BALI Landscape News Spring 2018 by British Association of Landscape Industries

THE THE OFFICIAL OFFICIAL JOURNAL JOURNAL OFOF THE THE BRITISH BRITISH ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION OFOF LANDSCAPE LANDSCAPE INDUSTRIES INDUSTRIES

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SPRING

2018

Use this button throughout to visit advertiser websites IN TE R AC T I V E ISSUE

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BALI Awards 2018 – Open for entries LATEST NEWS

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CDM Regulations TRAINING & TECHNICAL

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Planting the water garden DESIGNER FOCUS

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Palmstead training academy PRODUCT & AFFILIATE NEWS

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CHAIRMAN’S WELCOME

Dear member

As I reflect on the past quarter there is little doubt that the weather has impacted greatly across the country during that period. After a sustained dry autumn we have certainly filled the reservoirs since the end of November as it has been rain, rain, rain, and, for some, plenty of snow. As I travelled up to York last week by train there was certainly evidence of flooding on the land with plenty of waterlogged fields. Ground conditions on a lot of landscape sites aren’t much better and this will have had an impact on productivity and will inevitably delay some activities. That said, the days are now getting longer; we’ve put January and, as I write, most of February behind us and signs of spring are beginning to show. The weather will improve and the race to get bare-root planting stock in before the season ends will soon begin. Since the New Year I have been working my way around the country visiting the regional AGMs. So far I have been to North Thames, Yorkshire & North East, and East Anglia. It is always great to catch up with a broad cross section of members throughout the regions and good to hear the optimism for the coming year, with the vast majority of members reporting full order books and not enough hours in the day – a far cry from the recessionary years. This, however, creates challenges in meeting client expectations and the demands of juggling workloads in order to succeed. During these times the recruitment and retention of staff becomes massively important; making sure your business has an attractive staff training and development policy and a reward and recognition strategy in place will be crucial to your success. Last week I was proud to attend the inaugural ProLandscaper Business Awards at Canary Wharf in London. As you would expect from BALI Registered Affiliate Eljays44, this was a well run event and BALI members were well represented in the finalists and chosen winners across a number of categories. The awards were set up to highlight and reward the excellence and determination of those running successful businesses within the UK landscaping sector and all the team at Oak View Landscapes were delighted to win the Landscape Company, Turnover > £1m category. I have always been an advocate of industry awards and relevant business awards; they are a great way of benchmarking your business against your peers and competitors – and do not underestimate their value as a recruitment and marketing tool. With that in mind, if you have a suitable project make sure you put plans in place to enter it in this year’s BALI National Landscape Awards!

Finally, I would like to personally welcome all the new BALI members listed on this page. I hope to see as many of you as possible at the regional AGMs and I encourage you to get involved with your regional events. I have always found that the more you put into BALI, the more you will get out of it. Go for it! Best wishes. Paul Downer BALI National Chairman

New members as at 09.02.2018 Registered Contractor South Thames M B Price Construction (T/A Aztec Construction) Grey & Green Landscapes Sunflower Landscapes (T/A Guildford Landscapes) Mud North Thames Earth Designs GardenWebb Midlands Landscape Maintenance Contracts Yorkshire & North East First Light Landscaping

Spring 2018

Group North Thames Resin & Rock T/A Street Tree Care

Registered Affiliate South Thames Any Junk Neograss Honda (UK) Midlands Derbyshire Aggregates East Anglia Barenburg UK Reesink Turfcare UK

Associate Designer South Thames Sarah Plested

Training Provider South Thames Inchbald School of Design South West JNC Safety Services Midlands Dovetail Training East Anglia Red Stag Training North West Morgan Training Services

Revoked Members New Leaf Landscapes Helen Elks-Smith Hampshire Materials Group

BALI Landscape News

CONTENTS Visit website

Welcome

GARDEN STRUCTURES ARCHES • PERGOLAS • OBELISKS FRUIT CAGES • RAISED BEDS & PLANTERS FLOWER SUPPORTS • FENCING • GATES

I always breathe a sigh of relief when February arrives – it’s light at 5 p.m. and those endless short days and long, long nights are finally at an end. The snowdrops are everywhere, the hellebores have punched their way through the dead leaves and vegetation, and all we need now is some warming spring weather to encourage the daffodils to bloom! Having welcomed two new directors to the BALI board last year to represent our designer membership – Marian Boswall MBALI and Rosemary Coldstream MBALI – I am delighted that the Designer Focus section of this edition of Landscape News is considerably larger than usual. Marian and Rosemary start off Designer Focus with a piece explaining their plans to support BALI designers and I hope our designer members will engage with them both in order to get the most from BALI membership.

Editor Denise Ewbank BALI Landscape House Stoneleigh Park Warwickshire CV8 2LG T: 02476 690333 F: 02476 690077 Editorial and News releases ubiquita@btinternet.com

I’m afraid that Darren Taylor, our Marketing and Communications Manager, has failed miserably to get ‘Out & About with BALI’ for this edition of Landscape News. He seems to think that becoming a father to his second child, Finn, in January is some kind of excuse for not contributing his usual articles on his visits to BALI members! If you enjoy reading about your BALI colleagues’ businesses then I apologise unreservedly for this omission. I do have to admit, though, that the latest Taylor offspring is rather gorgeous and it’s not every day we celebrate the arrival of a new baby at Landscape House. Congratulations Darren – all is forgiven!

Copy date for Summer 2018 edition Friday, 4 May

Best wishes.

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Bay Tree Farm - Winner, Residential Landscaping Design category, Northern Design Awards 2017, for Lee Bestall MBALI MSGD

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BALI Landscape News

Spring 2018

CONTENTS

Quarterly Update

Designer Focus

LATEST NEWS

Evidence gathering programme for the Low Pay Commission GREEN-TECH SERVES UP A TREAT FOR BALI AWARD WINNERS AT WIMBLEDON

BALI Registered Affiliate member Green-tech, Headline Sponsor of the BALI National Landscape Awards, held a VIP tour of Wimbledon for the second year running on 15 February. The exclusive event, which was also sponsored by BALI Registered Affiliate member and BALI Awards sponsor ICL Group, suppliers of high quality fertilisers, plant protection products and grass seed, was staged as an extra reward for the 2017 BALI National Landscape Awards’ Grand, Principal, Special and National Award winners, giving them a behindthe-scenes tour hosted by Head of Courts and Horticulture, Neil Stubley. The BALI Registered members represented included the current 2017 BALI Grand Award winner Maylim, Kingston Landscape Group, Outdoor Creations, Nurture Landscapes and Ground Control. BALI’s Marketing and Communications Manager Darren Taylor also attended to support members throughout the day. The event began with an introduction by Green-tech and a 60-minute presentation from Neil Stubley focusing on a typical 12 months at Wimbledon. Along with some fascinating facts about the sheer size and enormity of the operation to get the site ready for the Championships each year, the tour was swiftly followed by a light lunch. Once guests had tasted the delights of Wimbledon’s Michelinstar cuisine, the tour of the grounds commenced, taking in Centre Court, Court 2, the outdoor courts and the television and broadcast centres. The tour culminated with a rooftop view over the famous Henman Hill and Court 1, which is currently a construction zone whilst the £70 million redevelopment of the facility continues in earnest. The Court will also have an outdoor Walled Garden area, due to open in March 2019 and providing new and exciting landscaping and horticultural additions to the site. The event was a great success, giving 2017 Award winners the opportunity to see in person one of the country’s most iconic sporting venues and the world’s only private member grass surface tennis club. If you are a BALI Registered member, entries for the 2018 BALI National Landscape Awards are now open. Submit your scheme online at baliawards.co.uk.

BALI Landscape News

Spring 2018

Your support is needed to help BALI respond The Low Pay Commission will shortly be starting its evidence gathering for 2018. Stakeholder evidence, both written and oral, is a vital part of the Low Pay Commission’s process for recommending rates of the National Minimum Wage(s) and National Living Wage. This year, BALI wants to put forward its members’ views to ensure they are taken into consideration. The Government’s response to the Taylor review published recently gov.uk/government/publications/ government-response-to-the-taylor-review-ofmodern-working-practices confirms that this year the Commission will be asked to consider the impacts of the idea of a premium, i.e. a higher minimum wage for those hours that are not ‘guaranteed’, alongside other ideas that might achieve the same outcome. The Commission is therefore keen to speak to employers, employees and their representatives who could be affected by these policies and they are asking for your support. In particular they are keen to speak to employers, or others, who are aware of particularly good practice in this area, e.g. the sort of practices that balance security, certainty and flexibility for low-paid workers, that also work for employers. If this is relevant to your own business and you can help, please contact david.massey@lowpay.gov.uk who is leading this work.

2018 Written and oral evidence timetable The Low Pay Commission’s oral evidence sessions will take place just before the school summer holidays, on 18 and 19 July. The standard annual written consultation will include a small number of additional questions on the Taylor proposals. The consultation launched on Friday 5 March and will close on Friday 1 June.

Visits Programme The Commission will be visiting the following areas to talk to employers and employees: 25-26 April

Kendall, South Lakeland

23-24 May

Barnstaple and North Devon

13-14 June

Newry, Northern Ireland

13-14 June

Perth, Scotland

4-5 July

Anglesey, Wales

8-9 August

Birmingham

BALI is keen to assist the Low Pay Commission with its work and, to this end, invites members to contribute to the written consultation. If you are prepared to do so, please email owen.baker@bali.org.uk by no later than Friday 13 April 2018 so that a questionnaire can be sent to you.

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CONTRACTOR NEWS Nurture Landscapes has expanded considerably since it was founded in 2008, through both organic growth and acquisitions. It has a turnover of £35 million with around 550 staff and a national presence across six regions in the UK. Gavin Jones, which focuses mainly on the south, including London, has a turnover of £30 million and employs 450 staff and is the proud holder of the Royal Warrant to Her Majesty The Queen. Image left: Potters Fields Park, London, landscaped by Gavin Jones, now part of the Nurture Landscapes group of companies Image above: Clifton Nurseries, acquired by Gavin Jones directors Martyn Mogford and Will Clark.

BALI contractors join forces to create £65m Turnover Group Two top flight BALI Award-winning businesses joined forces on 1 February to create a group with sales of £65m. Gavin Jones has become part of the Nurture Landscapes group of companies, bringing together two leading privately owned companies that share the same passion for delivering a high quality service and building long term relationships with clients. The combined Group now employs 1,000 staff and services over 3500 clients across the UK.

Gavin Jones, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2019, will continue to trade under its name as a wholly owned trading subsidiary of Nurture Landscapes Holdings Ltd. Clifton Nurseries, which became part of the Gavin Jones Group in 2016, has been acquired by two of its directors, Martyn Mogford (former BALI Honorary Treasurer) and Will Clark, and is now a BALI Registered Contractor in its own right.

Nurture has made a total of 17 acquisitions to date and consecutively qualified for the Sunday Times Fast Track 100 in 2014 and 2015. The company was also recently announced as the UK national winner of the European Business Award for Social Responsibility and Environmental Awareness. It will be very much business as usual for the clients of both companies. The main changes will be behind the scenes, as the Gavin Jones head office team will move from Weybridge at the end of March to join Nurture’s head office in Sunningdale. nurturelandscapes.co.uk

TCL Group launches public open space service for housebuilders Landscaping and estate management specialist TCL Group, which includes BALI Registered Contractors TCL and Burleys, has launched a new service to help housebuilders with public open space and parks projects. The Group, which was recently named by the London Stock Exchange as one of the 1000 Companies to inspire Europe, has an impressive track record in working with developers, local authorities and environmental organisations to deliver complex, multi-faceted public schemes. The one stop shop service, which launched on 1 February, is aimed at enabling housebuilders to perform often complex and highly emotive installations successfully and cost effectively and will cover every stage and all aspects of the project. The new service is led by TCL Group technical director Jonathan Highley, who explained: “Over the last few

BALI Landscape News

years TCL has supported many housebuilder groups with planning support, local authority negotiation, landscape design and installation of all the component parts of public open areas, specifically in relation to sports pitches, cycle paths, bridleways, country parks and play provision.

