Pro Landscaper January 2017

Concept to Delivery

January 2017

DESIGN, BUILD, AND MAINTAIN

MATT KILLINGLEY NT KILLINGLEY LTD

Winter gardens

MARKET REPORT WHAT NEXT FOR THE NURSERY INDUSTRY?

ADDING YEAR-ROUND DRAMA

BALI AWARDS 2016 WINNERS

Ahead of the curve BLUE TULIP GARDEN DESIGN FINAL COVER 2.indd 11

21/12/2016 10:52

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WELCOME

Concept to Delivery DESIGN, BUILD, AND MAINTAIN

January 2017 | Volume 7, Issue 1

January 2017

MATT KILLINGLEY

NT KILLINGLEY LTD

Welcome to January 2017

Winter gardens

MARKET REPORT WHAT NEXT FOR THE NURSERY INDUSTRY?

ADDING YEAR-ROUND DRAMA

BALI AWARDS 2016 WINNERS

Ahead of the curve

Welcome to the January issue of Pro Landscaper. We wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year. Through talking to many people working in all landscape sectors over the past few months, we know that 2016 was a good year for business with positivity running through the industry. It’s great that order books are looking good for 2017, despite fears that Brexit might slow things down – let’s see how things progress, as we aren’t quite out yet.

The end of 2016 highlighted all that is great in the landscape sector.

FutureScape brought almost 1,800

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people together in a single day to learn, share information and network, followed swiftly by the Landscape Institute and BALI Awards where we saw some outstanding projects accoladed for their excellence. See coverage on all these events within this issue.

To continue the celebrations, we can now look forward to the SGD Awards later this month which will demonstrate further the achievements of those working in our industry.

If you’re lucky enough to have a little time on your hands in January, why not take a

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look at your website to check it’s as easy as possible for new visitors to navigate? Believe it or not, a lot of people make the decision to redesign their garden after Christmas. On page 79 Ross Hewitt gives some great tips on how to check that it gives a great first impression of your business.

Have a great month, keep busy!

@jimeljays

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MANAGEMENT Managing Director Jim Wilkinson Director Lisa Wilkinson Business Development Manager Jamie Wilkinson Managing Editor Joe Wilkinson

Pro Landscaper / January 2017

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CONTENTS

January 2017 INFORM

8

Agenda When replacing your fleet, would you purchase green vehicles?

10

23

News Our monthly roundup of industry news

12

Association News The latest updates from efig, SGD, BALI, RHS, Parks Alliance and APL

16

19

BALI Awards

COVER STORY The highlights from the BALI Awards

FutureScape Our roundup of the seminar programme at FutureScape 2016

23

Let’s Hear it From COVER STORY Matt Killingley of NT Killingley Ltd

26 Company Profile We get the details on NAG Solutions, the business venture set up by Richard Gardiner

28 Passion for Plants Andrew Wilson claims that landscaping teams don’t care enough about planting

29 The Five Year Plan David Dodd looks to the future and considers how the past five years next will affect the next

31

Competing Companies that don’t play by the rules in this competitive industry devalues it as a whole, says Pete Jones

4

Pro Landscaper / January 2017

Contents.indd 4

Concept to Delivery

DESIGN, BUILD, AND MAINTAIN

xx

January 2017

MATT KILLINGLEY NT KILLINGLEY LTD

Winter gardens

MARKET REPORT WHAT NEXT FOR THE NURSERY INDUSTRY?

ADDING YEAR-ROUND DRAMA

BALI AWARDS 2016 WINNERS

Ahead of the curve BLUE TULIP GARDEN DESIGN FINAL COVER 2.indd 11

21/12/2016 10:52

INSPIRE

32 How Safe is Safe?

Angus Lindsay asks whether we are becoming too reliant on technology, especially in our vehicles

33 The Landscape

Institute Awards

The highlights from the 2016 Landscape Institute Awards from landscape architect Adam White

34 Doing More With Less Pro Landscaper pays a visit to Sunderland City Council, to find out about how its makes the most of its green spaces in a time of austerity

39 Ahead of the Curve Blue Tulip Garden Design uses bold geometric shapes to update a front garden

42 Old Meets New Blending public space with private project

by Gustafson Porter

46 Sitting Pretty Artscape Design & Build highlights garden features through traditional planting

49 Block Party Hard landscaping transforms a university campus, by CLS Landscape & Earthworks

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

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CONTENTS

67

Heal Thyself Ian Drummond discusses the benefits of plants, from air quality to stress reduction and morale boosting effects

68

Big in Japan The Japanese garden is a rich and beautiful tradition so long as we move past clichés, says Noel Kingsbury

69

Going Native Andy McIndoe speaks of the native British shrubs long used for structure in our landscapes

71

Low Pollen Planting Jackie Herald informs on how planting affects health in public spaces

72

Nursery Factfile Practicality Brown Ltd

73

Weed Control

EDUCATE

77

Value Engineering Tips and tricks to help you to save money on the job from Sean Butler

79

42 NURTURE

52

Winter Gardens COVER STORY Anji Connell offers inventive planting, lighting and heating ideas for turning gardens in winter into useable extensions of the home

54

High End Planters

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

Contents.indd 5

Ross Hewitt advises on how to maintain and analyse your website

80

62

82

A report on the future of the nurseries, tackling costs, biosecurity and more

65

83 84

It’s time to let go of pastels and embrace bold oranges, says Jamie Butterworth

Battery Powered Kit The history of battery powered machinery, and how it could challenge its rivals for control of the market

Designer Plants

Orange Revolution

Trading With Dekor Europe

Janine Pattison tackles planting for an exposed coastal site

66

What I’m Reading Carolyn Willitts reviews The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces by William H Whyte

Nurture News

Nursery Report COVER STORY

Exploring Effects Robert Webber runs down the easiest ways to change the ambience of gardens through lighting

A roundup of news from the UK’s growing sector

Inside Europlanters Managing director John Wilkes speaks to Pro Landscaper about how the company has developed and where he hopes to go from here

57

61

The Annual Website MOT

86

Latest Kit Battery powered

90

The Little Interview

Pro Landscaper / January 2017

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INFORM

SPOTLIGHT ON

CONTRIBUTORS

Sean Butler

Andrew Wilson Garden designer and lecturer

Jackie Herald

Director, Cube 1994

Designer and freelance writer

David Dodd Landscaper and lecturer

This month Andrew Wilson is concerned with the level of care landscaping teams give to planting.

Plants can be left to wither away and design plans disregarded, says Andrew. Where is the love that is shown to construction and hard landscaping? Turn to page 28 to read why Andrew thinks landscapers lack plant love.

Sean Butler gives an overview of value engineering on page 77, from its origins to all you need to take into consideration to put it into action today. Employ its methods at the design stage as a collaborative effort before contractor and designer, and all parties can come out happy – including clients.

In her first issue writing for Pro Landscaper, Jackie Herald, specialist when it comes to how planting in public spaces affects health, collaborates with Shenagh Hume on the best low pollen planting. Head to page 71 to read which common plants in our towns and cities contribute most to allergies.

David Dodd looks to the future in his column this month. Taking from the View From The Top panel debate at FutureScape 2016, David considers how we can look back over past five years to judge what we can expect from the next five. Turn to page 29 to read David’s five predictions for the future...

www.wmstudio.co.uk @AndrewWilsonii

www.cube1994.com @cube1994

www.jackieherald.com @JackieHerald

www.theoutdoorroom.co.uk @TheOutdoorRoom1

INSPIRE

Other contributors Pete Jones Business development and sales manager at LDP Ltd

Jamie Butterworth Plant manager at Hortus Loci

Ross Hewitt Managing director of Secret Pie

Angus Lindsay Head of fleet, idverde

Ian Drummond Creative director of Indoor Garden Design

Robert Webber Founder of Scenic Lighting

Adam White Director of Davies White Ltd

Noel Kingsbury Garden designer and writer

Anji Connell Interior architect and landscape designer

Andy McIndoe Leading horticulturist

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

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Pro Landscaper / January 2017

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21/12/2016 10:23

INFORM

AGENDA

WHEN REPLACING YOUR FLEET, WOULD YOU PURCHASE GREEN VEHICLES? Green vehicles are said to be the environmentally friendly alternative to the combustion engine. Their purpose is to lessen our carbon footprint – does this make them the only realistic option for our future?

The initial cost for these vehicles is relatively high, and as a fairly new invention, their reliability is yet to be determined. We asked leading figures whether they would purchase green vehicles for their fleet...

Matt Killingley Managing director, NT Killingley Ltd

NT Killingley Ltd always chooses eco-friendly plant and vehicles where they demonstrate a comparable performance against conventional equipment. In many cases, we have found that the new technology is actually more advanced and can even operate at higher efficiencies than conventional kit. For instance, the new JCB Tier 4 engines offer fantastic fuel efficiency and performance, combined with very low emissions.

However, we have had bad experiences.

When LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) was first proposed as a lower carbon fuel, we invested quite heavily in a new fleet of dual fuel vans, which proved to be a disaster. You have to take care that you don’t invest in a white elephant.

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Pro Landscaper / January 2017

Angus Lindsay Group head of assets and fleet, idverde UK The phrase ‘green vehicles’ can be interpreted in many ways. Most of today’s light commercial vehicles are considerably less polluting than their predecessors, but it comes at a cost financially and in useable payload. Electric vehicles would seem to be the ultimate in low emission power, but consider where the electricity comes from – how green are those sources?

There are many electric vans on the market ideal for a couple of people moving small amounts of equipment, but larger load carrying variants are few and far between, extremely expensive and lacking in payload.

With more and more hybrid cars on the market, why not in commercials? Yes, they’ll be expensive and there will be an effect on payload, but I think it makes more sense for our industry.

and more. Frosts’ vehicle purchases are therefore done on a case study of each requirement.

Currently, we have several LPG vehicles, one electric van and one hybrid vehicle. There is no doubt that green vehicles (electric and hybrid) are the way forward but initial costs, infrastructure issues such as availability of charging points on site, payloads and distance capabilities present problems that need to be overcome before electric vehicles become the norm. Whilst hybrid vehicles are extensively available across the car range there is still some distance to go (pardon the pun) before they are readily available across the complete range of vans and tippers required by landscaping companies.

