Archive record · Method record · 2000s · Hong Kong and Shanghai
Great trees fail in poor ground. What made the Disneyland Hong Kong and Shanghai landscapes work was not just the specimen trees. It was the engineered ground beneath them, delivered at civil-works scale on an immovable programme. This record rebuilds the landform method.
The method, distilled
- Nine kilometres of berms constructed in Hong Kong, much of it through the wet season.
- Cores of decomposed granite, shaped and compacted to hold form.
- Perforated subsoil drainage through every berm, with J-channel drains around each one.
- Topsoil mix placed two metres thick, a rooting profile designed for trees, not turf.
- Temporary hydro-seeding for erosion control while planting caught up.
What Shanghai added
Shanghai carried the approach further as an international showcase: new technology, a higher grade of trees and plants, improved root-ball management, better lifting and installation technique, and integrated pest management in public places. On these projects, landscaping drove the engineering rather than the other way around.
Why this record matters
The lesson travels to every project we supply: budget for the ground, not just the trees. Our full theme park story is in the companion record on character and hero trees.
The record, in photographs
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