Bulb and shrub The TCL planting at St Group’s John Fisher play extensive area Thamesmead experience includes multi-million pound public open space projects nationwide as well as SANGS (Suitable Accessible Natural Green Space) sites.

“With careful planning, product selection, smart timing of installations and local authority negotiation we have been able save housebuilders many hundreds of thousands of pounds and deliver some incredibly successful ‘placemaking’ projects, which we think will appeal to national housebuilding groups.

“Our offering is aimed at ensuring public open space areas are designed and presented in a way that will provide a reason to select, not reject, a property on a particular development” added Jonathan.

“This new part of the group will look to build upon the vast experience we have within the business and will be dedicated to supporting housebuilders in this specific requirement.”

Spring 2018

The TCL Group, which employs 800 staff across the UK and turns over around £60 million a year, works regularly with developers such as Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon, David Wilson Homes and Redrow Homes. The new service is available nationwide through the Group’s regional operational network. tclgrp.co.uk

CONTRACTOR NEWS

Isola Garden Design moves to Stoneleigh Park New software increases efficiency for Tony Benger Landscaping BALI Registered Contractor Tony Benger Landscaping is seeing measurable improvements in efficiency, thanks to the introduction of new software for use on mobile phones and tablets. The award-winning company started using Re-flow to manage its team of 50 in 2017. The software provides Tony Benger with the means to manage staff workflow digitally through a mobile app. Each operative working onsite can access their job details and complete project task lists and forms, including vehicle inspections, daily record sheets (hours and materials etc.), site briefings, toolbox talks and risk assessments, through their mobile phone or tablet. Re-flow eliminates the need for paper and massively speeds up processes by creating a completely digital audit trail from management to staff, and back again to management. It works on Apple and Android phones and tablets and, where there isn’t an internet connection, even works offline. Since implementing the software, the company has found that it no longer needs to spend hours and hours processing, and then storing, paper job sheets. Data between contract managers and accounts staff is no longer double handled and operatives have instant access to a much greater amount of relevant and important information, including changes to site drawings, customer requirements, new product information etc. The flow of information back to managers is instant and can include photographic records of completion. Oliver Hemson, Commercial Department Manager at Tony Benger Landscaping, said, “It’s a real game-changer. Freed from the burden of huge amounts of admin we have more time to focus on actual landscaping and company development. I fail to see how it wouldn’t benefit almost any business that has staff working remotely. And the benefits just keep appearing! Recently we found it made us a contender for a large contract that demanded live reporting. It’s a fantastic product as it is but when backed up by Re-flow’s tirelessly supportive and flexible approach, well, I just wish we’d got on board years ago. We’d certainly never go back!”

BALI Registered Contractor Isola Garden Design has moved to Stoneleigh Park, which is home to a number of leading national organisations within the land-based sector, including BALI! Founded by James Brash in 2006, the company has built an impressive portfolio of high-end garden design and builds – including traditional country gardens and contemporary townhouse schemes – for private homes across Warwickshire, Solihull, Oxfordshire and the Cotswolds. Managing Director James, who as a landscape student won a Silver Gilt medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show for the build of a rooftop garden with Warwickshire College and a Gold Medal from the regional heats of the WorldSkills Competition, said: “The business has evolved significantly over the last decade. We began offering a generalist landscaping service and soon realised there was a real need for a premium full design and build proposition aimed at the high-end domestic market, outside of London. “We have seen the biggest turnaround in the business in the last few years and our re-brand last year, which included a new website, has really taken us from strength to strength. We’ve worked hard to build a strong reputation and people come to us for our comprehensive offering, from design and build through to after-care. Our on-going preservation support is highly regarded by our clients and is a real focus for us this year.” The company’s new headquarters are within Stoneleigh Park’s Rural Innovation Centre from where it coordinates its highly-skilled and experienced teams of designers, landscapers and labourers. Amy Rogers, manager of the Rural Innovation Centre, said: “Isola is one of Warwickshire’s most respected garden design and landscape companies, and is a great addition to the Rural Innovation Centre. Stoneleigh Park is a great fit, with its rural setting and focus and strong association with land-based organisations, and we look forward to supporting Isola with its further development.” isolagardendesign.co.uk

Pictured are James Brash and Amy Rogers at the Rural Innovation Centre at Stoneleigh Park.

tonybenger.com re-flow.co.uk

Spring 2018

BALI Landscape News

CONTRACTOR NEWS

The extensive green roof of the Royal Opera House’s High House Production Park, Essex

Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Somme

Acre Landscapes You would be hard pressed to choose a more challenging year to start a new business than 2008. The global financial crisis – considered by many economists to be the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s – was already gathering pace and only a few short months after Nigel Bowcock and Louise Gibb started Acre Landscapes, Lehman Brothers investment bank crashed and the economic downturn began in earnest. Possibly not the most auspicious time to invest in a new enterprise! Undaunted, and with twenty years’ experience of high level commercial landscape construction and maintenance under his belt, not to mention a raft of industry awards, Nigel, and Louisa, acquired a small, existing grounds maintenance company and very quickly turned its fortunes around. Over the past ten years turnover has increased by 500% and, despite some of its customers going into liquidation when the economic challenges were at their worst, Acre Landscapes has weathered the storm and, against all the odds, prospered.

letter by working with a trusted supply chain. Stuart’s particular passion is for trees and many of Acre’s projects involve the selection and installation of some extremely large specimens, which takes expert horticultural knowledge combined with the ability to manage complex logistics, often in a city environment. The quality of the construction team’s work is such that almost all clients opt to retain Acre Landscapes beyond the initial maintenance period to care for their schemes, ensuring they remain looking at their absolute best.

The secret of Acre Landscapes’ success – as Nigel and Louisa would be the first to admit – is the dedicated, passionate and talented team who share Nigel’s and Louisa’s commitment to delivering an absolutely first class service. This has resulted in a client retention rate of 100% and a portfolio of projects that includes such iconic schemes as The Leadenhall Building in the City of London, Heathrow Terminals 2, 3 and 5, the Serpentine Sackler Gallery, for which the company won a BALI Principal Award in 2016, the Royal Opera House, the Cutty Sark Gardens, and the Australian National Memorial on the Somme at Villers-Bretonneux for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

The landscape maintenance operation is managed by Operations Manager Shane Moore. His passion for landscaping and the environment is such that he goes out of his way to engage with Acre’s clients and stakeholders to develop schemes beyond the routine maintenance operations. His aim is always to make a scheme as good as it can be so that it enriches lives and creates a legacy. This approach is obviously appreciated by Acre Landscapes’ clients, which is why they entrust the company with their schemes year after year.

Led by Landscape Manager Stuart Dunn, Acre Landscapes’ construction team specialises in realising clients’ complex designs, delivering to the

BALI Landscape News

Nigel and Louisa are fully involved with all aspects of the business on a day-to-day basis, creating a working environment that is both nurturing and motivational. They encourage and support their team’s personal development and training and promote positivity and a shared vision, which

Spring 2018

is backed up by a comprehensive training programme and a profit sharing scheme for qualifying staff. Nigel’s involvement with BALI over many years resulted in him joining the board of directors in 2014. He has subsequently been instrumental, alongside board director David Dodd, in creating and developing the GoLandscape careers outreach initiative, which launched in March following its pilot phase. In February, Acre Landscapes won the Pro Landscaper Business Award in the Landscape Company, turnover <£1m category, and on 1 March, to mark their 10th anniversary, they unveiled their beautiful new corporate brochure. There is little doubt that, having succeeded during a period when others have tried, and failed, Acre Landscapes has a bright future, whatever challenges are thrown at it! acrelandscapes.com

Nigel Bowcock, and Louisa Gibb

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TRAINING & TECHNICAL CONTRACTOR NEWS

New directors appointed as Glendale restructures BALI Registered Contractor Glendale has announced three senior promotions, following a restructure of its regional operations. Alex Paterson has been made Managing Director and will be responsible for developing and directing the firm’s business strategy. He will lead management teams across the country and oversee the company’s performance within key sectors. He joined the business in 2015 as Regional Director for the North, responsible for driving operational and financial performance in the region, before taking on the role of Operations

Alex Paterson

Mike Brinskill

Director. The business will now operate as two main territories - north and south - each led by a dedicated Managing Director. It previously divided operations into four regions; the north, the midlands, the south west and the south east. Mike Brunskill, formerly Glendale’s Sales and Marketing Director, has been made Managing Director North, while Adrian Wickham becomes Managing Director South, stepping up from his role as South East Regional Director. Alex Paterson said: “Glendale is built upon its reputation for maintaining the highest standards in green service delivery and I’m relishing the opportunity to lead the company

Adrian Wickham

forward, develop key strategies and drive the success of the business. “The restructure of regional operations provides us with a renewed focus to continue growing and achieving our objectives. Both Mike and Adrian bring formidable talent, leadership and vision to their new roles and I’m looking forward to developing the business with them.” Glendale delivers a range of specialist green space management services at locations across the UK, including grounds maintenance, landscaping and arboriculture. glendale-services.co.uk

ISS FACILITY SERVICES LANDSCAPING TO BE SOLD TO PRIVATE EQUITY COMPANY ISS UK Limited has exchanged contracts to sell BALI Registered Contractor ISS Facility Services Landscaping to Sullivan Street Partners, a private equity company based in London. Completion is set for 30 April 2018. The new company will trade under the name Tivoli and will continue to deliver excellence in grounds maintenance for public sector, defence and corporate clients across the UK. The senior management team will remain in their existing positions with Phil Jones continuing as Managing Director. The sale will see the transfer of 1,100 operational staff and support functions to Sullivan Street Partners.

BALI Landscape News

Phil Jones commented: “I would like to thank ISS for their support over the past several years building ISS Landscaping into the strong grounds maintenance business it is today. Together with Sullivan Street, I look forward to the next phase of development where we will together make Tivoli the pre-eminent environment for talented staff to build a grounds maintenance focused career and for clients to continue to experience the very best service levels in the market.” Layton Tamberlin, Director at Sullivan Street said: “We have been highly attracted to the grounds maintenance market for some time and the business within ISS provides a

Spring 2018

fantastic base from which to grow. We are looking forward to meeting the transferring staff and working with them to make Tivoli a market leading independent grounds maintenance business in the UK.” The transaction remains subject to satisfaction of certain conditions precedent customary in a transaction of this nature, including antitrust approvals.

Managing Director, Phil Jones

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TRAINING & TECHNICAL

Young Gardeners of the Year 2018 launch

The future of Further Education The education system for 16-18 year olds is in the midst of a huge shake-up (whether for better or worse, only time will tell), with not only the restructuring of apprenticeships but also the overhaul of full-time education routes. 16-year olds wanting to continue in full time education will have a choice of either taking academic qualifications, such as ‘A’ levels, or leaving school and entering Further Education, sometimes referred to as a vocational or technical route. The frustration is that this latter option is often seen as second best, taken by those who didn’t ‘cut it’ at school. Technical education has been around for well over 150 years. Over that period its delivery has necessarily seen enormous change, both in terms of the types of institutions that have been responsible for providing it, and in how it has been funded. The Government’s current initiative – ‘T’ levels – is a further attempt to provide learners who do not want to follow the academic route with a more streamlined, focused and high quality alternative to ‘A’ levels. The challenge for Further Education is the sheer number of course choices – currently some 20,000 offered by 160 different organisations. Regrettably, many of these courses are of little or no value to employers and consequently do not actually result in employment for the unfortunate individuals who have taken a particular course. ‘T’ levels will offer students a choice of 15 defined routes, 11 of which are college/training provider based and 4 of which are work-based apprenticeships. The route for those entering our industry will be ‘Agriculture, Environmental and Animal Care’. “Where’s landscaping or horticulture?” I hear you cry! It may not be in the title but our industry is covered further into the route.

