Pro Landscaper February 2023

CONTACT

Eljays44 Ltd, 3 Churchill Court, 112 The Street, Rustington, West Sussex BN16 3DA Tel: 01903 777 570

EDITORIAL

Head of content – Nina Mason nina.mason@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 959 393

Editor – James Groves james.groves@eljays44.com

Editorial assistant – Jessa Dean-Hill jessica.dean-hill@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 777 578

Senior subeditor – Katrina Roy katrina.roy@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 777 570

Subeditor – Sam Seaton sam.seaton@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 959 391

Design – Kara Thomas kara.thomas@eljays44.com

ADVERTISING

Sales manager – Millie Genner millie.genner@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 777 582

Senior sales executive – Daniel Riley daniel.riley@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 777 583

Horticulture Careers – Mark Wellman mark.wellman@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 777 574

Chairman – Jim Wilkinson jim.wilkinson@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 777 570

Editorial director – Lisa Wilkinson lisa.wilkinson@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 777 570

Managing director – Jamie Wilkinson jamie.wilkinson@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 777 589

MARKETING & CIRCULATION

Subscription enquiries – Tyler Gould tyler.gould@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 959 390

Printed by Stephens and George Ltd Published by ©Eljays44 Ltd – Connecting Horticulture. Pro Landscaper’s content is available for licensing overseas. Contact jamie.wilkinson@eljays44.com

Pro Landscaper is published 12 times per year by Eljays44 Ltd. The 2023 subscription price is £115. Subscription records are maintained at Eljays44 Ltd, 3 Churchill Court, 112 The Street, Rustington, West Sussex BN16 3DA, UK. Articles and information contained in this publication are the copyright of Eljays44 Ltd and may not be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publishers. The publishers cannot accept responsibility for loss of, or damage to, uncommissioned photographs or manuscripts.

Whilst every effort has been made to maintain the integrity of our advertisers, we accept no responsibility for any problem, complaints, or subsequent litigation arising from readers’ responses to advertisements in the magazine. We also wish to emphasise that views expressed by editorial contributors are not necessarily those of the publishers. Reproduction of any part of this magazine is strictly forbidden.

Pro Landscaper is proud to be an Accredited Supplier member of BALI

Pro Landscaper is proud to be an associate member of the APL

Welcome

Throughout my years in UK trade publishing, January has always felt like something of a false start to the calendar year. By the time our assemblage of colleagues, clients and industry friends have returned from their Christmas slumbers, extended holidays or advocaat-induced “illnesses”, we already find ourselves on the verge of February.

As such, we’re yet to establish the landscaping buzzword of the year, though it appears likely to follow in the footsteps of the sustainability- and biodiversity-driven 2022. December’s international biodiversity agreement – reached after more than four years of negotiations and repeated delays due to COVID-19 – saw almost 200 countries sign off on a landmark deal to end the year on a high at COP15 in Montreal.

The intention, of course, is to “halt and reverse” biodiversity loss by the end of the decade, and it will be interesting to see exactly how the agreement evolves throughout 2023.

In line with this theme, our February edition sees Matthew Haddon explore biodiverse design (p28), while Simon Richards explains how taking a nature-led approach can stop ‘insipid’ developments (p23). Elsewhere, Nick Coslett ponders how landscapers can prepare for climate change.

We’ll be canvassing this interconnected web of issues throughout the year – in particular, keep an eye out for our fourth annual ‘Green Issue’ in March.

James©Adam Vetere Landscape and Garden Design

CONTRIBUTORS

ANDREW WILSON

Social media can help your business to flourish, with photos of beautifully completed gardens drawing in more clients. But Andrew Wilson says too many are posting poorly. lcgd.org.uk

ANNA OMIOTEK-TOTT

Anna Omiotek-Tott explains why using a professional photographer to capture your projects can be beneficial; from award entries to getting the garden published. annatott.com

CHRIS

CHURCHMAN

It’s easy to get caught up in bad news, especially with talk of a recession; but Chris Churchman challenges us to consider the opportunities we have as part of the green economy. churchmanthornhillfinch.co.uk

LEWIS NORMAND

It takes time and effort, but if you can offer to support and mentor the next generation or others new to the industry then the rewards are innumerable, both for you and the one being mentored.

LYNNE MARCUS

As co-chair of SGD, Lynne shares how collaboration is and continues to be key to the association, whether it’s on membership, training, awards, events or industry practice. sgd.org.uk

NEIL EDWARDS

BCLive League Table was temporarily down in December, which is arguably the best time for it to take a break, says Neil Edwards, who says there may still be highs in this time. buildersconference.co.uk

SAM HADFIELD

With costs soaring and a recession possibly on the horizon, now is the time to be as cost-effective as possible, and hiring a virtual office assistant could be one way to do this, explains Sam Hadfield. sam@shlc.co.uk

THOMAS O’MAHONY

With biodiversity net gain set to be introduced this year and a growing focus on the loss of nature, clients are staying to see the benefits of investing in the public realm and our green spaces, says Thomas O’Mahony. maylim.co.uk

Anew action plan to protect plants from pests and diseases has been published by Defra, in partnership with the Forestry Commission and the Scottish and Welsh Governments.

The Plant Biosecurity Strategy for Great Britain sets out a five-year vision for plant health, consisting of an action plan to secure national biosecurity, protect native species and drive economic growth. It positions the UK as a global leader in plant biosecurity, setting out

ROUNDUP

NEW BIOSECURITY STRATEGY LAUNCHED NEW GUIDANCE LAUNCHED FOR LIVING WALLS

Industry Updates

Harris Bugg Studio is part of one of four international teams to be shortlisted in an open call to design a new visitor centre for Albania’s chief cultural attraction, Butrint National Park Visitor Center. The centre, on Albania’s Ionian coastline, is an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

With a strong response and entries from 17 countries, the four finalists were the unanimous choice of the shortlisting panel following a first stage response to the brief, which is for a carbon-neutral visitor centre and surrounding landscape that perfectly relates to the inspirational cultural and natural setting. The centre will welcome visitors and serve as an

educational forum and communitygathering place. Concept designs must respect the World Heritage Site status as well as the wider National Park setting, being sympathetic to the landscape and built cultural heritage.

Speaking about being shortlisted –in partnership with William Matthews Associates, Barker Langham, Structure Workshop and Atelier Ten – Charlotte Harris of Harris Bugg Studio says: “We are delighted to be shortlisted and to have the opportunity to respond to such a historic landscape and archaeologically significant site.

The visitor centre is due to open in September 2025. harrisbugg.com

a vision to create a new biosecurity regime and bio-secure plant supply chain, which will safeguard food security and help mitigate the effects of climate change. It comes following updated figures which show that plants provide an annual value of £15.7bn to the United Kingdom.

Specific actions include expanding the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s Internet Trading Unit to step up monitoring of online retailers and social media sites for the trade

The living wall industry has launched a Best Practice Guide for designers, specifiers and architects to provide clarity on the latest national building regulations.

On 1 June 2022 the government introduced a new framework to further strengthen and clarify building regulations and fire risk guidance as part of wider reforms to building safety. National legislation now clearly determines the building types where external cladding can be used, which includes living wall installations. This means that residential dwellings above 11m high where people sleep are no longer compliant, but all other building types are.

In response, Biotecture and ANS Global, alongside the British Association of Landscape Industries and the Green Infrastructure Consultancy, have summarised the changes to the government’s ‘Approved Document B’ and included industry recommendations on the specifications and materials to be used, including the type of plants. The guide also explains the third-party Engineering Assessment reports and testing procedures to ensure compliance.

Richard Silcock, managing director of ANS Global says: “As an industry we hope this guidance will provide helpful direction for those who plan our cities and enable us to tap into the potential of urban spaces across the country, in a responsible and compliant way.” biotecture.uk.com ansgroupglobal.com

HARRIS BUGG STUDIO SHORTLISTED FOR INTERNATIONAL DESIGN COMPETITION

of high-risk plant products, in order to stop potentially devastating pests and diseases from entering the country.

The strategy also sets out how more than 30 signatories, including Defra, the Royal Horticultural Society, National Farmers Union and the Woodland Trust, will deliver an ambitious programme of behavioural change across society through the Public Engagement in Plant Health Accord.

Nicola Spence, UK chief plant health officer, says: “Plant pests and diseases know no borders. As the global trade in plants and

plant products continues to grow, our precious ecosystems, native species and biosecurity are at risk. The resultant threats posed to our treescapes, food security and the global economy are all too real.

“I am proud to officially launch the Plant Biosecurity Strategy for Great Britain, which will deliver a step change in our plant health protections, actions and behaviours. This will position Great Britain as a global leader in plant biosecurity and set an example for the world to follow.” gov.uk

Quote of the month

We’re delighted to hear that the government review is making sustainable drainage systems a legal requirement for new developments in England. They are part of the future of good landscape design ensuring they are not just storage or conveyance features but bring multi-functional qualities with amenity and biodiversity in mind. We believe that all developments need good drainage systems in place in order for them to function effectively and to be futureproof in terms of climate change.

Online exclusives

Head to prolandscapermagazine.com

HILLIER LANDSCAPES REBRANDS TO NEW TRADING NAME

Hillier Landscapes has announced it will now be trading under the new name of Kings Oak Landscapes, effective from 1 January.

This follows the retirement from the board of its director and company secretary, Lynda Barnard. Richard Barnard will continue as chairman and shareholder, with the new board made up of Debbie Parvin as finance director, Lisa Oakley as director and Mark Dewey as operations director, all of whom are members of the existing senior staff and will continue to work with the same company criteria and philosophy.

Richard Barnard has enjoyed a long relationship with the Hillier family,

commencing in 1972 when he was asked to head the landscape department by Sir Harold Hillier. The landscaping business grew from strength to strength and in 1996 Richard headed a management buy-out and formed The Landscape Trading Company Limited trading as Hillier Landscapes.

It will now continue to work with existing and new clients on both domestic and commercial landscape schemes as Kings Oak Landscapes. kingsoaklandscapes.co.uk

TEN BEST GARDEN DESIGN TRENDS 2023

Herman Pobrati, director of Acacia Gardens, reveals the top 10 garden design trends for 2023, with an overriding theme that homeowners will enjoy their gardens more by creating outdoor living rooms and kitchens to entertain family and friends. prolandscapermagazine.com/ ten-best-garden-design-trends-2023

HOW ARE BUSINESSES TACKLING THE COST-OF-LIVING CRISIS?

Inflation might be dropping, and we might avoid a recession after all, but the cost of living continues to be high – and it has been for months. So, how are employers helping their staff? And are they obliged to do so? prolandscapermagazine.com/ how-are-business…of-living-crisis

ENTRIES FOR THE PRO LANDSCAPER BUSINESS

AWARDS 2023 CLOSE 31 JANUARY

We're looking ahead to this year's awards which will, for the first time in its history, be moving venues to Old Billingsgate. Once again, it will bring the landscaping community together for an afternoon to celebrate the excellent standards set within the landscape industry. prolandscaperbusinessawards.com

Lisa Sawyer

Director of civil engineering at Land Studio, on the government’s proposals for SuDS to become a requirement for new developments from 2024

THE NEW YEAR BRINGS renewed confidence

IN THE LANDSCAPING INDUSTRY

As the new year begins, 17% of our respondents have reported an increase in confidence. Despite this increase being only 1% more than the previous month, this could suggest a positive start to the year, despite an ongoing cost-of-living crisis and the loss of two large commercial landscaping companies towards the end of last year (read more on page 83).

We are also seeing many respondents reporting increases in other areas of their business for the trading month of November 2022. Take projects, for example; 20% of respondents reported an increase and 50% are reporting that there has been no change in the number of projects from the previous month – which beats a decrease, of course. It’s a snippet of good news, and there may be more to come, with talks of a ‘mild’ recession after the UK economy unexpectedly grew in November thanks to the World Cup and material prices seemingly fluctuating less too.

Scotland and the North have reported a very stable November 2022. There is a clear increase in projects for Scotland and the North with 40% of respondents reporting a rise. One nursery commented: “There is a noticeable slow down; however, contracts are still being awarded and our order book is filling up for 2023/2024”. Whether this “slowdown” will start to take its toll – and when – is yet to be seen, but a rise in projects suggests a strong start to the year for the industry.

Companies in the South have reported that their enquiries, projects and conversion rate have either stayed the same or increased throughout the trading month of November. This is despite the “wet conditions” which have delayed some projects, according to one respondent, who added that the rain could actually prove to be positive, with “the possibilities of water restrictions in 2023” now being “greatly reduced.”

avoids bad news NO NEWS

There is no such thing as a good time for an online system to go down. But if you were to choose an optimum time for the gremlins to take hold of a system tracking construction sector performance, the slowest and quietest month of the year – December – would be the best choice. In addition, with recessionary storm clouds still gathering, perhaps it was for the best that the BCLive league table fell over, allowing industry professionals to go into the festive break with one less thing to worry about.

With all that being said, the outlook appears grim. While the BCLive league table was temporarily unable to aggregate new contract award activity, the sentiment across the sector told a story of downloads in workloads, an uptick in insolvencies, and a flurry of activity in the industry recruitment sector as workers sought refuge and security.

But even as one team of financial experts were warning that the UK construction industry could witness around 6,000 company collapses over the next 12 months, there were some companies that continued to shine amidst the gloom.

Proving that good news does occasionally come out of Westminster, Henry Construction Projects won a £50m new build contract for a mixed-use development at 40 Broadway. That project will provide a pair of office blocks, the largest rising eight storeys.

Shops and restaurants will make up the ground level and the project are expected to require some extensive landscaping involvement.

The Midlands has seen a marked slowing in demand since the culmination of the Commonwealth Games. So, the awarding of a near £40m housing new build at Shard End in Birmingham will be welcomed by local landscaping professionals and by the contract winner, Jessup Brothers. The project for Birmingham Municipal Housing Trust requires the construction of 137 new dwellings, remediation of the site and the provision of public open spaces and extensive landscaping.

Unfortunately, that contract is in sharp contrast to news from the UK’s largest housebuilder, Barratt Homes. The

company has announced a freeze on recruitment and a slowing of new site openings, mirroring a retraction in demand.

Like December, January is a notoriously slow month with many in the construction sector opting for an extended festive break. Against that background, the true nature of any downturn will probably be unknown until the end of February, by which time the BCLive league table will be firing on all cylinders once again. Whether the industry will be doing likewise remains to be seen.

If there is any hope amidst all the growing negativity, it is this. The run-in to the next General Election will begin by the end of 2023, likely sparking a loosening of governmental and local authority purse strings in vote-winning areas such as hospitals, education, roads and railways. Until then, the sector looks set for a bumpy ride.

Neil Edwards is head of Builders’ Conference, the construction industry’s leading trade body. It provides its members to sales leads and market intelligence, as well as statistical data and networking opportunities. BCLive is a real-time league table of construction contract award activity. Operated by the Builders’ Conference, the BCLive league table monitors more than 6,000 new contract awards each year with a combined value of more than £80bn. buildersconference.co.uk

NEIL EDWARDS

The BCLive league table suffered a series of technical glitches over the Christmas and New Year period. It could not have happened at a better time, says Neil Edwards

The sentiment across the sector told a story of downloads in workloads, an uptick in insolvencies, and a flurry of activity in the industry recruitment sector

Meet Bianca - a unique and breathtakingly beautiful Limestone quarried by the same family for generations in the heart of Portugal. The irresistible quiet tones with distinctive crystal veining are perfectly balanced and complemented by a natural flamed finish. www.allgreen.uk

Scan to order your free sample:

AS K THE EXPERTS

The dream scenario is you work with a fabulous contractor who builds your wonderful design to the highest standard. There are no problems throughout, starting with the tender price to the build or the client. Everything runs like clockwork and the sun is always shining.

Unfortunately, they don’t all go that way, so choosing the right contractor for a project is essential. Building a garden is a three-way partnership between designer, contractor and client. It starts from the tender stage and goes through to long after the snagging is done.

At the outset, location and skillset are the first considerations. If the contractor lives more than two hours away, the build cost can be uncompetitive and not give value for money. Then assess their skillset. Do you need them to cover everything from water features to bespoke trellising, or can these be subbed out by the landscaper or yourself? Does the landscaper have experience working on the type of garden you have designed – high end with every detail counting or a more basic project with general skills required? Is it a site with multiple contractors such as builders with many trades, and are they used to dealing with this? Things can get a little frayed in stressful situations, so you need to know they can keep their cool.

Does the contractor suit the client? Matching the personality of the client to the contractor is important. Some clients are more demanding during the build and require a contractor that has office back-up support or a higher level of on-site management. Sometimes things go wrong and ensuring a contractor won’t be eaten alive by a litigious client is important until they are ready to deal with those types of people (if ever!).

Contractors who respect everyone on site and are courteous to client and neighbours make for a happy build and client relationships. (Respect, of course, goes both ways). Communication is essential in the three-way partnership. Being able to deal proactively with problems and not sticking their head in the sand or leaving it too late to discuss is one of my big requirements. The client doesn’t want any extra costs and the designer wants to head off any pending issues before they become a problem. A contractor who can be patient, calm and rational under stress is ideal.

Price is often the last consideration. A client may look to the bottom line, but a fair price should be paid for good contractors. There is often some negotiation to get to a point where the client is happy, but once they are it is the best place to start the build on. Then that dream build begins.

The panel

HOLLY YOUDE

Chair of the APL, Holly Youde, is a director at Urban Landscape Design in the North West and The Landscape Academy, a purpose built training centre dedicated to landscaping in the UK.

JAKE CATLING

Jake founded his domestic landscaping company, The Landscaping Consultants, aged just 24. He is now a BALI board director and the BALI South Thames chairman, and has delivered various awardwinning gardens and outdoor spaces.

KEN WHITE

Ken White, former chairman of the APL, leads the multi-award-winning Frosts Landscape Construction, which carries out large commercial and private estate projects across the UK.

ROSEMARY COLDSTREAM

Rosemary has won numerous awards for her work, creating high quality gardens for both domestic and commercial clients. She is a fully registered member of the SGD and sits on the board of directors at BALI.

SARAH EBERLE

Chelsea’s most decorated designer boasts a collection of RHS medals and is a member of the LI, SGD and the Institute of Horticulture. Sarah strives to create as sustainable gardens as possible.

How do you choose the right contractor for the job?

Rosemary Coldstream offers insight into the process of choosing who builds her projects

Being able to deal proactively with problems and not sticking their head in the sand or leaving it too late to discuss is one of my big requirements

The power of COLLABORATION

Collaboration is at the heart of successful and cost-effective garden design. It will also be at the heart of effective response to the pressing issues that impact us all. Wide teams of professional experts, landscapers and suppliers work alongside garden and landscape designers to complete a scheme. In May 2022, the SGD launched our Affiliated Business Partnership to develop closer business and CPD relationships but also provide the opportunity to work together on creating sustainable and environmentally positive gardens and landscapes.

SGD members bring much to the table. They are from wide-ranging previous careers. Council members reflect this and were in education, sciences and computer science, finance, the arts, architecture, marketing, HR and landscaping. Our growth and success are testament to the passion, commitment and work of council, sub-committees, working groups, regional coordinators, cluster group leaders, volunteers, speakers and educators.

Investment in progression to professional accreditation is one of the key responsibilities of a professional member body. Our core CPD, mentoring and advice sessions are the backbone of training for accreditation. Online CPD has facilitated the expansion and diversification of courses along with training events via our regional network. CPD covers a range of courses on sustainability, technical/ educational, business as well as inspirational and educational topics. We are developing and rolling out a CPD programme on sustainable design and biodiversity.

Information on this and our Environmental Action Plan, outlining the SGD’s commitment to addressing the climate change emergency, biodiversity crisis and over consumption of natural resources is available on our website. Research to develop easily accessible, ‘mix and match’ specifications, with sustainable design, construction and planting embedded at the core is ongoing. Investment in training is key to productivity and profitability for us all.

The Garden Design Journal is one of the most respected, top-quality publications in the industry. It magically transports all our members and 1,000 or so subscribers to gorgeous gardens and landscapes throughout the UK and internationally as well as updating us on developments in our industry.

The prestige of the SGD Awards since 2012 is due to a number of factors. There is meticulous planning, a panel of highly respected judges, anonymised submissions, and the sumptuous surroundings of the Landmark. They are the benchmark of

excellence, celebrating the imagination and skill of our members. Our next awards will be held on Friday 2 February 2024 with submissions opening in February next year.

