18 minute read
Member News
How to choose the right wildflowers with Green-tech
Wildflower meadows have been in decline for decades, so the importance of reinstating them in the countryside and on urban roundabouts and verges has been recognised and is now firmly on the government’s agenda.
Choosing the right mix is easier than you think, just follow these three golden rules to help you get started: Soil type – every wildflower is unique, so knowing whether it’s clay, sand, loam or chalk is essential. Taking samples of soil from across your site and testing for pH is the most accurate way to identify the correct type. Companies such as John Chambers Wildflower Seed can then advise you on the most suitable products. If you take an area with a heavy, clay-type soil the seed mix should contain species which are suited to this type of soil, such as Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris), Greater Knapweed (Centaurea scabiosa). The site - where your proposed wildflower area is located must be considered. Is it in a coastal area, near wetland or affected by shade? If we take hedgerows, where there is an element of shade at certain times of day, then the soil is likely to be poor and dry, with less nutrients and moisture. We therefore need wildflowers that can cope with these conditions; not all can. In this case, choose a mix featuring Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) and Red Campion (Silene dioica). The size of the area can also have an impact on the most appropriate mix. If you wish to sow in a flower bed, a mix without grass is a good choice. Environmental objectives - Wildflowers are incredibly important for biodiversity. They are an intrinsic part of the food chain for insects and some animals, and they are an essential and attractive food source for pollinating insects. There are several wildflowers and mixes that will specifically support certain pollinators. Good examples would be Field Scabious, Viper’s-bugloss and Kidney Vetch. Finally, consider and plan for management and maintenance of the area in the longer term.
For more information, including how best to prepare the site for wildflowers, contact John Chambers Wildflower Seed on +44(0)1423 369730 or visit johnchamberswildflowers.co.uk.
Harrod UK strengthens its stylish Southwold Collection with new additions for 2021
After launching the traditional handcrafted garden furniture range in 2020, which combines comfort, beauty and quality, Accredited Supplier Harrod UK Ltd T/A Harrod Horticultural are excited to introduce a number of new additions in the form of complementary garden pieces.
From towering obelisks, supports, trellis and a traditional pergola, Harrod UK have everything required to perfectly enhance your client’s garden or patio area, while complementing its natural beauty.
The beautifully engineered pergola is complete with retractable awning for sun shade and shower protection or a wire roof to create a fragrant living canopy with climbers and ramblers. It makes a stunning backdrop that will enhance rather than dominate, the perfect centrepiece for small or larger gatherings whatever the weather this summer.
Borders and walls can be brought to life too with favourite planter varieties intertwining with the decorative handcrafted framework of obelisks, plant supports and trellis, just look at our front cover of this edition of Landscape News.
The Southwold Collection is hot dip galvanised and hand etched to give a unique antique appearance that will develop over time and continue to improve with age. Handmade by skilled technicians and finished in Suffolk where steel manufacturing has been in operation in this family business for over 65 years, each piece carries a lengthy 25 year structural guarantee which befits its outstanding quality. View the full collection at harrodhorticultural.com
A recently completed domestic scheme delivered by Culverhouse Gardens
Culverhouse joins membership to grow and develop its business after impressing clients around St Albans
Accredited Contractor Culverhouse Gardens, founded in 2008 as a family run garden maintenance and landscaping business, has recently joined the British Association of Landscape Industries after attaining an excellent reputation in their local area near St Albans for delivering a high standard of work and using local independent suppliers.
The team have a passion for creating and maintaining beautiful outdoor spaces that are an extension of their client’s homes or workplaces. Operating within a 15 mile radius of their yard, they have been transforming landscapes for 13 years, from small domestic courtyard gardens right up to large commercial premises.
Director Andrew Culverhouse told Landscape News, “Our values for offering a friendly, honest, and reliable service are continually passed on to my team as the company continues to grow. We guide and advise our clients through the whole process of creating a garden, from design ideas through construction and onto maintenance. Even if our clients choose to maintain their garden themselves, we still offer guidance and tips to help them do so.”
Andrew continued, “Since being founded the business has continued to grow and develop and we see joining membership as another step in the process to help us to continue our growth and development.”
Visit culverhousegardens.co.uk to check out their services.
Permeating success CED Stone Group officially launch ECCO products in the UK
Accredited Supplier CED Stone Group has worked in close partnership with ECCO Products, from conception, distributing and marketing, to bring the ECCOGRAVEL product to market under their own brands CEDAdrive and CEDApath.