BALI Landscape News

So how will students achieve a ‘T’ level qualification? Students will enrol on a two year Level 3 programme, which includes 45-60 days of work experience. They will develop core skills relevant to their chosen route, including key principles and theories, together with employability skills. They will also focus on their chosen occupational specialism with content that links directly to the apprenticeship standards. When students complete their route they will be able to progress to employment, a higher apprenticeship, or Higher Education, depending on the occupation they wish to pursue. Starting in 2020, the first subjects available (the guinea pigs!) will be Education and Childcare, Construction, and Digital. The remaining routes will follow between 2022 and 2024. The question is – are ‘T’ levels here to stay or are they simply another fad? Frighteningly, since the 1980s, the FE sector has been subject to just short of 30 major pieces of legislation, with 48 Secretaries of State responsible for FE during that period. The government has committed to spending £500 million each year in support of ‘T’ levels in the hope of making sure they are easy to understand, have credibility with employers and remain stable over time. We can but wait and see how well they serve the landscape and horticulture industries. Watch this space! Stephen Ensell Education Officer

Spring 2018

A team of Further Education horticulture students from BALI Training Provider Writtle University College attended the launch of the Young Gardeners of the Year competition, which is organised by TV gardener David Domoney. Delivered in association with The Prince’s Foundation for Building Community, the competition is being held at the brand new Ascot Spring Garden Show this April. Last year, Writtle won Best in Show and a Gold Medal. Ben Wincott, FE Lecturer in Horticulture, will be guiding his nine Level 3 Horticulture students through the design and build as part of their course and he is keen to hear from any companies wishing to support his team of young gardeners taking part in the competition – ben.wincott@writtle.ac.uk Writtle will be competing against five other leading horticultural colleges: Capel Manor, Middlesex Pershore College, part of the Warwickshire College Group Shuttleworth College, Bedfordshire Myerscough College, Lancashire Reaseheath College, Cheshire Each college is being given a 5m x 4.5m plot. The garden style can be traditional or contemporary, and must inspire homeowners and passers-by on what can be achieved in a small urban space. It should appeal to the homeowner’s senses; the colours and design should offer a spectacular welcome when they come home and brighten up their lives. The teams are being asked to focus on the principles of sustainability, paying attention to issues such as the use of local, natural materials and the use of SuDS (Sustainable Drainage Systems). Each college’s design had to be submitted before the beginning of February. At Ascot the teams will have five days to build and plant their gardens in the Garden Terrace on Ascot’s Grandstand, ready for the show’s opening day on 13 April 2018. Each garden will then be judged by an expert panel, which includes horticultural industry leaders, home and garden magazine editors, and acclaimed garden designers and landscapers. Entrants will compete to win gold, silver gilt, silver, or bronze awards. The overall winner will receive the Best in Show trophy, and visitors will be able to vote for the winner of the People’s Choice Award.

TRAINING & TECHNICAL

IOG’s Pitch Grading Framework piloted The IOG is piloting a new approach to the ‘measurement’ of the standard of football pitches at grassroots level. The new Pitch Grading Framework will not only highlight the level of quality of an individual playing surface but also the appropriate training, education and recommended levels of qualifications needed by those who maintain it. A new research project is underway In terms of calculating the standard of a pitch, each level of the Framework has certain parameters and, after measurement, the overall result/level of a pitch will be calculated. It is a system that has been used successfully within cricket by the IOG and the England and Wales Cricket Board for over ten years. The recommended appropriate training and education will match each level of the Framework. For instance, for pitch maintenance at the Basic level (volunteer), an IOG Level 1 course (or equivalent) would be the minimum training recommended. Training/education would increase through the levels

with IOG Level 5 (or equivalent) being recommended for individuals maintaining pitches at the Elite level. At all levels, the experience of those in situ will be taken into account and catered for individually. Working closely with the Football Foundation and Football Association Pitch Improvement Programme, regional pitch advisers from the IOG-led Grounds and Natural Turf Improvement Programme (GaNTIP) are now piloting the Framework to identify any potential improvements before the scheme’s full implementation in November, when it is envisaged that each grass sport will have its own specific pyramid. iog.org

THE BENEFITS OF NATURAL TURFGRASS Choosing between natural or artificial turf can be a difficult decision for some customers. The Turfgrass Growers Association (TGA) lays out below the benefits of using natural turf, providing BALI members with information that will help them to help their customers make an informed choice.

Environmental With our collective responsibility to ensure that we keep our planet greener, the TGA would like to extol the virtues of using natural turfgrass for all domestic and landscaping applications. Natural turfgrass is environmentally sustainable, extremely friendly to our planet, and has an important role to play in carbon sequestration – the process of removing carbon from the atmosphere and fixing it in plants and soil, thereby lowering atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. Each plant takes in CO2 through photosynthesis and uses it to produce sugars and oxygen, which is then released back into the atmosphere.

Some interesting facts: 5 square metres of turfgrass provides enough oxygen for one person for an entire day and one football field of natural turfgrass can offset the carbon produced by a car driving 3,000 miles. Not only does natural turfgrass fix CO2, turf also absorbs other pollutants such as sulphur dioxide, hydrogen fluoride and peroxyacetyl, which are broken down by the plant into harmless

constituents. Incredibly, one acre (c.4000 square metres) of turfgrass produces oxygen and fixes carbon dioxide at a higher rate than one acre of rainforest. Other environmental benefits include absorption of excess water; turf helps to maintain good soil structure, which aids drainage and helps prevent ‘flash flooding’, and turf absorbs heat, reducing the ‘urban heat island’ effect. Thousands of living organisms, including beetles, flies and other insects, spiders, millipedes, earthworms and microorganisms call turf their home. Microorganisms in the turf break down proteins and carbohydrates into simple compounds for the grass to recycle.

Health benefits Not only is natural turfgrass good for the environment it is also good for human health. Living around or close to natural turfgrass can reduce stress levels, lower our heart rate and improve our mood. The University of California conducted research in 2002 that showed there was a positive effect on patients who had a view of green spaces.

Turf advances Today, turf growers are using all sorts of grass varieties in different blends to ensure that turf is chosen specifically for its application. For example, sports fields require extra wear tolerance for increased durability or to extend the growing season, and to assist drainage or work better under shady conditions. The TGA’s website at turfgrass.co.uk is full of helpful information and more facts and figures.

Spring 2018

BALI Landscape News

TRAINING & TECHNICAL

Japanese knotweed and landowner responsibility BALI members may be aware of an ongoing legal case between Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd and a home owner, Mr Williams, which resulted in a landmark court judgement last year. The claimant, Mr Williams, together with his neighbour, took Network Rail to court and claimed an injunction to remove a substantial area of Japanese knotweed growing on a railway embankment adjacent to their properties. More significantly, Mr Williams and his neighbour also claimed damages for loss of property value due to the proximity of the knotweed.

Verdict

It is thought the knotweed had been growing on the embankment for approximately 50 years and, whilst spraying had been previously undertaken by Network Rail, it is alleged by the claimant that an adequate treatment programme was not in operation. The claim for damages was based on the legal definition of ‘private nuisance’, under the law of tort. There were two strands associated with this nuisance claim:

This judgement is what might be expected, based on the evidence provided.

1. Damage to property – The court held that proof of actual damage to property was needed for this element of the claim. Mere encroachment of roots and rhizomes up to a boundary, with the potential for damage to the foundations (as was the case here), was not sufficient for this element to result in award of damages.

1. Alleged damage to property – Damage to Mr Williams’ and his neighbour’s property from Japanese knotweed on the adjacent Network Rail-owned land. In particular, damage to the foundations of the properties, caused by roots and rhizomes of the knotweed spreading from the embankment. 2. Alleged loss of amenity – Loss of ‘quiet enjoyment’ (a legal term), which included the claimants’ right to sell their properties at market value. Mr Williams and his neighbour claimed the value of their properties had been significantly reduced due to the Japanese knotweed growing next to their properties.

BALI Landscape News

2. Loss of amenity – Crucially, nuisance was established in this instance. The courts held that Network Rail had failed to act reasonably. They had knowledge of the Japanese knotweed and its potential to spread but had not acted as a responsible landowner. In addition, the age of the knotweed (estimated to be 50 years in this location) could not be used as a right to cause the nuisance. Courts have previously awarded damages for loss of amenity value caused by proximity to undesirable land uses. In addition to neighbours who may cause specific issues such as dust or bad smells, brothels and sex shops have also been found to cause a loss of amenity value in neighbouring properties. On this basis, the courts accepted that the mere presence of knotweed on the defendant’s land could adversely affect the value of the claimant’s property, and therefore his claimant’s quiet enjoyment.

Spring 2018

The court held that damages were appropriate in this instance. Both claimants were awarded £10,000 for diminution in value on their properties, and additional sums for treating the knotweed on their land.

Significance for landowners The implication for landowners is obvious. This case has shown that a claimant does not need to show that physical damage has occurred from Japanese knotweed on neighbouring land in order to hold the landowner responsible for damages under tort. The case raises questions for owners whose land contains Japanese knotweed, and whether they may be held liable for: • Diminution in value of neighbouring property/land • Interference with the quiet enjoyment and amenity value of a claimant’s land • Removal costs, and continued monitoring/maintenance

The future Network Rail has appealed the decision, and the case is due to be presented to the Court of Appeal on 12 and 13 June, 2018. Owen Baker Technical Officer

Owen Baker, Technical Officer

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TRAINING & TECHNICAL

Asian and citrus longhorn beetles threaten UK trees Asian longhorn beetle (ALB) and citrus longhorn beetle (CLB) are non-native pests that are extremely damaging to a wide range of broadleaved trees and pose a serious threat to horticulture, forestry and native trees in the UK. They are both native to Asia but have been moving around the world with trade, with numerous interceptions of the beetles in the UK and the rest of Europe.

What plants are at risk? Both beetles feed on a long list of deciduous trees and shrubs, with apple, alder, beech, birch, cherry, cotoneaster, elm, hazel, hornbeam, horse chestnut, maples, pear, plane, poplar, and willow, being hosts of most concern to the UK.

What are the symptoms? The larvae cause the most damage as they tunnel into the wood, weakening and eventually killing the tree. When adults emerge, they make distinctive circular holes in the trunks or branches. The adult beetles are also highly distinctive being large and black with variable white markings on the body and light blue bands on the antennae (feelers).

What are the pathways of introduction? ALB larvae are usually transported with wooden packaging (dunnage) originating in Asia and CLB larvae are frequently transported with living plants such as maples and bonsai.

What to do if you suspect the beetle in the UK? For England and Wales, contact your local APHA Plant Health and Seeds Inspector or the PHSI Headquarters, York. Tel: 01904 405138. Email: planthealth.info@apha.gsi.gov.uk For Scotland, contact the Scottish Government’s Horticulture and Marketing Unit. Email: hort. marketing@gov.scot For Northern Ireland, contact the DEARA Plant Health Inspection Branch. Tel. 0300 200 7847. Email: planthealth@daera-ni.gov.uk For further information visit: • Tree pests and diseases – www.forestry.gov.uk/pestsanddiseases • Government Plant Health Portal – https://planthealthportal.defra.gov.uk

Owen Baker on glyphosate resistance – The weeds are fighting back! So, as many were anticipating, glyphosate’s licence was renewed, after a fraught process and a final decision won by the narrowest of margins. The 5-year extension means the industry can continue to use a tried and tested product for a myriad of weed-control scenarios. But what if, regardless of legislation, glyphosate use was limited on a more permanent basis? What if it lost some of its effectiveness? This scenario, which has already occurred in Europe with a number of species developing resistance to glyphosate, could also become a problem here in the UK. There is no evidence of this happening yet but in arable cropping there has been a notable increase in herbicide resistance over the past 20 years, and it is feared this may continue. Glyphosate resistance is a particular risk in amenity use as there are few commercially viable alternatives for annual and perennial weed control. During a recent talk by Barry Hunt at the INNSA (Invasive Non-Native Specialists Association) conference, a little more was learnt about the threat of glyphosate resistance and the steps that we, the landscape industry, should be taking to prevent it. Since the introduction of glyphosate, 40 species have shown resistance worldwide, and 13 are of major importance. Two of the species that have shown resistance in other countries are found throughout the UK and landscape professionals are likely to encounter them on a regular basis, namely: • Canadian fleabane, Guernsey fleabane and hairy fleabane • Perennial ryegrass, Italian ryegrass and annual ryegrass Whilst ryegrass tends to be a weed associated with annual arable crops, fleabane is more frequently found in amenity contexts. The threat of glyphosate resistance can be reduced by understanding the main causes: • Over-reliance on glyphosate • Failure to follow usage guidelines • Ignorance of integrated weed management There are several measures that users of glyphosate can take to prevent resistance: • Maximise efficacy by spraying at the right dose-rate, with the correct volume of water, at the right growth stage, with the right spray nozzle and in the right conditions • Use mixtures of herbicides where possible • Use non-chemical alternatives where possible (e.g. flaming, steam, electrical, mechanical) • Where resistance is suspected, notify the manufacturer and collect samples of the weed. Also prevent spread of the weed by use of alternative herbicides and non-chemical methods The environmental effects of glyphosate are still hotly debated and its future, once its current licence is due for renewal, is unclear. As professionals, however, we must ensure we use it appropriately, and according to guidelines, so that any environmental impact is kept to a minimum.