SGD Conferences offer inspiration, education and insight into garden and landscape design throughout the UK and internationally. Our next Conference, Natural Networks, will be held on 4 February 2023 and follows from our Symposium, held at RHS Wisley in June, ‘Finding answers to the way forward from our past’. As a result, the ‘SGD Manifesto for Sustainable Gardens & Landscapes’ was launched in September along with guidance to be regularly updated. Recordings of our Conferences and the Symposium can be found on our website.

Over the years, the SGD has appeared at RHS and industry shows, with our stand and with our expertise as speakers. We work with other professional bodies on areas of mutual interest. In September, we jointly signed an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Charter for the Horticulture, Arboriculture, Landscaping and Garden Media Profession. Work continues at pace. When we work together, we achieve so much.

Lynne Marcus has been designing gardens since 1997 having trained under Professor David Stevens FSGD. Her award-winning portfolio includes contemporary, traditional, formal and naturalistic gardens recognisable for their innovative use of space, strong, pared-down layout and the sensitive integration of natural materials and planting. Lynne became chair of the SGD in 2020. Since September 2022, she has worked as co-chair in partnership with Andrew Duff MSGD. sgd.org.uk

LYNNE MARCUS MSGD CO-CHAIR OF THE SOCIETY OF GARDEN DESIGNERS

Lynne Marcus shares a few of the SGD’s goals for 2023, and collaboration looks to be key

LANDSCAPES to nurture nature

In December 2022, we were delighted to celebrate our Grand Award success for Exchange Square at the BALI National Landscape Awards. The project was recognised as an exemplar of public realm landscaping excellence, personifying the vision of a client and the collective efforts of the consultant team and contractor. The project has transformed the space delivering four times more green space and boosting the emotional and physical wellbeing of those that work at Broadgate and the local community. The scheme also supports British Land’s commitment to sustainability and biodiversity.

meet nature recovery targets. In the same year, the Landscape Institute announced a biodiversity emergency. In the years following the Environment Act 2021, a significant piece of legislation that overhauls and replaces EU environmental frameworks includes a commitment to halt species decline by 2030. As part of this commitment, the Act introduces a requirement for development in England to deliver a minimum of 10% net gain in biodiversity.

We have seen a marked shift in creating landscapes designed for nature, creating opportunities for implementing diverse habitats, maximising the benefits for nature, and providing access to nature for our communities. From living walls, green roofs and retrofitting green infrastructure, our projects add significant additional benefits to the urban landscape.

The UK State of Nature report in 2019 showed a decrease of 13% in species abundance, which continues a long-term pattern of significant biodiversity losses and a failure to

Nature delivers countless benefits to human health, wellbeing, and society and is vital in keeping us healthy. However, development has long had a deleterious effect on the natural environment. With this in mind, Biodiversity Net Gain is an approach to development and land management that seeks to leave the natural environment in a measurably better state than it was beforehand. This offers a new route for developing homes, businesses and infrastructure to enable nature to thrive and deliver nature-based solutions to climate change, water and air quality and flood risks.

There is now the evidence base for clients pursuing and investing in green solutions presenting a significant opportunity for the sector to be at the forefront of change. At

Regent’s Place, Maylim has worked with British Land and Biotecture to develop a 400m2 living wall, transforming the façade of an existing UKPN Substation. Measuring 40m x 10m and containing 22,000 plants, 57 invertebrate habitat boxes and 72 habitat box planters, it extends the green corridor through Regent’s Place, creating a network of green spaces. The new green wall removes air pollutants, reduces temperatures, and improves biodiversity and wellbeing. Now, more than ever, clients see the true value of investing in high-quality public realm to benefit people, nature and the climate. Long may we continue to play a pivotal role

creating and delivering these places!

THOMAS O’MAHONY

Thomas O’Mahony is managing director of Maylim, a BALI Grand Award-winning organisation, specialising in high-quality external works and landscaping schemes. Originally from a civilengineering background, Tom has over 30 years’ experience across a diverse range of landscaping, infrastructure and urban regeneration projects. maylim.co.uk

in

There’s a marked change in the perception of the value of nature, explains Thomas O'Mahony

There is now the evidence base for clients pursuing and investing in green solutions presenting a significant opportunity for the sector to be at the forefront of change

BATTERSEA POWER STATION

EXCHANGE SQUARE, LONDON

GLAD tidings

At FutureScape 2022, I attended a forum discussing the effects of the year’s political madness and global events on our industry. The question was, has Rishi Sunak and his predecessors car crashed the economy to such an extent that we are all doomed? Six experts on the panel shared their views which, as one can imagine, were pretty downbeat – costs up, profit margins down, diminishing markets, blah-de-blah.

After the panel had all shared their dire views, and a few equally gloomy predictions had come from the audience I thought that I had to challenge this flawed thinking by sharing a rather more upbeat assessment. I believe the barmpot antics of Johnson, Truss and Sunak to be an irrelevance, of no greater importance than the oil on yesterday’s chip paper. I told the audience of circa 200 that if you are anything to do with the green economy – whether you are a grower, contractor or designer – if you cannot make more money, expand your profile, build your company, over the next decade, then you must have the wrong business plan.

Now I don’t doubt the challenges we will all face over the next two years, but in the

medium-to-long term all of us should be looking at much rosier times. The inevitable and unavoidable focus on natural capital that the world is facing, if it is to survive, has to underpin massive economic growth in this sector, and we should all be the beneficiaries of that. This in no way suggests that we should be profiteering on the back of the existential threat to our planet. However, it is to say that as the market grows exponentially, there will be far more work and much better prospects for all of us.

I am not saying it will be business as usual; our industry is currently as guilty as any other in terms of operating unsustainably. We will all be challenged to consider whether our current modus operandi is justifiable. We will all need to be smarter, more flexible, more agile in adapting to new circumstances because the economic fallout of climate change will turn everything we do on its head, from how we heat our homes, to the fuel we put in our cars, to who owns our football clubs and what we feed our dogs. For some, the change will be more transformational than others, but no one is going to see their life unchanged.

So, whilst I am acutely aware of the current financial demands – which are probably as great as they have been at any time, certainly since 2008, and probably well into the crashes of the 80s –I see great opportunity and exciting times ahead. So, to all of you reading this, have a very happy and prosperous new year!

CHRIS CHURCHMAN

Chris is a landscape architect with 50 years in the profession. His work at Elephant Park National Maritime Museum and Birmingham Green Heart is widely respected. Chris mixes design creativity with a passion for science. Work related to pollution mitigation has led to a wider understanding of the benefit of green infrastructure. Advocacy on climate change is now his focus, posting thought pieces to social media. Chris seeks to drive down wasteful greenfield development by raising awareness of our most valuable natural asset – soil. churchmanthornhillfinch.co.uk

It’s not all doom and gloom, says Chris Churchman – there are opportunities ahead

If you are anything to do with the green economy – if you cannot make more money, expand your profile, build your company, over the next decade, then you must have the wrong business plan

ANTI-SOCIAL?

Despite moans and groans from the sceptics I think we can safely agree that social media platforms are here to stay. On the whole, I embrace them as quick and convenient communication tools with pictorial content often speaking louder than words. I always thought the original limited word count on Twitter was a good thing as it concentrated the mind in composing a suitable, thoughtful or witty message.

I must admit to feeling a little jaded sometimes as I flick through yet another boast about rendered walls or a brag about porcelain paving, freshly laid lawns in gardens with a dearth of planting or yet another generic SketchUp model or design layout.

I always thought that a post should be interesting or different, something to bring out a wow or at least show something new but perhaps that’s just me. It does smack of a lack of editorial control though. Many would say that is the whole point of social media – a democratisation of news or message and I buy that as a concept; but it can (and often does) mean that we have to wade through a whole range of doggerel to access the gems or see something worthwhile. Simply because something has taken a long time does not mean that it is therefore a good thing, something I mention to my students quite frequently. I’d therefore like to ask for a little more discernment within the various social media communities when we are next considering our posts.

Through social media I see a great number of landscapers who are in dire need of a good designer – poor paving layout, rendered walls

and raised beds by the dozen with sparse planting and acres of bark mulch do not make a decent garden. To balance things out, I’d also like to see garden designers using good landscapers and taking joy not just from the planting but from hardscapes well delivered too.

Humour is always a winner in delivering a message (although David Dodd does stretch that sometimes) and good practice such as well organised and tidy sites catch my eye. This is not always the point of a post, but it can help when considering a landscaper for a tender list.

The more we post without sufficient consideration, the more we produce background wallpaper, and the point or value of social media platforms will be lost. A consideration of our target audience, our message, the quality of content both visual and written is needed.

More than anything, posts can be special, fab, exciting, different, dramatic, funny, surprising, intriguing – just not downright dull or repetitive. I’ll be keeping an eye out over the coming months and perhaps you can all keep an eye on me as I prepare with Gavin, The Outdoor Room team and Hortus Loci for a garden at Chelsea. We are of course encouraged to post frequently and those posts, especially now, had better be jaw dropping at least – in a good way of course!

lcgd.org.uk

I’d like to ask for a little more discernment within the various social media communities when we are next considering our posts

Andrew Wilson considers

the use and

mis-use of social media platforms

Andrew Wilson is a landscape and garden design consultant, director of the London College of Garden Design, and an author, writer and lecturer.

ANDREW WILSON

What a deli URBAN DESIGN CAN TEACH US ABOUT

There’s been a conversation happening over the Christmas break on the streets of Soho, and it has been coming up everywhere I go: “Have you heard that Camisa will be closing down at the end of the year, something to do with rent rises?”

For those who haven’t had the pleasure of visiting, you can probably imagine it, and you probably have your own cherished version near you. The hams, cheeses, pastas, and sweet treats are always marvellously displayed and stacked high so that you can barely see into I Camisa and Son, the Italian deli that calls Old Compton Street home. Inside of it is a treasure trove of produce that you can discuss with the white-coated people behind the counters; taste a little of; learn a little about; and order exactly how much of you want, wrapped up in paper (not plastic!). You can just picture it now – a glimpse of the past, representing the future we likely need.

As well as being able to picture the deli, you’ll have likely heard similar stories about the closure – rent rises. You’ll have heard similar stories because sometimes this is to blame; but having said that, sometimes “usurious” landlords are a bit of an easy target. I found this remark made in an article talking about the closure, an interesting foil to the lamenting instagram stores from celebrities, saying that, “the anger at the closure of this much-loved institution may more legitimately be directed at Londoners themselves. Those who weep at Camisa’s demise must also ask: when did they last go there for a panini and when did they last go to Pret A Manger? Businesses can’t survive on nostalgia alone.”

This well-made point brought my mind directly back to urban design and the design of our neighbourhoods. Often in this arena we say we want one thing, and then in everything we do, we make that impossible. We say we want Camisa in our lives, and then go buy supermarket tortellini for the same price; we say we want better air quality and our children to play in the streets, and then we buy Marge’s Canyonero; we say we want to build sustainably, and then we choose a site the wrong side of an A road.

Urban design is a science. When done well it is trying to save lives, create thriving and prosperous neighbourhoods, and democratise

quality of life and enjoyment. We see wildlife conservation as a science, but just not when we’re the wildlife.

More and more trends are now seeing what we need to do. In transport, the disastrous Predict and Provide became Decide and Provide; it’s about establishing what you want your neighbourhood to be, and then setting everything in train to support that outcome. We need political bravery, we need grassroots action, we need expert and ambitious design, and we all need to understand that to get where we want, we might not always get what we want along the way.

P.S. I Camisa and Son has since been saved from closure, so get down there and see the future.

Christopher is an influential urban designer and planner working all over the globe to help communities improve their public spaces; as well as supporting cities and governments to develop strategy, change policies, and make great places possible. He is co-founder and director of Urban Strategy at Urban Movement; a trustee of the UK charity for everyday walking – Living Streets; vice chair of the UK Urban Design Group; and is a member of the United Nations Planning and Climate Action Group. urbanmovement.co.uk @ChrisCities

CHRISTOPHER MARTIN

Christopher Martin reminds us that we have to be prepared to drive change rather than go for easy options

Urban design is a science. When done well it is trying to save lives, create thriving and prosperous neighbourhoods, and democratise quality of life and enjoyment

OLD COMPTON STREET, SOHO

The KMA 135 R KombiEngine is perfect for professionals that need to take on different types of jobs, thanks to its 12 interchangeable KombiTools. So whether you‘re trimming grass, clearing leaves, cutting hedges or pruning trees – you’ll be ready for any challenge.

In a recent Government report, Secretary of State for Levelling Up Michael Gove said that new housing developments are often let down by ‘poor landscaping or indifferent or insipid urban character’. He proposed the establishment of a new school of design to help deliver a higher quality approach to placemaking developments in the future. Is this the right approach, or do the skills already exist and are just not being utilised by those creating the developments?

The majority of large residential developments are still created from a 20th century model of dominant road networks, poor pedestrian connectivity and a bland, standardised approach to public open space.

It is time to introduce a better-connected landscape that creates sustainable communities, enhances biodiversity and combats climate change through a resilient, integrated nature-led landscape.

So, how could a wilder, nature led approach be instrumental in bringing about these changes and help to put a stop to ‘insipid’ residential development? Could reconnecting people with nature have a major impact on the social and natural eco-systems of our communities?

One of the key principles of nature-led design is that humans have an innate connection with nature, and that being surrounded by nature can have a positive impact on our physical and mental wellbeing. Over the course of the last century, we seem to have lost this connection, none more so than in the bland streets and cul-de-sacs of our suburban communities.

THE NEED FOR NATURE

A well thought through and fully integrated green and blue infrastructure can re-establish this connection that both enhances our communities and provides vital biodiversity gains for our eco-systems.

A dynamic, wilder, green and blue infrastructure network is essential for maintaining and enhancing the health and wellbeing of both our human and natural communities.

By not mowing the grass and clipping the shrubs in our public open spaces, a richer, more diverse world can be created. A wilder approach to green infrastructure can help to reduce the impacts of stormwater runoff through increased planting, improve air quality, and provide a diverse range of habitats for a wide range of species. It can also provide important health and wellbeing benefits for the communities that live and work there through parks, woodland walks, orchards and wildflower meadows.

Removing the standardised practice of piped drainage in our developments can create a more diverse, natural solution to drainage design.

An integrated blue infrastructure network of naturalised water bodies, swales and waterways plays a vital role in not only regulating drainage but also improving water quality and providing important habitat for aquatic species and the adjacent spaces.

In parallel with a wilder green infrastructure, the blue infrastructure network also enhances the wider landscape providing important health and wellbeing benefits for the surrounding communities.

By following the simplicity of this approach and letting nature back into our lives, not only can we help combat climate change, but we can fundamentally change the quality of developments through richer, more diverse habitats, sustainable drainage solutions that enhance placemaking and improved health and wellbeing for our communities.

Perhaps a better approach would be to urgently bring forward policies that bring developers and design professionals together to promote the need for fully integrated nature led systems that tackle climate change and help create the rich and vibrant communities of the future.

Simon Richards is the founder of Land Studio, a leading landscape architecture and engineering design studio creating nature-based solutions. The studio creates places that enhance biodiversity, responsibly maximise the value of land and connect people with nature. landstudio-uk.com

SIMON RICHARDS

Taking a nature led approach can stop ‘insipid’ developments, says Simon Richards

A dynamic, wilder, green and blue infrastructure network is essential

London Stone: Your Rock in 2023

What is happening with material prices across the industry in 2023?

We’ve all seen the crazy inflation in the landscape industry over the past 18 months, which was initially caused by COVID-related demand and then made even worse by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We’d previously worked really hard to keep our prices down, so it was very frustrating to watch prices shooting up and being powerless to stop it.

One thing that we always promised though, was that the prices would eventually come down and when that happened, London Stone would be the first to pass any price reductions back to our customers. The good news is that shipping rates and some of our buying prices have started to come down and we will now deliver on our promise to be the first supplier to reduce prices after the pandemic.

That is amazing news, can you give us some more details on that? Certainly. As of 9 January, we reduced the price of Indian Riven Sandstone, Tumbled Sandstone, Riven Limestone and Sandstone Setts by 10%. We are also, with a few exceptions, freezing the prices on the majority of our other products.

Also, if there are no sudden increases in transportation costs, we expect to be able to reduce prices on our Sawn Indian Sandstone and our Indian Porcelain in the next few months.

You mentioned there were a few exceptions. What are they? Unfortunately, we must increase the prices of our Clay Pavers by around 15%, Jura Limestone will also be increasing and a very small number of our Italian Porcelain products are going up, too. As I said though, these are exceptions and the majority of our prices are being frozen, or are getting reduced. I hope that other suppliers will follow our lead and start to bring their prices down because there is no justification for prices to remain so high when freight rates are dropping as they are.

It’s great that you’re prioritising your customers, but what about your staff – what are you doing to take care of them in 2023?

Respect for people and society is integral to London Stone, and we are nothing without our talented and hardworking team.

I was involved in the Summit Debate at Futurescape back in November and one of the topics of discussion was staff wages.

I made the point that as business owners,

we have a moral responsibility to help our staff through the cost of living crisis and I committed to London Stone giving our whole team a pay rise in 2023. I’m pleased to follow through on that promise and can announce that as of January 2023, we gave all of our staff an 11% pay rise.

We were also extremely proud to win a BALI Award last year in Employee Excellence, and have also achieved accreditation as a Living Wage Employer, which means we pay all our people above the national minimum wage.

How can you afford these pay rises without putting your prices up?

We’ve made no secret of our lean work philosophy. We empower our team to continually evaluate their working practices, identify any non-value adding activity, and then implement continuous improvements to eliminate those wasteful activities.

Improvements can be as simple as moving a storage rack closer to where a stone mason works, or more complex,

London Stone Managing Director, Steve Walley, lays out the company’s plans for a challenging, but exciting twelve months ahead

such as using technology to automate previously lengthy admin processes. Whether simple or complex, making continuous improvements to our working practices saves us time, money and makes our business more efficient. We then pass savings back to our customers. It’s an incredible effort by the whole team and has enabled us to keep prices low whilst still being able to improve pay and conditions for our people.

How’s the showroom expansion going?

Extremely well. We will be spreading our wings opening three new showrooms in 2023. Hampshire on the South Coast, Bristol, and Altrincham, Greater Manchester. It’s very exciting to be fulfilling our vision of becoming a nationwide supplier and making our showrooms accessible to more customers across the UK.

In 2023, we won’t be introducing many new products and the whole team will be focused on delivering reliability and value. We want to be a rock of stability in 2023 for all our customers; that’s our priority!

What about the environment?

Any plans on the ‘green’ side of the business?

Oh yes! We’ve got big and exciting plans for 2023 which we will be announcing in the next couple of months. I don’t want to give anything away yet, but rest assured it will be another first for the industry.

share our business expertise or help in any way that we can, so if there is anything you need, contact me any time at steven@londonstone.co.uk

For more information about how London Stone can enhance your next garden scheme: 01753 212 950 info@londonstone.co.uk www.londonstone.co.uk

What else is on the horizon for London Stone this year?

2023 will be challenging. We’ve spent the past six months ensuring the business in good order so that we are prepared for any economic slowdown. Over the next twelve months, I believe customers will be looking for reliability and value. To deliver that, we need to be super focused on our core markets and our core customers. To London Stone, that means the landscaping sector and landscape professionals.

During COVID we started selling interior tiles, garden furniture and garden accessories. In hindsight, that was a mistake and it took our focus away from our main area of expertise. Of all the new products that we introduced, Metal Pergolas and Corten Steel Planters were a big hit for us, so these two ranges are staying, but everything else has been discontinued.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all our customers and industry friends. Myself and my team are always here for you and are always happy to

CLAIRE WINCHESTER LANDSCAPE & GARDEN DESIGN

YOUR TIME Giving up

This week, I learned of the death of a former employer and more importantly mentor. Paul Cooling of Coolings Nurseries was one of a handful of people in horticulture who profoundly impacted on my career development. These people supported me, inspired me and taught me a great deal. My time working at Coolings Nurseries was hugely important to my learning and development as a horticulturist and my understanding of retail horticulture in particular. Paul, along with a few others at Coolings, took a young, fairly arrogant but keen to learn student and empowered me to learn and develop my skills in this part of the industry. Paul’s confidence in me and his willingness to let me take control of various sections of the nursery was a gift that I could never repay sufficiently and I will be forever grateful to him for that.