ECCO’s innovative water permeable landscaping solutions, marketed as CEDAdrive and CEDApath, are to be rebranded to ECCOGRAVEL under exciting plans being drawn up by CED. Gary Ewing, Landscape Divisional Director, told Landscape News, “I truly believe now is the time for us to build on the success of CEDAdrive and introduce the full range of products available to us. CEDAdrive has enjoyed great success and by utilising our six nationwide depots is now recognised throughout the country as a quality SuDS compliant solution for driveways, paths and carparks.”
A staged roll out of ECCO’s full range of products is underway, which started with ECCOGRAVEL earlier this year. For more information visit cedstone.
co.uk/gravel-stabilisation-systems
Empire Landscapes take great pride in delivering landscaping services
Building an Empire with quality landscapes
Accredited Contractor Empire Landscapes has joined the British Association of Landscape Industries and provides all aspects of landscape construction services, grounds maintenance and tree management throughout Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. The team has spent the last five years developing relationships with their customers, suppliers and industry professionals and take pride in providing exemplary landscaping services. Their knowledge and advice, which comes from the initial design and quotation stage, ensures that the highest standards are delivered and maintained.
Director Ryan Reid told Landscape News, “Our customer’s experience is hugely valued, which is reflected through the continued investment in equipment and training our employees to ensure we maintain the highest industry standards. With the help of our Trade Association, we aim to expand into a diverse landscaping community and continually strive to becoming market leading professionals.” Visit empire-landscapes.co.uk to view more of their latest work.
Members take back control of job management and workflows
For a hands-on industry, taking on more work isn’t easy without employing more people, but this hasn’t stopped the commercial landscaping community. Forward thinking members have been quick to embrace technological advancements in the sector to reduce time consuming activities such as completing daily job sheets, risk assessments, health & safety forms, vehicle checks and before and after photos - by digitising the process.
Since the launch of Accredited Supplier Re-flow Landscaping Workflow Management Software’s services, the team has seen a significant rise in the number of commercial landscapers adopting their system.
Re-flow’s software provides managers and administrators with a command dashboard that enables them to quickly set up and schedule one off or recurring jobs and add and assign all the required job information and forms to groups or individuals. The information is accessed in the field on an app, accessible on both smartphones and tablets.
After integrating the system within their business operations, Accredited Contractor Shines Environmental Co’s Operations Director Harry Downing said, “There’s no waiting around for paper job sheets to be issued in the mornings, our team is able to grab their phones and instantly see where they’re going, who they’re working with, what tools they need and they’re able to get loaded up and out to work a lot quicker. One of the most powerful tools for us has been the ability to upload photographs of work against each individual task, and within seconds we can view this in the office. If there’s any challenging situations, this enables us to see in real time what is required to deal with them. Being able to drag and drop work on the scheduler, add tasks and send plans instantly has actually increased our ability to be even more flexible and react even quicker, which our clients love.” To find out more visit reflow.co.uk/
sectors/landscaping
Johnsons of Whixley 100 YEARS IN BUSINESS
Lupins in full bloom at Johnsons of Whixley
The Richardson family celebrate 100 years of business
First ever lorry loaded in Holland against Boscoop canal 1966 Over 220 million plants have been sold in Johnson’s illustrious history
With Accredited Supplier Johnsons of Whixley celebrating 100 years in business, Editor Darren Taylor sits down with John Richardson to talk about heritage, family, climate change, the rise of digital, and what it feels like to sell 220 million plants in a Landscape News exclusive. DT - Johnsons has grown exponentially, becoming a commercial nursery powerhouse, but where did it all start? JR - Literally with a ‘seed’. Mr Johnson, a war veteran, founded the company in 1921 with minimum assets and a small piece of land with a couple of dozen fruit trees. As the business continued to flourish, he took on more employees and began to import plants from Holland.
The Second World War was a setback. Eric saw all but one of his staff join the war effort; he stopped growing ornamentals and concentrated instead on producing vegetables. He was given a commission with the Home Guard, with a platoon of 60 covering the area between Walshford Bridge and Skip Bridge along the River Nidd to Nun Monkton, back to Green Hammerton and the A1.
Towards the end of the war, Eric bought seven acres of land in Whixley, and ER Johnson Nurseries, based at Cattal & Whixley, was born.