BALI Landscape News

Spring 2018

TRAINING & TECHNICAL

PlantNetwork

Connecting gardens, sharing skills PlantNetwork – the national network of botanic gardens, arboreta and other documented plant collections – provides networking and professional development for horticulturists, through newsletters, meetings, visits, an annual conference and several training days each year. Since its formation in 1996, it has brought together staff and trainees across a broad range of public, private, historic and botanic gardens. PlantNetwork’s current membership comprises over 100 personal members and 300 gardens, including all the major public horticultural and botanic gardens – from Kew, the Eden Project, Chatsworth House Trust, to all English Heritage and National Trust gardens. Membership is open to all. As a charity PlantNetwork is managed by a voluntary Trustees Board, which includes staff from leading horticultural institutions including the RHS, Royal Botanic Garden Kew, the Eden Project, Mount Stuart Trust, Chatsworth House Trust and botanic gardens at the University of Cambridge and University of Wales, National Botanic Gardens of Ireland, English Heritage and the National Trust. The charity is grateful to these gardens and organisations for supporting Board members in helping to deliver its governance and activities. PlantNetwork also provides a communication, consultation and information network for researchers, government bodies and others to reach those working with plant collections, garden and visitor management etc. It is able to disseminate information and give access to the enormous resource of plants and botanical expertise. Through its work, PlantNetwork makes a major contribution to maintaining and developing the horticultural and plant conservation skills for which its gardens are renowned. PlantNetwork is hugely valued by its members. The opportunities for specialist skills

development and knowledge sharing it provides are often not available elsewhere, even for its large institutional members. Many of its member gardeners are in very specialist roles and would have little contact with those doing similar jobs without PlantNetwork:

“It is the best way of finding out how other professionals do their job, brilliant for networking and making contacts for future projects” “The training days and odd conference that I have attended over the last 8 years have been a little lifeline! Having the chance to meet up with other growers and talk plants is probably one of the most useful ways of exchanging information and gaining confidence” As well as developing policy and legal frameworks necessary for managing plant collections, PlantNetwork also provides training through its Forum Groups on subjects including tree management, tree safety, integrated pest management, pest and disease control, garden and visitor management, habitat creation and management, seed collection, plant records management, garden mapping, to name but a few. Details from past events are all available from the open access website. In April 2018 PlantNetwork’s annual conference ‘Back to Basics’ will be

hosted by Royal Botanic Garden Kew. The conference will discuss soil and water management, plant health and nutrition. Training days range from £68 to £99 for members and this year include: • Managing trees in historic landscapes • Access and benefit sharing • Restoration of natural habitats • Science in gardens • How to develop a spirit of place for your garden • A two day event at The Eden Project looking at health and wellbeing in horticulture and gardens. PlantNetwork’s 2018 training and networking events are all open for booking via the website. Annual membership is from £15 to £40 for personal members and £150 to £400 for gardens and organisations. The charity also offers free membership to a selected range of horticultural trainees and to finalists of the Young Horticulturist of the Year competition. Members receive weekly e-news, which includes job postings and training opportunities from a range of organisations. Membership taken out now will be valid until March 2019. plantnetwork.org

Spring 2018

BALI Landscape News

TRAINING & TECHNICAL

CDM?... Oh, that doesn’t apply to me! Put simply, the chances are that Construction, Design & Management (CDM) Regulations do apply to your business in some way, shape or form; at the very least you should be familiar with the regulations to confirm the position one way or another. The most common misconceptions appear to be:

“I only do domestic work, therefore it doesn’t apply to me” – CDM Regulations 2015 apply to ALL UK construction projects, be they domestic or commercial. They do, however, exclude surveying and building maintenance. “It’s only a small project and is under the threshold” – Although there is a threshold under which you do not need to notify the HSE (500 person days or 30 days with 20 or more staff on site), the regulations still apply in every other aspect. “I’m only laying some turf” – Whilst it’s true that soft landscape works are outside of CDM scope, CDM Regulations are ‘project’ not ‘contract’ related. Therefore, if the soft landscape works are combined with construction works, all works are in scope. In addition, if the site on which you are laying turf is an active construction site the works are considered part of the same project as the construction work and is in scope, regardless of whether the client

is employing the two contractors on separate contracts. Note: On very large properties it may be possible to separate works so that soft work may NOT be considered as part of the project. This is unlikely to be the case, however, if an access is shared or where communications are required between parties working on the different projects. CDM Regulations get a bad press in that they are considered by many as yet another layer of ‘elf & safety’ bureaucracy. In fact, once you understand them, you come to realise they are just trying to improve communication on sites to the level that the best businesses employ anyway. Too many organisations go through the motions of work planning and safety risk assessment without communicating their findings and mitigation to other parties affected by their decisions. CDM is in place to improve this and, in turn, improve the construction industry’s safety credentials.

The best place to get information in the first instance is the HSE website hse.gov.uk/construction/cdm/2015/ responsibilities. Follow the links from here to read around the subject in plain English. You can also download a helpful guide (L153) and an example Construction Phase plan, complete with guidance notes. Richard Gardiner Technical Officer (Quality) richard.gardiner@bali.org.uk (M) 07715 654964

Richard Gardiner, Technical Officer (Quality Standards)

As the title of the regulations would suggest, it’s not just contractors that are affected; designers, too, have a role to play and with safety awareness among the design fraternity typically at a lower level than that of contractors who have found themselves in the safety spotlight for a lot longer, now is the time to get up to speed.

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What you need to know as a busy builder Under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015) a construction phase plan is required for every construction project. This does not need to be complicated.

You could be a builder, plumber or other tradesman, doing small-scale routine work such as: n installing a kitchen or bathroom; n structural alterations, eg chimney breast removal; n roofing work, including dormer windows; n extension or loft conversion.

If you are working for a domestic client, you will be in control of the project if you are the only contractor or the A simple plan before the work starts is usually enough principal contractor. to show that you have thought about health and safety. You will be responsible for: If the job will last longer than 500 person days or 30 n preparing a plan; working days (with more than 20 people working at the n organising the work; and same time) it will need to be notified to HSE and it is n working together with others to ensure health and likely to be too complex for this simple plan format. safety.

Beck Enterprises

The list of essential points below will help you to plan and organise the job, and work together with others involved to make sure that the work is carried out without risks to health and safety. It will also help you to comply with CDM 2015. You can use the blank template on page 2 to record your plan.

Plan

Make a note of the key dates, eg: n when you’ll start and finish; n when services will be connected/disconnected; n build stages, such as groundwork or fitout.

L153 5 ed 201 Publish

You will need to find out information from the client about the property, eg: n where the services and isolation points are; n access restriction to the property; n if there is any asbestos present.

Working together

It may be useful to record the details of anybody else working on the job, including specialist companies and labourers. Explain how you will communicate with others (eg via a daily update), provide information about the job, coordinate your work with theirs and keep them updated of any changes, eg: n to site rules; n to health and safety information; n what you will do if the plan or materials change or if there are any delays; n who will be making the key decisions about how the work is to be done.

Organise

n Identify the main dangers on site and how you will control them, eg: - the need for scaffolding if working at height; - how structures and excavations will be supported to prevent collapse; - how you will prevent exposure to asbestos and building dust;

how you will keep the site safe and secure for your client, their family and members of the public. n Make sure that there are toilet, washing and rest facilities. n Name the person responsible for ensuring the job runs safely. n Explain how supervision will be provided. -

If you are unsure about how you can make your site safer, see www.hse.gov.uk/construction for more information and to download other Busy Builder sheets. See www.citb.co.uk for a free smartphone app CDM wizard. 1

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BALI Landscape News

Spring 2018

The following BALI Registered Contractors have successfully completed their QSR: Fordham Landscapes PC Landscapes Skidmores of Hertford

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DESIGNER FOCUS

Image: BALI Principal Award 2017, Registered Designers & Registered Contractors Joint Submission - Chris Parsons MBALI MSGD and James Bird Landscapes

Design Directors’ year ahead Marian Boswall MBALI MSGD and Rosemary Coldstream MBALI Our recent election to the board aims to strengthen the BALI offering for garden designers and landscape architects and to ensure that our board reflects the wide and fertile spread of our industry membership. If that makes membership sound like a fertiliser it’s a good image! We’d like to spread industry knowhow like a good fertiliser, since where there’s muck there’s brass. Knowledge well used (both what you know and who you know) adds straight on to the bottom line. There are few barriers to entry in this industry luckily, but who you know still oils the wheels of getting things done easily and quickly. Our aim is to ensure the best working relationships between the people who create, design, build, grow and manufacture for the industry, from facilitating day to day conversations to share information with a colleague, to creating platforms to benchmark and improve best practice industry wide. It’s BALI’s USP that we have representatives from all of these areas coming together regularly and we mean to take full advantage of that. Within that our role is to focus on the designers, and we have had lots of great wish lists and feedback from designers at FutureScape, the BALI Awards and SGD Awards. Please keep that coming, we’d love to hear from you. In the recent BALI survey designers asked for more benefits focused on design members, and more cross-region networking. We are delighted to be able to offer more of both of these, plus plenty of other ideas in the

BALI Landscape News

pipeline. So whether you’re looking to add to your knowledge bank, increase your PR profile, or influence decisions in the industry, we aim to have something to help your business thrive. With more and more new members applying, our first step has been the Assessment process. This has been benchmarked and streamlined to ensure that it is still the most rigorous but also the most transparent, supportive and straightforward way to become an industry accredited designer. The aim of adjudication is to make sure that our design and construction drawings speak to contractors and clients clearly and efficiently, which saves time and money on both sides, and that the gardens will work long term, protecting your reputation and that of BALI as a whole. If you’re thinking of becoming a BALI Registered Designer please email carly.button@bali.org.uk at Landscape House and she will talk you through the process. We have an array of events coming up to tempt even the most desk bound to invest in themselves for a technical day to learn about designing with lights (a hands on day with light fittings powered up to see the effects), drainage (what you need to know as a designer and how to specify and discuss with contractors), plus many more planned. If you don’t want to leave your desk we can tempt you with a menu of webinars to hear industry experts and colleagues talk about setting up a design practice, running a successful business, how to go about hiring staff, pests and diseases, and social media.

Spring 2018

Marian Boswall MBALI MSGD

Rosemary Coldstream MBALI

We’ve introduced a round table discussion dinner by invitation, where current topics are aired and industry issues debated with confidentiality. And we’ve teamed up with the BALI PR department to add value to your business through media coverage of your work on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. If you’ve got great work to showcase and high quality images you can share, send them over for a chance to feature in a post, or even an Instagram takeover of the BALI feed. And if none of that makes sense, book in to the webinar on social media, you’ll get full instructions on how to join and be amazed at how simple and how effective it is. We look forward to working with you to grow your business this year.

