A vegetable screen is not a “screenshot”

In the projects we work on, it is common to propose plant screens as corrective or compensatory measures that involve plantations, revegetation or reforestation. Regardless of whether one term is more appropriate than another, the objectives of these measures are always twofold:

• Improve the landscape integration of the project.
• Improve the habitat for species that have been identified as affected by the project (we will see this in the next post)
  We are going to talk about plant screens for landscape integration.

Unfortunately, this measure is often limited to repeating plantations of species that are always the same, because they guarantee rooting and are economic. But this means using a very low number of species, which limits the effectiveness of the measure for landscape integration and does not serve as an opportunity for biodiversity. In any natural forest or scrub, we will find dozens of species, allowing a complex network of life to be established. And for that we must design the measures.

How can we run this plant screen effectively?

To improve the landscape integration of the project, we give you below, some insights.

There are two main situations:

• hide an element of the project (photovoltaic panels, fences, buildings, etc.).
• protect surfaces against erosion.

To hide elements, we must choose species that grow quickly and densely. This usually involves using broom Retama sphaerocarpa, if we accompany the broom with some kind of Quercus (Q. rotundifolia, coccifera or faginea, whichever is good in the area) in the long term we will have given the screen naturalness, it will take decades for those feet to grow, but the result will be much better and with the vegetation we cannot be in a hurry. Those few feet of trees will not affect photovoltaic panels, since they will need decades to be several meters tall.

If conditions permit, poplars or poplars (Populus alba or P. nigra), can be a great option, but we must get feet of natural origin, not ornamental or timber varieties, this is not easy. Nor should they be disdained in warm areas, species such as Ficus carica or Celtis australis.

In addition to these species, we must add shrubs, Pistacia lentiscus, Arbutus unedo, Phillyrea angustifolia or Crataegus monogyna, Rubus sp, fruit-producing species, those that exist in the project area. We will be able to make them a help for fauna and, in the long term, a source of seeds. We must remember that we must have a long-term vision with vegetation.

And we must also include other lower thickets. Here, above all, we must consider adding some legumes that are good in the area, in addition to the cold drinks that are usually included. Like legumes Coronilla, Genistas or Dorycnium they are species that are easy to get in nurseries, inexpensive and that will give richness to the mix. And like lips, rosemary Rosmarinus officinalis, Lavandula stoechas, L. latifolia or Thymus sp.

Nor can grass species be missing, which will normally be Stipa tenacissima or Lygeum spartum, because they are the ones that are available in nurseries.

The ultimate goal of an effective plant screen

In the end, we should propose a variety of species that are no less than 7 or 8 so that we favor a minimum diversity of species, structure, phenology and functions. It is not a question of creating green walls, but rather functional, resilient elements of the landscape that provide complexity and are therefore capable of encouraging the presence of other species of birds, mammals, arthropods...

With these measures, we will ensure that the environmental integration of photovoltaic plants is real and helps to preserve the biodiversity and heterogeneity of the agricultural landscape, which for decades has been standardising and losing value.