His untimely passing has left me deeply saddened but has also made me reflect a lot on mentoring and the value of this kind of support to people setting out in any aspect of the landscape industry. I think back to my time as a student, where I had lots of ideas, but not yet enough practical experience or

exposure to the many and varied aspects of landscape yet. As such, I was quite unaware of what I wanted to do when I graduated. The value of mentoring and supporting subject entrants, career changers and people who perhaps have a natural skill for an area that they are not yet trained in cannot be underestimated.

I believe that as a good and committed industry professional, you are honour-bound to support anyone you can with guidance and whatever other support you are able to offer. I am in regular contact with a good number of my former college students who now work in the industry and I’m hugely proud of the great work they produce day-in, day-out. While teaching isn’t for everyone and I grew disillusioned with the systems, though not the actual teaching itself, we all have a great mentor hidden away inside ourselves and most of us have at some time been a mentee.

Recently, I have started supporting my children’s school with some guidance on gardening and teaching horticulture to primary school children. I intend to do more of this going forward and have signed up to study as a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) ambassador

for horticulture, which I hope to help support some good causes with in 2023.

Obviously, times are tough for most of the UK and giving up time when you could be earning is something that many people won’t be able to commit to, but mentoring may require much less effort than you might think. We have experienced a shortage in entrants and graduates to many sectors of the industry for nearly two decades now and for all the money invested and campaigns that have run to make landscape a more appealing industry to be a part of, we are no better off.

Though campaigns set up by industry bodies might not have brought many in, I’m sure that employers independently recruiting and supporting employees to learn via courses or work-place support from experienced employees, has and continues to work. I’d like to see more of the work that companies are doing to mentor career entrants and the expansion of apprenticeship schemes. With or without these, though, I'll continue to ‘pay forward’ the support that others invested in me.

Lewis has worked in a wide variety of roles within horticulture over a 20-year career. He has lectured on garden design and horticulture, and designed gardens in the UK, Europe and the Middle East. Since 2011, Lewis has focused on nursery sales, now working as sales manager at Bernhard’s Nurseries, and has helped to launch a number of new plants into the UK plant market. He is a specialist supplier to show gardens, supplying more than 100 gardens at major shows.

I believe that as a good and committed industry professional, you are honourbound to support anyone you can with guidance and whatever other support you are able to offer

LEWIS NORMAND

The passing of one of his mentors has left Lewis Normand pondering the vast benefits of supporting people in this way

HABITATS Creating

When designing for biodiversity, ‘revise’ essentially means looking at existing habitats, features or plantings and increasing the areas of habitat for biodiversity. Doing this by at least 10% is a good benchmark. It is perhaps the most difficult of the three strands of biodiverse design to cover, though – not through a shortage of options but because this is so dependent upon the specific site: what is there, its quality, and the client’s wishes.

A few ideas which could provide the starting point when looking at the design on the drawing board are:

• Planting more and complementary trees: creating a mini orchard, a small grove, or a modest woodland depending upon the space available

• Wilding the lawn: setting aside an area that will be mown less frequently, as invertebrate habitat and for nongrasses to colonise, whilst ensuring that enough will be mown to show a ‘cue-to-care’ – a visual indication that the longer grass is intentional

• Creating a bog garden next to a pond to create a broader and more diverse series of habitats

• Increasing the diversity present in plantings to be retained, whether adding extra plants to a hedgerow (even if it’s just Rosa canina, Lonicera periclymenum, or other scrambling plants) or underplanting a rose bed in the borders.

Although all such ideas would be beneficial, I believe it is essential to have an end goal in sight for each biodiversity intervention. For example, to introduce more pollinators is a great sentiment due to declining populations, but perhaps there are pollinators specific to your locality that could be encouraged to move in if you get the right combination of plants?

Thinking about places for pollinators to spend different stages of their lifecycle (from egg, to larvae, to adult) is also a useful exercise to ensure your interventions are successful. For example, in East Yorkshire we retained a wild space of nettles, docks, and dandelions behind a garden shed to attract moth caterpillars – especially the declining garden tiger moth and its ‘woolly bear’ caterpillars – which the clients (and their children) now monitor.

Also, in the spirit of improving what is there, there is the provision of habitat spaces for wildlife. This can be essential if there are few of these spaces available (for example, if there are no mature trees with crevices). It is as simple as providing nest boxes for birds (matching the style of box to the birds you want to encourage such as marsh tits, sparrows, wrens, and owls, all of which have different box requirements), roosting boxes for bats, log piles for hedgehogs, or a stacked ‘drystone’ wall for invertebrates.

As we strive for a low impact in the garden, we also need to look at how we can work sustainably. Re-using and recycling what we find in situ, minimising what goes to the tip, preserving as much of the soil without intervention as we can (to maintain its structure and its own biodiversity) and thereby saving the client money – these are all things we should be looking to achieve.

Matthew Haddon continues to explore the three ‘R’s of creating biodiverse designs, this month focusing on ‘Revise’

Matthew Haddon is a garden and landscape designer, and is the creative director at Haddon Studio, a design studio committed to creating contemporary gardens, naturalistically planted, where people and wildlife coexist. haddon.studio

MATTHEW HADDON

Although all are beneficial, I believe it is essential to have an end goal in sight for each biodiversity intervention

THE STORM Weathering

Back in my December article – which was written in October – I wrote about the risks of continuing hosepipe bans and water use restrictions affecting landscapers into this year. This was after one of the driest summers since 1976. But now, my predictions may not be so serious. We had a deluge of rainfall in the south over November where some regions got over 170% of average rainfall (Met Office data) and some places got two months’ rainfall in three weeks. This resulted in the quiet lifting of hosepipe bans in the Thames and South regions in late November. Their reservoirs had risen to between 64% and 84% full.

soil conditions for new homeowners and remediation opportunities or costs for landscapers.

The last eight years have been the warmest on record and hot dry summers are still forecast. The Met Office predicts global temperatures will be 1.2°C above pre-industrial levels for 2023 which will be the hottest year on record. This may be due to changes in the Pacific when the cooler La Niña gives way to the hotter El Niño. So, landscapers need to continue to take care with soil handling and preparation, plus consider irrigation systems for plant establishment. In addition, they need to be prepared to protect staff from the forecasted hot conditions.

Looking at the data from Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the river flows in the South have been exceptionally high with the vast majority of this rainfall going out to sea and one cannot hesitate to notice that Southern Water Ltd used this opportunity to discharge sewage into the rivers and seas across the South.

However, groundwater levels especially in the chalk of the North Downs remain notably and exceptionally low and this will no doubt continue with result in water extraction restrictions into 2023. As I write just before Christmas, the very cold week we have experienced with snow is now dissolving in the warmer rainfall from the West; this will no doubt add more water to our rivers and soils. But adding to ground water levels is a slower process.

Landscapers need to continue to take care in their winter soil handling operations although the time pressures of commercial sites (especially housebuilding) consistently ignore this, resulting in terrible

Our government moves at glacial speed to adapt to climate change, if you consider actions resulting from COP26 and COP27. Opening a new coal mine in Cumbria goes against all agreements made in Glasgow COP26 in 2021 and illustrates our government’s disregard for the future. COP15, the recent conference on biodiversity, claims to have made landmark agreements to protect all life but promises are just words unless put into action. Therefore, it becomes even more pressing on us as individuals to make changes to our practices and influence our clients too.

One point of good news is that from 1 January illegal tree felling by developers carries uncapped fines and the risk of prison sentences. Let’s hope there are more Environment Agency and Forestry Commission teams ready to prosecute.

NICK COSLETT

Nick is now retired but has worked in landscape offices, parks management and horticultural nurseries. For the past 20 years, he has also run soft landscape workshops at Coblands and Palmstead. He has been involved in the British Association of Landscape Industries at a regional and national level, and is a trustee of the BALI Chalk Fund, as well as an awards judge.

Landscapers need to continue to take care with soil handling and preparation, plus consider irrigation systems for plant establishment

Heavy rainfall, white winters and scorching summers – landscapers need to be prepared for these changes, warns Nick Coslett

BEWL WATER RESERVOIR, KENT

EACH DROP COUNT Make

It is estimated that a landscaped area needs to receive approximately 25mm of rainfall per week to stay healthy. During dry spells, an irrigation system has to make up the amount of water, whilst in wetter periods, less or no irrigation will be needed. Getting the irrigation balance right is the challenge in order to avoid the extremes of desert-like or flooded landscapes.

When manually irrigating – for example, using a sprinkler or rotary spray – it is harder to apply water precisely without wastage. Different types of emitters apply water at different rates, so it is essential to know the precipitation rates of individual products. A rotary spray head nozzle, with a typical precipitation rate of 16mm/hour, would need to be in operation for approximately 1.5 hours per week within a given irrigation zone to achieve the required 25mm of precipitation during a period with no rainfall.

Wind drift can cause water to be wasted when it fails to hit the target zone. Pressure regulating sprays and rotors combined with thick streamed nozzles can help reduce its effects by keeping water where it is needed. Sprays and rotors with matched precipitation rates are designed to be used together in the same zone. If water pressure is high the result can be misting, wastage and inefficiency.

Spray heads with Pressure Regulating Stems and Spray Heads from Rain Bird feature built-in pressure regulation to reduce excess pressure, manage nozzle water flow

and maximise performance. Where surface and sub-surface drip irrigation systems are in use, these problems do not exist as water is applied exactly where it is needed. Dripline irrigation systems are now available from Rain Bird for flat or sloped landscapes, with check valves which retain water, prevent run-off, pooling and wastage. The system does not have to be recharged before the next irrigation cycle, thereby conserving water.

An automatic irrigation system ensures much closer control of irrigation and there is a range of controllers designed to ensure water is used as efficiently as possible.

The ESP-LXME 2 traditionally wired modular irrigation controller for commercial applications has a focus on water conservation. Its features include FloManager which manages demand to maximise use of water and shorten total watering times. Cycle + Soak by station and a rain delay feature are included as well as a weather sensor that can be programmed by station to prevent or pause watering.

When paired with the Rain Bird App, the RC2 residential controller gives contractors full control of irrigation

scheduling of multiple sites and zones. Through alerts, users can monitor and manage all irrigation events and warnings in real-time and make adjustments to prevent overwatering or costly wastage.

A Flow Meter will spot any changes in waterflow which may be caused by small leaks and will send an alert to the controller or a user's mobile device. The FG100 Flow Sensor provides year-round protection by monitoring for high or low flow and instantly identifying when there is a leak or line break.

As an alternative to a digital flow meter, the Flow Indicating Basket Filter is designed for flow measurement, filtration and pressure regulation at a lower cost.

With meteorologists suggesting that there will be more heatwaves, the need for water conservation will become more critical.

Manufacturers continue to introduce innovative technology and together with careful irrigation management and maintenance, landscapes can be kept healthy whilst reducing water consumption even by as much as 25%.

Peter Longman of Rain Bird Europe shares best water saving irrigation technology and practice

It is essential to know the precipitation rates of individual products

RC2 RESIDENTIAL CONTROLLER

FG100 FLOW SENSOR

The John Chambers Highfield Mix is a long-flowering annuals mix, designed to create a colourful display of native species, and cultivated varieties. This is the perfect mix for large-scale projects as well as smaller garden projects, especially those with a desire to attract as much wildlife as possible in addition to beautiful blooms.

Includes: White Dill – Bishops Flower, Cornflower, Special Mix, Cornflower, Coreopsis Tinctoria, Dwarf Mixed, California Poppy, Linaria, Northern Lights, Flax, Scarlet, Mayweed; Scentless, Corncockle, Marigold; Corn, Poppy; Field or Common, YellowRattle or Hay-Rattle

Biggest impact in: This mix can be sown in autumn or spring for an easy to establish and long-lasting summer bloom. It offers a beautiful display of nectar-rich flowers throughout the growing season right through to early-autumn.

Suitable soil type: This versatile mix will suit all soil types with the exception of very wet soil or in areas of heavy shade. johnchamberswildflowers.co.uk

IN THE MIX

Euroflor Boulevard provides a highly visual but low maintenance, low growing wildflower display which is ideal for adding diversity to roadside verges, roundabouts and parkland borders. In addition to its stunning displays, this mix is often chosen for enriching habitats and promoting urban and roadside diversity. Euroflor Boulevard contains a mix of native and naturalised predominantly perennial species which means there is no requirement for annual sowing and only requires minimal maintenance of one cut per year.

Includes: 18 100% native and naturalised species: 80% perennial, 15% self-fertile annuals, 5% biennial for longevity

Biggest impact in: Euroflor Boulevard provides a stunning display throughout the growing season and into the summer months.

Suitable soil type: The diverse species within this mix will find their own ecological niche to develop and flourish in different soil types and conditions. green-tech.co.uk

Wildflower Native Enriched Turf has been developed to provide an enhanced wildflower turf product that has a little more colour and interest. This turf creates a more ‘cottage garden’ look and feel but will naturalise over time. This turf is made up of approximately 33 UK native wildflowers and approximately 20+ naturalised annual and perennial species. This turf is ‘grass free’; however, it is grown on a open commercial farm and some noninvasive grass may be present.

Includes: Birds-foot Trefoil, Borage, Cornflower, Common Poppy, Red Campion Biggest impact in: May through to September Suitable soil type: All wildflowerturf.co.uk

JOHN CHAMBERS WILDFLOWER SEED

GREEN-TECH

John Chambers Impact Highfield Annuals 100% Wildflower Mix

Euroflor Boulevard

Photo credit to Wild by Design ©Wild by Design

Recreating SUPERBLOOM

Awave of wildflowers adorned the moat of the Tower of London last summer. More than 20 million flower seeds were sown with 29 flower species to create a new exhibition. Now closed to the public, Superbloom is the start of a legacy for this iconic London site, enhancing its biodiversity and providing a habitat for wildlife.

Behind this swathe of colour was wildflowers from Pictorial Meadows. After ground preparation works were carried out, Pictorial Meadows took on the seeding work in early March, using two weeks of dry weather to sow over a hectare of annual meadows, explains commercial director Dan Cornwell. And thanks to warmer weather and a considerable dry spell, these

flowered slightly earlier than usual, appearing in early April and May before flowering through the summer, right up until the first frost in November.

Two of Pictorial Meadows’ pre-designed perennial meadow turfs were used for mounds on the site – Indian Summer and Patchwork Quilt – both of which were chosen for the low fertility soil and the hot, dry climates.

“By using a mixture of the annuals and the meadow turf, Superbloom was created at the Tower of London, and using its principles, anyone could create a similar look, whether it’s in a private garden, a home, park, school or university, roadside verge, visitor attraction – anywhere you have a decent green space where you want to create something spectacular,” says Cornwell.

As well as creating a beautiful, immersive experience, these wildflower installations have numerous benefits for wildlife. “It’s an incredible resource for

pollinators, and that’s not just when all the flowers are in full bloom but also in winter, when you start to see the birds coming down and using the seed heads as a resource. Then there’s the resilience, something our mixes are designed for and they withstood record temperatures and droughts last summer.

“As we see the impact of climate change and more extreme weather events, it’s amazing to see how resilient these plants are. We want this project to be a catalyst for other transformational projects across the country, bringing colour and life to renew our urban neighbourhoods.”

To do this, Cornwell recommends ensuring the soil and seed bed is as clean as possible before sowing the seeds. “Once those annual seeds start to grow and flower, they're very aggressive, because they have to get up and flower in that first year. So, they tend to out-compete most other plants in a clean

flower bed, and then once they've grown, they're quite low maintenance.

“As for the turf, because it’s all grown on a mat and no grass seed is included, it provides

a weed suppressant and again little maintenance is required. Sowing annuals and laying meadow turf is a fairly straightforward operation; if it’s done in the spring, there will be some natural irrigation from the rain and morning dew, and if it’s sown later in the hot, dry periods, then irrigation is needed. After that, it’s just cutting it down during the winter ready for them to grow again the following year.”

If you’d like to recreate Superbloom, Pictorial Meadows can provide expert support, information packs and brochures on its products. Call 0114 267 7635 to find out more. pictorialmeadows.co.uk

Pictorial Meadows’ commercial director Dan Cornwell explains how the incredible Superbloom installation at the Tower of London can be replicated in other projects

SOIL SPECIAL

BUYING GUARANTEED QUALITY TOPSOIL

Bury Hill shares what makes its soil a top choice for the industry

WHY CHOOSE BURY HILL SOILS?

QUALITY TOPSOIL

In today’s dynamic landscape industry, where both belts and margins are tightening, but standards are higher than ever, there is growing demand for specific purpose soils along with complex logistical demands. Nobody wants to put in the hard graft only to then discover in-situ soils have not met site specifications and face dreaded remediation costs. That’s why landscapers and specifiers are choosing Bury Hill soils.

trusted soil manufacturer who fully stands behind their product.

Why choose guaranteed soils?

With growing demand for specific purpose soils, coupled with more complex logistical demands for projects such as roof gardens, soils are an important element of any landscaping scheme, meaning that should in-situ soils not meet site specifications, remediation costs could far outweigh any other purchase considerations.

IN - SITU VALIDATION TESTING

Increasingly, projects are demanding in-situ validation testing to confirm the suitability of soils against their project specifications. Buying direct from a quality soil producer arms you with the critical knowledge of the provenance of your soils. When you buy Bury Hill soils, you buy from a

Validation testing

Increasingly, we are seeing requirements for in-situ validation testing to confirm the suitability of soils against the project specifications. This means it is critical to know the provenance of your soils and to buy from a trusted soil supplier that produces their own materials and will fully stand behind their product.

How can we help?

ABOUT BURY HILL

Bury Hill has the infrastructure and space to stockpile soils for its clients’ projects prior to delivery to site. Stockpiles can be inspected, independently tested and verified against the site criteria, giving all parties peace of mind, knowing the soils are compliant and fit to be installed.

About us

For over 20 years, Bury Hill has been supplying the professional landscaper with a wide range of quality assured soils, including multi-purpose soils, specific-purpose soils and bespoke blends. Regarded as one of the country’s leading soil suppliers, Bury Hill are as passionate about their soils today as when they first started out. By designing and producing their own soils, Bury Hill ensure the consistency and high quality that you can rely upon for every job.

and again during the development process. Once soils are approved for production, robust and regular testing continues, giving you soils that conform to British Standards and where needed, other technical parameters relating to drainage.

basis to the British Standard, which ensures conformity and, where appropriate, for other technical parameters relating to drainage. Furthermore, our test data is presented in an original soil report, which includes notes and a conclusion from a wellrespected soil scientist

‘Bury Hill’s soils are reassuringly backed-up by an original soil report with those all important lab results, plus notes and a conclusion, from a trusted and respected soil scientist’.

BURY HILL’S TESTING

With more than two decades of solid experience under their belts, you won’t be surprised to learn Bury Hill’s soils are put through their paces again

Bury Hill has supplied the professional landscape industry for more than 20 years, with a wide range of soils including multipurpose soils, specific-purpose soils and the consistency and quality that

NEW: SUDS SOILS

Product launch

Today’s landscapers and specifiers are demanding innovation from their soil providers, just as their clients are demanding exciting and fresh projects from them. In our changing environmental conditions, Bury Hill are constantly evolving their range of soils and introducing innovative new products like their new unmatched range of soils for nature-based SuDS (Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems).

S U DS SOILS

New types of projects and our changing environmental conditions mean that we need to keep evolving our range and introducing new products. We have therefore recently launched our range of soils for nature-based SuDS (sustainable urban drainage systems). These soils are designed to intercept rainfall and help manage surface water and we have materials for a range of applications with a choice of drainage options. All products have been thoroughly tested and are backed up with interpretive soil reports from a leading soil scientist.

T: (01306) 877540

E: sales@buryhill.com

W: buryhilltopsoilandlogs.co.uk

THE DIRT DISHING

There is no doubt that 2022 hosted a number of challenges for the industry as whole. With the country recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, new legislations from Brexit coming into effect, the fuel crisis and more recently the cost-of-living crisis, it would be hardly surprising if the soil market had also been affected.

After speaking to suppliers, all had reacted to rising inflation and additional pressures by increasing the prices of their soil within the last year. Some said they had only added a “small percentage to cover increase in transport costs” whilst others had added up to 15% to their prices. Suppliers are taking steps, though, to try to reduce their prices – or at least prevent further price hikes. One said they are now increasing their own fleet of vehicles, rather than having to rely on third-party providers.

None are planning to change their payment terms this year, though, and none felt the need to do so in 2022, despite the threat of a recession.

