conditions; descriptions of tree, shrub, ornamental grass, and turf maintenance and care techniques - with advice on pruning and listings of recommended annuals and perennials; solutions to common vandalism problems, including the most up-to-date techniques of graffiti removal; advice on hiring, training, placing, and supervising both professional and volunteer staff - with a special emphasis on motivation, recognition, and retention; an overview of public relations programs, from press releases... to free events... to cable TV; examples of successful urban parks: how they were designed, how they are maintained, and why they work; unique tips on wildlife management and pest control; and everything you need to know about infrastructure - from finding cost effective ways of repairing aging parks in aging cities to creating the kind of new infrastructure guaranteed to last well into the next century.

Leonard E. Phillips is currently Superintendent of the Park and Tree Division for Wellesley, Massachusetts.