DESIGNER FOCUS

BALI REGISTERED DESIGNER WINS AT NORTHERN DESIGN AWARDS

Bay Tree Farm before work commenced

BALI Registered Designer Lee Bestall MBALI MSGD saw his design practice, Bestall & Co Landscape Design, win at the prestigious Northern Design Awards 2017, which took place in Manchester on 24 November. The event was compered by Wayne Hemingway MBE, the successful fashion designer, educator and Design Council trustee, who also sat on the judging panel. Lee joined over 400 other entrants and their guests at the Awards and was thrilled to win the Residential Landscaping Design category for Bay Tree Farm in North Yorkshire. The judges, who also included interior designer and television presenter Linda Barker, had selected eight finalists in the category but it was Bestall & Co who triumphed. Lee said: “Our winning entry is a family garden designed for entertaining and relaxing, as well as supplying a selection of fresh produce to the health-conscious family. It consists of three specific spaces: a spa garden, a sunken patio, and a

picturesque yet productive vegetable garden. “The spa area is closest to the house, allowing family and friends to The completed get outdoors quickly for a spot of award-winning relaxation. There’s a cedar hot tub and scheme outdoor kitchen-bar incorporating a hurricane-proof fridge and barbecue. For something a bit more energetic, there’s an outdoor swimming pool too. scoop for the practice. I’m passionate The sunken patio sits amidst lawns about creating gardens for people to and perennial flower beds with views enjoy, and to be rewarded for this is a stretching out to the hills beyond. The very proud moment.” focal point for the vegetable garden is a stunning 8 metre long black greenhouse. Bestall & Co Landscape Design is based This is a truly efficient plot with large at Renishaw Hall in Sheffield and composting bays, a potting shed and comprises a team of six knowledgeable cold frames. There’s a small orchard, and enthusiastic designers and plants raised beds and poultry for fresh eggs. people. Founded in 2004 (originally as We even installed an ericaceous bed for Inspired Garden Design), Bestall & Co was the cultivation of blueberries.” re-branded last year to reflect the style of the gardens they create – modern, classic Lee continued “It was such an honour to outdoor entertaining spaces that are collect this award on behalf of my team. sympathetic to their locations. We were competing against some of the best names in the North of England bestall.co and to be crowned winners was a major

DESIGNER FOCUS

The life of the garden How garden and landscape designers can play a key role in the continuing evolution of the gardens they create. Jeff Stephenson, Head of Horticulture & Aftercare at Bowles & Wyer Back in December I collected the BALI Principal Award for Grounds Maintenance – Private (Value Under £50,000) category at the BALI National Landscape Awards for a private garden in West London for which my team and I have been responsible for over seven years. The garden was originally planted by Bowles & Wyer in 2011, in collaboration with the owner, and my Horticulture & Aftercare team has carefully nurtured the plants as they have matured, allowing the design to be realised exactly as it was originally intended. Having the opportunity to cultivate a garden precisely as the garden designer imagined is sometimes quite challenging. Often, we arrive on site when the garden has been approved by the client and the designer has moved on to another project. More often than not, due to time or budget constraints, there is no handover meeting with the designer or, indeed, a handover package that details the client’s brief and the designer’s vision and explains the planting policy and design detailing. All of this is essential information for the gardener or the aftercare team. It allows them to fully comprehend the layout, it informs best practice and ultimately it gives them the best possible chance to ensure the

BALI Landscape News

garden is advanced in line with the designer’s vision.

beyond the big reveal of the finished garden.

By providing gardeners with planting plans, masterplans, 3-D renderings, even maintenance schedules, designers are helping to evolve the gardens they create. Sometimes it is as simple as specifying how tall a hedge should be allowed to grow.

One final request to designers – please consider accessibility and facilities for the aftercare team when designing layouts. Every gardener will tell you that wellpositioned taps, service paths and compost bins are a welcome sight. Access for ladders for pruning and trimming hedges is essential and avoidance of sloping lawns makes mowing an awful lot easier too. All of this improves the results we achieve and ultimately makes for a happy client and a great garden.

I would also urge designers to consider the gardener and horticulturalist when trying to meet the wishes of their clients and, where possible, dissuade their clients from any impractical notions. Despite how much they might want it to, lawn will not grow under trees and woodland shrubs will not perform well on windy roof terraces. Some clients also need to be advised about the perils of instant gardens and cautioned that planting too closely can lead to physiological stress and encourage disease in plants. Managing client expectations is crucial. Absolute perfection in the garden is not always achievable when dealing with living things. Discussing maintenance and aftercare with clients at an early stage in the design process, and as part of the budget, is a wise precaution. For the clients it is a way of protecting their investment and allowing their garden to flourish way

Spring 2018

Gardeners are skilled individuals who can react to different environments and are trained to tend and enrich a garden when the designer is no longer present. Better communication between both parties and a knowledge and respect for the role that each one plays in the life of a garden can only advance this relationship. bowleswyer.co.uk

Jeff Stephenson

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DESIGNER FOCUS

Fear of flying Louisa Bell MBALI MSGD

Grading the bank

BALI Landscape News

Spring 2018

I hadn’t flown for quite a while before being asked to design a garden in Jersey. I felt nervous about getting on a plane but the project was the perfect thing to get me back in the air again. The trip was so short, just thirty-five minutes, and we were hardly up in the clouds, with a croissant and glass of orange juice, before coming in to land. I found I could be on site before my husband – who’d dropped me at the airport – was in his office in Surbiton! My clients were building a wonderful house on a plot of land overlooking the sea on the far side of the island. What had originally been a ramshackle selection of farmyard buildings became one long, large property, albeit with very little level garden around the house. Planning had taken up most of the permitted development space and it was difficult to obtain permission to landscape further. A huge wall, two metres tall, had already been constructed behind the property and this was holding back a steep bank of trees and rough pasture. Using the level area to the side and front of the house, we installed a new pool with automatic cover, close to the large Vale conservatory. London Stone provided the paving for a good-sized entertaining terrace and the coping stones around the pool. The house was softened with planting that would cope with its close proximity to the sea, namely Pittosporum tobira and Agapanthus, and we brought in pleached Carpinus from Barchams to create a barrier between the terrace and the country lane that ran along the front of the property. To provide an element of safety for the clients’ young son, I designed a bespoke fence to create a link between the paths that led to the beach, using weathered oak posts and metal rails. Ideally, I’d wanted the rails in rusted steel but they were finally powder-coated in grey to match details in the house. A router was used on each post to reflect the traditional detail of the beach path posts and they give a feeling of enclosure to the pool area, which is, ostensibly, in the front garden. This level part of the garden was, to be honest, the straight-forward part of the design; my biggest challenge was the massive sloped field at the back. It seemed such a shame to leave this as an unusable steep paddock, just seeded with grass. I persuaded the clients, using the

eventual property value as indication, to clear the entire bank and to seed and plant it instead. This was no mean feat and the contractor on the island – BALI Registered member Andrew Le Maistre Landscaping – was brilliant at bringing in the right team and equipment to undertake the massive task. The grading of the bank took many weeks and cost tens of thousands of pounds but my reasoning was that a claimed and usable bank would add value to the property as part of the gardens, rather than having just a big slope behind. We created a pathway with wooden steps at intervals. This leads up and through the field in a weaving journey to a plateau towards the top. Here, you can sit and look out to sea and over the roof of the house. Geoff de la Cour at Palmstead Nurseries helped me to source the thousands of plants I needed to plant up the bank, and we worked in great swathes of colour using Miscanthus, Echinacea, both pale pink and magenta, white Veronicastrum and Salvias. Pictorial Meadows then mixed a meadow seed in purples and whites that was spread throughout and around the plants. The pathway was seeded with grass and mown regularly. For the spring, I dotted Narcissus poeticus through the field. Closer to the house, were wide beds of Rosa rugosa in both pink and white. At first, the landscape created major weeding commitments. Watering was a problem too, as the garden faces the sea and dries out quickly. Andrew arranged for a bowser to stand at the top of the field on an almost permanent basis for the first two months. The plants were checked by the Agricultural department before delivery to Jersey, including the trees, and were all shipped by container from Southampton docks. Our first planting day was amazing. Andrew drafted in a team of a dozen potato planters from his father’s farm, and I flew over with help from the mainland too. The sun shone, and we worked so hard! The potato planters were all Portuguese and spoke little English, but we set out the lines for the planting areas with sand, and the guys (and girls) knew exactly what to do. They worked tirelessly. When I left to catch my plane home at seven o’clock they were still planting and carried on the next day too. I visited after a month, mainly to reassure the client that their huge expenditure was coming to fruition. The seeds were slow to germinate but gradually everything started to

Planting day

Finished garden design

emerge. This year will be the third year of growth. There are bound to be plants that will ‘out-thug’ their neighbours but the natural order is difficult to control on such a huge scale. My hope is that the hillside will eventually be seen from out at sea – a massive purple and white hillside behind the house. I went over last November with two big suitcases full of specialist tulip bulbs for the main, formal part of the garden. The same potato farmers came out and planted them for me and it was great to see the garden starting to mature. I plan to visit again later this year when the hillside starts to flower. I do admire the clients for trusting me and for spending such a huge amount of money on the field. It was leap of faith but when I saw their young son walking along the path, meandering up through the plants, I was delighted to see that this part of the garden could actually be used and loved. I can’t wait to see it later this year – and don’t even mind flying over there! thelovelygarden.co.uk

Spring 2018

BALI Landscape News

DESIGNER FOCUS 5

7 3

2 6

Pool planting

Typical planting zones 1. Water storage zone 2. Bog/marsh zone

3. Regeneration zone 4. Access path surround

Natural swimming pool specialist Michael Littlewood shares the inspirational planting possibilities for a natural pool

5. Ornamental waterside zones 6. Swimming zone 7. Filtration zone

A successful natural swimming pool is a seamless blend of swimming pool and aquatic garden, and planting is key to making that synthesis work. Prospective owners are people who are drawn to the inspiring idea of swimming surrounded by nature – but while they probably love plants, they may not have the necessary planting expertise. Demand for natural swimming pools, and landscape professionals with the expertise to design them, is increasing year on year.

8. Deep water zone

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Photo © Sarah Murch, Ensata

The first natural swimming pools were built in Europe in the late 1980s. I introduced the concept to Britain in 2000, and there are now hundreds of natural pools and several specialist natural pool contractors in this country. With 30 years’ experience to draw upon, we now know which plants are particularly good in a natural swimming pool context, and which have failed to perform satisfactorily. The huge variety of aquatic and waterside plants gives the designer Some plants categorised as moisture-lovers will also grow in drier soil – thoughenormous scope in designing a they will be more lush and vigorous where more moisture is available. Examples include Siberian iris Iris sibirica, globe flowers Trollius spp., primroses Primulapoolscape, but this freedom needs to spp., golden ray Ligularia spp. and Astilbe and Hosta cultivars. These plants can be grown in a moisture-retentive garden border, which makes them useful forbe underpinned by rigorous attention blending the pool into the surrounding garden. A wide range of plants relish to the functional requirements of moisture in the soil, and they are not restricted to species which evolved in

found around a natural pond. If your design incorporates a stream, moistureMoisture-loving plants can be grown loving plants can be planted along its margins. The alternative is to create a alongbog the margins of apool. stream garden adjacent to your

Moisture-loving plants can be grown along the margins of a stream.

waterside environments. Some originated in damp, open grassland, so are suitable for sunny sites. Others derive from areas of damp woodland, so are suited to shady spots. A few come from mountain pastures or gullies, where the ground is kept moist by melting snow.

BALI Landscape News

Spring 2018

the biological system. Planting a natural swimming pool is a science as well as an art, and you need to start with a clear understanding of how the different categories of plant contribute to the successful functioning of the system.

Planting principles Plants in a natural swimming pool have two purposes: decorative and functional. They create a wonderful natural environment in which to swim, but they also clean, oxygenate and shade the water, and these functional requirements must be the priority. Of course this is true of any man-made pond but it is especially the case in a swimming pool, where people and activity in the water place additional demands on the biological cleaning system. Planting a swimming pool is therefore a much more specialised skill than planting a merely decorative pond. A classic natural swimming pool has two zones of roughly equal size: a swimming zone, which is plant-free, and a planted regeneration zone, where the water is cleaned. A pump circulates the water between the two zones, and the various depth areas in the regeneration zone provide living

Images courtesy of Ensata UK

spaces for the different categories of plants needed to clean the water. Pool and poolside plants can be divided into nine categories, and these play different roles in and around the pool. Understanding how each group contributes to the natural system is essential in order to make the right plant selection. Five categories of plant are essential to a healthy natural swimming pool: submerged plants, floating plants, floating-leaved plants, deep- and shallow-water marginals, and reeds and rushes. These functional plants must be introduced at the outset in order to establish biological balance in the pool. The remaining four categories – grasses and sedges, ferns, moisture-loving or bog plants, and waterside plants – are used primarily for their ornamental effect, or to create wildlife habitats. Submerged plants are vital oxygenators, which also remove surplus nutrients from the water, thereby outcompeting algae. Floating and floating-leaved plants provide crucial shade and keep the water cool, which deprives algae of light and warmth.