HAS THE VOLUME OF SOIL SOLD CHANGED OVER THE LAST YEAR?

Despite the national economic uncertainty, there has been an increase in the volume of soil sold within the last year; 80% of respondents reported an increase, and none said that the volume sold had decreased. It could suggest a strong year in 2022 for the landscaping sector, with the postCOVID boom continuing – though how this will be impacted now that homeowners are opting to spend more money on holidays (the UK is ahead of Europe in terms of bookings for the first time since 2020, easyJet told The Guardian) is yet to be seen. One respondent expects to see the volume sold to stay level, whilst another predicted that sales may start to slow as construction across all sectors – both domestic and commercial – slows down. This may spark more emphasis on retaining soil on site.

What changes did the soil sector see last year, and what do suppliers expect 2023 will have in store?

Demand for bespoke soils is seemingly growing, though only 40% of respondents reported an increase in orders for this. It could suggest clients are considering more site-specific soils and that there’s a growing understanding of the important role soil plays in the success of a scheme. This is certainly one of our respondents’ predictions for the next year. They said: “A greater understanding of site soils before works commence means we're seeing more site-specific soils being utilised. Not only does this make better use of the soils already site, but it ensures longevity of the project where more focused planting palettes are being used by designers.”

That greater understanding is arguably not reflected in the British Standards, which 100% of the suppliers we questioned said needed to be updated. One respondent said that “BS3882 (topsoil standard) should include soil health indicators and not just physical parameters.”

In January, Defra announced plans for a new policy to make it compulsory for sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) in new developments from 2024. One respondent said: “We’ve seen a steady increase in SuDS projects year on year, but 2022 saw a larger increase than on previous years and this trend looks set to continue in the fight against climate change.

“It also helps address housing projects where development in areas becomes tighter and therefore can be prone to flooding; these systems offer the perfect solutions whilst also providing opportunities to increase biodiversity.”

So, whilst there are challenges for the soil sector in the year ahead –and the volume sold might not hit record levels – there are also opportunities ahead.

HAS THERE BEEN AN INCREASE IN ORDERS FOR BESPOKE SOILS?

It could suggest that there’s a growing understanding of the important role soil plays in the success of a scheme

SUSTAINING MANUFACTURED SOILS

One of the most important materials used in the construction and landscaping industry is manufactured soil –a blended mix of organic and inorganic materials sourced and combined off-site and subsequently transported to site for placement.

As a medium for plant growth, soils are an integral foundation for green infrastructure schemes, sports turf projects, and urban horticulture. These soils are also crucial for many other critical ecosystem services such as storing and filtering water, harbouring above-ground and below-ground biodiversity, cycling nutrients, and sequestering carbon to abate climate change.

A burgeoning pressure is being placed upon the construction and landscaping sector to ensure that projects maintain, if not enhance, the delivery of these services. However, whilst their performance may be

monitored in the short term (between approximately 6 to 12 months postplacement), their long-term quality –both in terms of their physical, chemical, and biological properties – and their ability to deliver ecosystem goods and services is rarely recorded. As a result, we need a better understanding of manufactured soils' long-term health, quality and functioning and the habitats they support.

Last year, Dr Dan Evans – who holds an Anniversary Research Fellowship as a soil scientist at

Cranfield University – teamed up with Alistair Bayford, business development director at Maylim, and Jonathan Bourne, managing director of Bourne Amenity, to tackle this problem. Throughout the spring and summer of 2022, they visited several sites managed by Maylim across London with soils designed and manufactured by Bourne Amenity of varying ages (one to 10 years). In November, they sat down at FutureScape in London on a panel called ‘Creating and Sustaining the Green’ to share their findings with the rest of the industry.

Jonathan: With the majority of projects, both large and small, we rarely have the opportunity to revisit the site down the line to look at plant health and the relative success of the materials we supplied. Since we supplied the Olympic project back in 2011/12, we have been eager to gain access to historic sites to get a feel for the performance of our materials in the field as opposed to simply on paper. We deliver to specification, and then it's onto the next scheme! This project has provided a chance to take stock and see how materials were performing and maturing in situ several years post-sign-off.

Dr Dan Evans, Alistair Bayford and Jonathan Bourne discuss a research project they carried out last year

What were the motivations for wanting to understand the success of your soils?

Many might be interested in the components that make up British

We can only begin to understand soils and their potential for ecosystem functioning by measuring these physical, chemical, and biological properties

Dr Dan Evans, Soil scientist, Cranfield University

Standard soil. How is it made, and what are the ingredients?

Jonathan: Six soils make up the latest B3882:2015 specification guidelines. Due to the high demand placed on our certified materials, we have to blend our soils using a combination of raw aggregate material. This provides the body and physical performance, combined with a variety of organic materials such as green waste compost to make up the nutrition element required to bring the soil or substrate “to life”.

Were you surprised by the broad range of parameters for BS-compliant soil?

Dan: In many ways, I wasn’t too surprised. Let’s pause and consider just how complex soils are: think about the solids, liquids, gases, living components, non-living components, minerals, and organic matter that make up our soils. Considering all of those aspects, it

isn’t surprising that the British Standard B3882 has many parameters.

We can only begin to understand soils and their potential for ecosystem functioning by measuring these physical, chemical, and biological properties. Perhaps what is more alarming is the fact that some of these parameters have an extensive range. For example, the BS3882 multipurpose compliance range for sand content is between 20 and 90%! That covers nine of the twelve soil types on the soil texture triangle, from heavy clay soil to light sand.

Of course, the BS3882 must accommodate many different land use situations, but we should probably understand the project's precise context first and then refine those compliance values.

With all these developments occurring in greenfield sites, why is still there

a preference for manufactured soil?

Jonathan: It's simply down to the increasingly high demand for specified and performance-based soils. There isn’t the volume of greenfield as-dug topsoil being harvested to meet the growing requirement for high performance and consistent topsoil. Mixed waste topsoil or “muck away” soils are not appropriate for most schemes, hence the need to control the elements and blend soils to specification.

There isn’t the volume of green field as-dug topsoil being harvested to meet the growing requirement for high performance and consistent topsoil

Jonathan Bourne, managing director, Bourne Amenity

What are the key reasons for getting involved in this research project?

Alistair: I’ve been lucky enough to benefit from designing, constructing and managing landscapes throughout my career. With an appreciation of the cause and effects of actions we take during the project's lifecycle, I believe more focus and resources are needed to monitor and manage installed soils.

There is a need to look closely at the relationship between soils and the plant typologies they support. All too often, I’ve seen incompatible vegetation planted in very sandy manufactured soils covered with a large format bark mulch with no further inputs. In fact, the natural input of organic material in the form of leaves is often cleaned away. The result is often plants that are not thriving.

Maylim invests considerable resources in demonstrating compliance with BS3882 before the completion of a project, but little is done following placement to monitor soil and plant health.

Maylim has several objectives for this research project:

1. To better understand the condition and health of soils over time following a project;

2. To identify key contributors to plant success/failure;

3. To understand and identify the inputs and management requirements for soils in the years immediately following placement; and

4. To create climate-resilient landscapes with highperforming soils supporting long-term green infrastructure.

A range of soils have been sampled, from straight off the lorry to ten years post placement. What are the findings?

Dan: One of the first take-home findings is that these soils had undergone physical, chemical, and biological change, even after only a year. At one of the sample sites, the soil organic matter decreased by 10% in 12 months. This is mainly because these soils did not receive additional organic inputs throughout the year. Organic matter is vital, not least because it helps the soil to hold water, which was especially relevant considering the heatwave and drought we experienced across the UK (and Europe) last summer! With a sand content of 88%, the ability of these soils to hold water is already a significant challenge. We also found that there had been an increase in some metals, such as chromium, zinc,

lead, and barium. Many of these are likely to be the result of airborne contaminants. Barium, for instance, is used in vehicle brake linings and also in common materials such as paint and glass. Continued soil change along these trajectories may mean they fall outside compliance in the years to come.

What do the results mean to you, and are they what was expected?

Jonathan: For us, it's a great learning and part of our year-on-year development of highperformance materials. Clearly, some of these soils need to be improved in key constituents to create a long-term effective growing media, but these can be easily adjusted at our blending facilities. It's an ongoing project working with Maylim to create the perfect growing environment for each of their varied schemes. We are fortunate to have access to these sites to increase our learning and see how our materials interact with the natural environment, which is key to a thriving and successful project.

MAYLIM PROJECT: EAST VILLAGE N06

SOIL TESTING AT TRITON SQUARE

Alistair Bayford, business development director, Maylim

It is clear from these initial findings that a ‘BS3882 soil’ is just a starting block.

Going forwards, we need to consider how to better design and manufacture soils with the plant communities in mind and what kinds of post-placement management these soils will require, including the need to add periodic inputs. There also needs to be a concerted effort from stakeholders to go back and monitor the quality of the soils after they have been installed. Doing this will allow us to make informed decisions about any changes that need to be made to ensure these soils continue to deliver essential ecosystem services.

Following this work in summer 2022, Dan Evans recently launched a UKRI Research Council (NERC) funded project entitled ‘Enhancing the Resilience of Manufactured Soils for Urban Green Infrastructure’. This project will establish a new research and innovation programme to enhance manufactured soils' environmental resilience. If you would like to find out more information about this project, you can email Dr Evans at: Daniel.L.Evans@cranfield.ac.uk.

PROMOTION MEET THE SUPPLIER

Can you tell us a bit about the company?

Based in York, we have specialised in premium quality turf, topsoil, bark and compost for nearly 50 years. Our products have featured in more than 290 award-winning gardens and exhibits and our Medallion® turf is the most frequently specified in the UK market. We sell products under both the Rolawn and Hallstone brands.

Was last year a strong year for soil sales? Which products performed best? Soil sales were strong, particularly Rolawn Turf & Seeding topsoil and Hallstone Blended Loam.

What do you see as the biggest growth area for the company?

Specialist topsoils under our Rolawn brand and our trade-orientated Hallstone turf and bulk bag range.

Can you tell us about one project you’ll be supplying this year?

With over 100,000 lawns supplied a year and high-profile projects where clients insist on NDAs, it is impossible to single one out.

What else can we expect from Rolawn in 2023? In 2023, we will have a new Rolawn website and updated branding, expansion of the Hallstone trade brand and new website, more competitive pricing on all bulk bags for spring, and the addition of a small bag range. We will continue our presence at FutureScape and hope to announce another production innovation in the first half of the year. rolawn.co.uk

Sales director Jonathan Hill shares Rolawn’s plans for the year ahead

With an appreciation of the cause and effects of actions we take during the project's lifecycle, I believe more focus and resources are needed to monitor and manage soils after installation

KEEPING SOIL ONSITE TOP TIPS FOR

WHY KEEP SOIL ONSITE

Soil re-use has sustainable and financial benefits. Keeping and reusing soil onsite causes the minimum amount of disturbance to the environment and least possible carbon footprint compared with clearing out the old and bringing new soils in.

It is also the most efficient and cost-effective way of fulfilling your soil requirements and is relatively simple to manage. To give you an example, when we carried out a soil amelioration and screening service for M.V. Kelly – which originally involved 4500m3 of soil and 120 lorry movements – we were able to reduce lorry movements by 85% and complete the project in 13 days with a 50% cost saving.

You should bear in mind, however, that soil handling is a process which needs the respect of all involved. Ensure your whole team understands what you are doing and why. You also need to undertake this kind of work in good weather to avoid damaging the retained structure of the soil.

EXCAVATE AND SEPARATE

To prepare your site, first strip off the top layer of vegetation and dispose of it. You could also treat the top layer with herbicide, although be mindful that some chemicals have a negative environmental impact.

After the top layer has been dealt with, carefully excavate topsoil to a depth of 150mm to 300mm or greater, depending on the site. Store the removed soil in heaps away from the main construction activity.

If you need to excavate beyond the topsoil levels, you should take out the subsoil separately and store it in individual heaps to avoid mixing. All the soils you extract should be kept free of other contaminants.

The need to keep the soil heaps separate might restrict your ability to keep soil onsite if space is tight.

PLANNING PHASE

There are some general guidelines you can follow when it comes to caring for topsoil materials.

First of all, ahead of any works, we recommend undertaking a soil survey to assess the condition of the soil and identify any pernicious weeds. The last thing you’d want to do is spread Japanese knotweed, for example, around a new site.

In some cases, it’s also relevant for the landscaper to complete a soil management plan for the main contractor. This provides a written record setting out how soil should be stockpiled and managed onsite.

A good place to start when writing up a soil management plan is the Defra code of practice: ‘Construction Code of Practice for the Sustainable Use of Soils on Construction Sites’. Although it is designed with larger construction sites in mind, there is plenty of useful information that can be applied to smaller projects.

CONSOLIDATE RATHER THAN COMPACT

To avoid a pan when respreading, ensure the soils in situ are well-prepared with any compaction broken up, either manually or by a machine with a ripping tine.

Respread the subsoils first, consolidating rather than compacting before redistributing the topsoil layer in the same way. There may be some settlement as the soils find their own natural level.

Be mindful of the soils being travelled over to respread. Use boards if possible or trackway on larger projects.

To enquire about your next project, contact Boughton by calling 01536 510515 or email sales@boughton.co.uk

Boughton business development manager, Jason Lock, shares his top tips for keeping soil onsite

Sadly, it’s something we see all too often when quoting for topsoil on developments. A recent example is a good case study of why choosing price over quality is never the best option.

them but for the muck-away company who had to pay a fine to the Council for misleading certification.

The muck-away topsoil, whilst looking

soil was identified and restorative works ordered immediately. Having cleared the site (again!) the groundworks company asked us to supply the full 400 tonnes –a total of 800 tonnes now used for a 400 tonne job. Once added to the price of the new plants and turf, the cost to the groundworks company was almost £50k!

This all goes to prove that topsoil is only expensive if you buy the wrong topsoil. We are happy to guarantee that our soil is free of chemicals and any contaminates. Had this particular customer (now loyal to us I might add) asked this question of the muck-away provider, they’d be £50k better off. It’s a lesson well and truly learned.

Mike Jupp Commercial Director The Woodhorn Group

SAFE SOIL ENSURING

It’s compulsory to check the soil for commercial sites where planning permission is required – and so it should be to check the site is safe and free from contamination.

Contaminated soil could lead to the failure of a soft landscaping scheme and be a costly mistake to make should all the plants need to be replaced and affect the health of the landscape users.

But whilst soil is just as important to the success of a domestic project, the need to check the health of the soil is not a legal requirement. And should the client opt to carry out a test on their soil, it can be an expensive addition to the end bill to go through a professional soil consultant.

That’s where Soil Check comes in. Landscapers and garden designers –as well as homeowners – can send a soil sample via post to be tested against modern

planning standards in a certified UK laboratory. The results are provided in a traffic light system showing whether certain elements in the soil are above or below an acceptable level. For instance, if the levels of copper and mercury are low risk, these will be shown as having ‘passed’ in green; whereas high levels of arsenic and lead would appear as ‘exceeded’ in red.

Founder and contaminated land specialist James Pitcher – who has worked in contaminated land for the majority of his career – set up Soil Check two years ago.“I created Soil Check to help the common person be able to check if their soil is safe, because the expense

of doing this testing through a mainstream consultancy would be much higher due to the time for engineers to take the sample and assess the results. So, Soil Check is for Joe Bloggs to buy a test kit and check their allotment or garden to see if it would meet modern standards, and to do that affordably for them.”

It does overlap, though, with his work at GOWN Engineers – where Pitcher is an Associate – which offers ground engineering and structural engineering advice. Soil Check often gets requests to test soil for third parties, which is something it does not offer. It would then refer this work to GOWN, which is how the consultancy came to work with the Environment Bank, for instance, which provides carbon offsetting for businesses, purchasing land and restoring nature then selling credits to businesses to offset their carbon or achieve biodiversity net gain.

Founder James Pitcher explains the benefits of using Soil Check for your next domestic project

If they’re putting in expensive plants, they may want to know the quality of the ground to ensure the plants succeed

For landscapers and garden designers looking to test the soil of a client’s front or back garden, Soil Check is the ideal choice, especially if there’s a clause in their contract to replace the plants if a certain amount die. “If they’re putting in expensive plants, they may want to know the quality of the ground to ensure the plants succeed. If they’re buying an acer at £5k, for example, a £100 soil test is probably good value to make sure they’re going to get the best results.”

Pitcher says the importance of soil to the success of a project is not always understood. “People sometimes assume that if you plant something, it will grow, and that’s that; but by the accumulation of lead and carcinogenic hydrocarbons, like in inner city soils, it can get into your vegetables that you’re growing and then get into you. Or if you’re out in the garden, you can bring harmful dust into your house which will sit there. With Soil Check, we’re trying to prevent that from happening.”

Contamination can often occur in inner city soils where homes were built close to factories or coal fields during the Industrial Revolution. But contamination can also be present in soils in the countryside too. “There can be naturally occurring contamination just from how rocks break down as lead and arsenic, which is poisonous. And some inner-city soil is perfectly clean, you just don’t know,” says Pitcher, who warns against people assuming that if a soil looks clean or is in the countryside that it therefore must not be contaminated. Fertile soil can also still contain contaminants such as chromium, copper, nickel and zinc which are known to impact plant growth if present in high levels.

To be certain of the soil health for a domestic project –and to avoid a hefty bill for new plants – Soil Check is an easy and affordable solution. Find out more at soil-check.com

PROMOTION

MEET THE SUPPLIER

Can you tell us a bit about the company?

Boughton is one of the UK’s leading landscaping product specialists. Established in 1985, the company has been supplying its natural, peat-free ‘as-dug’ soils to the amenity, landscaping and construction industries ever since.

How was 2022 for soil sales?

2022 was a great year for Boughton. Interest in and sales of our single source natural topsoils increased significantly, most notably via new sales channels such as NBS and in response to CPDs. There is no question that last year was a key milestone for change, with demand for environmentally friendly materials reflective of this. For us and our customers, our single-source soils offer a wealth of benefits including good body and great moisture retention qualities – ideal for modern landscaping projects, given predictions of water shortages in the future. Our soils also have a low pH, high organic content and boast both existing and developing organism biomass, which is a huge plus for planting schemes, as we know that microbial activity is crucial to the development and growth of flora within a soil.

Can you tell us about one project you’ll be supplying this year?

Located at the heart of Paddington Central sits the Amphitheatre at Sheldon Square. This central hub is undergoing a makeover to provide improved facilities. New trees and sun-loving resilient plants will be planted, including over 40 colourful perennial plant species to reduce pollution, improve air quality and to increase biodiversity and climate change resilience. It is here that Boughton’s single-source BLS 2 Screened Natural Topsoil has been specified by Gillespies, the first of which follows a CPD in July 2021. Boughton will be supplying over 80m3 tonnes of single-source BLS 2 Screened Natural Topsoil to site in Bulk Bags in January 2023, with the grand unveiling of the new space set for March 2023.

What else can we expect from you in 2023?

This year we’ll be undertaking more research into the benefits of natural soil through growth trials – both controlled and in situ – and will look to investigate the existing and evolving biological activity. In addition, we’ll be expanding into new areas of the UK to better serve the demand for single source natural soils.

Business development manager Jason Lock offers insight into Northamptonshire-based Boughton

Soil Check is an easy and affordable solution

GUIDANCE FOR GETTING THE RIGHT SOIL

“A common misconception in the trade is that all topsoils are produced to the same standard in terms of quality and safety. However, a recent study commissioned by the Rolawn® Group found that nearly 50% of topsoils from 26 UK-based suppliers didn’t meet the British Standard, meaning they were unsuitable for general landscaping schemes and domestic gardens.