By 1964, my wife Dorothy and I took over; the company was producing 150,000 plants annually. The business employed 11 full-time staff and had a turnover of £30,500.
I had spent much of my childhood in my grandparents’ market garden at Carlton, between Leeds and Wakefield. Aged 18, I went to Writtle College in Essex and completed a two-year college diploma in horticulture. Leaving college, I worked a full year for Willy and Robert Bean in East Yorkshire on intensive salad crops, while in my spare time, I would divide and grow rhubarb roots on borrowed land. I managed to sell the lot to the Bean brothers for £400 - a small fortune when the weekly wage at the time was just £6.50.
Today the business has 150 acres of land and 120 employees, rising to 150 seasonally. The company sells between five and six million plants and trees each year. Despite the pandemic and Brexit, turnover for 2020 was £13.2m, the second highest in the company’s history. DT - What makes Johnsons so unique? JR - Whilst a family business, many of our staff have become part of the extended family, with 20% of our workforce now reaching 20+ years’ service. We recognise that we would not be the successful business we are today without the staff we have behind us. We spend around £10,000 per year to boost morale via our unique ‘Extra Mile Awards’.
Staff receive an annual attendance and profit share bonus, enhanced company sickness scheme, pension fund (one of the first for a land-based business) and Healthspan medical support insurance. At the same time, key managers are company members of Bupa. DT - How do you manage the operational complexities as a family-run business? JR - It is a challenge, particularly as we maintain 3 channels to market (retail via garden centres, commercial landscapes and a trade counter). We attempt to micro manage and find that improvements are made incrementally – these generally add up to a sizeable difference. We also attempt to foster a ‘can do, sleeves rolled up’ attitude, but also retain some capacity for strategizing and continual improvement. DT - How is Johnsons helping to tackle climate change? Due to your size and influence, have you found the processes you put in place to be inspirational for others? JR - Selling an estimated 220 million plants in the last 100 years, we are one of the few businesses that can claim to be a true contributor to the environment. By supplying five-six million plants each year, we continue to tackle climate issues at the coal face. We were the first European nursery to acquire the ISO 9001 Quality Standard, a management system underpinning every process, and actively manage and audit our ISO 14001 Environmental System.
Our environmental processes have proven hugely successful, helping us secure projects and customers while underpinning our environmental responsibilities and credentials. DT - How does being an Accredited Supplier help the company achieve its goals and ambitions JR - Networking with existing and potential customers. You bring people within the industry together and help build better relationships; this has provided many opportunities over the years and helps provide customers with confidence in our offering as they encourage the highest standards of quality, service, and workmanship. They say there is strength in numbers and being part of your Trade Association gives us all a much louder voice!
DT - What does the next 100 years look like for Johnsons? Do you see yourselves diversifying even further to capitalise on the continual rise and dominance of digital services? JR - The future is very much in my sons and grandchildren’s hands now, much of the production’s future is set to be automated, with more of the picking, packing and plant care processes likely to be mechanised, particularly for large volume crops. This would involve more complex machines with a degree of intelligence. Still, most nursery processes are uniform enough not to need the differentiation ability of what I would think of as a robot. The sales and marketing processes have already developed beyond my expectations with the ability to communicate with existing and potential customers via email, phone, and even Twitter… whatever that is?
Read the full unabridged interview at bali.org.uk/news. For more information of Johnsons, including its 100-year celebrations visit
nurserymen.co.uk
Planting shrubs in 1966
Mobilane joins GRO to champion green roof development
Joining the top echelons of specialists, manufacturers and suppliers known for their expertise in the creation of green roofs, Accredited Supplier Mobilane UK have joined the Green Roof Organisation (GRO) as supplier members, something the British Association of Landscape Industries are supporters of.
As long-term pioneers in the development of green roof technology and products with their MobiRoof green roof systems, Mobilane are pleased to be able to support the organisation to encourage the retrofitting of green roofs to existing buildings, as well as promoting installations of highquality green roofing in every UK city and town.
GRO seeks to increase green roof use and development and the awareness of all the potential gains a green roof can bring in biodiversity, rainfall management and aesthetic appeal.
Mobilane will be actively participating in technical committees and events to help extend the reach of the green roofing industry. This will include input and involvement in the updated edition and commitments within the GRO Code, an important reference document for all in the industry. Find out more about the GRO and their endeavours in the development and promotion of green roofing across the UK on page 42. To explore Mobilane’s MobiRoof green roof system, visit mobilane.com/en/products/mobiroof or call +44(0)203 741 8049.