Alongside the essential functional planting, a natural swimming pool offers the opportunity to create a beautiful water garden – and the principles of garden design apply just as much to pool and poolside planting as to any other area of a garden. All sorts of styles are possible, and a key part of the process is to integrate the pool into the style of the surrounding garden. Naturalistic water gardens are generally easier to plan and construct than their more formal counterparts. However, it is a mistake to think that an informal design can just be allowed to ‘grow itself’; even a ‘natural’ design needs careful planning and management. Maintenance of a design is a key issue, especially if prospective owners plan to undertake this themselves. The right planting techniques can make a huge difference here. It is

The secret is to design the planting so that the swimming and regeneration zones blend into a visually harmonious whole. In a successful planting scheme, form and function merge, allowing you to achieve a selfsustaining, self-cleaning swimming pool ecosystem which is also a beautiful aquatic garden. Michael Littlewood is a landscape architect and the author of many gardening and landscape publications. To find out more about his publications and planning and design services, visit ecodesignscape.co.uk

Special offer for Landscape News readers Natural Swimming Pools: Plants and Planting by Michael Littlewood

before considering the role of each of the aquatic plant categories in detail. It goes on to consider the importance of good design, explaining the principles NA RAL ofTUdesigning IM MI NG a Plants and SW Planting PO OL S poolscape and N AT U R showing you how SW IM M INAL Plants and PlG P O O LS to create a planting anting plan which is both functional and attractive. The book concludes with a detailed guide to planting techniques, plant care and maintenance.

NSP5 Cover

MIC HAE L

16:10 Page 1

LITT LEW OOD

Plants are the engine room of a functioning natural swimm of its biolog ing pool, ensur ical cleaning environmen t in which to ing the succe system and swim. Unde clean, clear ssful creating a rstanding the water is there wonderful natural role of aquat fore essential, poolside plants ic plants in and learning will allow you achieving how to desig to develop n with aquat your pool into This book expla ic and an inspirationa ins the natur contribute to al swimm l water garde good water n. quality, before ing pool system and the categories in ways in which considering detail. It goes the role of each plants the principles on to consid of the aquat er the impo of designing ic plant rtance of good to create a a poolscape planting plan and showing design, expla you which is both ining with a detail ed guide to functional and how to put them into practice planting techn attractive. The iques, plant Planting and book concludes care and maint caring for your delight, but enance. natural swimm sound inform ing pool is ation and exper beautifully not difficult illustrated book and can be will guide you t advice will make all planting to a maintenanc the difference. through the e, ensuring whole proce which is also This that you achie a beautiful ve a successful ss, from principles to aquatic garde natural swimm n. ing pool

At last, the myster gives clear and ies are resolved and the myths precise instru debunked. This wildlife-friendly ctions on how new book by Micha to achieve the swimming pool. el Littlewood and most useful dream of ownin Finally, the scienc g a chemical-fre e is explained, watery aspira of all, there’s a comprehensi e, design sugge tion. ve list of the plants that will stions are offered Another in landsc help achieve ape this design publications er Michael Littlew , this book is ood’s librar y well worth consid swimming in of straig htforward eco-de a health-givin ering if you g pool that’s want to experi sign also an inspir ence the pleasu ational aquat re of ic garden. FRANCI N E R AY M O N

Ecodesigns

LITTL EWOO

cape

It explains the natural swimming pool system and the ways in which plants contribute to good water quality,

1 30/06/20 17

MICH AEL

Understanding how different plants contribute to the biological cleaning process is key to establishing a successful natural swimming pool, and learning how to design with aquatic plants will let you develop it into an inspirational water garden. This beautifully illustrated new book by Michael Littlewood will guide you through the whole process.

full_Layout

IMM ING POO LS PLANT S AN D PLANT ING

Plants also create habitats for aquatic wildlife, which helps to mitigate the loss of natural habitats. Choosing native species of aquatic plants is of great ecological benefit – though in order to provide a long season of food and shelter for wildlife, and colour and interest for people, it may be beneficial to also include some nonnative plants. It is, however, vital to avoid invasive non-natives, which can

Planting plans

generally best to put most of the plants in baskets; planting directly into the gravel substrate might seem the simpler option, but while this does create a more natural effect, it can quickly become unmanageable. Planting in baskets helps to restrict plants with vigorous growth, controls the extent to which they spread, protects the pool liner from sharp roots and makes maintenance much easier.

NATUR AL SW

Marginal plants help to remove nutrients from the water and disguise the edges of the pool, and reeds and rushes are particularly efficient waterpurifiers. It is important to include a good range of representatives from each plant category. A healthy, balanced pool depends on each ‘layer’ of water being planted so that the deep water, shallow margins and water surface are each inhabited by suitable types of plants.

quickly swamp a pool. Most aquatic and moisture-loving plants reproduce freely, and some do so to excess in favourable conditions.

MIC HAE L

Ecodesigns

LITT LEW OOD

cape

Buy the book for just £18.49 plus £2.75 P&P (RRP £19.99 plus P&P), saving £1.50. To order, visit ecodesignscape.co.uk Offer valid until 31 May 2018.

Spring 2018

BALI Landscape News

EVENTS

2018 Events Calendar 13-15 April

RHS Cardiff Flower Show, Bute Park, Cardiff rhs.org.uk/shows-events/

13-15 April

Ascot Spring Garden Show, Ascot Racecourse, Berkshire ascot.co.uk

1-5 August

RHS Hyde Hall Flower Show, Chelmsford, Essex rhs.org.uk/shows-events/

Young Horticulturist of the Year Competition 2018 Final, Harrogate Spring Flower Show horticulture.org.uk

17-19 August

RHS Rosemoor Flower Show, Torrington, Devon rhs.org.uk/shows-events/

28 April

18-22 July

RHS Flower Show Tatton Park, Knutsford, Cheshire rhs.org.uk/shows-events/

26-29 April

Harrogate Spring Flower Show, Great Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate flowershow.org.uk/spring-show-2018

4-5 September

Four Oaks Trader Show, Macclesfield, Cheshire fouroaks-tradeshow.com

10-13 May

RHS Malvern Spring Festival, Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcestershire rhs.org.uk/shows-events/

6 September

FutureScape Scotland,, Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston scothort.com

11-12 May

The Arb Show 2018, Westonbirt National Arboretum, Tetbury, Gloucestershire trees.org.uk

4-9 September

RHS Garden Wisley Flower Show, Nr Woking, Surrey rhs.org.uk/shows-events/

22-26 May

RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London rhs.org.uk/shows-events/

10-12 September

GLEE, NEC Birmingham gleebirmingham.com

RHS Chatsworth Flower Show, Chatsworth, Derbyshire rhs.org.uk/shows-events/

18-19 September

Landscape, Battersea Park, London landscapeshow.co.uk

14-17 June

BBC Gardeners’ World Live, NEC, Birmingham bbcgardenersworldlive.com

29-30 September

Malvern Autumn Show, Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcestershire threecounties.co.uk/malvernautumn/

19-21 June

Facilities Show, ExCeL, London facilitiesshow.com

7-8 November

SALTEX, NEC, Birmingham iogsaltex.com

22-24 June

RHS Harlow Carr Flower Show, Harrogate, North Yorkshire rhs.org.uk/shows-events/

15-17 November

The Skills Show, NEC, Birmingham worldskillsuk.org

2-8 July

RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show rhs.org.uk/shows-events/

20 November

FutureScape 2018, Sandown Park Racecourse, Surrey futurescapeevent.com

The Belvoir Flower & Garden Festival, Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire andrew.tudbury@ntlworld.com

7 December

BALI National Landscape Awards, London baliawards.co.uk

6-10 June

14-16 July

Perennial to benefit

from new flower and garden festival

Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire is to be the venue for a new flower and garden festival that will directly benefit Perennial, the UK’s only charity dedicated to looking after all those who work in horticulture. The Belvoir Flower & Garden Festival will take place on 14 and 15 July 2018 and will offer those with a love of gardens and gardening in the East Midlands and East Anglia a floral destination for garden inspiration and shopping. Applications are being invited for three types of exhibit: 1. Show Gardens – to be staged outside. Plot sizes vary – all design ideas welcomed.

BALI Landscape News

2. Floral/Nursery Exhibits – to be staged in Belvoir Castle’s grand Lakeside Pavilion. 3. Trade Stands – garden related products, to be staged outside. Local artists have been booked to keep visitors entertained in the Music Zone and a range of food and refreshments will be offered in the Nourish Zone. The event is being organised by garden designer and horticulturist Andy Tudbury. Laura Garnett, Senior Development Manager at Perennial, said: “We are delighted to be involved with this new event and look forward to supporting Andy and the team over the coming months. As the

Spring 2018

UK’s only charity dedicated to helping all those who work in horticulture, Perennial welcomes this opportunity to get to know designers, landscapers, nursery owners and other horticulturists in East Anglia and the East Midlands.” Contact andrew.tudbury@ ntlworld.com

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For sponsorship opportunities, contact Diane McCulloch 0161 478 8506 or email diane.mcculloch@bali.org.uk For general enquiries, contact Emily Feeney 024 7669 8658 or Kirsty Wood 024 7669 8654 or email awards@bali.org.uk

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Perennialâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s York Gate Garden near Leeds. Photo: Ben Charles. York Gate will hold its first ever snowdrop week 20-23 February 2018

CHARITIES

RISE IN NUMBERS SEEKING PERENNIAL’S HELP Fullers Mill Garden near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

The number of people seeking help from Perennial increased again last year, as the effects of the economy and welfare reforms continue to take their toll. Perennial is your trade charity and the only organisation dedicated to helping everyone from across the horticulture industry including the landscaping sectors, delivering free and confidential front line support, advice and financial help to those facing crisis. More and more people are finding themselves in need of Perennial’s support, with a 9% increase year on year in the total number of people helped. Perennial’s services team helped people access just under £1.9 million in direct financial assistance during 2017, which included £1.4 million in statutory benefits, a 35% increase on the previous year. Against a backdrop of Government welfare reforms, including the roll out of Universal Credit, which has actually resulted in many people seeing a drop in the amount of money they receive, it is no wonder people are struggling to make ends meet.

and the often confusing changes to the benefits system. Working in a sector that is usually low-paid and seasonal, many horticulturists and landscapers rely on the extra support that in-work benefits can bring but the changes to the welfare system are placing an additional burden on those who are already vulnerable. Add to that job insecurity and the risk of accident or illness, which can change lives in a moment, it is easy to see how people can end up in crisis. “Perennial can help people identify and claim for benefits that they are entitled to, as well as access other forms of financial support and grants. Please help us spread the word that anyone needing help can turn to us.”

Sheila Thomson, Director of Services at Perennial, says: “People across the country are bearing the brunt of the challenging financial climate

perennial.org.uk/help

Thrive using gardening as therapy Thrive is the leading charity in the UK that uses gardening to bring about positive changes in the lives of people who are living with disabilities or ill health, or who are isolated, disadvantaged or vulnerable. Using gardening as therapy in this structured way is known as social and therapeutic horticulture (STH). Horticultural therapists at Thrive use plants and gardens to improve a person’s physical and mental health, as well as communication and thinking skills. STH can also lead to people learning practical skills to help them become more independent and for some a City & Guilds qualification in horticulture. In a typical year Thrive directly helps around 1,400 people; this figure can change depending on funding and the number of programmes the charity can run at its three regional centres in Reading, London and Birmingham. Horticultural therapists from Thrive also work in the gardens at HM Prison Hewell in Redditch with inmates who have mental ill health, and at a women’s homeless hostel in London. In a wider sense, Thrive reaches thousands more, thanks to its world-class training and education programme and information service. Many people who train at Thrive go on to set up their own therapeutic programmes, either at community gardens or within care homes, hospital settings or schools. Garden designers and landscapers too can benefit from Thrive’s expertise by taking the course ‘Understanding disability in garden design’, run throughout the year. Alternatively, Thrive offers a bespoke consultancy service advising on individual projects anywhere in the UK. Thrive is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2018. If you would like to support the charity in any way please get in touch via the website at thrive.org.uk or phone the head office on 0118 988 5688.