Andrew Richardson Joint managing director, Johnsons of Whixley

Johnsons of Whixley takes its environmental credentials very seriously and has invested in efficient engine technology for its 30-strong fleet.

David Perry Our delivery vehicles have been fitted with Euro 6 engines since 2014. Compared with our Operations director, Frosts Group previous fleet, the new Euro 6 engines have reduced NOx gases, one of the main Frosts’ fleet manager has to consider a plethora contributors to acid rain and global warming, by of criteria prior to the purchase of vehicles.

97%. We have also seen a 90% reduction in Costs, technical specification, towing capabilities, particles causing asthma and other respiratory reliability, through life costs, fuel consumption, problems. Each truck travels 70,000miles a year delivery time, seating capacity, annual mileage, so it’s important for us to monitor our carbon service intervals, emissions, congestion charge, footprint and select vehicles that have www.prolandscapermagazine.com

20/12/2016 14:42

INFORM

undergone rigorous testing. However, the plants we grow and sell offset much of the carbon produced. Our current Volvo and Mercedes vehicles are 25% more fuel efficient and with high volume trailers can carry 35% more load than a traditional trailer – especially welcomed in winter when we carry a lot of heavy root balled trees. Given the benefits we’re already seeing from investing in engine efficient technology, we would definitely consider purchasing green vehicles if we were to expand our fleet.

Ian Drummond Creative director, Indoor Garden Design

Horticulture is our business, so it should come as no surprise that we take environmental issues very seriously – the carbon footprint of our company is always high on our agenda and we have recently appointed a dedicated manager for environment. That being said, we approach the green transport issue from a different angle.

A few years ago, we restructured the operational side of our maintenance business and created a Green Transport Policy. We created ‘zones’ within London, and our maintenance teams take public transport, rather than using vehicles, with all equipment and plants delivered to them on site. Not only was this a highly efficient way of conducting this part of our business, but it also reduced our fleet by 60% and therefore our carbon footprint as a company www.prolandscapermagazine.com

Agenda.indd 9

continues to be measurably reduced. We did acquire and test a green vehicle some years ago, and while this was effective to a point, we ran into problems maintaining the battery charge to complete the day’s work. I believe that the issues we faced at that time have now been resolved and we are looking toward acquiring green vans.

Stuart Darbyshire Commercial director, Glendale

Environmental impact considerations are always a high priority and we are already in the process of updating our fleet with greener options – however, green doesn’t necessarily mean electric.

Around 80% of our fleet is under three years old, and thanks to new technology fuel economy and emissions are lower than older vehicles.

Where commercial vehicles are concerned, towing and carrying heavy loads over long distances means that green alternatives aren’t always the most practical solution. However, fully electric vehicles are suitable for scenarios in which a van is transporting in a limited area and where secure charge points are available.

Purchasing decisions are carefully considered, based on a whole life cost model taking annual mileage into account, balanced against environmental impact. Although the initial cost of a green vehicle is higher, if we could recoup this and it generated further savings, it would be worth the investment.

Christopher Clark Fleet manager, ISS Facility Services Landscaping

At ISS Facility Services Landscaping, a key part of our sustainable aspiration is to continuously improve our environmental performance. As such, 87% of our fleet has carbon emissions of 120g/km or less and already boasts electric vehicles. Due to the limited range of these vehicles, the life of the batteries and the need to charge every night, ISS is often restricted in terms of the applications and sites where we are able to use them. Whilst it may be suitable to use an electric vehicle to service a town centre contract, we would be unable to use them on routes which take in fast A roads, where the restrictive top speed of an electric van would be dangerous. Electric vehicles are much more suited to enclosed sites and where overnight charging is available, and in these situations ISS do already run this type of van.

NEXT MONTH

DO YOU BUY, LEASE OR RENT YOUR PLANT MACHINERY AND WHY? Have your say: editor@pro-landscaper.co.uk Pro Landscaper / January 2017

9

20/12/2016 14:43

INFORM

NEWS Sixth BALI Grand Award for Willerby Landscapes

Glendale’s finest honoured with Chairman’s Award

The 40th BALI National Landscape Awards saw BALI Registered Contractor Willerby Landscapes take the Grand Award for an unprecedented sixth time. The presentation to John Melmoe, managing director of Willerby Landscapes, was made by headline sponsor Green-tech’s chairman, Richard Kay. Willerby Landscapes was awarded BALI’s highest accolade for its landscaping of the King’s Cross in London that has seen huge investment. The development has attracted some of the world’s leading companies who have chosen to locate their headquarters there and the stunning landscaping

Glendale has announced the winner of its annual Chairman’s Award for 2016. The accolade went to Nick Darwell in recognition of his hard work and efforts throughout the year.

Nick has recently been promoted from the position of management accountant to senior tenders manager and has been with the company for the past nine years.

He has demonstrated a high level of commitment, competence and exceptional technical ability working on a challenging project in 2016, and played a pivotal role in achieving a successful conclusion.

Five nominees were also recognised from across the business: James Shipman, landscape supervisor, Mark McKinnon, company engineer, Sebastian Sanchez-Cabello, arborist, Wayne Hingston, grounds maintenance operative and Zach Allanson, contract supervisor.

Ericka Oates, finance director at Glendale, said: “The Chairman’s Award is a prestigious honour and an acknowledgement of an

has been instrumental in helping to market the area.

Chair of the adjudication panel Greg Allen said: “This is a wonderful scheme, expertly executed by Willerby Landscapes.

It is apparent that the success of the scheme is down to Willerby’s emotional as well as operational investment to ensure it is the best it could possibly be.” www.willerby-landscapes.co.uk

Burleys celebrates fourth business award in 18 months Burleys has won its fourth award in a year and a half, its latest triumph being sustainability in the annual Sussex Business Awards.

The Most Sustainable Business Award was presented at a ceremony at Brighton’s Grand Hotel by comedian Simon Evans.

Burleys, which works with many public bodies across Sussex, has an impressive green track record. It recycles all its green waste and believes in the ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ mantra. It chooses local 10

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Pro Landscaper / January 2017

individual’s outstanding efforts. It is the culmination of a year of endeavour and represents the ultimate recognition from the Glendale board and our founder and chairman, Tony Hewitt.

“Nick has performed above and beyond the expectations of his role, and is an asset to the business.”

Nick commented: “I would’ve been hugely pleased just to be nominated, let alone win the award. It came as a complete surprise, but I’m very proud and grateful to those who recognised my efforts, as well as everyone who helped me with my work over the past 12 months, particularly those in the finance team.” www.glendale-services.co.uk

London College of Garden Design launches new design courses suppliers where possible to reduce transport miles and contribute to the local economy, uses peat free products with client approval and chooses organic fertilisers and pesticides on fine turf projects. www.tclgrp.co.uk

The London College of Garden Design has launched its 2017 short course schedule, which aims to promote diversity in garden and planting design. The new courses include subjects such as designing gardens for children in their earlier years and designing for dementia.

Andrew Fisher Tomlin, who leads the college’s new Planting Design Diploma, said: “There is an incredible volume of research going into the value of green space and we wanted to reflect this in promoting new skills for garden designers and landscape architects.” www.lcgd.org.uk www.prolandscapermagazine.com

21/12/2016 10:50

INFORM

Rouken Glen Park named UK’s Best Park

Rouken Glen Park has been named the UK’s Best Park, as voted by YOU! 2016 after a search by national charity Fields in Trust to find the country’s favourite local green space. The winner was announced at the Fields in Trust awards ceremony on 30 November at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.

The East Renfrewshire park won the public vote ahead of three shortlisted local green spaces to take the 2016 title. A total of 214 parks across the UK were nominated by park users.

Rouken Glen Park was described in its nomination as ‘a place for people and nature’. The park is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, has been awarded Green Flag status and has received investment from Heritage Lottery Fund grants. www.fieldsintrust.org

Awards success for LUC in 50th anniversary year Planning, landscape design and ecology consultancy LUC has scooped three accolades at the Landscape Institute Awards for its work in Glasgow, the South Downs National Park and Kennington.

The Local Landscape Planning category was awarded to LUC for its work in Glasgow. It produced a development framework for the regeneration of the Woodside, Firhill, and Hamiltonhill areas, which

impressed the judges for its innovative community engagement.

For the South Downs National Park, LUC produced a series of user-friendly interactive tools including panoramic viewing software and a 3D model that enables users to access information about the National Park landscape. This resulted in the consultancy winning the Strategic Landscape Planning Award.

In addition, LUC was Highly Commended in the Heritage and Conservation category for its restoration of Kennington Park Flower Garden in London. www.landuse.co.uk

RHS Ambassadors inspire the next horticultural stars Award winning designer and Gardeners’ World presenter, Adam Frost, and YoungHort co-founder, Jamie Butterworth, have completed their horticultural road trip to enthuse the next generation of horticultural stars. From Glasgow to Bristol, the RHS Ambassadors helped to judge the society’s national ‘Green Plan It’ schools.

“It was absolutely incredible,” said Jamie Butterworth. “I love going into secondary schools, speaking to students and watching them go from thinking that horticulture is just about

cutting grass and doing a bit of weeding to seeing the opportunities and the career options within the industry. I remember telling my career advisor at school that I wanted to go into horticulture, who replied: ‘Really? You’re a bright lad, why would you want to do that?’

The perception that horticulture is only a career option for students that are failing academically is just completely wrong. The best way to combat that is to go into schools and talk to students directly.” www.rhs.org.uk

John O’Conner finalist for Large Employer of the Year Welwyn based grounds maintenance company John O’Conner has been selected as a finalist in the National Apprenticeship Awards Large Employer of the Year category. This follows on from its recent regional award as Large Employer of the Year for the East of England.

Apart from training at their chosen college, John O’Conner’s www.prolandscapermagazine.com

News.indd 11

apprentices benefit from additional training such as RHS-hosted masterclasses where they receive insight into centuries-old practices

combined with modern day techniques from experienced Park Rangers.

The shortlisting of the firm for this award promotes horticulture as a key sector and celebrates its UK-wide contribution to the preservation of green spaces, historical and architectural landscapes for future generations. www.johnoconner.co.uk

NEWS IN BRIEF New show garden category for RHS Malvern 2017 Record numbers of entries have flooded in for the brand new Spa Gardens category, being launched at the RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2017. www.rhsmalvern.co.uk

City of London Corporation appoints new director of open spaces

The City of London Corporation has appointed Colin Buttery as its director of open spaces.