“At Hallstone®, we believe the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soils are the foundation of healthy plant growth and a safe environment. Next time you purchase topsoil, make sure it’s from a trusted supplier and that it’s produced in accordance with BS 3882:2015.” hallstonedirect.co.uk

"

ECO SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS

It's important to treat your soil as a living organism, because that’s what it is! There are more microbes in a handful of soil than there are stars in the known universe. Not only do these microbes aid in the improvement of plant health, but they also help to purify the environment from pollutants such as carbon dioxide and methane. They need nutrition and water to function, so it's important to treat your soil with care, not to overly compress it and allow aeration. This is why British Standard soils, like the ones we produce at Eco, are great because you can guarantee the quality every time. "Whilst it is true that most of the nutrients in soil will be held if they are not used up by plants, not all of them have the same ability. Nutrients can leech far below the surface, into the subsoil, or can be washed away during the winter season. There is the requirement for annually topping up the organic matter to keep your soil’s root zone healthy and to increase its ability to hold on to nutrients and water, therefore our sustainable organic soil improvers and composts are always very popular.” thisiseco.co.uk

“The success of any landscaping project is dependent on its design and quality of the work and materials, which includes soils. Therefore, finding the right soil supplier is critically important. A good soil producer will be passionate about their soils, which they should produce themselves, to guarantee quality and compliancy with site requirements. Furthermore, soils should be regularly tested to the British Standard as a minimum and where appropriate, for other parameters relating to drainage. The test data should be submitted to you in an original soil report, which includes notes and a conclusion from a respected soil scientist.” buryhilltopsoilandlogs.co.uk

“Specification is important to ensure you get what you are thinking you are getting. We often see specifications that come in with the soils being specified as ‘topsoil to BS 3882:2015’. The current BS for soils is very wide, from very sandy soils, to soils with very heavy clay or silt. With such a broad spectrum of texture, and pH ranging from 5.5 up to 8.6, it would be a lottery seeing what arrived on site. It would be the same as just specifying taps for a sink, without being specific. A strong specification would ensure you got what you were expecting – for example, BLS 40 Boughton Screened – Natural Topsoil, Single Source to BS 3882:2015.” boughton.co.uk

What do garden designers need to understand ahead of taking on a project, and are there any misconceptions about soil which need to be addressed?

HALLSTONE LTD

BOUGHTON

BURY HILL

Green Roof Training, delivered by industry experts.

Greening up roof space is an obvious quick win to help with improving biodiversity & mitigating climate change. There is so much business potential as UK environmental regulations focus more & more on greening our infrastructure.

We’ve teamed up with Living Roofs Academy and Irrigation Engineers Ltd to deliver face-to-face training hosted at our Hampshire HQ. The price for the training day including LANTRA certification and e-certificate is just £299 per person (Excl VAT).

100% of attendees would recommend this training to other landscaping professionals.

Acontemporary version of an English garden was the desired outcome for this Sussex-based space. The clients wanted their outdoor area to incorporate traditional elements whilst including more modern clean lines and structure. It also needed to complement the house and the surrounding vernacular, as well as to be screened from the neighbouring property through the use of strategically placed trees and planting. Lighting needed to highlight and accentuate the focal points and key features of the garden as well as subtly illuminating access routes.

Seating areas had to be integrated into the design to provide spaces for contemplation and appreciation of the garden without overpowering the space. In the rear garden, there also needed to be space for entertaining and al fresco dining for up to six people, with provision for a BBQ or pizza oven. A fire pit and water feature were to be considered.

The hardscape was to be extended from the existing paving situated outside the house, to lead the eye towards and connect to the rest of the garden and a proposed garden room. Power and water needed to be supplied from the house to this garden room to allow for interior and exterior lighting as well as an outdoor tap for the raised beds. A paved courtyard and seating area in the rear garden captures the morning sun whilst the garden room opens up fully to allow for evening ‘Sundowners’.

For the planting, the clients wanted year-round interest, with the inclusion of colours such as white, blue, purple, yellow and various shades of green, whilst excluding bold oranges and pinks. A good-sized area of lawn should balance with the planting plan in the back garden. The spaces had to be easy to maintain, though. There needed to be solutions for weed control, and irrigation and routine maintenance was to be engineered into the design, allowing for the clients to focus on “more interesting garden tasks”.

In the front garden, Your Garden Design needed to create a sense of arrival to the house and for the design to define the boundaries to the property. Planting was to be enhanced whilst providing structure and form to break up the space and lead the eye towards the front door as the focal point. There needed to be lighting included

and

bordered the property. Formative pruning and the addition of carefully placed planting was required to screen the house from the public footpath beyond the stream. The design had to also allow for a new entrance with a solid timber gate around six feet in height which could maintain privacy as well as keep wind disturbance to a minimum.

Focus on functionality

The main idea was to create a garden that was functional. As such, it contained various seating areas and linked different parts of the house; but it also needed to feel unique and secluded from the outside.

provision for outdoor power, with fencing and a matching gate installed along from the house to the wall next to a stream which

Despite not being a dominant element of the client brief, the water feature came to be one of the garden’s main features, as did the garden room. Other ideas, such as the raised beds, were not incorporated in the final design since the client decided not to have a vegetable garden in the end.

An important design point was to use aesthetic features and give them a practical use, such as the rill that divides the garden into two separate areas in a subtle and sophisticated way. The planting plan at the property entrance is another example of this; Your Garden Design wanted to frame the building, making it softer, more attractive and welcoming, while at the same time creating a sense of arrival.

Using pleached trees and upright grasses, the team concealed the garden from the adjacent property and embellished the space, providing both structure and movement.

Trio of planting layers

Through the soft landscaping, Your Garden Design wanted to create a feeling of tranquillity and serenity, which it achieved by using white and cream tones with different shades of green and various leaf textures. More specifically, the team divided the planting into three different layers: the structural, the seasonal and the groundcover layer.

The structural layer is formed by evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs that are present

throughout the whole garden. In the rear garden, evergreen spheres of clipped yew and holly provide a backdrop for the planting that surrounds the water rill. The existing chestnut trees remained situated at the entrance to the garden to provide a sense of maturity.

1 Looking down the rill to a unique ‘Owl Sculpture’ by Olivia Ferrier

2 Planting surrounds the private and secluded entertaining space

3 Looking through the rill planting to Your Garden Design’s one-off ‘Grazebo’ living roof garden room

4 A previously unused area to the north of the house is now an attractive utility space

5 The garden in late summer

Hornbeam pleached trees are also part of this layer. These bring privacy and provide a beautiful backdrop while increasing the garden’s vertical space. Climbers such as Clematis armandii and Trachilospermum jasminoides cover the walls of the garden and add further vertical interest.

Evergreen ferns, hostas and upright grasses bring additional textures and green tones. Colour and light are provided through the seasonal layer, which also provides food for pollinators. Herbaceous perennials soften the clipped topiary and bring light to this part of the garden. At the entrance of the garden, salvias, verbenas, lavenders and geraniums create volume and add a splash of colour. Alliums make an appearance in early summer and rise to 1.5m in height.

The last layer, and a crucial one, consists of groundcovers. Nature doesn’t like bare soil and that is why it’s vital to plant enough groundcovers to prevent weed growth as much as possible. The areas with part shade are planted with Epimedium and ferns. Erigeron karvinskianus is planted along the water rail, softening the edges and beautifully thriving.

Looking locally

The garden is located 20 minutes away from Your Garden Design’s studio, so the design process and building stage was very feasible and didn’t require moving people or materials far distances.

Many of the materials and tools used for the hard landscaping, such as cement, power tools, hiring tools and sundries, were supplied by local trades which are less that 15 minutes away from the building site. The nurseries used are a maximum of 20 miles from the studio. “We are

aware of the environmental impact of transport, and that is one of the reasons we try to take advantage of every trip and collect plants for several clients at once,” says Your Garden Design.

The sedum roof of the garden room ensures that the usable space within the garden available for planting, wildlife and insects is maximised whilst providing insulation against high summer temperatures otherwise associated with a conventional flat roof.

Making the most of the space

The main challenges of the site involved the existing trees and associated shade and unusual shape of the small sized garden around the house and how this interacted with the proposed use of the site.

This was overcome by clever positioning of key elements of the garden such as the garden room and central feature rill which pulls the planting right through the centre of the space, making the garden feel larger than it is. The garden room was designed to ensure all year around use and enjoyment of the garden, even in the depths of winter having fitted a high efficiency wood stove along with full insulation and double-glazed folding sliding doors, which can be opened in summer to bring the outside space in.

By positioning the garden room into the furthest northeast corner of the site, maximum possible sunlight could be provided, and the large folding sliding doors allow the terrace area and internal floor space to become one, essentially doubling the area for entertaining.

6 The view from the dining room of the central rill garden

REFERENCES

Garden design, build and maintenance

Your Garden Design yourgardendesign.co.uk

Trusloe limestone paving and copings Artisans of Devizes artisansofdevizes.com

Garden room steelwork Outdoor Design outdoordesign.co.uk

Morsø woodfire pizza oven and woodburning stove in garden room øsoliving osoliving.co.uk

Pleached trees, topiary and specimen items Griffin Nurseries griffinnurseries.co.uk

Perennials North Hill Nurseries northhillnurseries.com

Owl Sculpture Olivia Ferrier moncrieff-bray.com

ABOUT

Your Garden Design is a garden design practice based in Chichester, West Sussex. It offers a bespoke design, consultancy and building service and likes to create unique, functional and beautiful outdoor spaces. Its portfolio ranges from small courtyard gardens, roof terraces through to large-scale rural landscapes. Your Garden Design’s aim is always to balance inspired design with creative horticultural expertise, enhancing the visual relationship between interior, exterior and the surrounding vernacular. yourgardendesign.co.uk

POLYS

Polys, the modular planter, brings greenery to our streets and our homes.

Design: David Karásek, Michael Tomalik

POND life

TIVOLI GROUP

TWYCROSS POND PROJECT

PROJECT DETAILS

Project value £400k+ Build time 5 months (Sept 2021 – Feb 2022)

Size of project

Approximately 4,000m2 Awards BALI National Landscape Award 2022 winner: Hard Landscaping Construction (Non-Domestic)Under £500k

Situated in a small village in Leicestershire, these purposebuilt headquarters are set within a parkland landscape complete with wooded areas and lakes. The client was looking to enhance the surroundings to create an exceptional environment for people to work in. So, they approached Sodexo UK Projects Team to assist in producing a concept design proposal to refurbish their pond and transform the surrounding area by their main building. Tivoli was commissioned to work on the design concept and associated deliverables.

The end client’s expectations and key criteria included: consideration of sustainability in the management stages and design; materials and construction longevity; minimum maintenance going forward; and easy access to the pond for ongoing maintenance.

Transforming the pond and the surrounding area required the appointment of a landscape architect to review the high-level design detail and for an ecological survey review of the site to be arranged. Following DNA sampling, an EDNA survey of the pond and its natural environment was carried out by Tivoli’s regional manager – a qualified ecologist and member of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and

Environmental Management (MCIEEM) – to determine if any great crested newts were present as these are a protected species.

The existing decked walkway surrounding the pool and protruding into the pond area was to be demolished and all fish were to be professionally and carefully removed from the pond, which would then be emptied of water. The old lining needed to be removed with minimum damage to pond foliage, which would be stored in the required conditions and reintroduced into the new pond design or relocated.

A new pond design was then to be incorporated with new lining and surrounded by composite anti-slip decking. The pond would need to be oxygenated and the bore hole would be retained.

Ecological considerations

This project was complex and demanding in many ways and the need to be flexible was paramount. For instance, the end client is currently building a new office wing on site, which will become the UK’s most sustainable

building. Therefore, site access involved entering the pond area via a live construction site, with many other contractors working in close proximity. This required Tivoli and the subcontractors to work closely with the other suppliers and employees on site to ensure there were no clashes and the pond area project was completed seamlessly.

One element of the specification was the installation of a landscaping feature, which required a crane to lift and lower into place. Due to high winds and the presence of another very large crane on site, this had to be postponed on two occasions until conditions were optimal and crane access was possible.

Throughout the project, some changes to the specification were made to enhance the final construction. The original plan was to have two floating islands with a tree on each; however, it was decided that the risk of root development and contact with the pond liner was a risk and therefore bog and pond plants and grasses were installed on the floating platforms instead. Once the decking was installed, consideration was

FLEECE UNDERLAY TO PROTECT POND LINER

SETTING FOUNDATIONS FOR THE POND PLATFORM OLD POND DRAINAGE

made to the rainwater running in between the decking boards, therefore a reservoir was installed under the pond platform with a sub pump and float to release the water into the pond when the reservoir reaches a certain level. A filtration system with a waterfall was added to the water feature. Additional stone benches were introduced, with matching dog water bowls and steps into the pond to support the company’s ‘bring your dog to work’ policy.

To ensure the project was progressing as planned, weekly project meetings were

held on site between Tivoli, Sodexo and the end client. This consistent, collaborative approach ensured that any issues could be discussed and resolved as quickly as possible, and timeline pressures such as adverse weather conditions or supplier delays could be highlighted and resolved at the earliest opportunity.

3 Comfy seating added to the pond platform

4 Impactful stone boulders and feature lighting surround the pond

POND EDGE CONSTRUCTION ON BUTYL LINER

Low maintenance planting

The planting schedule was designed to bring the space to life whilst taking into consideration minimal maintenance going forward in line with the client brief. Beds surrounding the decking area were filled with complementing plant varieties and foliage shades including Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost', Euphorbia polychroma, Cirsium rivulare 'Trevor's Blue Wonder', Euphorbia x martini, Hydrangea 'Kyushu', Geranium sylvaticum, Pittosporum tobira 'Nanum', Anthriscus sylvestris 'Ravenswing' and beautiful grasses including Calamagrostis brachytricha, Carex muskingumensis 'Oehme' and Miscanthus sinensis 'Morning Light'.

The floating islands were planted with impactful Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster', which was also dotted throughout the surrounding planting areas to bring together the pond and the spaces around it. Amelanchier lamarckii (multi) were planted in the larger beds to give height, structure and bring spring beauty to the site, with splashes of purple and orange from Salvia nemorosa 'Caradonna', Liriope muscari 'Big Blue' and Kniphofia 'Poco Orange' added throughout the planting too. A row of striking birch trees

REFERENCES

Landscape architect and designer Outside Spaces Landscape Design outsidespaces.net

Civil engineer and main subcontractor MTS Landscapes mtslandscapes.co.uk

Decking Millboard millboard.co.uk

Pond Edging Marshalls marshalls.co.uk

Stone boulders Mid Wales Stone midwalesstone.co.uk

Plant supplies Crowders Nurseries crowdersnurseries.co.uk

ABOUT

From amenity horticulture, such as the maintenance of parks, estates and sports grounds; the mowing of wide areas such as airfields, through to landscape construction, graffiti and fly-tipping removal, ice and snow clearance, and interior plants and floristry, Tivoli is an expert at maintaining and creating beautiful landscapes. tivoliservices.com

also frames the pond and provides a stunning backdrop for the boulder seating area.

Through careful planning and a vast planting scheme, Tivoli has created a beautiful and award-winning landscape for those working on this site in Twycross to enjoy and reap the rewards.

5 The water feature area with waterfall and filter

6 Stone benches installed and planting commencing Photographs ©Tivoli Group

Tough terrain, easy operation. Year-round versatility with all-round viewing. Toro’s Groundsmaster 3200 and 3300 out-front rotary mowers with their unique tip-up high-strength steel cutting decks for easy maintenance, deliver super productivity with superior trimming. And with optimal sight lines they make quick work in even the toughest terrain. No wonder they’ve become a must-see series reesinkturfcare.co.uk

Get MORE from your turfcare partner this year: More products . More advice . More training . More finance

CREATING ACTIVE SPACES for all

For us, it’s about improving communities, so improving the health and wellbeing of the places that we serve

Active Legacy has set out to engage more young people in alternative sports and activities while creating more inclusive public spaces

Childhood obesity is hardly a new issue – Jamie Oliver has been harking on about it for years, and with good reason. Research for the National Child Measurement Programme 2020/21 found that a quarter (25.5%) of children in year six are obese, whilst 15.4% are overweight – statistics made even more concerning when we learn that the obesity rate is the highest annual increase since the programme began, up 4.5% from 2019/20.

On top of this, teenage girls are losing interest in physical activity. A study by Women in Sport found that 43% no longer saw themselves as sporty, despite seeing themselves as such in primary school, which more than half (61%) put down to a lack of confidence and 68% said they feared being judged.

So, what’s the solution to keeping teenagers –particularly teenage girls – engaged in physical activity? Perhaps surprisingly, the answer may lie in skateparks – or at least a company behind them.

Wheelscape has created some of the oldest skateparks in the UK, after it was founded in the 1980s. At the time, these skateparks were revolutionary and made alternative sports more accessible.

Now, the first image that comes to mind of a skatepark is arguably of a somewhat bland, grey concrete space. “It may be amazing in functional terms to a skateboarder or a bike rider, but they are what we would call a ‘mono environment’. They look one way, and they function one way,” says Elliot Hamilton, sales director of Active Legacy, which acquired Wheelscape in 2021.

Hamilton is eager for Active Legacy to change this. “For us, it’s about improving communities, so improving the health and wellbeing of the places that we serve.” Part of which is tackling the “obesity epidemic” and offering an alternative for those who do not want to engage in competitive team sports. “We’re working with a university on a three-year research project, which has found that a young girl is more likely to accept detention than engage in PE because they don’t want to be told what to do and they don’t want to play team sports; they don’t associate with that form of physical activity. So, we’re questioning what’s going wrong here and whether we can play a part in it.”

Active Legacy is hoping to break down the barriers to entry and make these spaces more inclusive, but it is also hoping to dispel any myths around skateboarders being antisocial or a subculture. “We want to bring these places into the front and centre of the public realm and give them proximity to all the other elements that come together to form what we’re terming an ‘activity park’.”

The employee-owned company not only focuses on how alternative sports can be more inclusive and engaging, but also how to create these ‘activity parks’ for a wider audience. Part of the idea behind these is for young children who first start using the space to have an ‘active pathway’.

“If we want to lower barriers and engage young people at the earliest opportunity, then

we need to give them this route.

We want to create meaningful connections with activity, established at an early age and on terms that participants are comfortable with, before offering options that encourage healthier habits right through to adulthood, where risks from non-communicable diseases such as Type 2 diabetes begin to creep in (and with it the burden on our healthcare system).

If we could achieve this in every community, we could potentially save millions to the taxpayer. We need think about the pathway, and that’s where the idea of activity parks comes from. Being able to see the next activity, digesting and understanding it, before progressing can help to increase, and crucially, maintain participation in these activities.”

Wheelscape’s active pathway starts at the ‘establish’ stage for children aged below five who need a ‘fun, playful design’. Up to the age of 12 is the ‘transition’ period when their movement increases, and they start to build a range of skills. Between 12 and 18, they need ‘multiple higher risk options for informal activity and separate social spaces’

We want to create vibrant, diverse places with a low barrier so that everyone in the community feels welcome

at the ‘embed’ stage. It’s between these two phases – transition and embed – when Active Legacy says there is traditionally the biggest drop off in activity. “We need to create vibrant, colourful, diverse places with a low barrier that people want to go and visit. These have to be inviting, social and inclusive spaces so that parents will want to take their children there.”

The idea is catching on; local authorities are starting to engage with Active Legacy to bring these activity parks to life. It has just broken ground on its first at Denham Way Playing Fields in Maple Cross. The £500k project includes skate park elements, of course, but an outdoor gym, a play park and planted areas to improve biodiversity too. The company has also been approached by the University of Bedfordshire to carry out a joint research project on the meaningfulness for girls in

physical activity and sports, and by relatively new architectural practice Urban Radicals for a partnership in creating these spaces. This boom in interest was sparked after Active Legacy approached Make Space for

ACTIVE LEGACY'S 'Blue Sky' design

Active Legacy has incorporated numerous elements into its ‘blue sky’ design to make this activity park more inclusive and welcoming, many of which can be applied to wider public realm or play schemes, including:

• COLOUR CODING – a traffic light system to steer users to their skill level

• PRIDE CROSSING – the recognisable rainbow flag to highlight that everyone is welcome

• COMMUNITY GROWING SPACE –a herb garden and sensory garden to serve the container café, the path to which is suitable for wheelchairs and has bumps to help guide those who are visually impaired

• SUPPORT FOR BEGINNERS TO ALTERNATIVE SPORTS – such as a one-metre high mini ramp and multi-level gradients with a handrail

• SEMI-PRIVATE SEATING AREA –still visible from the main path to deter antisocial behaviour

• SUSTAINABLE CAFÉ – with a green roof and rainwater harvesting

• BIODIVERSE PLANTING SCHEME

sometimes made them feel unwelcome at a skatepark, found research by Make Space for Girls. This new “blueprint” (above), launched on Go Skateboarding Day in June last year, shows local authorities what could be achieved if they were willing to think outside of the box.