BALI Landscape News

Spring 2018

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PRODUCT & AFFILIATE NEWS 36v cordless multi-tool system launched for grounds maintenance operations A 36v cordless multi-tool system has been launched by Makita with a range of quick-fit attachments, including the newly introduced Brush Cutter and Linetrimmer, in addition to the Cultivator, Pole Saw, Hedge Trimmer and lawn Edging Tool. The pole extension allows even greater reach for the Pole Saw and Hedge Trimmer. With the move to battery powered grounds maintenance machines becoming increasingly popular, particularly at the demand of municipal authorities and public bodies, Makita offers a range of 18v tools and, more recently, an expanding inventory of twin 18v machines to give 36v power. The power and run-time performance of the 36v Brushless motor makes the latest tools fully comparable on power and performance to petrol engine machines, while being highly sustainable with low noise and emissions. The new DUX60Z is powered by two Makita 18v Lithium-Ion batteries in series to supply energy to the 36v DC motor

drive system. Its split-shaft motor unit has an effective output of 600 watts and a three speed drive system that will run up to 9,700 rpm in Hi; 8,200 rpm in Medium mode and 5,700 rpm in Lo speed. A reverse gear is also featured. With soft start system to protect the operator from initial power loading, variable speed control, an electric brake and overload protection, it also has AFT – Makita’s Active Feedback Sensing Technology – that shuts down the tool if the rotation speed suddenly reduces or if the blade or line head snags. The On-Off button with Auto-Off turns the power off if the trigger is not activated for 60 seconds.

The versatile attachments are easily fitted with a tool-less slide joint coupling with a simple clip-lock fixing the attachment securely in place. With any of the tool heads attached and the two 18v batteries clipped into the motor housing, the overall balance of the complete machine is excellent with the loop handle perfectly positioned for complete machine control and manoeuvrability. Maximum weight with the largest batteries and tool head is just 8.7kg. The DUX60Z is a body only machine and available with your choice of the new DUX60 seven-piece attachments package. makitauk.com

Alpha Rail’s decorative railings grace Southend seafront The Shubbery, an iconic seafront garden area located near Southend Pier, has recently had decorative metal railings manufactured and installed by BALI Registered Affiliate Alpha Rail as part of the restoration by Southend Borough Council of this once popular visitor attraction.

metal railings were installed to the main frontage of the park. A further 44 metres of 1100mm high balltop metal railings were installed internally to provide perimeter protection for the remaining areas of the park. A single leaf gate was also added to provide staff access.

In bid to improve the garden, which includes quirky miniature castles, works were sanctioned to renovate and restore its appeal, drawing people to the Pier area. The 3D design team at Alpha Rail was given some basic concepts and worked with the project designer to turn the concepts into reality.

All metalwork was supplied galvanised and polyester powder coated RAL 7035 Grey to provide protection from rust, adverse weather conditions and the salty atmosphere, prevalent in a seafront location. Phil Ball, Sales Director at Alpha Rail commented: “I am extremely proud of the metal railings we have installed on this project. Not only are they a truly bespoke design that has transformed the parks landscape but they also provide additional levels of safety and security by deterring visitors from climbing on the rockery areas.”

The topography of the landscape where the metal railings have been installed has many steep gradients and Alpha Rail conducted a thorough site survey to take precise measurements of the proposed fence line. In total 30 metres of 1100mm high decorative

BALI Landscape News

Spring 2018

alpharail.co.uk

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PRODUCT & AFFILIATE NEWS

BALI members rewarded with thriving trees two years on

Unilog Pro landscape timbers are perfect for creating innovative landscaping features.

Following a multi-million pound refurbishment in 2015 of Nottingham Trent University’s city campus, which included landscaping of the grounds, BALI Registered Affiliate member Green-tech and BALI Registered Contractor Ulyett Landscapes have returned to find that 50 mature trees planted as part of the landscape works are thriving, two years on. These larger, more established, trees were specified to maximise aesthetic and biodiversity value. Ulyett Landscapes turned to gt Specifer, Green-tech’s specification team, for advice on the most suitable products for planting, securing and encouraging the healthy growth of the trees. Taking into account their size and the planting environment – the whole site is on an incline – the team recommended the ArborRaft Tree Planting system, which combines nutrientrich ArborRaft soil with exceptionally strong geocellular units. Together they create a healthy growing space for trees in urban areas that are subjected to vehicle or pedestrian traffic. In addition, Green-tech supplied an anchoring system for each tree, the Mona tree irrigation system, root barrier, subsoil, ArboRaft soil and bark for top dressing. Two years on and Barry Browne, who heads up the gt Specifier team, said: “We are always keen to follow up on any project that we have been so heavily involved with and we were thrilled to see that all of the trees were thriving. The landscape looked lush and green and the campus looked very smart indeed. Several months after the initial project the ArboRaft System was specified once again when their adjoining car park was revamped. Here, too, the trees are healthy and flourishing.” The ArborRaft system has been used in many high profile projects across the UK with the same success. The individual ArborRaft units lock together and form a raft system that sits within the tree pit, providing load bearing support and reducing soil compaction. As the system retains the open structure of the soil, the roots are allowed to grow naturally and the essential oxygen, nutrients and water can flow freely through the growing media which all ensures the ideal growing environment for trees to successfully establish and flourish.

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M&M Timber also supply machine round fencing posts, sleepers, playground structures, palisade fencing, plant display stands and gazebos

Call 0333 0035133 E: sales@mmtimber.co.uk www.mmtimber.co.uk M&M Timber, Hunt House Sawmills, Clows Top, Nr Kidderminster, Worcestershire DY14 9HY M&M Timber is a Division of Forest Garden Ltd.

PRODUCT & AFFILIATE NEWS

TOPSOIL launches all-new website Following several months in development, British Sugar TOPSOIL’s new, multi-platform website at bstopsoil.co.uk is now live. Visitors to the site will see a fresh, easy to navigate design that provides information instantly at just one click of the mouse or tap of the finger.

and product case studies. To obtain advice quickly and easily, visitors to the site can simply click on the ‘Need Free Advice?’ tab, enter their contact details and question, and a member of the technically trained TOPSOIL sales team will respond promptly by email to pass on their knowledge and ensure customers choose the right product for their project.

A no-nonsense menu bar provides all the options you need, including information on how and where TOPSOIL products are manufactured and the stringent testing regime they undergo; individual product specifications and applications; a helpful product-specific calculation tool for designers, contractors and specifiers; how to plan an order and prepare for delivery;

The new site will be under constant review to make sure it continues to provide up to the moment information. Future plans include adding video content showing the manufacturing process and head to head interviews with product users. bstopsoil.co.uk

Evergreens UK joins ESTO BALI Registered Affiliate member Evergreens UK, which owns the popular LazyLawn® brand of artificial grass, has joined the European Synthetic Turf Organisation (ESTO), the non-profit organisation offering neutral and unbiased information for the promotion of synthetic turf. The company’s membership provides an opportunity to discuss, debate, research and develop the future of synthetic turf within a forum for all ESTO parties. Evergreens UK’s LazyLawn® is a low maintenance and authentic looking and feeling alternative to natural grass that has proved popular with homeowners, schools, nurseries and businesses. Over the 30 years it has been in business Evergreens UK has established itself as a major distributor, supplier and installer through its various trading divisions and brands. Andy Driver, Sales and Marketing Director for Evergreens UK, said: “I am looking forward to working within ESTO, to broaden our knowledge as a company and playing our part in shaping the development and future of the industry.”

BALI Landscape News

Evergreens UK will be joining ESTO as part of the Landscaping Working Group, alongside yarn manufacturers, landscaping turf manufacturers, suppliers and installers, as well as companies offering maintenance services. Executive Chairman of the European Synthetic Turf Organisation, Nigel Fletcher, commented: “We look forward to welcoming Evergreens UK to the ESTO Membership. Following discussions I am sure they will play an active role in ESTO and in particular the future progression of the ESTO Landscape Working Group.” evergreensuk.com

Spring 2018

From left: ESTO’s Nigel Fletcher with Evergreens UK Managing Director Jim Footitt and Sales and Marketing Director Andy Driver

PRODUCT & AFFILIATE NEWS

Palmstead Nurseries launches new staff training academy “To be the best we can be” is the motto of the new staff training academy launched by BALI Registered Affiliate member Palmstead Nurseries at their location in Wye, near Ashford, Kent. “Staff training will help to create a wider understanding of what we do as a business,” Managing Director Mark Hutchinson said. “Our motto applies to each person, each team, the company and Palmstead Nurseries within the horticultural industry.” There are two streams involved in the year’s initial training in the company’s new training facilities. Once a month the handson group meets for lectures; they are are encouraged to actively participative with their knowledge and experience of national

Staff training in progress

plant specifications, growing media, propagation, biosecurity, the science behind the company’s plant trials, pests and diseases and their control, and the in-depth assessment of the crop, from its value to who buys the plants and the issues that customers face from plant handling to plant establishment. The company has provided training on an ad hoc basis but decided on structured tuition. Mark continued: “The staff are our greatest asset and training and improving people’s skills is rewarding for everyone and rewarding for the business.” The academic training of ten full-day modules will cover leadership skills, which looks at how staff can develop themselves, their teams and how they can be more

effective now and in future as the company evolves; presentation skills; managing for performance; problem solving; employment law; communication; and building high-performance teams. “We want to create a wider understanding of what we are doing to give all staff a broad understanding of the business, to innovate, to be the best that we can be, and provide the best level of service and products that we can.” The staff were also pleased to know that they’d be getting homework! This will include projects where they can work together on topics to improve their knowledge and experience. palmstead.co.uk

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PRODUCT & AFFILIATE NEWS

From left: Michael Queree, Tom Owen and Peter van Oekel

Team changes at Van den Berk Nurseries UK After working as Van den Berk`s UK agents since 1996, Michael Queree and Peter van Oekel will be retiring on 30 June 2018. The 22 year relationship has seen the growth of Van den Berk`s activities and influence in the UK. “They succeeded in raising the profile of Van den Berk in the UK to the point where we are now recognised as one of Europe`s leading big tree nurseries. This resulted in winning many prestigious projects, the pinnacle of which was being awarded the contract to supply the trees for the Athletes Village at the London

2012 Olympic Games” said Managing Director Pieter van den Berk. Tom Owen has now joined the Van den Berk sales team. Having worked for 19 years at fellow BALI Registered Affiliate member Crowders Nurseries, Tom has horticultural experience in both private and commercial soft landscape supply and extensive knowledge of the realisation of large infrastructure projects. Ferdinand Timmerman, based at the nursery in Holland, will also remain as a contact for the UK market. vdberk.co.uk

Provender Nurseries has welcomed two new members of staff, expanding the BALI Registered Affiliate member’s knowledge base and adding to a record of great customer service.

Graham Nott

provendernurseries.co.uk

BALI Landscape News

Spring 2018

BALI Registered Affiliate Wyevale Nurseries’ landscaping and amenity sales figures were up 20% year-onyear from July 2017 to the end of December 2017, thanks in part to continued growth in a number of sectors, including housing, education, leisure and forestry.

“A number of our key accounts have increased their turnover with us significantly and are taking a wider range of products too, from trees and transplants to container shrubs and herbaceous plants. Biosecurity and ensuring that plant stock is coming from a known source without the danger of importing pests or diseases seems to be very much the focus of our customers, both on the retail side and increasingly on the landscape side.” Wyevale Nurseries is investing in its own propagation unit to supply ‘UK sown and UK grown’ trees and plants to counter the pressure of Brexit and biosecurity issues. It will be a controlled and closed supply chain loop with traceability of all stock.