He will take up the post from March, following incumbent Sue Ireland’s retirement in February. www.cit o on on.go .uk

Landscape Institute welcomes 70 new CMLI

Following the chartership exams held in November 2016, the Landscape Institute has welcomed 70 new Chartered Members. The pass rate was very high, at 80%, an increase from the last chartership exam session in May. www. an sca einstitute.o g

Aralia wins ‘Best Landscape Design Specialists UK’ Aralia has been awarded ‘Best Landscape Design Specialists UK’ by the new Interior Design Awards 2017. www.a a ia.o g.uk

Ann-Marie Powell appointed Patron of Greenfingers

Greenfingers Charity has announced that Ann-Marie Powell will be a Patron, promoting the fundraising work needed to create therapeutic and peaceful gardens in the grounds of children’s hospices. www.g eenfinge scha it .o g.uk

Pro Landscaper / January 2017 11

21/12/2016 10:50

INFORM

ASSOCIATION

NEWS

Parks Alliance matters

A letter from Matthew Bradbury The board of the Parks Alliance has undergone a recent revamp, and I have joined the board and assumed the chairing of the Alliance. I am currently CEO at Nene Park Trust with over thirty years’ experience in both the private

and not for rofit se tors I would like to thank Mark Camley for his outstanding work in leading the board through the establishment of the Alliance. I would especially like to thank Sue Ireland who is also standing down.

When the Alliance was being formed, Mark said that he would chair the Alliance for two years. We are very grateful that he has led the organisation for almost four years. With the second HLF report published

Matthew Bradbury

and the Select Committee Inquiry underway, there is an opportunity for the sector to a e a signifi ant i a t fro a position of strength.

We have also recruited three talented new members to the board. Cathryn Hayhurst,

a finan e rofessiona ith years’ experience; Julie Procter, chief executive and company secretary of Greenspace ot and for the ast years and John Anderson, currently the new CEO for Streetscape in south London.

The Alliance has helped get parks back on the political agenda, but we are still in the foothills of the debate.

Parks and the Alliance itself need your continued support and I do hope you will join me in taking it forward.

RHS report

Butterflies in the Glasshouse, RHS Garden Wisley

he s flagshi garden will be hosting its popular tterflies in the G assho se event fro an ary to

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Association News.indd 12

ar h isitors are invited to escape the cold weather into the warmth of the tropical zone in the glasshouse where they will be ab e to see ore b tterfly species than ever before, in ding s e ies ne to the garden. There will also be a special sculpture trail throughout the garden, created by artist Alison Catchlove, as well as the opportunity to see Alison demonstrating her extraordinary skills as a sculptor in the glasshouse gallery every Friday to Sunday during the event. www.rhs.org.uk/wisley

Winter Sculpture Exhibition at RHS Garden Rosemoor RHS Garden Rosemoor is hosting a winter sculpture e hibition nti ebr ary

Scattered along its picturesque winter walk an eclectic mix of glass, cement and pottery sculptures will inspire visitors.

The exhibition will feature a wide range of sculptors from across the UK. www.rhs.org.uk/ gardens/rosemoor

Grow & Show Weekend at RHS Garden Harlow Carr This January, at the Grow & Show Weekend, RHS Garden Harlow Carr is giving gardening enthusiasts the chance to kickstart their growing year with a range of events. From 28 to an ary visitors are invited to talks and demonstrations presented by gardening experts and get bespoke gardening advice from the horticultural team at the garden. www.rhs.org.uk/ gardens/harlow-carr www.rhs.org.uk/gardens

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

21/12/2016 11:00

INFORM

BALI briefing Record 40th year of the BALI National Landscape Awards Over 960 members, invited guests and VIPs attended the largest awards ceremony in the industry at Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London on 2 December.

Guests were treated to an afternoon of celebration and entertainment, and 22 BALI member companies

BALI Awards 2016 Grand Winner

received Principal and Special Awards, with the Grand Award presented for a record sixth time to Willerby Landscapes.

BALI membership renewals The association’s annual membership renewals will start in the new year, look out for your renewals booklet landing on doorsteps w/c the 9 January.

GO Landscape building real careers

GoLandscape gathers pace Since launching at FutureScape in November, BALI’s new careers initiative GoLandscape has gone from strength to strength. BALI board members David Dodd and Nigel

Bowcock, project leaders of the scheme, along with the team at Landscape House, have carried out several talks at industry colleges in the south of England and the Midlands, and are in the BALI Awards 2016 process of establishing a BALI’s South Thames AGM crucial link with the Ministry of efen e o ering e servi e en will take place on 24 January.

Further dates will be released and e servi e o en areer opportunities within the industry. on our website.

Regional AGMs s first regiona G is North Thames on 10 January, he d at ea es ote in atfie d he se ond onfir ed G is Yorkshire and North East, who will be taking over the Best Western Crown Hotel in Boroughbridge on 2 February.

BALI returns to EcoBuild Join BALI on its biggest pavilion to date at one of the industry’s biggest trade shows.

Register for a discounted stand at EcoBuild 2017 by contacting Darren Taylor at darren.taylor@bali.org.uk Twitter: @BALI_Landscape

efig outline FutureScape 2016 In November, we were pleased to support FutureScape again. his year e diversified fro our usual stand to hosting two seminars. If numbers are anything to go by, both seminars were a success.

The future of interior landscaping ring the first se inar the panel took questions from the floor abo t the f t re of the industry. Well moderated

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Association News.indd 13

by William Braid, MD of Plant Designs London, the panel concluded that in general the future is ‘green’!

While the panel agreed that interior landscaping is a niche market, they all agreed that it is an essential part of any commercial building. Even in a technological age, as long as there are people there will be a need for plants.

The consensus was that companies need to make the most of business opportunities, diversifying if necessary and embracing new trends such as green walls. The industry also needs to spread the word about careers via colleges.

Maximising the benefits of plants The second session, moderated

by Jimmy Gilchrist of GP Plantscapes, concentrated on the reams of research that have been done into the benefits of plants over the last 30 years and how to use it.

Jimmy Gilchrist

The consensus was that ants are hosen first and foremost for their aesthetic appeal. Companies want to improve their brand image and present themselves to the world in the best way. he sy ho ogi a benefits a so have a big e e t on a business and this is an idea that is gaining ground. www.efig.co.uk

Thomas Palfreyman, Kenneth Freeman & Chris Jenkins

Pro Landscaper / January 2017 13

21/12/2016 11:01

INFORM

APL update

The APL Stone Seminar The APL Stone Seminar, feat ring a tone ane session, takes place this month tackling topics such as ethical and environmental sourcing, product availability, techniques, innovation, legislation, health and safety and consumer law.

It will take place on Tuesday 17 January at Whittlebury Hall, Northamptonshire, to provide today’s landscaping contractor with a complete

insight into the sector through a mixture of presentations and interactive debates. The event is timed to run alongside the HTA Contact Conference and dinner, and the BPOA Spring Conference and AGM, also happening at Whittlebury Hall on Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 January 2017.

Find out more: www.hta.org. uk/aplstoneseminar APL Awards Places are booking fast for the APL Awards ceremony, sponsored by Bradstone, which takes place on 17 March 2017 at The Brewery in London. Book your place at: www.aplawards.co.uk www.landscaper.org.uk

APL Awards 2016

APL Awards 2016

SGD bulletin Join us at the SGD Spring Conference Tickets for the SGD Spring Conference ‘Way Out West’ on Saturday 25 March 2017 are on sale now.

The Spring Conference aims to lift the lid on the trail-blazing gardens and landscapes of North America, home to cowboys, Indians and the pioneering settlers of the new world.

Breaking boundaries and taking risks is the order of

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Pro Landscaper / January 2017

Association News.indd 14

Oehme van Sweden

the day with invited speakers from both garden design and landscape architecture practices exploring new and innovative approaches to design and planting.

Speakers include Lisa Delplace of Oehme van Sweden who will outline the ‘New American Garden’ typology, which is based on the use of broad and lush

sweeps of grasses and perennials together with rich contrasts of textures. Hallie Boyce of USA landscape architects practice Olin will also be speaking.

The ‘Way Out West’ journey will start its trail in the West Country with garden designer and RHS Chelsea Gold Medal winner Darren Hawkes leading the way.

Darren Hawkes

Further speakers will be announced shortly to continue the journey across North America. The chair for ‘Way Out West’ is Stephanie Mahon, Editor of the Garden Design Journal. Visit the events page on the SGD website to read more and buy tickets online. www.sgd.org.uk

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

21/12/2016 10:59

THE BI-S

PE

TURNING P

E R .

A C F R

ED

T FOR T U OIN

If you want a tractor that’s better at every turn, turn to the Kubota B50 Series. Calling upon over 50 years of innovation and engineering excellence, the latest generation of Kubota tractors incorporates bi-speed turning to increase manoeuvrability and minimise turf damage. The B50 has been designed to deliver outstanding performance, economy and reliability and is also available with an integral air-conditioned cab for maximum operator comfort and productivity.

For more information about Kubota’s diverse range of world-class groundcare machines and aftersales support service, visit www.kubota.co.uk or call 01844 873190.

