Landscape Gardening Questions and Answers

Answer: C

The key gives 25 to 30 kg per hectare for the seed rate of Cynodon dactylon (Bermuda grass). I could not find a source with the figure, so this rests on the key.

5-10 kg is lower, and 35-40 kg is higher; ‘15-20 g’ is a very small amount per hectare and cannot be a seed rate for a lawn.

The figure is the quantity of seed needed to sow a hectare of lawn. Bermuda grass is also planted by stolons and sods, and the seed rate refers only to sowing by seed. The very small figure in the second option is in grams, not kilograms, which is why it cannot be a hectare rate.

Answer: A

The serious pests of lawns are ants, termites and root grubs, which feed on roots and damage the turf from below, and they are the key's answer.

Shoot borers, jassids and leaf rollers attack crops with leaves and shoots; mealy bugs and scales are minor; and red spider mites and sawflies are not main lawn pests.

Ants, termites and root grubs live in the soil and damage the roots of the grass, causing brown dead patches. This soil-living group is the one the question calls serious, while borers and leaf rollers are pests of crops with stems.

Answer: C

The key gives bubbler irrigation. A bubbler delivers water at a low rate to a small basin around a tree or shrub, which suits individual plants in a landscape. I could not find a source ranking the options, so this rests on the key.

Flood irrigation wastes water, and drip and micro-sprinklers are also used in gardens but are not the one named by the key.

Answer: C

The key gives lifestyle: city parks reflect the beauty and lifestyle of the city. I could not find the source text of this sentence, so the answer rests on the official key.

Pride, nature and cleanliness would also read naturally in the blank, so the question is not decided by grammar, and the key is kept because nothing shows another option to be right. A city park is a public space where people spend leisure time, which is the idea behind the key's word.

Answer: D

Emitting a foul odour is not a good characteristic of a grass. A good lawn grass is soft to touch, quick growing and cold resistant.

A smell would make the lawn unpleasant to use.

A good lawn grass is soft, quick-growing so that it recovers from wear, and hardy against cold and heat. A foul odour would make the lawn unpleasant, so it is not a desirable feature.

Answer: D

The key gives sweeping. After mowing, the cut grass is removed from the lawn by sweeping, which clears the clippings and keeps the surface clean. I could not find a source that defines the four terms for lawn care, so this rests on the key.

Mowing is the cutting of the grass itself, raking loosens the surface, and scraping removes thatch or levels the ground.

After mowing the clippings lie on the lawn and are swept up and removed, which keeps the grass clean and avoids a layer of thatch. The key calls this removal sweeping.

Answer: A

A botanical garden is the important feature in the landscaping of an educational institution, because it supports teaching and research with labelled plants.

A sunken garden, public garden and miniature garden are decorative or recreational features.

A botanical garden gives the students and staff plants to study and identify, which fits an educational institution better than a public garden or a decorative sunken or miniature garden.

Answer: B

The primary function of a traffic island is safety: it separates and guides traffic streams and gives pedestrians a place of refuge at crossings.

Beauty, maintaining traffic flow and giving direction are secondary functions.

A traffic island is a raised area on a road that guides vehicles and gives a refuge to pedestrians, and the plantings on it must not block the view of drivers. Safety is its primary purpose.

Answer: B

Early morning is the best time to irrigate lawns, since the water soaks in before the heat, little is lost to evaporation, and the leaves dry in the sun, which lowers fungal disease.

Noon wastes water, evening leaves the grass wet through the night and invites disease, and late night is not practical.

Watering in the early morning lets the leaf blades dry out during the day, so the turf is not left wet through the night, when fungal diseases spread.

Answer: C

The key gives 200 to 300 g per square metre of lime to correct acidity in lawns. I could not confirm the figure from a source, so this rests on the key.

50-100 g is too little to correct acidity, and the larger rates, 550-850 g, are more than the key allows.

Lime raises the pH of acid soil. The key gives 200 to 300 g per square metre for lawns, and the rates of 550-850 g are above it.