Girls to help create a concept based on research on more gender-neutral spaces and what these could look like. A dark space at the edge of a site could be off-putting for girls, and 80% of girls who skateboard felt that boys

“The masterplan was for a ‘blue sky’ brief,” explains Hamilton. “It was a chance to imagine what an inclusive park could look like.” The multi-use space lacks fencing to make it more inviting and includes a sustainable café and a variety of materials such as herringbone brick, Corten steel, concrete and resin bound gravel. Rather than veering away from Wheelscape’s routes as a skatepark provider, it builds on these to create an inclusive park with a wide range of uses.

With local authorities’ funding limited at the best of times, though, will these ‘activity parks’ put them further out of pocket? Hamilton says not if local authorities think longer term. “I was at a site in Telford the other day where they’re building a football pitch – there’s an ageing play park, and we’re building a beautiful skatepark, and there’s no relationship between any of these.

"The client has had to engage three different contractors and pay three sets of preliminaries. They’re all being built at different times and each with their own budget. They’ve probably paid more than if it had been done together and they have a worse piece of public realm for it.”

The project at Denham Way, on the other hand, includes a play park, skatepark, a walking track, a café, and an inclusive tennis club.“By putting it all together, they’ve spent half a million pounds, but they’re getting far better value in the long term. They’re only paying one set of fees to us and we’re providing it all on a design and build basis.”

Hamilton says these projects are drastically improved with landscaping elements too. “Put a rectangular space with activity in, and it looks boring. Put that in an organic form, put a colonnade of trees around it and have it interacting with its

environment, and immediately it just changes perceptions. Parents will want to stay for longer periods too if it’s green and beautiful, there’s a café to sit in, they’re surrounded by flora and fauna, and there are activities happening around them.”

So, Active Legacy is partnering with landscape architects to ensure the user experience is not just functional but aesthetically pleasing too. It is also looking to lobby MPs for a percentage of their recreation and leisure spending each year and has been approaching housebuilders to consider more active housing developments too.

Whilst skateboarding is a key focus for Active Legacy – as it seeks to reframe how

skateparks and alternative sports are perceived – Hamilton encourages councils to engage with the community and allow them to contribute to the consultation to discover the best solution for that area. A multi-use activity park could be a balanced response, and one which hopefully serves different age groups as they develop from one stage to the next, leading to healthier and happier communities.

Parents will want to stay for longer periods too if it’s green and beautiful, there’s a café to sit in, they’re surrounded by flora and fauna, and there are activities happening around them

The

Perfect Shot

Do we still need professional photographers with their big cumbersome cameras while we can take better pictures with our mobile phones, I hear people say. But can we, really? We simply shoot everything on our smart phone nowadays, as they are fully automatic, easy to use and always at hand so you can record any moment, anytime, anywhere, providing the constant feed for your social media accounts.

Some of us are quite good at taking photos with them. But although they are so much better than they used to be, they still can’t compete with DSLR or mirrorless technology, especially when used by an experienced photographer.

iPhone is not the answer

Just as a mobile phone is very useful in certain situations, so is a professional photographer with their trained eye and skills developed through years of taking thousands of photographs. Even holding an iPhone, an experienced photographer would produce an image fit for purpose. They see different angles that the average person may not think of. They will wait for the best light. When operating the proper camera, they

will calculate the best setting in the split second, choosing composition that works best and evoking genuine emotion. They simply know how to use their camera and it is the top professional equipment with high-quality lenses, which costs thousands of pounds, so it is going to produce a better quality of images with high dynamic range and definition that can be printed in sizes fit for a billboard. The images are shot in Adobe colour and developed using professional computer screens with wide colour gamut, calibrated for best results, either for web or print.

I know all this because I am one of these photographers and specialise in gardens, so you might want to cooperate with me if you are a garden designer, landscaper or simply a garden owner and want to showcase your garden. Quite a few of us, me included, are also trained garden designers or passionate gardeners, knowing principles of design and the plants we photograph very well, including their Latin names!

Most of all, we also know how to place your garden in a magazine or a book, which is a great way of advertising your work and finding new clients for your business. This is the best benefit of working with a garden photographer.

Anna Omiotek-Tott shares the benefits of having your garden professionally photographed – from seeing it in magazines to submitting it for an award

TURFED OUT GARDEN, RHS HAMPTON COURT PALACE GARDEN FESTIVAL JULY, 2022 DESIGNER: HAMZAH-ADAM DESAI

New and Fresh or Traditional

We cooperate closely with magazine editors and know what type of gardens they are looking for in their particular titles, as different magazines are looking for different types of gardens. There are also certain common features an interesting garden should have such as good planting and hard landscaping as well as modern features such as outdoor kitchens or interesting, well-styled sitting areas. It helps if these are nicely photographed, of course.

The Story

The editors are looking for interesting stories as they describe the gardens from the point of view of the owners and while the designers get mentioned and credited, of course, they are not in the limelight, unless it is their own garden or the clients want to talk about cooperating with the designer a lot. Enthusiastic owners – the ones interested in caring for and developing their gardens – are sought after. The photographer story just enhances the client’s one. The clients need to agree to be interviewed and as they are sheer owners of the property copyrights, they sign a property release clause, giving the photographer and the magazine the right to publish the images of the house.

Timing is Everything

The clients will need to let you into their garden and it might be a rather unsocial hour as many a bigger garden is best photographed at dawn, during ‘golden hour’. The best light is two hours after sunrise and two before sunset. At the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, photographers can enter the show at 5.30am

for best shots, where delicate side light creates atmospheric pictures. This means that garden photographers must sometimes get up at 3am in June! Still, some small modern gardens look great on a bright day with white cloud and no sunshine, and this sort of light is also better for taking plant portraits.

Through the Seasons

I like photographing gardens during all seasons; there is always something interesting going on. Early spring belongs to bulbs with snowdrops starting in mid-January, then irises in March and tulips in April. Most gardens peak in late spring and summer, from May to July. Still, it is even more exciting to find a garden that looks stunning during autumn or winter and the magazines are always on the lookout for these. Good structure, grasses and trees for foliage colour look lovely on their own during colder months.

Last but not least, we need to remember to have the garden cleaned up and prepared for a photoshoot with some styling and props. I find it very helpful when the designers get involved in preparation, and some gardens are just plain lovely, so we do not need to do anything.

It is worth remembering that newly designed gardens are ready to photograph about a year after they have been planted,

when they have had time to mature a little bit. So, a garden built in 2022 will be best photographed in 2023. The photographers are usually happy to share a few low-res images for your website and social media after publication. You can also direct your clients to the folder showcasing your work on the photographer’s website.

Where to Find Us

A great platform for those looking to commission a garden photographer is the website of the Professional Garden Photographers Association (PGPA), a part of the Garden Media Guild. Its website has more than 100 profiles of the best garden photographers in the UK and further afield, so it’s a great point of reference to start your search to find a photographer near you.

professionalgardenphotographers.com

ROSEMARY ALEXANDER'S SANDHILL FARM HOUSE GARDEN

North London based garden photographer Anna Omiotek-Tott is a member of the Garden Media Guild and PGPA. Her work regularly appears in magazines such as The English Garden, Garden Answers and Garden News. Get in contact via: 07484 718 362. annatott.com

The clients will need to let you into their garden and it might be a rather unsocial hour as many a bigger garden is best photographed at dawn, during ‘golden hour’

All photographs ©Anna Omiotek-Tott

SMALL LONDON GARDEN DESIGNER:

SPENCER VINER

A CONE TO START WITH

We are always looking for new shapes to diversify the public space, and we are also expanding the uses of our site furnishings,” David Karasek, mmcité’s leading designer comments on company’s latest product. The conical concrete body has become the cornerstone of the new Conics range. The conical castings in three sizes transform into multiple functions: table, seat, planter, or bench. Circular shapes are increasingly popular in outdoor furniture not only for their aesthetics but also precisely because of their greater variability and capacity.

Conics seats and benches work well with the steel tables from the mmcité Pixel range. For creative solutions, Conics can be produced using HPL which can be supplied with bespoke graphics for the tabletops and seats. An interesting version is also the table with an inner planter, which can be used for planting a tree to create a natural shade. Playing with the cones starts with a simple rotation.

Design: Herrmann&Coufal

Everyone’s WELCOME

Inclusive and accessible street furniture is a key focus for those creating these products

BAILEY STREET FURNITURE GROUP

“Inclusivity and accessibility play an essential part in the design of street furniture and urban spaces. Well-considered design that caters to an array of needs and abilities, whether permanent or situational, will deliver a more useful space for everyone to use.

“These factors play a huge role in our product development at Bailey Street Furniture Group and most of our products can be adapted to meet client needs for accessibility. A good example of this is the Plateau I Picnic Table; this robust picnic set is constructed with a high-pressure laminate top and galvanised steel or powder coated steel frame and is designed to provide numerous seats in socially oriented situations, providing six to eight seating positions including space for two wheelchairs.

“As well as our comprehensive collection of adaptable and customisable products, we have created a useful CPD presentation for our clients on how to maximise the inclusivity and accessibility of public spaces.” bsfg.co.uk/cpd

VESTRE

“Inclusivity and accessibility have always been at the core of our product development and universal design is very much key to our ethos. We manufacture very few products that are specifically designed for those with mobility needs, preferring to make our furniture accessible for everyone wherever possible.

“In addition to those with impaired sight or mobility, for example, we aim to consider all aspects of inclusivity; for instance, parents with young children, the temporarily injured, and even cultural aspects that may impact a person’s choice of furniture.

“So, rather than adopting a focus on particular issues, we provide plenty of choice for both specifiers and users, such as offering a range of seat heights, back and armrest provision, and differing backrest heights and angles. We are always happy to offer advice to ensure site-specific needs are being met, either in conversation or through our highly informative Inclusive Design CPD.” vestre.com/uk

PLATEAU PICNIC TABLE

WOODBLOCX LANDSCAPING

“Creating accessible, safe and visually appealing street furniture for public spaces has always been a focus for WoodBlocX Landscaping. The company’s innovative modular timber system provides the flexibility needed to accommodate accessible and inclusive design.

“Take the company’s new Movable Planter range, a selection of seats and planters that can be moved around cities and urban spaces to create different landscapes, whether it is a busy shopping street or a community parklet. Each design can be adapted to suit different users; from different seating heights to allow access for users of different ages and abilities, to wheelchair accessible planters, creating functional and visually appealing spaces to promote social interaction amongst nature.

“Oxford County Council is currently using WoodBlocX Moveable Planters as part of a pilot scheme in the city to monitor how people interact with the street furniture in a busy shopping street, including transport habits such as increases in walking and cycling, changes to air quality and the amount of time people use the space.” woodblocx-landscaping.com

MARSHALLS LANDSCAPE PROTECTION

“Landscapes have to work hard to provide inclusive spaces that everyone can access and want to spend time in, which is why accessibility is considered carefully in the range of seating we offer. Distrikt® is a customisable timber seating range and the design features strategically positioned armrests so that wheelchair users can transfer easily. Backrests can be incorporated to enable elderly users to sit down and stand up more comfortably. Limitless combinations of seating direction, arm rests and backs mean a free-flowing seating arrangement can be configured to project requirements, meeting various accessibility needs with a single product.

“Within our Post and Rail range, we have a number of hand railings that are compliant with the Equalities Act, whether stand alone or in combination with our balustrade systems –with retro fit solutions also available. Our unique Ferrocast offer in particular is ideal for providing a smooth and warm touch for users due to the inherent properties of the material.” marshalls.co.uk

MMCITÉ

Inclusivity as a term is evolving; now it is about being a part of, or not being excluded. Accessibility is about granting access. Both terms define a practice of creating and maintaining environments that are welcoming and accessible to all people.

“By the nature of these definitions, product innovation is inevitable and, thankfully, vastly welcomed by our placemaking industry. Designs for inclusivity and accessibility must be precise, delicate, and intentional. Our efforts yield products for all shapes, sizes and abilities – we offer solutions that include without highlighting. Our approach is about making one design for everyone.

“The first example of inclusive public furniture is wheelchair-accessible seating and tables; but also seating which can be scaled to various heights in its standard off-shelf design helps with comfortable all-inclusive placemaking. The armrests are an excellent and cost-effective option for easier sitting. Some of our benches have a version with ergonomics shrunk to fit smaller users. Or even the smallest details such as labelling recycling litter bins with both text and symbols and in bright contrasting colours go very far for people with visual impairment .

“When you create a park or public space, you’re doing it for 20 years plus. It’s not about trends, it’s about quality and considered design. We like to say that good design isn’t for a gallery — it’s for life." mmcite.co.uk

DISTRIKT®

ORBIT

WOODY

MOVEABLE PLANTERS, OXFORD

SUILVEN TREE PLANTER

EUROPLANTERS

Hetton Planter

This

Dimensions:

FORAS

Surmi Slate Trough

Dimensions:

Choose from the latest planters to hit the market

URBIS DESIGN

Large Lily Bowl

LIVINGREEN DESIGN

Gair Planter

Contemporary

Dimensions:

Some are born into the industry. Others follow a more corporate path before transitioning into the world of landscaping later in life. For Adam Vetere, it’s a little of both.

Founder of his own company, Adam Vetere Landscape and Garden Design, Vetere says his career can be divided into three phases. “When I was growing up, my father ran a landscaping company,” he says. “While taking my O-levels and A-levels – studying graphic design and technical drawing – I designed gardens for him. He was fantastic at building gardens, but he couldn’t design them for toffee!”

Having helped his father build some of the gardens he had designed, Vetere gained a foothold in landscaping from a young age, garnering an early appreciation of key components such as

drainage and soil. “I picked all of that up in the mid- to late-80s,” Vetere elaborates. “That was my grounding.”

Phase two saw Vetere take a completely different direction, heading into the world of corporate finance, where he remained for 28 years. He worked his way up from auditor/systems analyst at Ernst & Young in 1990 to Elliot Group’s global finance and commercial manager in 2015, yet landscaping was never far from his thoughts.

“Those roles allowed me to travel the world,” Vetere smiles. “I flew four or five times a month and visited gardens all over the world, from Japan and the Far East to the Americas and South Africa, and all over Europe. I built an understanding of plants, planting styles and landscape design in all four corners of the world.”

Pro Landscaper sits down with Adam Vetere, Supreme Winner at Pro Landscaper’s small project BIG IMPACT Awards 2022, as he reflects on travelling the world, seven-figure commissions and the art of self-promotion

“IT’S ABOUT TAKING SOMETHING FROM THE CLIENT THAT SIMPLY RESONATES WITH THEM, AND USING THAT AS YOUR INSPIRATION TO DESIGN THEIR GARDEN”

Equally pertinent – and something that perhaps made Vetere’s eventual return to landscaping almost inevitable – was his continued interest in garden design, even as a hobby. “In my spare time, I used to design gardens for my friends and family,” Vetere explains. “I did that while sitting on a plane, and I would incorporate a lot of what I saw on my trips. I found it relaxing.”

Hitting the ground running

There are no prizes for guessing phase three. In 2016, while on a family holiday in Italy, Vetere finally made the decision to dramatically change his career path. In 2018, he studied for a garden design diploma at the London College of Garden Design, gaining a distinction. “It was probably two years of content squeezed into one,” Vetere says. “I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone starting out as a garden designer, because even with my background, I found that everything had moved on hugely.”

Sustainability, for instance, is much more significant than ever before. “There was much to learn about site analysis and investigation, taking design briefs, and how to make gardens personal and unique,” Vetere adds. “It’s so important to understand the inspiration for any given space.”

By 2022, Adam Vetere Landscape and Garden Design was already being commissioned work with over £1 million in construction value. Late last year, the business took on its first overseas client in Portugal. Vetere’s wife Heidi handles administration, deals and quotes, while three freelance designers have also been brought on board.

The question remains: how does one go from sketching friends’ gardens on a plane to

seven-figure contracts and multiple awards in such a short space of time? “I started the business while I was at the London College of Garden Design,” Vetere explains. “As far as I’m aware, nobody else did.”

He continues: “With any design-based job, Irrespective of which industry you’re in, images are all-important. Everything I designed at college was going straight up onto my website. With the best will in the world, you’ve got to get yourself on the front page of Google. By having a website that was growing in maturity, filling it with content – be it images or blogs – my digital presence grew rapidly.”

This proactivity led to Vetere winning his first design contract before he’d even left college, which presented a tricky yet altogether welcome balancing act. “I cannot overstate the importance of getting your digital presence and SEO right,” he says. “By the time I’d finished my diploma in the summer of 2019, I’d already designed two gardens and had another three in the pipeline.”

Having ostensibly mastered the art of digital marketing, Vetere began to identify more physical opportunities.“I registered my own garden with the National Garden Scheme foremost because I wanted to support the charity, but it created two opportunities to market myself – ensuring people saw my work and gaining plenty of face-time with prospective clients and contacts.”

Taking his presence-building further, Vetere was featured in Gardeners’ World in September 2018 and began entering national awards.

All in all, however, Vetere believes designing “innovative, high-quality, uniquely personal gardens” have been the true key to his success. “It’s not just a case of putting a square patio here and a circular lawn there,” he says. “It’s about developing a relationship with the client, understanding their likes and dislikes, what motivates them, and taking something from them – whether it’s their life, or the history of the site – that simply resonates with them, and using that as your inspiration to design their garden.”

Feathers in the cap

This sonority led to Adam Vetere Landscape and Garden Design being named Supreme Winner at the small project BIG IMPACT Awards 2022, with Vetere’s Floating Deck project receiving the highest total score from the judges across all nine categories.

The inspiration behind The Floating Deck was sparked by the client’s love of the Rocky Mountains. “The design and geometry of the garden were based on the silhouette of the peaks of the Rocky Mountains, explains Vetere. “When you took that vertically and transposed it horizontally, that gave you the shape and the geometry of the garden.”

1 The Ravine Garden

2 Elm Grove

It’s so important to understand the inspiration for any given space

Floating Deck

This special feature not only created an impressive focal point within a unique and challenging setting, but also enabled the client to enjoy more of the garden. An escarpment within the garden dropped over 5m from the top to the bottom, and meant they were unable to use approximately 60% of their outdoor space as it was too dangerous.

Therefore, a sunken, cantilevered floating deck extending over the edge of the escarpment was core to the design. The structural integrity of the deck was paramount – all supporting structure was anchored into the ground within the level area of the garden and was structurally engineered by HLN.

The new deck covered 17m2, and the area which extended over the escarpment added a further 6.5m2 to the usable space, allowing for an additional seating and dining area with pleasant views of the surrounding tree canopies. The seating area was screened for privacy by a pergola as well as multi-stemmed trees. An integrated water feature was also included to add even more interest, with three copper outlets flowing into a reservoir.

Provender Nurseries’ Liz Hughes said of the project, “The Floating Deck is a fantastic scheme. The judges have called it ‘a fantastic response to a significant problem’, bringing the garden into use and removing the safety concerns. There is a high-quality finish to all aspects of this project.

“The clients of this fantastic deck now feel as though this addition, which simply added a very small usable space to the garden, has completed their outdoor space, and they now want to be outside in their garden all the time. A very worthy winner.”

Speaking to Pro Landscaper shortly after the awards ceremony, Vetere was over the moon. “It’s difficult to put in words: it’s elation, it’s joy, it’s the recognition,” he said. “Being recognised in the industry by your judging panel, it’s a real feather in the cap and it’s good for my business.

“As a collaboration with the contractor, which was really important, and for both of us to be there to receive the award, it really is a really special feeling.”

Floating Deck photography ©Ellie Walpole Photography

The accolade rounded off a strong year for Adam Vetere Landscape & Garden Design, having picked up the APL Designer of the Year award back in March. But just how much is business impacted by these honours? Vetere reiterates the importance of self-promotion. “If I didn’t do anything with them, I’m not sure it would have any impact on the sales side of the business. It’s vital to share that news as much as you can.

“That said, it does develop recognition within the industry. People stop and take notice; contractors and suppliers contact me now, rather than the other way around. Obviously, they want to sell their products and make money, but they also want to work with someone who’s creating gardens that are different, inspiring, and pushing the envelope. Good contractors like to have a challenge – something they’ve not done before, whether that’s simply different materials, or using more familiar materials in a new way.”

Business aside, Vetere adds that winning an award is “good for the soul”. “The buzz you get from winning an award is one you can’t repeat,” he says.

A post-COVID world

Having managed such a successful year during a more than challenging economic period, what advice does Vetere have for those looking to adapt their businesses? “One of the first things I do now is establish the budget early doors,” he explains.

“You have to manage expectations while still talking up what a beautiful garden you’re going to design for the client. You can’t talk it down, of course – you have to win the contract in the first place! But you have to balance it with an element

of pragmatism and setting those expectations early.”