Pro Landscaper_The Bi-speed_B50_265x210.indd 1 January_Adverts.indd 15

02/12/2016 15:11 16:10 20/12/2016

OUT & ABOUT

BALI AWARDS

2016

Willerby Landscapes scooped the prestigious Grand Award for an unprecedented sixth time at the BALI National Landscape Awards ceremony, held at Grosvenor House in London for a glamorous night of celebrating the best of our industry THE 2016 GRAND AWARD WINNER Sponsored by Green-tech Willerby Landscapes for Regeneration of King’s Cross, London

THE 2016 SPECIAL AWARD WINNERS • Design & Build – sponsored by British Sugar TOPSOIL Northumbrian Landscaping for Beach Bears

Photography © BALI

• Best Newcomer to BALI – sponsored by Wienerberger Penter Swinburne Horticultural Services for Wynyard Hall Rose Garden • Precision Civil Engineering in a Landscaping Project – presented by the BALI Chalk Fund Land Engineering (Scotland) for The Maze, Dumfries House, Ayrshire

THE 2016 PRINCIPAL AWARD WINNERS • Domestic Garden Construction, cost under £30k – sponsored by Ground Control Northumbrian Landscaping for Beach Bears

• Soft Landscaping Construction (Non-Domestic), cost between £300k £1.5m – sponsored by Bourne Amenity In-Ex Landscapes for Woodberry Down (Kick Start Site 3)

• Domestic Garden Construction, cost between £30k - £60k – sponsored by Green-tech The Cotswold Garden Company for Private Residence in Hatherop

• Hard Landscaping Construction (Non-Domestic), cost under £300k – sponsored by Woodscape The Outdoor Room for Mayfair Roof Terrace

• Domestic Garden Construction, cost between £60k - £100k – sponsored by Johnsons of Whixley Landscaping Solutions for Private Residence, London Borough of Richmond

• Hard Landscaping Construction (Non-Domestic), cost between £300k £1.5m – sponsored by Quinton Edwards Swinburne Horticultural Services for Wynyard Hall Rose Garden

• Domestic Garden Construction, cost between £100k - £250k – sponsored by Makita UK Water Gems (Alba) for Private Residence, Merchiston, Edinburgh

• Hard Landscaping Construction (Non-Domestic), cost over £1.5m – sponsored by MCM idverde for Exchange Quay, Salford

• Domestic Garden Construction, cost over £250k – sponsored by Europlants UK Living Landscapes for Private Residence, Kingston upon Thames • Soft Landscaping Construction (Non-Domestic), cost under £300k – sponsored by Paynes Turf Acre Landscapes for Serpentine Sackler Gallery, Hyde Park, London

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Pro Landscaper / January 2017

BALI Awards2016.indd 16

• Community and Schools Development – sponsored by Brett Landscaping Ground Control for Alexandra Road Park • Regeneration Scheme, cost under £500k – sponsored by Rigby Taylor/Topgreen Ground Control for Woodhouse Urban Park • Regeneration Scheme, cost over £500k – sponsored by idverde Willerby Landscapes for Regeneration of Kings Cross

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21/12/2016 10:48

OUT & ABOUT

• Grounds Maintenance, Free Public Access – sponsored by Harrowden Turf idverde, entry submitted by Quadron Services for Queen’s Park, Loughborough • Grounds Maintenance, Limited Public Access – sponsored by The Toro Company Nurture Landscapes for Farnborough Business Park • Grounds Maintenance, Private, value under £50k – sponsored by ICL and Monsanto Gavin Jones Group for Portman Square • BALI Registered Contractor’s and Designer’s Joint Submission – sponsored by Easigrass ESSE Landscapes & Louisa Bell for Holly House • Sports Grounds and Leisure Facilities – sponsored by Springbridge Direct Blakedown Sport and Play for Greenwich Peninsula Golf • Interior Landscape, Maintenance only – sponsored by Adtrak Nurture Landscapes for Swiss Re Offices, London

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BALI Awards2016.indd 17

• Best Innovation/Technology used in a Landscape Scheme – sponsored by Kubota Land Engineering (Scotland) for The Maze, Dumfries House, Ayrshire • Green Roof Installations and Roof Gardens – sponsored by Willerby Landscapes Elite Landscapes for Fulham Riverside • International Award – sponsored by CED Natural Stone Beijing Tsinghua Tongheng Urban Planning & Design Institute for Poetic Reinterpretation – Landscape Design of DULE Garden, Mandarin Palace • Design Excellence Award, overall scheme over £50k – sponsored by Adtrak Anne Jennings of Viridian Landscape Studio, for Private Residence, Chelsea • Affiliate Exceptional Service – sponsored

by Adtrak Harrod UK • Employer Excellence, turnover over £2.5m – sponsored by Andersplus Ground Control

Pro Landscaper / January 2017 17

21/12/2016 10:49

INFORM

ROUNDUP FutureScape 2016’s seminar programme was packed with hot topics, new ideas and expert advice from the industry’s leading figures. Here we showcase the highlights FutureScape celebrated its fifth anniversary this year with a record number of visitors and exhibitors. The event, held at Sandown Park Racecourse in Esher, Surrey on 15 November has been hailed a success following an overwhelmingly positive response, part of which is due to the packed seminar programme which took place throughout the day.

Leading figures within the industry took to the stage from a variety of sectors, including landscaping, garden design, arboriculture and landscape architecture. From panel discussions to presentations, FutureScape 2016 covered topics from construction to the use of living walls in urban spaces.

A highlight of the event was the launch of the Go Landscape initiative by BALI directors David Dodd of The Outdoor Room, and Nigel Bowcock of Acre Landscapes.

Addressing the issue of the skills shortage within the industry, the initiative aims to raise awareness of the widespread

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Pro Landscaper / January 2017

FutureScape 2016.indd 18

career prospects within horticulture as well as to retain those already in the industry.

The first of the panel discussions throughout the day was The Passion is in the Plants, with panellists Caspian Robertson of Caspian Gardens, Robin Wallis of Hortus Loci, Patricia Fox of Aralia, and Chris Deakin of DeakinLock being quizzed on what planting trends they expect to see over the next five years, as well as the impact they expect Brexit to have on UK nurseries. The revival of trees was also highlighted as a trend to look out for.

LEADING FIGURES WITHIN TOOK TO THE STAGE FROM A VARIETY OF SECTORS, INCLUDING LANDSCAPING, GARDEN DESIGN,ARBORICULTURE AND LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE The Love is in the Lighting, chaired by Sam Cox of Landscapeplus, which also sponsored the seminar, focused on the value lighting brings to a project, the potential hidden costs, and talking budgets with clients. The panel, which was made up of Peter Langton of Hillier Landscapes, Anoushka Feiler of Bestique, Robert Webber of Scenic Lighting and Paul Willavoys of Landscapeplus, gave their predictions for upcoming lighting trends.

Tackling the state of the construction side of

the industry was popular panel discussion The Beauty is in the Build, chaired by Jim Wilkinson and sponsored by Garden House Design. Panellists Pete Jones of Land Design Partnership, Mike Long of Genesis Landscapes, Paul Baker of Holland Landscapes, and Paul Downer of Oak View Landscapes spoke about how prosperous the year has been so far, before answering questions on how to know which projects to chase, the biggest challenges they expect over the next six months, and whether to lease or buy equipment.

Also sponsored by Garden House Design was The Detail is in the Design. Chair Jim Wilkinson asked how the panel of leading garden designers decided which landscaper to choose for a project and how they generate more work. Charlotte Rowe, James Scott and Marian Boswall drew on a wealth of experience, with Michael O’Reilly giving the audience insight into the Irish market, and award-winning newcomer Tom Massey sharing his experience so far after practicing for a year and a half.

Throughout the day, there were also two enlightening panel discussions on interior landscaping, in association with efig. The first was The Future of Interior Landscaping, looking at why environmentally friendly ‘green buildings’ are becoming more popular. Panellists Matt Gavin of ISS Facility Services Landscaping, Thomas Palfreyman of Urban Planters and Benoit Pelleriaux of Any Green spoke about how bright the future looks for interior landscaping, and were questioned by chair William Braid of Plant Designs London about how to attract the next generation of interior landscapers and what www.prolandscapermagazine.com

20/12/2016 14:27

INFORM

the next trending product will be following the popularity of living walls.

Following on from this was The Benefits of Office Planting and How to Maximise Them, which featured a short presentation by Kenneth Freeman of Rentokil Initial about the most up to date information on the health and economic benefits of interior planting, including how the productivity of office planting can be oversold and how we need to get plants growing healthily in buildings to start seeing the benefits of plants in the office.

The panel, which consisted of Chris Jenkin of Enterprise Plants, Jimmy Gilchrist of GP Plantscape and Thomas Palfreyman of Urban Planters, was questioned on the management of air plants and how maintenance budgets restrict planting schemes.

There were also a number of presentations throughout the day from industry experts,

starting with Niall McEvoy of Scotscape Ltd with Breathing Life into Cities with Living Walls.

After giving a brief history of living walls, he described the studies that Scotscape has been involved in, including how plants generate electricity, and why biophilia, the relationship between humans and nature, is important.

Darryl Moore, in his presentation Space is the Place, spoke about co-founding social enterprise Cityscapes with the aim of bringing a creative approach to the way the urban environment is designed, created and inhabited through working with different partners to create temporary and permanent installations, and described the projects

Cityscapes has created so far.

How do you do Blue Sky Thinking if it’s Raining All the Time? asked John Wyer of Bowles and Wyer, who discussed breaking the cycle of the day to day grind and why it’s important to do so. He suggested developing the assets of a business and how it is important to build a brand. He recommended setting aside a particular time each week to think about the conceptual side of a business, and how going on holiday can actually be beneficial for a business as well.

The final presentation of FutureScape was on Garden Design for Outdoor Entertainment

by Patricia Fox. She discussed how garden designers can make a space suitable for outdoor entertainment, with suggestions and examples of what has worked in previous projects, ending the presentation with her top ten tips which included encouraging clients to purchase for the long term and using edible plants in projects.

The seminars at FutureScape received a wealth of positive feedback, covering an array of topics, with great interaction from the audience. We look forward to seeing everyone at FutureScape 2017.

At this year’s FutureScape, we held our first seminar timetable aimed at landscape architects. FutureArch, supported by the Landscape Institute and sponsored by Green-tech, gave landscape architects the opportunity to hear industry experts lead presentations and discussions on Green Infrastructure, Planning, BIM, Adding Long Term Value through Natural Stone and The Future of Landscape Architecture.

Adam White of Davies White Ltd chaired the first talk of the day on the topic of green

infrastructure, joined by Central Scotland Green Network Trust’s Sue Evans and Arup Group’s Tom Armour. The seminar focused on the various ways green infrastructure can benefit communities, and noted successful projects that have achieved this. Landscape Institute’s Kate Bailey followed, providing her audience with a step by step guide on applying for planning permission, and providing a multitude of time saving tips.

After breaking for lunch, seminars continued with Vestre’s Romy Rawlings and Keysoft Solutions’ Mike Shilton, who explained why Building Information Modelling (BIM) will become more prevalent in the coming years in landscape architecture, calling for industry professionals to become acquainted with the system to avoid being left behind. The penultimate seminar heard Michael Heap of

CED Ltd conducting a close look into natural stone paving projects, how to maintain their quality long term, and imparting invaluable advice from his years of experience on everything from material choices to paving methods.

