4.4 GARDENING AND LANDSCAPING LANDSCAPE According to the , the term refers to an area whose characteristics are the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors. In other words, it consists of the geographical features that are characteristic of a particular area, and, at the same time, it is characteristic of the people who made it. For this reason, we can have natural or cultural landscapes. European Landscape Convention 1 landscape MORE It is the first international treaty which promotes the protection, management and planning of European landscapes and organises European co-operation on landscape issues. 1 Natural landscape A is made up of different such as mountains, hills, plains and highlands, lakes, streams, soils and natural vegetation. A desert landscape, for instance, usually indicates sandy soil and few deciduous trees, but even desert landscapes can vary: the hilly sand dunes of the Sahara desert landscape are very different from the landscape of the Mojave Desert of the American Southwest. natural landscape landforms, cactus-dotted Mojave desert Cultural landscape A is a landscape that people have modified: people and the plants they grow, the animals they care for, and the structures they build, make up cultural landscapes , which can be as different as a vast cattle ranch in Argentina or the urban landscape of Tokyo, Japan. The growth of technology has increased our ability to change a natural landscape. An example of human impact on landscape can be seen along the coastline of the Netherlands: water from the North Sea was pumped out of certain areas, later used for farming and protected from water with and cultural landscape 1 dams ditches. DO Do you know any cultural landscapes protected by UNESCO in Italy? 1 Landscape policy It is important to establish a policy stating general principles, strategies and guidelines for the protection, management and planning of landscapes in order to maintain the significant features of a landscape justified by its heritage value derived from its natural configuration and human activity. This is where garden and landscape design fits in, since it deals with the development and decorative planting of gardens, grounds, parks, and other types of areas. It is one of the decorative arts and is allied to architecture, city planning, and horticulture. Efforts to design gardens and to preserve and develop green open space in and around cities are efforts to maintain contact with the original rural landscape and create continuity in space with the structural urban landscapes. yards,