More specifically, Vetere points to a 200% to 300% rise in the price of steel alongside a multitude of cost concerns, be it wood, sand, cement, labour, machinery or transport, all of which have increased exponentially in recent years. “It costs so much to build a garden now,” he says.

“Aside from sustainability and biodiversity, it’s probably the biggest challenge for the industry –especially in the short term in terms of how much work there is to go around.

While the pandemic was (and still is) undeniably a significant drain on the industry, Vetere believes it led to people understanding the value of their gardens. “Both the mental and physical benefits of gardening were really brought to the fore,” he says. “Having a beautiful space outside helps to relax and get away from the stresses of life.”

Looking ahead

Vetere and his team are not slowing down since winning the awards and have a number of exciting projects, varying in sizes, coming up: an Elizabethan garden from the 15th century being remodelled into a more contemporary piece, a small Japanese inspired garden and a large project creating a garden reflecting the client’s childhood in Cornwall and work in Scandinavia.

Vetere says that while he is “not perfect, and never will be” a key focus for 2023 will be to “bang the sustainability drum more often”, with a particular focus on reducing hard landscaping where possible, and decreasing his use of cement-based products.

“I’m always looking to improve,” he says. “I do feel that sustainability in garden design is sometimes misunderstood. “For example, the use of steel can draw criticism due to the amount of heat and energy required. That’s absolutely true, of course, but you have to use a lot of heat in cement and concrete-based products too. And if you utilise steel retaining walls, you eliminate the need for concrete footings, blocks, mortar, and more.”

Vetere’s company is keen to increase the recycling of materials on-site, too. “I’ve had a desert garden for a number of years, and I need to get that into more of my client's gardens. I've also been working on more drought-tolerant planting schemes, which I rolled out in 2022.

“You've got to work with nature; you can't work against it.”

3 An Artist’s Garden

4 Hilltop Garden

The buzz you get from winning an award is one you can’t repeat

Why not add elegance with water?

Corten Steel Cube: four eye-catching sides

Why not consider using the OASE Corten Steel Cube as an impressive point of focus; within any garden or outdoor project. The cube embodies elegance and enthrals as water flows over each side. Nine low voltage LunaLeds illuminate this modern feature, allowing the cube to be enjoyed both day and night and at any angle.

Why choose OASE? The quality of our water features is reflected in the brand itself. Made in Germany, these are highly technical and engineered products. OASE is a single company that produces all facets: pumps, lights, filters and features. This ensures an ecosystem of products that is designed to work cohesively. Take surety in knowing that every component is OASE branded and built to work together.

Room for customisation. Available in two sizes: 60 & 90, with the ability to be mounted on a stand, this feature can cater to any project. Place the Cube on a stand for a coveted “floating” effect. Alternatively, place the Cube in the centre of a space, on a buried OASE reservoir, which in turn creates a cyclical feature with no need for an external water source.

Easy installation, quality products and post-sale support are but three reasons to choose OASE. Explore our water feature range to be inspired, and make sure to visit your local distributor to see first-hand the beauty of the Cube.

Want to learn more? Click here

Steel planters clad in zinc sheet with

COMMERCIAL LANDSCAPING SECTORin crisis? IS THE

A handful of commercial landscaping companies collapsed last year. Should the sector be concerned? And what can companies do to avoid falling victim themselves?

Two years ago, it looked as though Cultura Group would be a force to be reckoned with. It had just rebranded from ESL Landscape Contractors, which had more than three decades’ experience offering commercial landscaping and private residential work to the private and public sector. In the same month that it unveiled its new trading name, Cultura announced it was merging with Scotscape Landscaping Ltd, the landscape construction division within the Scotscape Group. One year later, a new private garden construction division was added to the business, and the growth of the landscaping firm seemed unstoppable.

But it was brought to a halt towards the end of last year, when Cultura Group went into receivership. Just one month beforehand, it had been revealed that well-established commercial landscaping company Kings Landscapes – which had been running for 18 years – had also gone into administration. Kings’ managing director David Houghton said “commercial pressures” such as delays in supply and payments were behind the decision. Then there’s Essex-based Acer Landscapes, which went into voluntary liquidation in April last year after nearly 30 years in the sector.

Are these just three unfortunate incidents which are completely unrelated, or could we see “commercial pressures” push more companies to the brink?

Delays in payment

Main contractors are paying slower, says Darren Skidmore, managing director of familyrun business Skidmores of Hertford. A small

majority – he estimates 10% – of the bigger main contractors are “holding back”, which Skidmore says has been happening over the last few months but has been perhaps more prominent in the last two.

struggling with their own challenges. Skidmores takes on a lot of regeneration housing projects in London, and this work could be drying up slightly, warns Skidmore, though his company continues to have a strong order book – it's getting historic debts paid which is the struggle, he says, and commercial landscaping comes down to “survival of the fittest”.

HOUSEBUILDING LIKELY TO SLOW AS SALES DROP

Some of the biggest housebuilders in the UK have warned that sales are continuing to fall, and they’re taking action to counteract the loss. Take Taylor Wimpey, which has revealed it hopes to save £20m a year in costs with job cuts on the table and plans to builder fewer homes this year than last. Persimmon has also announced it will be slowing down the pace of housebuilding, as has Barratt Homes, which said in its trading update in January that the second half of its fiscal year is “uncertain with homebuyer confidence and the availability and competitive pricing of mortgages critical to the health of the UK housing market in the coming months.” It added that it has responded to “current market conditions” by reducing land approvals.

Sales are unlikely to be helped by the government’s Help to Buy Scheme coming to an end this March, which helped people to buy a new-build home with a deposit as low as 5% and a government loan of up to 20% of the purchase price. Applications closed in October last year and no alternative has yet been announced.

Housebuilders are also facing pressure from housing secretary Michael Gove, who is calling for new housing developments to have better quality landscaping. He said planning reform needs to follow BIDEN – beauty, infrastructure, democracy, environment and neighbourhoods – to be successful. Gove is trying to speed up housing delivery too with a proposed

amendment to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, which would give local authorities the power to block planning proposals by developers who fail to deliver on site. It could arguably help the government to reach its ambitious housebuilding target of 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s, a goal of which it continues to fall short. Whilst a focus on the landscaping of housebuilding developments and a push to reach this target is a step in the right direction, the drop in sales for housebuilders is cause for concern for the commercial landscaping sector, so Mike Veness recommends broadening project type, especially if there is a recession forecast. “You’ve got to prepare as best you can. You don’t know how deep the recession is going to hit and which sectors necessarily, so we do try to have a balance of work types so that we’re not answerable to one particular sector market. We have work in the housing sector, and now that development companies are not selling houses as fast as they were and they’re reducing their investment in new plots, that’s a concern for that market. If that dies down, you don’t want it to make up the majority of your revenue. So, we aim to have a blend of client and work types.”

Angus Cunningham, founder and CEO of Scotscape Group, said his advice is “not to get involved” in commercial landscaping. “After nearly 30 years of trading, it pushed us into administration in 2014 as we ran out of cash in that [main contractors] made it very difficult to collect.”

Cunningham adds that they “gave it another shot,” but the same problems occurred, with main contractors taking “too long to pay and not releasing retentions”. He adds that he sympathises with Cultura and Kings, but the news of them going into administration is “not unexpected”.

Though payments may have gotten slower in the last six months, it’s not a significant change, says Paul Downer, managing director of Essex-based Oak View Landscapes. “Some people are blaming COVID, but for the majority of landscape contractors and people I know in the industry, once they got their head around it and knew how they were going to work safely, it was a good time for business. There was a massive demand for our services –and to an extent, there still is.

“With the cost-of-living crisis and inflation going up, the residential market in terms of house buying has slowed a bit, so that’s going to affect the cash flow going into landscape contractors who carry out commercial work.”

Late payments are not the only challenge commercial landscapers are likely to be facing, though. The expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in London from August this year could be a significant cost if their vehicles do not meet emission standards. Skidmore says the Mayor of London could have waited five or so years

Arguably, it’s because main contractors are Some people are blaming COVID, but... it was a good time for business. There was a massive demand for our services – and to an extent, there still is

Paul

Downer, managing director, Oak View Landscapes

before bringing this into effect. “Last year, we had to invest in four new vans which we didn’t really need. This is money that is going out the door which could have been better with us.”

Then there’s the change in legislation on red diesel which came into effect last year and reduced the uses for the lower-priced fuel, forcing companies to switch to white diesel for some of their equipment. Fuel prices might now be dropping, but they hit record highs last year, and the cost of diesel has been slower to fall than petrol. “Costs are going through the roof, so we’re trying to minimise the impact,” says Skidmore.

Supplier response

With three commercial landscaping companies having disappeared last year and the various pressures mentioned above, it would be perhaps unsurprising if suppliers were making changes to protect themselves from large unpaid invoices. “We have good payment terms with most of our suppliers, but some of them are making noises about reducing payment terms,” says Skidmore. “Most of our suppliers are normally on 60 days and we normally pay within 45; but a lot of suppliers are coming through now wanting it in 30 days, which you can’t necessarily do when you’re working on valuations.”

Rather than changing payment terms, Ken White – managing director of Frosts Landscapes – says some suppliers are asking for payment to secure the order, but he adds that this is quite common for large commercial projects. “We will get the materials vested. So, if there’s half a million pounds worth of stone, then we would ask to also be paid up front by our client and they will vest that material, so if we fall out of the chain, they still own the stone which has been created and stored for that project.”

It prevents the client being delayed by long lead times

should they need to reorder the material through another contractor. Mike Veness, managing director of landscape construction UK for landscape contractor Gavin Jones, which is part of the Nurture Group, has also found it helpful for all concerned to discuss the client’s ability to purchase materials at an early stage, such as large value items or products with longer lead times.

“It may not be needed for six months down the line in a scheme, but we’ve had some sites where the client has seen the advantage of buying materials up front and has a storage area on site that can be used or organised. The orders are placed early and that has a fixed price, so they’re protecting themselves from future price increases,” explains Veness.

Richard Gill, sales director for Yorkshirebased supplier Greentech, says the market still appears buoyant. “Our challenge as a supplier is our customers’ challenges, because we will feel the effects of their difficulties.

Thankfully, apart from a couple of the companies that we have all heard about, everyone seems quite busy and managing their order books well . But I think it’s time to tighten belts, be careful and work closely with supply chains.

“Inflation has had a big impact on prices increasing over the last year or two. Prices seem to have levelled out, and we’re seeing inflation level out as well, but it wouldn’t

What happened to

CARILLION?

Carillion was one of the largest construction firms in the UK, until it collapsed at the start of 2018 with £7bn worth of debt. At the time of its demise, it had more than 400 public sector contracts, many of which then needed to be delayed, and an amount of private sector work too, including the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station. More than 3,000 jobs were lost when the firm was forced into compulsory liquidation, and many argue that there were stark warning signs long before this took place.

“Everybody saw it coming or knew something wasn’t right,” says Ken White. “We were a preferred supplier for them, and they were trying to put people on 90-day payment terms...So, we thought we’d bide our time and see what happens, and not be in any rush to work with Carillion. Sure enough, around nine months later, it was announced that they were going under.”

The government seemingly missed the red flags. Despite Carillion having issued two profits warnings, it continued to award the firm around £2bn of contracts. Last year, the Financial Conduct Authority fined three former executives of the construction giant too - including its former chief executive officer, Richard Howson – for “recklessly” publishing misleading statements about the firm’s finances. Had Carillion not gone into administration, the FCA says it would have fined the firm £37.9m.

Costs are going through the roof, so we’re trying to minimise the impact

Darren Skidmore, managing director, Skidmores of Hertford

©Mariusz-Mario-Galas/Shutterstock.com

Top tips for

PROTECTING YOUR BUSINESS

Times are tough for most companies with the threat of a recession looming, but commercial landscapers have shared their advice for remaining resilient

COMMUNICATION IS KEY

Whether it’s speaking to suppliers or clients about the state of the market and building strong relationships with them, or confiding when you’re experiencing problems and need advice or support, communication is essential.

BUILD YOUR CASH RESERVES

“Cash is king; the reserves behind you stand you in good stead,” says Paul Downer. “We’re very busy; we’ve had record months’ trading in the last quarter and there’s a lot of work out there. But you could be a busy fool if the costs and margins aren’t right; all you’re doing is turning over a load of money and losing even more, you’ll just go bust quicker.” Ken White also advises against chasing turnover. “We’re doing a third of the business that we used to do and being more profitable than we were at three times the size.”

DON’T OVERSTRETCH YOUR RESOURCES

The temptation can be there to grow as quickly as possible, but an eagerness to grow your market share can deplete your cash reserves. “We grew from a company of nothing to £300k in sales in our first year; now, we’re heading towards £4.5m, but it’s steady, controlled, incremental growth, unless you’re going to do it by acquisitions,” says Downer.

surprise me if we see more increases. Unfortunately, we’re seeing all of these increases, and not many of the prices have come back down.”

Throughout COVID-19, Green-tech was only able to hold its quotes for seven days, down from its standard of 28 days. “We didn’t even print a catalogue last year because we couldn’t commit to the prices, but we’re starting to see that level up and we have produced a catalogue for this year...Luckily, we have a really good customer base which we regularly communicate with on what’s happening behind the scenes; but unfortunately due to the frequency of price increases, our customers were being stretched trying to pass on that increase to their clients and main contractors, so I think they were having to take a lot more of the price increases on the chin and absorb them, even though we were doing our best to support our customers.”

DON’T UNDER-PRICE TENDERS

In other words, don’t buy work. “Sometimes, it’s better to walk away,” says White. “People will try to drive down your price in these times, so you have to try to stand by your price – you're not a charity, at the end of the day.”

Building relationships

Should this be the case, building relationships with your suppliers and speaking to them on a regular basis is absolutely essential. “Communication is key. You can’t just bury your head in the sand, or your suppliers will get jittery; you have to keep talking to people. It is tough out there – always will be and always has been,” says Skidmore.

Gill echoes this sentiment. “If a customer goes cold on you, that worries us slightly. If they communicate with us that they’re having a tough time, we will try to work with them and then, when they come out of that tough time, they will remember that you have supported them through it. So, it’s making sure that communication is there.”

It’s not just clients they need to be speaking to either. White says the last two years have been the company’s best two years of trading and puts this partly down to the time Frosts spends communicating with its clients and trying to understand how they are approaching the marketplace so that it can align with them.

“Take steel – the price of steel is going up and down all the time, so we talk to our blue-chip clients and ask, ‘how are you managing this up stream? What kind of percentages are you putting on to cover yourselves? What conversations are you having with your end client? Can you get a fluctuation clause in there?’ We try to make sure our bids align as much as possible with our clients’ bids.”

If that relationship is non-existent because it’s a main contractor a landscaping company is yet to work with, “due diligence” is vital, says Skidmore, who always carries out reference and credit checks. But Downer warns that, whilst this is important, these records can be “historical”.

“If you pull a contractor’s accounts now, you could be looking at data which is 18 months old; it doesn’t tell you their current position, and it can change quickly. We also get our accountants to do quite detailed checks, even a search on the directors to see how many of their companies have dissolved...There’s a risk in anything, but it’s knowing your client and building those relationships with them, and your price has got to be right from the start, now more than ever.”

Carry out Credit checks and speak to other suppliers and subcontractors who have worked with that main contractor too, recommends Veness. “Sometimes you hear that they’re not great payers, so you get an idea ahead of time. If the market is slowing and you’re looking for work, then it’s harder to be selective and there is a temptation to lower your bid, which in an environment where inflation is affecting prices, is adding risk.

"You can get sucked into pricing work for anything and everything that comes along. The ideal is a combination of a client that’s willing to pay on time and is working with you and not knocking you back every month, and as a contractor, you need to produce a good job and be upfront with cost variations.”

Gavin Jones puts an outturn figure against each application to be upfront about the results of any variations being added to

the contract value. “It’s trying to avoid the end-of-the-job rush for extra money, which can be argued against if not backed up. You need the signed daywork sheet or written instructions from site.”

Veness advises having someone overseeing the finances of a project and challenging it at the time if a payment is delayed. “If it builds up and you’re not spotting it as the contract goes on, then it can be very difficult to retrospectively go back on.”

Again, it comes down to communication, he says. Companies need to be having regular debt calls with their clients and also ensure that they chase the retention, or the percentage of the payment held back by the client to act as security for the works being completed.

“When we know the retention is coming up, we can start making noises, planning an inspection meeting on site to look around and sort out any defects before the defect period is over. It takes a bit of leg work, and it can be difficult to remember when some of them are due 24 months down the line, but you’ve got to have that process built into your day to day.”

Cash is king

Should there be any delays in payments, building up your cash reserves will help to lessen the impact, says Downer – and there

CARRY OUT DUE DILIGENCE

Run credit checks when taking on new clients and speak to suppliers and subcontractors for first-hand experiences with that client. Financial records can be outdated and may not paint the full picture.

BROADEN YOUR SECTORS

The potential slowdown of the housebuilding sector showcases why focusing on one sector may be problematic. If in doubt, align your strategy with where the government is spending its money, suggests White. “I wouldn't put all my eggs in that basket, but certainly you want to look at where the marketplace is going, what and who the players are, and if it's backed by government money, then it's generally safe.” This is as important for suppliers. “We have about 2,500 live customers every year, so if one area of the business is finding it difficult, we try to pick it up in another area,” says Richard Gill.

BUT CONSIDER STICKING TO ONE AREA

Darren Skidmore says he tries to ringfence the geographical area his company covers, sticking to London and the South-East, where he knows he can resource and manage the project and without outsourcing the work.

KEEP YOUR HEAD ABOVE THE PARAPET

“In a recession, it’s more important to keep up your social media and your branding and keep putting yourself out there. It’s like the famous story of Schweppes,” says White. Despite Schweppes not being able to produce its tonic water during World War II, it continued to advertise its product, and when the war came to an end, it was an instantly recognisable brand.

Our challenge as a supplier is our customers’ challenges, because we will feel the effects of what is difficult for them

Richard Gill, sales director, Green-tech

are other benefits too. “If you build reserves, you can use your buying power to pay people quickly and you have some cash behind you; you can take advantage of bulk purchases or discounts if you pay early. It’s things like that which can give you a competitive advantage.

“There have been pressures because of COVID, and Brexit prior to that to an extent, and inflation now. But inflation and the cost-of-living crisis are relatively new, and companies don’t go bust overnight. It’s a gradual decline over a period of months. So, it’s about controlling costs, timely financial management and accurate reporting within your systems.”

It’s about staff retention too, adds Downer. “If you’re losing good, key people because you can’t retain them and you have a lot of work because you’ve been trying to grow – possibly to a point of overtrading –then it can catch up with you.” So, Oak View Landscapes has paid its staff 10% more this year to cover “extra inflationary pressures”. “If inflation is around 11%, it’s potentially not really a pay

rise, but that’s what we can afford to do. I anticipate in a year or so inflation won’t be at 11%, it will be a lot less, and [the pay rises] are an extra 10% on payroll, but if I don’t look after and retain my staff, that would lead to a number of other problems. Your staff come first, they’re your business; staff are more important to me than my clients.”

Commercial landscapers also need to prepare for fluctuating costs and pricing pressures.

Skidmores priced jobs up a few months ago and, in that time, the price of materials has soared. “It’s making sure you put a caveat in to cover any increases in material prices. Some main contractors want to pay a lump sum when you win the job, but you can’t really do that now when you have to add a percentage for any cost increases. It’s no good pricing work up for 2024 and they want the lump sum price now; you can’t give that to them.

The price of a sheet of plywood has doubled in the last year.”

Challenging times ahead?

It’s hard to argue that the commercial landscaping sector is not facing a series of hurdles, and there’s still one more to come, if the UK falls into a recession. Not that this would hit the sector immediately, says Skidmore. “The 2008 recession didn’t hit us until two years later because we were working away trying to get projects finished, then all of a sudden, it hit.”

White has had similar experiences. “More often than not, we’ve found that supply chains and landscape companies tend to go bust coming out of a recession because their cash reserves have been depleted during the recession and then they take on an awful amount of work because there’s a lot of work available. In my limited experience, most people tend to struggle when there’s a lot of work, but they haven’t got sufficient reserves in the bank to fund what they’re doing. Then if there’s a delay in payment, of course, that’s going to have a greater impact on you.”