FutureArch concluded with The Future of Landscape Architecture debate, chaired by Noel Farrer of Farrer Huxley Associates, who held a lively discussion on current issues and predictions for the industry’s future with the audience and fellow speakers Ewan Oliver from Lendlease, Bowles and Wyer’s John Wyer and Alastair McCapra from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

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FutureScape 2016.indd 19

DARRYL MOORE [CITYSCAPES] SPOKE ABOUT BRINGING A CREATIVE APPROACH TO THE WAY THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT IS DESIGNED, CREATED AND INHABITED

Pro Landscaper / January 2017 19

20/12/2016 14:27

planted on new nurseries where, been re-planted ed. This gives a se to the trunk from a seed in

sold, they are aded shovel or now, a circular a bale cloth so he bale is then system on a bly smaller planted on than new ence the where, reason nurseries nbeen planting. re-planted

Test results

advertisement feature

From the results, he was able to determine that trees with foliage, which were planted in sandy humus soil at Bad Zwischenahn in Germany, didn’t need any additional anchorage up to storm force 10. Of the trees planted, 74% were able to take up to storm force 11 and 48% still didn’t need support up to storm force 12. This determines that only a relatively small support is actually necessary. In addition to the newly planted trees, further trees with a standing time of one to three were tested to determine how long a tree should be supported it can methods be left on its own. Oaks, chestnuts, horse chestnuts, maples, Possibleuntil securing sycamore and linden trees were used, groups all of the typical planting size of 25cm – 30cm trunks as well as trees with 50cmor– rigid 70cm systems diameterare trunks Therediameter is a simple principle in solitary engineering, that stiff not were able to used.

Theand results show that additional anchorage should dynamic absorb dissipate imposed loads. Dynamic systems on be the used other for hand are ableand to do biological reasons. just that. This means that a if a tree is supported or anchored by steel cables or stiff

PLANTING IS SO EASY! THE ARBORFIX SYSTEM When commercially grown trees are sold, they are removed from ground by a three bladed shovel or with what is more commonly used now, a circular knife. The root balls are covered by a bale cloth so that the roots are not exposed and the bale is then enclosed in wire netting.

The root system on a commercially grown tree is considerably smaller than the bale on a naturally grown tree, hence the reason for some type of securing system when planting The most commonly used method for stabilizing newly planted trees, is a wooden tripod or its derivatives. This is not an optimal solution, neither esthetically, nor with concern to the physiology of the tree. Consequently more and more underground anchorage systems are being used. Underground systems are superior to tripod The round knife Shapes ball systems allowing the tree to be amore esthetically displayed, and allowing the tree to develop correctly and

Ball - socket

ed. This gives a stabilizing newly planted trees, is a wooden tripod se to the trunk alfrom solution, neither a seed in esthetically, nor with concern to ly more and more underground anchorage systems are superior to tripod systems allowing the tree to sold, they are owingshovel the treeorto develop correctly and establish a aded round knife horagea also removes the problems associated The with now, circular Shapes a ball andalism, continual maintenance, the chance of a bale cloth so tional he baledifficulties is then in maintaining grass around the

system on a on underground bly smaller than securing is that it is acceptable as e stem, ence thecrown reasonor roots and that the bale diameter is nropriate. planting.The bale should not be compressed or Ball - socket the roots

stabilizing newly planted trees, is a wooden tripod and underground al solution, neither esthetically, nor with concern to mportant to make ly more and more underground anchorage systems what you consider are superior to tripod systems allowing the tree to question hastree been owing the to develop correctly and establish a anchorage a Artificial windhorage alsodoes removes the problems associated with research by Dr andalism, continual maintenance, the chance Tension-tool of load recognized as the in maintaining grass around the Zugversuch tional difficulties zation, and using gle underground of inclinationsecuringInclinometer on is that it is acceptable as ad” in connection e stem, crown or roots and that the bale diameter is on a crown, you ropriate. The bale should not be compressed or graph the rootsand can a tree can safely sts on more than and underground

mportant to make Evaluation of torsion-forces what you consider question has been anchorage does a research by Dr recognized as the zation, and using Workware.indd 24 gle of inclination Inclinometer

Artificial windload Tension-tool Zugversuch

tripods, all of the winds force goes into that construction, the tree does not participate in

Biodynamical the absorption background and the support system is unnecessarily strained. This results in the

necessary over-dimensioning of these systems or, if that is not done, the support A mechanism young tree will strives grow asalso tall allows as possible.

Without fail.toThe tree for this support in its system and remains too any stimulus by for wind, most of the trees resources go into thin and weak its height.

Fig 1 vertical growth.

During thethat vegetation period, there a Test results also showed rigid systems with steeliscables that are kept under tension, constant of auxin from thecables tree tops roots. Thisof the stem which, results in a lead toflow a tightening of the andtoa the constriction boosts the vertical growth and therefore inhibits the predetermined breaking point. budding of side shoots, the growth of a wide crown andtothe If the principle that load distribution, is supposed function between the tree and its swinging is good main root system. contrast, in movements a tree that sways naturally securing system,Inthe possible and the maximum bend of the tree the have to be for the development in known. the wind, ethylene is produced.

This phytohormone was also examined at a tree nursery at This Bad Zwischenahn, and it wasof found the tree hormone auxin a movement for training itself. If that it isinhibits possiblethe to transportation provide a tree of with part and of itscreates possible growth cells radial direction.

This results in a and stable way. this is of done, thein treea can develop in a biologically healthy redistribution of the trees growth resources with a reduction of vertical growth and the reinforcement of stem growth and of the mainorroot system.above Therefore, trees level. should be Anchorage Support ground grown without additional support or anchorage.

Supporting with stakes The most common form of support is a tripod, but often a set of four stakes may be used. Both hinder the movement the tree, causing influence establish a healthy root system.

This of connection with an an analysis of the on the hormonal of the tree, which needs natural type of anchorage also removes the development Optical wind pressure on a crown, you can movement for optimal development to get enough bothersome problems associated with stimulation above getroot a generalized in its system. Itinclination is also a graph fact that the system is forgotten and the stakes are not removed Aftercare ground securing, such as vandalism, and about can determine the maximum after the roots have grown sufficiently. This can take continual maintenance, theyears chance wind a tree can safely take. and from an force aesthetical viewpoint this Dr is not of litigation due to obstruction and TheWessolly tests on as the acceptable. bindings conducted can also gothese into the stem Fig 2 tree grows around causing a predetermined breaking additiona di ties in aintaining moreit,than 12000 trees. point. grass around the planting.Another Supporting important with pointropes which must be taken into consideration isAnchorage the often fatal of strimming. Often The general thoughts and or effect Support Supporting with ropes is not enough room between the stakes andorthe tree.

Supporting trees with any kind of cable rope guidelines on undergroundthere securing Hamper the optimal above ground level The work has atolotbe and often there is a needs of done space quickly and can create pitfalls.

They development of tree is that it is acceptable as long as amount Supporting with stakes (Fig 1) Supporting trees with any kind of cable or rope certain of indifference by the worker.

This can are totally unacceptable in pedestrian areas result in damage to the stem of the tree and possible death.

The only advantage of stakes needs a lot of space and can create pitfalls.

They the system does not damage the The most common form of support is the possible use unacceptable for advertising posters or to hide bad planting materials from the are totally in pedestrian areas Static anchorage stem, crown or roots and that the is a tripod, but often a set of four nursery.

! !

! !

bale diameter is large enough and Staticstakes may be used. Both hinder There areanchorage anchorage systems on the market which the ground is appropriate. The the movement of theanchors tree, causing use steel cables and ground made of an Therean areinfl anchorage the market which bale should not be compressed aluminum wedge. system by en eThe onsystems the horon is onainstalled use steel cables and ground anchors made then of an it into the earthtree, with a peg, or disturbed in a way that would hammering development of the which aluminum wedge.

The system is installed fastening it with a ratchet to tighten the cable.by damage the roots. There are several hammering needs natural movement forisa stiff it into the earth with peg, and then Using this type of system the tree fastening it with to the cable. above ground and underground rigidly optimal development to tighten getsupported enough anchored asa ifratchet they were by Usingstimulation this typethis of system the tree Naturally the same disadvantages. securing systems available and stakes. in has its root system.

Itis stiff and rigidly anchored astheif problem they were supported by This system also has that if it is important to make direct is Naturally also a fact that system is the trees stakes. this hasthe same disadvantages. stem thickness increases, itthetightens the cables comparisons before choosing whatwhich forgotten and the stakes This system alsoabout hasthethe problem that if the trees then depress cambiums, resulting in stem are thickness increases, it the tightens the by cables you consider to be the best for you.grooving, not removed roots especially if theafter fastening is done a which then depress the cambiums, resulting in Dr Lothar Wessolly of Germanysling. have gro n s ient y his an grooving, especially if the fastening is done by a who is recognized as the world’s years and from an aesthetical sling.take Dynamic anchorage leading expert on tree stabilization, viewpoint this is not acceptable. The Dynamic anchorage and using his “inclomethod” whichThe bindings can also goof into the stemisasits advantage of this type anchorage natural growthit,of the tree. uses the angle of inclination under suitability a the for treethe grows around causing a The Thecanadvantage of this anchorage is its tree sway freely and type growofstrong.

However so called “wind supplement load” in suitability predetermined breaking for the natural growthpoint. of the tree. The

systems with screw in anchors require exact tree can freely and grow the strong.

However placing andsway adjustment.

To install anchors you systems with screw anchors exact must operate outside the in planting hole,require which can Supporting with rope (2) placingproblems and adjustment.

Tosetting install the anchors of you cause when because trees any kind must Supporting operate outside thewith planting hole, which can obstruction by stones. or rope needs a lot of causeof problems when setting because There arecable other systems which use shockof obstruction by stones. space and can create pitfalls. absorbers or soft synthetic ropes.

These They are rather There arebecause which problematic ofsystems the synthetic materials and areother totally unacceptable inuse shock or soft ropes.

Theseorare rather itsabsorbers vulnerability to synthetic vandalism.

A knife pocket pedestrian area. problematic because of the synthetic and lighter is enough to severely damage materials the support itsconsequently vulnerability the to vandalism.

A knife or pocket and tree. The relative movement is enough severely damage support Static anchorage oflighter the bale withinto the planting holetheis(3) not and consequently the On tree.lawns, The relative completely eliminated. there ismovement also the There are anchorage of the bale within the planting hole is not possibility of damage my mowers systems on the completely eliminated.