Stuart Tickner, Nursery and Biosecurity Manager
Provender’s Richard putting out heathers
Accredited Supplier Provender Nurseries has become one of the first ornamental suppliers to be certified ‘Plant Healthy’, an industry-developed quality assurance and certification scheme which has seen input from government and sets out key requirements for plant health management to protect against destructive plant pests and diseases.
The certification was awarded to Provender for their responsible and ongoing approach to plant health and biosecurity, something which will now be audited annually with the aim to improve the plant health and biosecurity management systems throughout the plant supply chain.
Stuart Tickner, Nursery and Biosecurity Manager, said, “These procedures, and others that we carry out on site, are part of our everyday culture of plant procurement and are utilised at every step of our plant supply chain. We will continue to train our nursery team on a regular basis. On an annual basis we currently organise training sessions with the Animal and Plant Health Agency on site for all staff.”
Richard McKenna, Managing Director, spoke to Landscape News, “I am immensely proud to have achieved this certification and for the recognition this scheme deserves. All landscapers, designers and public spaces should use nurseries with such certification for peace of mind that stock has been grown and supplied from a site with high standards of biosecurity.” For more information visit
provendernurseries.co.uk
M&M Timber launches gazebo, shelter and pavilion range
Provender Nurseries is now certified Plant Healthy Addagrip’s Terrabase Rustic permeable paving provides a sensitive solution for Christchurch Gardens
Accredited Supplier Addagrip Terraco was appointed by Accredited Contractor FM Conway, the main contractor for the project, to provide materials to help complete a project in Christchurch Gardens, a green space in Westminster, London. Addagrip chose its Terrabase Rustic Resin Bound permeable paving and hired one of its approved contractors, Accredited Contractor Street Tree, to source and plant large specimen trees, provide 750 tonnes of soils and install the paving onsite.
Works on the £3.3m scheme included extensive remodelling of the park to provide open and inviting footpaths into the gardens, new lawns and planting and seating to offer a flexible open space that reflected the site’s historical background.
Due to the existing location of large London Plane trees along the perimeter of the garden and a desire to avoid compromising the trees, Terrabase Rustic in a 6-10mm Oak blend was installed onto a porous asphalt using a Cellular confinement system base. This provided a solution to allow site traffic access to these routes throughout the construction phase. The new resin bound surface provides decorative natural aggregate porous pathways with a rustic feel, in-keeping with this inviting green space in the heart of the city.
The installation was completed in September 2020. Visit addagrip.co.uk for more information on permeable paving solutions.
In-Vesting in your future with Vestre’s environmental firsts
Accredited Supplier Vestre have announced to Landscape News several market-leading drives to cut the carbon to help protect our planet, including publishing all of their environmental data on every single product manufactured by the company, the first outdoor furniture company to do so. They will now list the carbon footprint or global warming potential of each product, displayed as carbon equivalents (kg CO2), and the total energy used to produce each product (in MJ); both are cradle to gate (A1-A3) i.e., for the production stage: A1 Raw material extraction and supply A2 Transport to manufacturing plant A3 Manufacturing and fabrication Elsewhere Vestre has also pre-ordered from the first batch of HYBRIT steel – a project that will reduce virgin ore in blast furnaces fuelled by hydrogen. This will be the first fossil-free steel to be manufactured from virgin ore, to be released on the market in 2026.
You can download their sustainability report at vestresustainability. com/2019 or to order their latest catalogue email uk@vestre.com Accredited Supplier M&M Timber has launched its new range for installation in the education, leisure and play industry in the UK. Specially designed for outdoor education and leisure applications, the range comes complete with all the required timber, roof & fixings and assembly & installation guides.
The range is manufactured at its Worcestershire site and is made from PlayGuard Radiata pine timber, renowned for its low split properties and is FSC® Certified, licence code FSC-C022336. It’s also backed by the independent Wood Protection Association Benchmark accreditation.
The range includes outdoor modular gazebos, whiteboards, chalkboards, retractable roll down panels, palisade fencing & solid fencing, timber benches, pergola and pavilion shelters.
Fraser Hall, Managing Director, says, “We are excited to offer a comprehensive range of outdoor products. The timber framed buildings offer a great solution for the education and leisure sector, especially at a time when social distancing and outside entertaining is more important than ever.” To find out more about the range visit