Martin Wilson joins the Provender Nurseries’ Cash and Carry counter team, showing customers around the extensive stock held on site. Martin’s background – running his own landscape maintenance company for 25 years – is invaluable when advising customers on both soft and hard landscaping requirements. Both Graham and Martin joined Provender Nurseries in 2017 and have already proved their worth to the business.

Wyevale Nurseries’ landscape and amenity sales up by 20%

Adam Dunnett, Sales and Marketing Director at Wyevale Nurseries in Hereford, said: “We’re delighted with our recent sales figures – it’s a huge increase on last year. Our retail sales also saw a 3% yearon-year increase from July 2017 to the end of December 2017. It’s great news for the industry as a whole.

Provender Nurseries’ team grows

Graham Nott is the newest member of the Quoting team and comes to Provender Nurseries with over 30 years’ experience in horticulture and customer service. Having run both a cut flower business in Covent Garden and a garden centre, Graham is well versed in dealing with customer enquiries and is able to advise confidently.

Adam Dunnett, Sales & Marketing Director at Wyevale Nurseries

Martin Wilson

Adam added: “We have invested heavily in improving efficiencies of production and distribution. New product development, better marketing, reducing wastage and replacing inefficient production with new products has been our focus.” wyevalenurseries.co.uk

PRODUCT & AFFILIATE NEWS

Johnsons of Whixley helps Haggerston Castle to bloom Johnsons of Whixley has completed a three year long project supplying plants to a holiday park in Northumberland. Haggerston Castle Holiday Park has static holiday caravans as well as touring and camping pitches in beautiful landscaped grounds, plus the remaining structures of various incarnations of the castle over the centuries. BALI Registered Affiliate member Johnsons of Whixley supplied plants to two landscaping and construction companies as part of a major long-term project at Haggerston Castle. The first phase of the project included the supply of native trees, hedging, ornamental and specimen shrubs to BALI Registered Contractor Brambledown Landscapes from Durham, who undertook the initial landscaping between autumn 2013 and spring 2015.

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Johnsons’ 200-acre nursery then supplied various phases of stock to BALI Registered Contractor P1 Solutions from Edinburgh who undertook the second

phase of landscaping between February 2016 and spring 2017. This included mature specimen trees, instant hedging, a large range of ornamental shrubs, grasses, heathers, and native structure planting.

Grade II listed site restored to its former glory Johnsons has also supplied a range of trees and shrubs totalling £20,000 to a recently-completed residential development on an iconic site in York – the converted Grade II Terry’s chocolate factory. 40 mature trees and 2,000 shrubs were supplied as part of the wider development, equating to the majority of the plants on site.

Haggerston Castle Holiday Park

to work alongside developers Henry Boot and David Wilson, alongside Bob Gascoyne Landscape Seeding, on the project.” nurserymen.co.uk

Following the art deco factory’s closure in 2005 it fell into serious disrepair, until it was purchased by Henry Boot Developments and converted into 170 apartments across five floors. Johnsons of Whixley’s Amenity Sales Manager, Andrew Barker, said: “The new development at The Terry’s Factory looks fantastic, and it’s been a pleasure

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PRODUCT & AFFILIATE NEWS

New seed treatment from Rigby Taylor aids early establishment and improves disease tolerance Following the success of its Germin-8 liquid seed treatment, BALI Registered Affiliate Rigby Taylor – the company at the forefront of supplying innovative products for the successful management and maintenance of turf surfaces – has now announced the Germin-8T advanced formulation. The ‘T’ identifies the inclusion of Trichoderma atroviride filamentous soil fungi that forms a mutual endophytic, beneficial relationship with grass plants. The symbiotic relationship delivers increased tolerance to turf diseases leaf spot, pythium and rhizoctonia. Pre-applied to each individual grass seed, Germin-8T contains a speciality surfactant that is activated when the seed comes into contact with rootzone moisture. This provides effective penetration of water through the seeds’ outer layer (pericorp) into the endosperm, by lowering the surface tension of the surrounding water molecules. Roots can also

take advantage of the micronised mycorryhizal fungi that will deliver long-term plant benefits. The result is that, at the active germination stage, each emerging seedling has immediate access to a highly beneficial package of targeted nutrients, biostimulants and micronised mycorrhizal fungi. Together they aid early establishment, improved root mass development and accelerated leaf extension. As Germin-8T is a liquid treatment, there is no risk of broken particles or dust (as is the norm with powder coatings) and because it adds just a maximum 2% increase in bag weight, there is no requirement to increase seed sowing rates above those recommended. Germin-8T is a standard treatment on the Rigby Taylor ‘R’ range of grass seeds. A fully illustrated leaflet is available on request.

8 days after sowing. Main image – 14 days after sowing

New two-in-one brochure now available from Rigby Taylor Rigby Taylor has introduced a new two-in-one brochure that focuses on key products for both grounds maintenance and landscaping. The informative, 60-page publication, which complements the company’s Professional Products range brochure, includes a wide range of grass and flower seed mixtures, fertilizers, herbicides (for both selective and total weed control), wetting agents and biostimulants, tree and ground protection, bark, turf, knapsacks and spreaders, PPE and much more.

rigbytaylor.com

From left: Stuart Gibbs, Emma Adams, Leanne Palmer and Sean Buckley.

AHS team grows to reflect business expansion BALI Registered Affiliate member AHS Ltd, suppliers of products to the landscaping, construction and horticulture sectors, has grown its team by more than a quarter in 2018 following industry demand for high quality, competitively priced products. Five new members of staff have been appointed across the sales, marketing and customer service departments, increasing the size of the team from 13 to 18. AHS’s office space has grown too. The company’s existing offices in Northiam, East Sussex, have undergone

BALI Landscape News

refurbishment to accommodate its growing staff numbers, creating a fantastic, motivational working environment. All staff have extensive knowledge of AHS products and are committed to providing outstanding customer service and adhering to the highest industry standards. Sean Buckley, the newly appointed Sales Manager, said: “AHS is a nationwide supplier with a dedicated network of hauliers across the UK. Our products are really well received by clients and I’m really pleased to be joining the business at such an exciting

Spring 2018

time of growth and being part of its ongoing success.” Nick Guest, Managing Director, said: “Our latest team expansion is testament that renewable and sustainable products are high on the agenda for our industry and the demand for these products is on the up. I’m confident that, by increasing our team, skills and experience, our new additions are another positive step towards making us an even better company to do business with.” ahs-ltd.co.uk

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PRODUCT & AFFILIATE NEWS

Rolawn awarded Feefo Gold Trusted Service award 2018 The Feefo Gold Service award, an independent seal of excellence that recognises businesses for delivering exceptional experiences, as rated by real customers, has been awarded to BALI Registered Affiliate Rolawn for another year. Created by Feefo, Trusted Service is awarded only to those businesses that use Feefo to collect genuine ratings and reviews. Those that meet the high standard, based on the number of reviews they have collected, and their average rating, are awarded a badge of honour. This accreditation is a true reflection of a business’s commitment to outstanding service as all reviews are verified unique from bona fide customers. Rolawn met the criterion of collecting at least 50 reviews between 1st January 2017 and 31st December 2017, with a Feefo service rating of between 4.5 and 5.0. Jonathan Hill, Rolawn’s Sales & Marketing Director, commented: “It’s a real honour to receive this award from Feefo. To be recognised for delivering exceptional service over an extended

time period with products that are heavily influenced by the UK weather is testimony to everyone’s hard work. Being able to listen to our customers helps us to understand and respond to their needs, ensuring we are always striving to improve the buying experience. 2017 was a great year for us, 2018 has started well and we are very much looking forward to the year ahead.”

purchase-verified reviews on behalf of over 4,000 businesses. It ensures that all feedback is authentic by matching it to a legitimate transaction, which increases consumer confidence and combats the rising issue of fake reviews. rolawn.co.uk

Speaking about this year’s award, Andrew Mabbutt, CEO at Feefo, said: “The Trusted Service award has always been about recognising those companies that go the extra mile. Once again, we have seen many incredible businesses using Feefo to its full potential, to provide truly memorable experiences for their customers – and rightly being awarded with our most prestigious accreditation. I look forward to the continual success of the businesses that work in partnership with Feefo throughout 2018.” Feefo is a ratings and reviews and customer analytics platform that provides the tools to collect genuine,

Tim O’Hare Associates welcomes geologist to its team of specialists Leading landscape and soil consultancy Tim O’Hare Associates (TOHA) has further enhanced its team of specialists by welcoming geologist Matthew Heins to its Oxfordshire-based practice.

Speaking about Matthew’s arrival, Tim O’Hare, Principal Consultant at TOHA, said: “The team at TOHA is very much enjoying having Matthew on board. His background in site investigation

Matthew Heins BSc(Hons)

BALI Landscape News

Originally from South Africa, where his degrees in Geology and Geography led to employment in geological exploration and mining consultancy, Matthew joined BALI Registered Affiliate Tim O’Hare Associates in February 2018 when he moved to the UK. His role at TOHA is already utilising his broader business development experience as he identifies upcoming projects where TOHA’s extensive soil surveying and site investigation, testing and analysis, design and specification, planning and monitoring, and other specialist soil services can be employed.

Spring 2018

will strengthen the TOHA consultancy team and he has also brought new impetus to our business development activities. Our reputation has delivered much of our work to date but we must never be complacent and Matthew’s role will ensure we continue to engage proactively with existing and potential clients.” Matthew said: “Joining TOHA has given me an amazing opportunity to learn more about soils whilst contributing my own knowledge and experience of geology to the team. It’s a privilege to work alongside my TOHA colleagues and I hope I will be able to help generate further business opportunities for them, working on some of the most iconic and influential landscape projects in the UK and further afield.”

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PRODUCT & AFFILIATE NEWS

New ‘seed and feed’ sports pitch renovation package BALI Registered Affiliate Germinal Amenity has launched an all-in-one seed and fertiliser sports pitch renovation package. Containing two key elements – Germinal’s A20 Premier Ryesport seed mixture plus an appropriate selection of fertiliser products – A20 Seed & Feed gives groundsmen everything they need to renovate their pitches and to create a sustainable playing surface within six weeks of seeding.

By providing a complementary package of seed, fertiliser and FACTS-based nutrient advice, A20 Seed & Feed makes it easier and simpler for groundsmen to renovate their pitches and to successfully create a wellestablished and viable playing surface. “All too often we speak to groundsmen who simply don’t have the time or resources or, in some cases, the correct technical knowledge to develop their own over-seeding and fertiliser programmes. By following the simple advice laid out in our new A20 Seed & Feed packages, these groundsmen can be confident that they are using the correct rate of the most suitable products at the optimum time, and that they will be giving their pitch the very best chance of going into the new season in prime condition,” Joe adds.

The seed element of the A20 Seed & Feed package provides a combination of four top-performing species of perennial ryegrasses. Together, these four cultivars create a dense sward with excellent fineness of leaf, a good cleanness of cut and which is exceptionally easy to mow into stripes. The seed mixture – Germinal’s standard A20 Premier Ryesport mixture – also offers good levels of disease resistance and fantastic postwinter recovery. The standard seed mixture can also be customised, allowing groundsmen to create their own bespoke specification.

“All three of the A20 Seed & Feed programmes use the very best phased-release fertilisers and soil conditioners from Compo Expert to ensure that every penny invested in pitch renovation works hard and delivers the required results.”

For the fertiliser component of the A20 Seed & Feed package, groundsmen are able to select either a soil or sand based nutrient programme. A third option, for park pitches and local community pitches, is also available. All three nutrient programmes are FACTS (Fertiliser Advisers Certification and Training Scheme) approved and have been designed to enable the new sward to achieve the best possible results in terms of seedling establishment and sward development. Each package contains a selection of phased release fertilisers and advanced soil conditioners, which provide the necessary nutrients and trace elements required during the renovated pitch’s growing-in phase. “The summer pitch renovation season is one of the busiest periods in any groundsman’s calendar,” explains Joe Hendy, Technical Sales Representative for Germinal. “It can also be an exceptionally stressful time of year with groundsmen anxiously waiting for the renovated pitch to be ready in time for the start of the new playing season. With that in mind, we have created an all-in-one seed, fertiliser and nutrient advice package to help ease the pressure.”

germinal.com Quarter-page ad for BALI Landscape news.pdf

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