On lawns, theremarket is also the possibility of damage my mowers

Sling

damage Steel-rope

Sling

damage

Steel-rope Tension-tool Tension-tool

Fig 3 Alu-anchor Alu-anchor

Synthetic rope

Reinforce the roots

Synthetic With shock rope absorber

Reinforce the roots

Fig 4

With shock absorber

!

!

Anchor in soil Anchor in soil

21/12/2016 09:41

advertisement feature which use steel cables and ground anchors made of an aluminum wedge. The system is installed by hammering it into the earth with a peg, then fastening it with a ratchet to tighten the cable. Using this ty e of syste the tree is sti and rigidly anchored as if they were supported by stakes. Naturally this has the same disadvantages. This system also has the problem that if the trees stem thickness increases, it tightens the cables which then depress the cambiums, resulting in grooving, especially if the fastening is done by a sling.

Bale pressing using aluminum earth anchors and tensioning ropes By using polyester slings and aluminum anchors, non-rotting materials are inserted into the ground, which is not really satisfactory. With this type of system, attention also has to be paid to the possible compression of the roots. Uninterrupted root growth can only happen where there is no sling, consequently, after the tree’s roots have grown through, the polyester slings and ropes must be taken out and disposed of.

Bale interlocking (Fig 6) This systems development started with consideration right from the start of the extraction of the tree at the nursery. The tree is taken from ground by a circular knife which results in a spherical bale. The Fig 1 bale is immediately covered with a jute bale cloth, which is secured in wire netting. In its new planting hole, itsecuring would obviously stand like U nderground a ball in a socket. A sphere has no securing systems avoid anyhas visual Dynamic anchorage (Fig 4) All underground resistance to turning, so this interference and are aesthetically more pleasing.

The advantage of this type of The trees can to grow be prevented in its new location. unmolested, because there is no anchorage is its suitability for the grow tap with central ring of the wire netting. The interferenceSome to the trees naturalnaturally sway and therefore hormonal interdependency, allowingcommon the tree to system works well with densely natural growth of the tree. Thethe tree roots; therefore it makes develop to its optimum potential. can sway freely and grow strong. sense to employ this principle when Bale pressing using aluminum earth anchors and rooted bales without damaging However systems with screw tensioning in replanting trees. the roots. ropes slings and has aluminum anchors require exact placing By andusing polyester A new system been anchors, The practical proof of this non rottingdeveloped materials are inserted the ground, adjustment. To install the anchors taking intointo account system was demonstrated after which is not really satisfactory. With this type of P re-stressed you must operate outside the system, attention this rin e to rbofi asthe firstpossible belt hurricane Kyrill which Aluminium occurred on alsoi has be paid to anchor planting hole, which can cause the GaLaBau compressionintroduced of the roots.atUninterrupted root growth 18th January 2007 Twenty one canof only exhibition happen where there Germany, is no sling, newly planted acer plantenoids problems when setting because in Nürnburg consequently, after the tree’s roots have struck, the obstruction by stones. and was immediately awarded polyester slings and ropes must be taken out and with stems of 18cm – 20cm had There are other systems whichdisposed use of.the coveted award for innovation. been planted in a relatively light shock absorbers or soft synthetic It is produced in four sizes to s bstrat sing the rbofi Bale pressing ropes. These are rather problematic a using o wood odate di erent dia eters securing system. planting This system has advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage is that theThe system uses site because of the synthetic materials ste by pressing rbofi isthem fitted ithisonnot y good for wasroot notgrowth. completed, and the istrees force on theofbales which The advantage that A the wood will totally this takes longer it takes on for steep the treesided to be hills and its vulnerability to vandalism.

3 blows of a decay. malletHowever, through the werethan standing standing knife or pocket lighter is enough to securely.

U nderground securingthe support Bale severely damage and interlocking consequently the tree.

All underground securing systems avoid This any visual systems development started with consideration interference and are aesthetically moreright pleasing. from the start of the extraction of the tree at the Underground securing The trees can grow unmolested, because nursery. there is no The tree is taken from ground by a circular interference to the natural sway and therefore with results in a spherical bale. The bale is All underground securing systems knife which the hormonal interdependency, allowing the tree to covered with a jute bale cloth, which Fig is 6 immediately avoid any visual interference and develop to its optimum potential. secured in wire netting. In its new planting hole, it are aesthetically more pleasing.

Bale pressing using aluminum earth anchors would and obviously stand like a ball in a socket. A Theropes trees can grow unmolested, tensioning sphere has no resistance to turning, so this has to be By using polyester slings andinterference aluminum anchors,in its new location. Some trees naturally prevented because there is no non rotting materials are inserted into the ground, grow tap roots; therefore it makes common sense to to the natural sway and therefore which is not really satisfactory. With this type this of principle P re-stressed employ when replanting trees.

Aluminium belt the hormonal system,with attention also has to interdependency, be paid to the possible A new system has been developed taking into account anchor compression of the roots.

Uninterrupted root growth allowing the tree to develop tothis its principle. Arbofix was first introduced at the can only happen where there is GaLaBau no sling,exhibition in Nü rnburg Germany, and was optimum potential. consequently, after the tree’s roots have immediately struck, the awarded the coveted award for polyester slings and ropes must be taken out and It is produced in four sizes to innovation. disposed of.

Bale pressing using wood This system has advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage is that the system uses force on the bales by pressing them which is not good for root growth. The advantage is Workware.indd 25 that the wood will totally decay. However, this takes longer than it takes for the tree to be

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21/12/2016 09:42

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20/12/2016 16:22

INFORM

Pro Landscaper visited the Chesterfield office of NT Killingley Ltd and met Matt Killingley, to talk about how he got into landscaping, keeping it local and the quality of work within the industry

How did you get involved in landscaping?

NT Killingley Ltd was my father’s business. I was lucky enough to be invited to join. I never intended to do that as I started out studying civil engineering.

I found myself working on a bridge in Cornwall and feeling miserable, so I spoke to my father, told him I didn’t like what I was doing and he advised me to go to university to study something to do with landscaping, so I did a diploma in landscape design at Sheffield and joined him as a partner.

When did you join?

It was around 20 years ago – I was 25 years old.

And now do you own the business outright?

Yes, my father retired about 15 years ago.

What is the size of the business?

When I first joined, we were a team of nine, turning over £200k. Now we turn over about £13m and have 150 staff, mainly due to expansion in the commercial sector.

Let’s Hear it From

MATT KILLINGLEY What’s the split on turnover?

It’s around a third earthworks, a third soft landscaping and a third hard landscaping.

What makes up your client base?

It’s mainly contractors, actually. We work with some government agencies such as the Forestry Commission and do some local authority work, but mainly we work alongside developers.

Is the business evenly balanced or is one area bigger than the other?

We used to be 100% local authority, but that’s completely changed in the last 10 years.

Was that on purpose?

We saw it coming. We were trying to expand the business and we couldn’t expand more into the local authority market; there was no

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

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20/12/2016 09:23

INFORM

more for us to do, essentially. We expanded into the commercial market and that has taken just about all of our work.

Do you look at domestic work?

We do a few domestic jobs. We’ve just finished a domestic project that was worth £500k, but we don’t tend to do much of it. It has got to be a decent size to be worthwhile for us.

Geographically, where do you work?

Typically, we like to stay local. We try to do work from York down to Birmingham.

diversify into different markets, rather than geographically. I’ve always been a big believer in being able to drive to sites no longer than an hour away. If you’re going to manage a problem, it needs to be easily accessible.

How competitive is this area?

It’s very competitive. Our main competitor on the soft landscaping side is Grace Landscapes; it was Blakedown before they disappeared.

Ground Control is also a competitor in the grounds maintenance sector as well as a lot of smaller local contractors.

I’VE ALWAYS BEEN A BIG BELIEVER IN BEING ABLE TO DRIVE TO SITES NO LONGER THAN AN HOUR AWAY. IF YOU’RE GOING TO MANAGE A PROBLEM, IT NEEDS TO BE EASILY ACCESSIBLE How do you structure the business?

I have five directors. The main strands of the business – soft landscaping, hard landscaping and earthworks – are each run by a director.

Simon Ellis runs the soft landscaping, Gary Massey oversees hard landscaping and Rob Taylor the earthworks. Additionally we have a director of marketing, Kev Goodwin, and Liz Wiles is director of operations which is essentially the back office stuff.

Is everything controlled from this office?

Yes. We have a waste processing yard very close by but this office is where it’s all controlled. What we’ve tried to do as part of our expansion is 24

Pro Landscaper / January 2017

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Where do you see yourself developing the business?

Interestingly, soft landscaping is the hardest area to develop because the market is a lot smaller than other areas. We could grow earthworks and hard landscaping with no problem at all, but soft landscaping, which is one of my original passions, is the hardest to grow. Because it’s such a small market, the pool of talent is also smaller.

How easy is it to recruit staff?

We are lucky to do very well; we’re a well-known local name. We probably get the best people to be honest and I’m really pleased to say that few folk leave us. We do get the occasional person who

just can’t quite fit in or can’t behave how we want them to. We have a lot of apprentices which we absolutely love because we can train people. We want productive, professional skilled employees.

Do the apprentices specialise or do they go across the whole of the business?

They specialise. We have engineering apprentices who do surveying and drone surveys. We have machine operation apprenticeships through the Construction Plant Competent Scheme and Construction Industry Training Board. We have hard landscaping apprenticeships through construction colleges and soft landscaping apprenticeships that go through LANTRA and the like. We also have office apprentices of course.

If we were sitting here in five years’ time, do you think the business will be similar in size?

No, I think we will be bigger. We’re growing on a gentle trajectory.

Will you have to push your geographic boundaries?

No. There is still growth in this area.

Is that due to movement in the market?

We will diversify more and pick areas of work that are badly served by the local services. We will learn how to do what we need to do and become experts in it. We will invest in the plan and the technology. For example, we’ve just set up an engineering department. We have seven engineers now and three of those have drone survey capability. We can survey a site, maybe a football www.prolandscapermagazine.com

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INFORM

So why do you do it, and how do you judge the value?

We don’t really, but that’s about to change. We’ve entered for a BALI award this year so we will see how we get on. Winning a BALI award does definitely help if you market it correctly.