There’s a glimmer of hope that the UK may avoid a recession thanks to the World Cup. The economy grew by 0.1% in November, when football gripped the nation, and inflation is expected to fall in the coming months. Companies still need to “tighten their belts” though, says Skidmore. Cultura, Kings and Acer are seemingly not part of a trend of commercial landscaping companies going into administration, but it can’t hurt to be cautious.

More often than not, we’ve found that supply chains and landscape companies tend to go bust coming out of a recession because their cash reserves have been depleted during the recession

Ken White – managing director, Frosts Landscapes

USING SuDS

TO HELP MITIGATE FLOOD RISK IN 2023

The design of a landscape significantly impacts the quality of human life for work, play or home. Successful landscape planning considers the natural environment engulfing the property, whether that be for a commercial or residential site.

Sustainability is high on the development agenda; with 2022 being the hottest year on record to date, the warning signs are flooding in to take urgent action to lessen the effects of climate change. Beauxfort, Distinctive Landscape Systems, undertook some research to establish homeowner’s attitudes on using sustainable materials in landscaping projects. The survey conducted found that 87% of homeowners state they are interested in using sustainable materials in landscaping projects*.

While landscaping is not solely responsible to solve this multifaceted problem, it plays an integral role in shaping places and spaces to work with the natural environment rather than against it. Sustainable landscapes not only improve the mental wellbeing of those who consume the space but most importantly preserve the surrounding natural resources and protect human life.

The man-made problem

An increasingly prevalent problem our communities are facing is urban flooding. Given the rise of impermeable surfaces used to create infrastructure and develop our towns and cities it is hardly a surprise that our environment is suffering today. As the population grows and the need for infrastructure increases, more and more of the land descends into non-porous concrete, paving, asphalt, stone and brick. The impervious nature of these surfaces increases the occurrence of flash flooding and urban flooding.

Flood risks accelerate because enormous areas of land are covered in materials that cannot absorb water back into the ground. Around 325,000 properties are already in areas at high risk of surface water flooding**. Furthermore, an additional 50,000 to 65,000

Beauxfort explains how its Gravelrings can help to alleviate surface flooding

properties may submerge into the high-risk flood category due to unplanned increases in impermeable surfaces**.

These findings highlight that when heavy rainfall occurs stormwater drainage systems cannot cope with the large volumes of water, leaving water to settle and remain on the surface. Wreaking havoc for vehicles on the roads and risking water flooding into homes. Despite the growing research warning of an increase of properties at high risk of flooding, consumer attitudes towards protecting their homes with flood mitigation methods lag behind. Few homeowners think they need property-level protection from flooding as they do not perceive themselves as being at risk, even in the most at-risk areas of the UK.

Flood waters not only damage infrastructure but the settled water sweeps across landscapes carrying harmful pollutants from towns and cities into nearby waterways. Precious water resource then becomes contaminated creating a devasting disaster for wildlife and fish as they are exposed to harmful substances. The answer is not to eradicate stormwater as it plays an important and necessary role in moving floodwater from urban areas into the nearest and largest body of water like oceans and lakes. Instead, the disastrous effects of urban flooding can be prevented through extensive stormwater drainage planning and that all begins with the implementation of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS).

SuDS improve the sustainability of a landscape because they mimic the natural water cycle by allowing stormwater to permeate through the ground. Replicating the natural water cycle reduces the risk of localised flooding because stormwater will not settle and stagnate. As these drainage systems are designed to prevent overreliance on networks of urban systems comprised of sewers and pipes. Therefore, the implementation of these drainage systems protects nearby water sources because contaminated water is reduced on urban surfaces, reducing water pollution.

Getting to grips with gravel

Gravel is a naturally permeable surface finish as the stone allows water to permeate through the ground. A key benefit to incorporating gravel into development plans is it does not require planning permission,

Case study

AFTER

facilitating both an efficient approval process and positive environmental benefits. Gravel is a natural choice for developments demanding a SuDS-compliant surface for an abundance of reasons, cost-effectiveness being amongst them. Let’s explore the use of gravel as a SuDS-compliant surface finishing for both residential driveways and commercial driveway use.

Modern-day product innovation has meant gravel has become a more cost-effective solution for developments that demand a SuDS-compliant driveway.

Gravelrings gravel retention system is a first-to-market modular system that saves on average 30% on aggregate costs. Laying a gravel driveway with a system means less gravel demand is needed for the project, and the Gravelrings gravel retention system retains gravel where it should be placed.

Stone migration is a common pitfall of this driveway finishing; however, laying Gravelrings beneath locks the stone into the cells so it cannot move. Leaving a polished finish even with frequent vehicular use.

Crafted from recycled HDPE, Gravelrings consider the environment by alleviating

surface flooding and reducing the use of virgin material. Given that homeowners are concerned about sustainable material use, Gravelrings satisfy this requirement by reducing the carbon footprint of the supply chain as it is manufactured in the UK.

Sustainability extends to the lifetime of a product. Quality products have long-term cost benefits as they do not need to be replaced a few years later. The conversation surrounding the price of materials is shifting to favouring installing quality products; 66% of contractors surveyed value the quality of products versus 7% who value saving money. The attitude of landscaping professionals toward valuing quality products over price shines a glimmer of hope on turning our landscapes into one that values the environment above all.

Research

* Beauxfort 2022, Contractor and Homeowner Survey

** National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), Reducing the risk of surface water flooding, November 2022. Available at: https://nic.org.uk/ app/uploads/NIC-Reducing-the-Risk-of-SurfaceWater-Flooding-Final-28-Nov-2022.pdf

Modern-day product innovation has meant gravel has become a more costeffective solution for developments that demand a SuDScompliant driveway

Out in the COLD

As temperatures start dipping below freezing, Gareth Wilson offers tips for keeping busy in winter

With winter well and truly here I have had so many people calling me regarding what can they actually do when we have cold snaps.

When I was on the tools landscaping, I would always make sure each and every client was aware by email communication that we may not be on site every day due to freezing temperatures, and I would outline the pitfalls such as not laying on frozen ground, not using frozen materials, only working with mortar when the temperature reaches five degrees and rising, and the importance of keeping a close eye on overnight temperatures.

Now first and foremost, safety is key here – if it’s not safe to work on site, you don’t work. I would always try and plan ahead for the bad weather and often I would prepare my next couple of projects, such as reduce digging site to formation levels, removal of spoil and stoning up patios and driveways.

Bringing the paving and materials to site and loading them out gives you a head-start when you eventually get on site and are ready to go – not forgetting to cover the materials over to protect them. I always found clients were more than happy you were starting earlier than anticipated providing they weren’t left in a mess and access to and from the house was clean and easy.

Planning ahead what projects may be done in the winter? I always tried to arrange as many jobs as possible that were not just paving in the winter. Dry stone walling, fencing projects and decking are all doable with the correct actions put in place. Make sure all timber is covered, and there’s lots of good information on this subject on the TRADA website.

Should you have any snagging work on previous projects, I would also go and prepare or do those bits and bobs. Winter days are always good for doing the jobs you

never have time in the good weather, such as servicing your tools and vans, also tidying up your lock up or yard. Remember that downtime on your tools any time of the year could be considered the same as losing time to winter weather as it affects your pocket/profit the same way.

Some days you will just be completely backed into a corner, and you won’t be able to do a thing, in which case I would purchase BS 7533:102 when it comes out and have a good read and improve your knowledge of best practices within the industry.

Leaving college at 17, Gareth has worked in the landscape industry since 1989. Progressing onto high-end projects over the years, he has picked up 30 RHS medals, including Gold at Chelsea. Now a freelance tutor to The Landscape Academy, Gareth is a member of multiple professional bodies. He provides technical and product advice to companies, mentors and trains landscapers across the UK, and provides arbitration and mediation services.

gkwilsonlandscaping.co.uk

GARETH WILSON

First and foremost, safety is key here – if it’s not safe to work on site, you don’t work

MAKE IT GREAT!

Do you ever look back and realise that you had a certain experience for a reason? That is definitely the case for me, when I think back to the days when I was just starting out working for Pizza Hut. Believe it or not, it was known at the time as having one of the best management training programmes in the UK.

To be completely honest, I hated it for the first six months. I worked in the 'poor cousin' division of the company – delivery – and spent weekends and evenings oiling pizza pans, putting away heavy deliveries and running shifts under considerable pressure. Back in those days it was all about getting the pizza to the customer in fewer than 30 mins, and everything was measured!

I quickly became an assistant manager, followed by store manager and then area manager, all within two years of joining and I can see now how this experience was invaluable in many ways. In fact, I still use a lot of what I learnt with clients in the construction and trade industries today! Here are just some of the key lessons I learnt:

Measure what you are trying to create

For example, Pizza Hut wanted the phone to be answered within three rings; a mystery shopper programme gave them feedback on many aspects of the service, this being one of them.

Document your operating standards

Everything was written down, either in an operating manual, poster or checklist, from opening the store in the morning to closing it at night. This helped a fledgling trainee like me run shifts from three months into the training programme, gaining valuable management experience.

Show empathy and listen Truly listen to customers when they complain. They may not be right, but by allowing them to vent and feel heard whilst showing care and understanding often was sufficient to diffuse tension.

Be very clear with your expectations... ...with the team and provide regular feedback, both in a group and 1-2-1. I learnt that people would much rather know where they stand, how they fit in and the valuable part they play in delivering for the business as opposed to being kept in the dark.

Cross-train

This was about making sure that everyone was trained in most things from making pizzas, to answering the phone, taking orders and going out on delivery. This enabled us to drive productivity and keep the labour percentage within budget.

Although this is a totally different sector to landscape gardening, I truly believe that these principles can be applied in any business to further strengthen it.

To find out how Evolve and Grow can help you grow your business, take our free BUILD system scorecard, available on our website: evolveandgrowcoaching.com.

ALISON WARNER

Alison Warner is founder of Evolve and Grow, a business coaching firm that specialises in the trades and construction industry. She is also the author of bestselling book ‘How to go from Tradesperson to Managing Director in the Construction and Trade Industries’. https://amzn.to/2QIb467 evolveandgrowcoaching.com

Alison Warner shares the lessons she learnt whilst working for a global pizza chain

I truly believe that these principles can be applied in any business to further strengthen it

PROBLEMS Post-party

Most of the employees recently enjoyed the Christmas work party, and there may be more work events coming up in the summer. However, bringing a large group of colleagues together outside of the usual work environment with alcoholic beverages can sometimes create unpleasant incidents. Lowered inhibitions may result in inappropriate behaviour such as bullying or harassment, or employees voicing frustrations they have pent up all year.

Employers may very well be liable for any wrongdoing committed by their employees outside of the workplace under the doctrine of “Vicarious Liability”. Whether vicarious liability arises involves a two-stage test:

The first question is whether there is a relationship between the wrongdoer and the person alleged to be liable that is capable of giving rise to vicarious liability – an assumption well established in cases of employer-employee relationships.

The second question examines whether the wrongdoing was within the field of activities that the employee was

authorised to do – was it done by the employee whilst "acting in the ordinary course of their employment".

Although each case will be investigated and assessed on its facts, work events –notwithstanding being out-of-hours and away from the regular place of employment – will in most cases be regarded as being in the ordinary course of employment. An interesting case to illustrate how far reaching the employer’s liability can be is Bellman v Northampton Recruitment Limited (2018). The Court of Appeal found that the company was vicariously liable for its managing director who had punched an employee at an afterparty at a hotel after the main Christmas party at a golf club had finished. The Court held that the director, who had paid for the taxis to, and the drinks at the afterparty, had asserted his authority and was acting in his capacity as a director of the company, still within the “field of activities”.

The courts are likely to adopt the employer’s vicarious liability not due to any wrongdoing on part of the employer, but rather as a matter of policy and social justice;

the employer is likely to have the means to compensate a victim through their insurance, the wrongful act would have been committed by the employee on behalf of the employer, by employing the employee, the employer assumed the risk for their actions, and the employee (to a degree) would have been under the supervision and control of the employer.

Employers unfortunately have little legal recourse in such cases. To protect themselves as far as possible from a claim of vicarious liability, the employer must take all steps necessary to prevent the wrongdoing from occurring in the first place.

The employer should have relevant and up-to-date workplace policies, provide regular staff training, and ask managers and directors to set a good example. Prior to any work event, it could be good practice to remind the employees of their obligations and that their behaviour at the event could constitute misconduct and lead to dismissal.

ORACLE SOLICITORS

Oracle Solicitors is an award-winning law firm with a deep understanding of the landscape industry and expertise in employment, commercial, litigation, property and contract law. Oracle Solicitors, founded in 2002 has since grown to include offices in London, Belfast, Birmingham, Manchester, Frankfurt, and Addis Ababa – please visit: oraclesolicitors.co.uk

The courts are likely to adopt the employer’s vicarious liability not due to any wrongdoing on part of the employer, but rather as a matter of policy and social justice

In the wake of Christmas parties, Kumsal Kaleli and Kai Sammer of Oracle Solicitors discuss work events and the employer’s vicarious liability

HELP? Can I

How often do you see a review of a company which says, “I can’t comment on the service or product because they never phoned me back”? We’ve all seen these and it’s such as easy negative review to avoid; not only does it make the business look incompetent, but they’ve also lost out on a potential client.

Many landscapers simply don’t have the time to answer the phone; just as you start that vital cut, your phone starts to ring. Do you stop to ensure you answer the phone, or do you carry on and then ring back later (if you remember to)? The obvious way around this would be to pay for someone to run an office, to be ready to answer the phone instantly and answer all questions and queries clients may have, not to mention explaining to cold calling finance companies that you don’t need the finance they are offering. The problem with this solution is that it’s additional overheads which need to be covered whilst you grow and nurture your company into being the best, and it’s imperative every company stays on top of their outgoings.

A virtual office assistant could be the answer; they will get to know your business and understand where they can add value. Importantly, because they will work for more than one business, the cost associated with an office are drastically reduced. A virtual office assistant will keep an eye on the back door as well as the front door; you can have huge amounts of enquiries and projects coming in, but they could be exiting via the back door because of bad paperwork – your virtual office assistant can help.

Over the years of being a virtual office assistant I personally have helped many landscaping businesses go from a start-up to being a fully-fledged successful business. I measure success on enquiries being consistent, customers leaving positive reviews and most importantly recommendations leading to additional projects. A virtual office assistant can add value to any business, and I would recommend to any business which wants to look professional and grow to invest in a virtual office assistant.

HADFIELD

Samantha specialises in landscaping virtual office assistance. Her offering to landscaping businesses ranges from raising contracts and managing signing, answering calls, managing social media to general bookkeeping for VAT returns and end of year accounts. Her company, Samantha Hadfield Landscape Consultancy (SHLC), tailors what is needed to the business it is working with to ensure all needs are met. If you would like more information, email Samantha: sam@shlc.co.uk

SAMANTHA

A virtual office assistant could be the answer; they will get to know your business and understand where they can add value

Samantha Hadfield explains why a virtual office assistant might be the solution you’re looking for

For full details on all jobs, please go to horticulturecareers.co.uk

Call 01903 777 570 or email mark.wellman@eljays44.com with your vacancy

GROUNDS MAINTENANCE

OPERATIVE | HEATHROW

GLENDALE

Location: London

This is an outstanding career opportunity with a market leader providing green services to private and public sector businesses. Glendale is seeking grounds maintenance operatives to work for its Heathrow Airport contract, working across Heathrow Airport and nearby locations including the Compass Centre landside and supporting the Heathrow Airside team. Duties will include conservation maintenance, grass cutting, hedge trimming, shrub bed maintenance and litter as required. These are full-time, permanent positions and candidates will be working 40 hours per week, based at Glendale’s depot onsite at Heathrow near to Hatton Cross Tube station. Applicants should ideally have experience in grounds maintenance, and be enthusiastic, hard-working individuals. Glendale is a well-established business that is continuously growing. Successful applicants can look forward to joining a company that can offer career prospects and believes in investing in staff.

For more details, please go to horticulturecareers.co.uk

TRAINEE LANDSCAPER

DAGENHAM LANDSCAPES LIMITED

Location: Essex

Dagenham Landscapes Limited has a vacancy for a landscape trainee. The successful candidate would be working alongside one of Dagenham Landscapes’ landscapers/designers on a day-to-day basis. They would be trained to cover different aspects of landscape gardening. Based in Upminster, Essex, they would need to either drive or be able to get public transport to the company’s site. Working hours are 7.30am to 4.00pm, Monday to Friday. Salary to be discussed.

For more details, please go to horticulturecareers.co.uk

LANDSCAPE GARDEN DESIGNER, SALES AND PROJECT MANAGER

HAMBROOK LANDSCAPES LTD

Location: Hampshire

Hambrook Landscapes Ltd is looking for candidates with sales experience who have a strong interest and passion for gardening and design. You would get to work with an experienced design team providing clients with reliable and workable solutions for their garden projects. Experience in sales and working as a garden designer is required, and all applicants need to be computer literate ideally using CAD, Keyscape and SketchUp. Candidates should also have horticultural knowledge and/or a qualification, as well as good interpersonal skills, project management experience and a positive and friendly ‘can do’ attitude.

For more details, please go to horticulturecareers.co.uk

LANDSCAPER

PLANET TURF LTD

Location: Kent/London

Planet Turf is a friendly and professional company fulfilling regular garden maintenance and landscaping contracts in both the domestic and commercial sectors. Due to the high demand for its services, it is currently seeking a skilled landscaper to join its busy landscaping team based in Crayford. The successful candidate should be highly motivated and enthusiastic. It is essential to take pride in their own work and have a positive ‘can do’ attitude. Previous landscaping experience and a full driving licence are essential.

CSCS-approved card holder preferred.

For more details, please go to horticulturecareers.co.uk

Five minutes with HANNAH NEAL

Talent Business Partner Hannah Neal is focusing her attention on attracting and supporting graduates and apprentices to Ground Control

Can you tell us a bit about your role at Ground Control?

I currently work as part of the Talent team, which is part of the wider People team, or Human Resources. My job title is Talent Partner for Early Careers, which could include apprentices and graduate roles; a big part is getting young people involved in our industry, but also people who are re-training.

Have you always worked in recruitment?

I have, yes. I did a couple of years in more general HR and gained my CIPD qualification, but that reassured me that recruitment and talent was where I wanted to be. There’s a beginning, a middle and an end, and the outcome is generally offering someone a job, which is a privilege to be able to do. The hard part is giving feedback when they haven’t been successful, but we always offer constructive, honest verbal feedback to candidates who have had a face-to-face interview.

What does Ground Control's new graduate operations management scheme involve?

It’s a new programme we launched last September when we took on five graduates. The programme is designed to fast track them up to management level. Our business is strong because we have a lot of people who have been in the industry for a long time, but we are trying to bring in slightly different

skillsets and fill gaps where we’ve grown as a company and need more managers.

It’s a rotational programme where the graduates move around the business every two to three months, both in operations and in back office functions, to give them amazing exposure to the business. We’re trying to encourage them up to management quickly but also to break down any silos or divisional barriers by them getting to know most people in the business.

How does Ground Control support apprentices?

We currently have 10 apprentices across the whole of the UK in horticulture and arboriculture, which has expanded this year. We have recruited our first business administration apprentices as well and have plans to expand our apprenticeship offer over the next year. We choose where our apprentices are placed very carefully, ensuring their line managers are upskilled to offer the right level of support , help and mentoring.

I support them from a welfare point of view and check in with them to make sure they’re doing what they need to be doing for their studies.

What do you think is the biggest barrier to entry into horticulture for young people?

Not knowing about it and seeing it as a career option. Many of our colleagues start their careers in the field, learning their specialty hands-on, but the potential is

enormous. A lot of those in our senior level positions started out on the tools, then became absorbed into the industry and have worked their way up. So, that’s the real message –if you want to, you can have a career.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work? I run short distances and love Park Run. Ground Control helped to set up the Park Run in Billericay, where our head office is based, so I try to incorporate that into my Saturday morning routine. It keeps me fit and has a lovely community feel. I also love my garden and really enjoy pottering in it; it’s not massive, but it’s really important to me. I have hundreds of houseplants too. And I belong to a book club, which makes me read books that I wouldn’t normally read as we choose them as a group, so I’ve definitely enjoyed that over the last few years and it’s opened up my eyes to different authors.

CONTACT

Ground Control

Tel 01277 650 697 Email info@ground-control.co.uk ground-control.co.uk

There’s a beginning, a middle and an end, and the outcome is generally offering someone a job, which is a privilege to be able to do