Are your costings mapped out tightly?

It’s very tight. We know every day what our income and costs are for every job.

Does everyone in the business buy into that concept?

Yes, definitely. It’s a great motivator for everyone to see how they’re contributing every day. pitch, with a drone, work up the design on the computer and produce a model. All of our kit is machine-controlled now so we can put that model into the machine and it will build from scratch with no engineers on site. It’s highly productive and high speed. We have the most advanced set up in the UK through our partnership with Leica.

Where are you price-wise?

We’re on the upper end. People want contractors who can operate quickly – we fit with customers who are highly demanding in terms of time. We don’t fit so well with customers who are a bit disorganised because we turn up, fully kitted out to start and we can’t start because of chaos. People will pay for fast work and high quality.

As an industry, where do you think the quality level lies? Do you think it’s good?

The soft landscaping quality is quite variable when compared with the overall construction industry, but the market generally is poor and I find that highly frustrating. Soft landscaping is a bit of a black art to many people – that works to a contractor’s advantage because they can exploit it. In my view, parts of the market do lack a certain professionalism.

Do you see that as something that is improving after the downturn in the market?

The downturn was a nightmare but it did force people to modernise, though in the end not much has changed! The construction side of the company is far more professional, which has been great in helping to develop the soft landscaping side. www.prolandscapermagazine.com

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What needs to be done to get to that professional level?

Landscaping doesn’t view itself with enough importance; it almost doesn’t have enough self-respect. It is really important as it’s a great industry. People who work in it should see that and we need to think all the time about how we can improve.

Do you buy your kit or lease it?

We buy. We’ve got piles of kit from strimmers to 44t excavators, mostly less than three years old.

We buy it, use it and then exchange it.

Outside of work, what do you do to relax?

Lots of things. I’m into running and cycling, so I like doing triathlons and that sort of thing.

Where do you buy your plants from?

We buy our plants from Crowders and Dutch nurseries directly. We have various suppliers.

And what about materials?

It’s mainly builder’s merchants, quarries for stone and we have our own processing yard to create our own topsoils and sub-bases.

When did you move into these offices?

About 10 years ago. We’ve always been around this area. We used to operate out of the family home beforehand.

Do you get involved with the industry associations?

Not a huge amount. We’ve only just put a marketing director in place. We’ve been very poor at self-promotion – it’s not our strong point at all. We’ve always seen it as the ‘unnecessary’ side of the business but I suspect that our involvement with the associations will increase in the next year or so. We’ve been members of BALI forever, though – whether we’ve made the most of that, I don’t know.

1 Uppingham School, BALI Principal Award 2 Horns Bridge, Chesterfield, design and build 3 Ferrybridge Power Station Lagoons 4 Rolls Royce Extension, Derby

CONTACT NT Killingley Ltd Old Manor Park, Mansfield Road, Temple Normanton, Chesterfield, Derbyshire S42 5DQ 01246 859 666 www.killingley.co.uk

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20/12/2016 09:29

INFORM

COMPANY

PROFILE

Business venture NAG Solutions was set up by managing director Richard Gardiner nearly a year ago, as more of a lifestyle company than one aiming to become a sizeable business. Pro Landscaper spoke to Richard about why he changed from contracting to consulting, how being the technical officer for BALI is beneficial, and why he plans on keeping NAG Solutions a one man operation

How was NAG Solutions founded?

NAG SOLUTIONS I started the company in February 2016 after contracting for around 30 years. I needed to do something different, and was looking to develop a product – an automated system – to help landscapers become more compliant, help meet health and safety legislation and achieve quality in the systematic sense. Most landscapers go into their profession to build great gardens and don’t necessarily think about this aspect. My background is in the commercial grounds maintenance sector where compliance is more prominent as the client is more demanding. In the domestic sector, the clients are not as demanding of compliance, but it is still a legal requirement.

How does your role as BALI technical officer tie in with this?

I’ve been associated with BALI for a long time. I was on the board from 2004, and chairman in 2009/10. When looking to develop a product to help landscapers become more compliant, I asked Wayne Grills, chief executive of BALI, if it was something that BALI would consider endorsing. He couldn’t be certain until I had developed it, but in principle said he would support the product. BALI’s previous technical officer, Jonathan Tame, has just left the organisation, and so I asked Wayne who would be taking over. When he said no one, we both looked at each other and the penny dropped at the same time. My product is looking to help

people become more compliant, and being the new technical officer is good research and development – I now understand more about the businesses I’m trying to help. That’s how I ended up doing compliance consultancy, after gaining a contract with BALI to do its Quality Standard Reviews on a freelance basis, which is beneficial to BALI as rather than employing someone full time, they can be more flexible about the role.

How has the business developed since?

I started NAG Solutions on the back of winning the contract with BALI, but have since independently helped contractors with a variety of things – mainly compliance, but also setting up grounds maintenance contracts for those who are more used to landscape development or construction. NAG Solutions hasn’t really grown since it was founded, it kicked straight off after winning the contract with BALI, which is half to two thirds of what I do, and I’ve been as busy as I want to be ever since. What has grown are the elements beyond the BALI contract, working with other contractors. I didn’t really work with anyone else besides BALI until May last year, and now I’m working with two or three other companies.

MY PRODUCT IS LOOKING TO HELP PEOPLE BECOME MORE COMPLIANT, AND BEING THE NEW TECHNICAL OFFICER IS GOOD RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT – I NOW UNDERSTAND MORE ABOUT THE BUSINESSES I’M TRYING TO HELP 26

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www.prolandscapermagazine.com

21/12/2016 10:24

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What did you do prior to NAG Solutions?

Before NAG Solutions, I ran a company called Norris & Gardiner for 30 years with my sister. We sold the business to Gavin Jones in January 2014, then I continued to work within Gavin Jones and was a Director of N&G too until February this year, when I left to set up NAG. The N&G brand is still alive and kicking but I have no connection to Norris & Gardiner or Gavin Jones any more.

Is your background in the landscaping industry beneficial to your current role?

I think it’s crucial to the BALI element and really helpful when working with other companies because I’ve run the systems or procedures that I’m putting in place, and therefore have a clear understanding of the team’s field experience and that they didn’t come into this industry to be administrators. I hope that the systems I try to implement are practical and sensible for the type and nature of the work that they do. From that perspective, it certainly helps, and from a marketing perspective as well – it adds credibility.

What does NAG Solutions cover and how does it go about this?

The contract with BALI involves delivering Quality Standard Reviews, in which I re-vet companies that are already members of BALI for their suitability to continue their membership. This will be done every three to five years, but it’s a new introduction and we’re only on the first cycle. This is essentially a compliance audit. The main services I provide to other clients are what I call a Compliance Health Check, a two-day audit similar to what I provide for BALI. I use this to get under the skin of a company, to find out how it functions and what its strengths and weaknesses are. I then report these back to the company, with suggestions of action, which they can either do themselves or I can help implement. Essentially, I’m like an interim manager for businesses not large enough to have a compliance manager – smaller businesses can’t sustain this resource. I meet with the company weekly, fortnightly or monthly, depending on what’s appropriate. I can also help with projects, doing pre-qualification questionnaires (PQQ) when they want to respond to a tender. This can be quite a task, though, because you have to put the compliance systems in place first in order to effectively return the PQQ. www.prolandscapermagazine.com

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NAG SOLUTIONS WAS NEVER SET UP TO HAVE AN EARTH SHATTERING TURNOVER, IT WAS MUCH MORE ABOUT LIFESTYLE THAN BEING A SIZEABLE BUSINESS AND IT HAS GIVEN ME THE FLEXIBILITY TO START LOOKING AT DEVELOPING PRODUCTS What type of companies do you consult with?

When I started NAG Solutions, I thought my main clients would be small businesses predominantly working in the domestic sector and looking to foray into the commercial sector, but needing help with PQQs and understanding the compliance elements. Actually, most of the companies I operate with are in the commercial sector already, and therefore know and understand the need for compliance, as well as the benefits, such as with marketing their company, but haven’t got the time or resources to implement it. I just provide that extra resource on a freelance basis, giving them a flexible solution to becoming more compliant.

I can also help domestic contractors; the principles are the same, but they don’t tend to have the pressure for compliance and therefore it can be seen as an unnecessary expense. Being compliant doesn’t help to win domestic contracts, whereas in the commercial sector it does.

How do you plan to develop the business over the next few years?

I would like to develop some products, one of which will certainly be related to what I’m doing now. I still enjoy meeting people and not being geographically tied, so I wouldn’t want to be entirely products based, but developing products will help me to earn a passive income.

NAG Solutions was never set up to have an earth shattering turnover – it was much more

about lifestyle than being a sizeable business, and it has given me the flexibility to start looking at developing products, maybe in conjunction with other people.

Finally, what is one thing you think the industry could and should do better?

We could shout about how important we are in schools and colleges, letting students know what they have the potential to do – they can change people’s lives for the better. As a result of us not doing this, the industry is generally undervalued, which is a shame. I hope to be involved in GoLandscape as it develops. I’m a trustee on the BALI Chalk Fund which is currently funding the new initiative, so I’ve had some involvement already, but I hope to be one of those first on the list to be able to go and do the careers evenings and other events.

1 Managing director Richard Gardiner 2 Taking part in Perennial’s Three Peaks 2016

CONTACT 2 The Old Rectory, Old Rectory Drive, Ash GU12 6EY Tel: 07715 654 964 Email: richard@nagsolutions.co.uk Web: www.nagsolutions.co.uk

Pro Landscaper / January 2017 27

21/12/2016 10:25

INFORM

PASSION FOR PLANTS? ANDREW WILSON

Landscaping teams don’t give enough care or thought to planting despite accurate design plans, according to Andrew Wilson, who asks: where is the planting love?

Every year I come to an awkward moment in my college calendar when I discuss fees and how to deal professionally with clients. The question of planting supply inevitably arises. The underlying issue is that many garden designers undercharge for design proposals and then ‘top up’ by charging a percentage on plant supply and possibly on actual planting.

In SGD workshops the same issue has arisen.

Many designers state that they would rather select plants themselves and if they can, actually plant them – the imputation being that LANDSCAPERS NOW SET OUT THEIR their chosen contractor PLANTING SCHEMES FROM IPADS – CONVENIENT cannot recognise a AND FLASHY, BUT INTRINSICALLY INACCURATE good quality plant and does not know how to specification covers ground preparation; read and interpret a planting plan. plants sitting in water because no one has Although we at WM Studio have had on the reported that drainage is impeded. Although whole good experiences with our contractors, I accept that the designer is a walking quality we have had cause to raise our eyebrows from control mechanism, does this propensity not time to time. We have condemned plants sent exist in a landscaping team? to site on the basis that ‘they will do’ when quite Gavin and I sometimes find ourselves obviously they are dead ducks. Meanwhile our scratching our heads. We see incredible landscaper is busily planting them! In larger workmanship, attention to detail, creative projects this is perhaps understandable, but solutions and pride in the productive why does the buck only stop with the designer workmanship of a landscaping team – if they are when they make a site visit? Where is the quality dealing with paving and construction. In the control in the landscaping team? same team or on the same site we find issues We have had plants arrive on site to which no with poor setting out of planting (even though one in the landscaping team pays any attention. our planting plans are deadly accurate), poor Plants have died through lack of water, drying out spacing and density (even though our planting because they have been left in full sun or covered spacings are deadly accurate) and poor reading in dust because someone is cutting stone of what plant where (even though the majority of nearby. In other words, no one in the landscaping plants are labelled and our planting plan team is dedicated to the care of plants on site. annotation is deadly accurate).

When walking through new planting to If I sit back (call me old fashioned) and assess progress we might see plants remember the good old days when designers stuffed into unprepared ground when our printed all drawings and sent them to the 28

Pro Landscaper / January 2017

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landscaper to cost, those same drawings would be on site, catalogued and ready to go at the correct moment.

Now on our site visits, we find ourselves saying: “Where are the drawings that enabled you to set out?” Cue blank or confused look from landscaper.

It would seem that many landscapers now set out their planting schemes from iPads – convenient and flashy, but intrinsically inaccurate as the drawings to which they refer are impossible to scale. Gavin and I at this point howl like werewolves and turn into Mr Hyde as we consider all the hours it took to put those scaled planting plans together.

I ask you – where is the love? And why would we not simply employ builders and do the planting ourselves?

ABOUT ANDREW WILSON Andrew Wilson is a landscape and garden designer and a director of Wilson McWilliam Studio. He is also a director of the London College of Garden Design, an author, writer and lecturer.

www.wmstudio.co.uk

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

20/12/2016 08:35

INFORM

THE FIVE YEAR PLAN DAVID DODD

David Dodd looks to the future, expanding on the View From The Top debate at FutureScape 2016 to take into account how the past five years will affect the next Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2017 is wonderful and prosperous to you all. I know that The Outdoor Room is currently booked up until June this year and I know I’m going to be working with Gavin McWilliam, Andrew Wilson and Ruth Wilmott at RHS Chelsea. I also know that my New Year’s diet of kale and spinach smoothies will have stopped by the second week of January. Apart from a couple of projects in the pipeline, I can’t say for sure what we’ll be working on in the second half of the year, let alone next year, and to be honest I haven’t got a clue where we’ll be in five years. I’m not saying I’m a drifter; planning is good, but to forecast where the landscape industry will be in five years, post-Brexit and President Trump, can surely only be a wild guess?

The Remainers expected the country to collapse after the Brexit vote, and to date it hasn’t. In fact, business is good and unemployment is at an all-time low. However, it’s worth remembering we haven’t actually left the EU yet, so we’ll see. I do think the mainstream ‘normal’ is going to be over for the foreseeable future and I do see us going on a bumpy ride – none bumpier than when El Presidente Trump

View From The Top debate at FutureScape in November. There came some interesting and intelligent answers from some great industry figureheads, but after every point it just kept ringing at the back of mind: how do you know?

Predictions are always interesting, but until we know facts as to where we’re heading politically, socially and economically, the panel’s answers could surely only be hypothetical?

One thing the whole topic does throw up is the question, should we all be planning that far ahead in business? It would at least give us goals to work towards. Yes, the answers may be hypothetical (if we actually knew the future we’d all be millionaires), but it gives more structure and possibly purpose to our businesses and working lives.

Richard Gardiner from NAG Solutions claimed

WE AS A NATION ARE QUITE A RESILIENT BUNCH AND WILL ADAPT OUR INDUSTRY TO COPE WITH WHATEVER CHALLENGES ARE THROWN AT IT presses the button! On a more positive note than us all scrambling around on a post-apocalyptic wasteland for our next patio enquiry, we as a nation are quite a resilient bunch and will adapt our industry to cope with whatever challenges are thrown at it.

I listened carefully to the panel when the question of the next five years was asked at the www.prolandscapermagazine.com

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the best way of looking forward five years is to look back over the past five years first. This was brilliant (I always knew he was a bright lad), so I went home and thought about how my business has developed since 2012. How much legislation and red tape has been brought in and what is the likelihood of this continuing? The two things that immediately sprung to mind were CDM

regulations and staff pensions, both of which have created huge financial implications on my business.

So to finish, here are five of my own predictions for the next five years: 1. Colleges will aim to achieve some form of industry credited ‘Centres of Excellence’ status 2. TV producers will finally come up with a gardening programme relevant to real gardening 3. Conifers are going to make a huge comeback 4. The number of design and build companies will grow, employing both in house professional designers and architects as well as skilled build teams and horticulturists 5. Donald doesn’t get planning permission for his wall and has to settle for a more decorative trellis ABOUT DAVID DODD David Dodd has been in the landscape industry since the age of 17. Having studied and then taught at Merrist Wood College, he set up The Outdoor Room in 1995. In 2013, he went into business with landscape architect Joe Perkins to form Longview Design Ltd. David has also lectured in design and construction for over 20 years.

www.theoutdoorroom.co.uk

Pro Landscaper / January 2017 29

20/12/2016 10:41

ADVERTISING FEATURE

WHY EDGE? When a landscape design has been built and people can stand over it and admire it, probably the last thing they see, if they see it at all, is the landscape edging. It is one of those products that blends in and disappears in a great design. Very few of us stand and admire edging when there is great planting or sculptures or clever designs to catch our eye. However, it is the fine details which turn a great design into a great build and edging is certainly one of the finer details.

Along with a number of other landscape items, EverEdge manufacture a range of steel edging products to suit virtually any design. EverEdge edging can be used as a subtle finish to cut down on future maintenance. It can provide an edge to a lawn, path or driveway that will last a lifetime and save many hours of fiddly, frustrating edging work. EverEdge can also be used as a central feature in a design and provide a focal point to draw the eye.

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MANUFACTURED IN THE UK IN A RANGE OF SIZES AND FINISHES, EVEREDGE LANDSCAPE EDGING GIVES THE PROFESSIONAL FINISHING TOUCH TO GARDENS, DRIVEWAYS AND PUBLIC SPACES FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT WWW.EVEREDGE.CO.UK OR CALL 01453 731717

21/12/2016 08:51

INFORM

COMPETING PETE JONES

Pete Jones considers how competitive the industry is, and how companies not playing by the rules devalues it as a whole, making it a less attractive career option We are all faced with losing work to competitors.

That’s business, and certainly firmly entrenched in the competitive industry we work in. Sometimes it’s easier to accept – perhaps in situations when the competitor has managed to find a fair competitive edge to give them the advantage ahead of you. But what of the instances when this is not the case, when the opposition has simply ‘bent’ the rules to get over the line?

Many years ago now, I recall losing a large domestic build project in SW London by a shade over 17%. I clearly felt as though I had made an error at the tender stage. Having interrogated my pricing strategy and other possible reasons, it turned out that I was pricing the project against a company that were not liable to pay VAT as they were registered to trade abroad. Although our costs excluding VAT were comparable, I stood no chance of securing the work. I was incensed.

I spoke to Inland Revenue to vent my frustration with the situation, given the time I had invested in the project. They were not even remotely interested, despite my protests.

More recently, I have discussed collaborative working opportunities with various organisations within the industry. During my conversations with one company in particular, I discovered that they openly flout regulations around the employment of staff. I refer specifically to the IR35 regulations or ‘intermediaries legislation’. These regulations are concerned with ensuring that the correct levels of tax and national insurance are paid if you are contracted to work for a client through an intermediary. In short, companies that ‘employ’ staff long term on a self employed basis. This enables the company to escape the corporate contributions that a direct workforce requires and therefore keep costs, and ultimately the cost of their work, to a minimum. www.prolandscapermagazine.com

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WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO WHAT WE SEE AS THE RIGHT THING, TO INVEST IN OUR PEOPLE AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO DEVELOP WITHIN THE INDUSTRY

It’s interesting to consider the worst byproduct of this manipulation of regulations being the avoidance of corporate contributions such as national insurance and tax. For me though, the worst by-product has to be the blatant lack of investment or interest in developing the workforce they utilise. Companies such as these make no attempt to invest in staff or their working conditions, to secure long term staff retention or a loyal and committed workforce. In this instance, they win work at a reduced price, devaluing the industry as a whole, as the rest of us rightly invest in our staff.

Those reading this that are operating in this way are not investing one iota in the industry – in fact it is the complete opposite. They give staff no additional benefits, no holiday pay, no pensions, no healthcare, no training, nothing that might make anyone feel valued. Perhaps if these companies made the efforts to invest, they could dispel a lack of ownership felt by their contracted staff, which is often portrayed in the poor quality of service and standard of their work. Their staff

have no corporate identity and they possess no thought or desire to rectify this.

It is unlikely that the guidelines surrounding this type of employment will change, and no doubt it will remain difficult to enforce with IR35 friendly contracts being used to reinforce the ‘self employed’ status of staff.

We will continue to do what we see as the right thing, to invest in our people and encourage them to develop within the industry. We can only hope that clients see the advantages of a directly employed workforce, which is something that we all should be shouting about.

ABOUT PETE JONES After 20 years in the landscape industry working across many sectors, Pete Jones is now creating and maintaining award-winning landscape solutions with LDP Ltd. He is a BALI NCF and BALI South Thames committee member investin time and effort to improve our industry wherever possible.

Twitter: @LandDesignPete

www.ldp.uk.com

Pro Landscaper / January 2017 31

20/12/2016 10:32

INFORM

HOW SAFE IS SAFE?

ANGUS LINDSAY Angus Lindsay considers how reliant we are on technology, especially in our vehicles, and asks whether we’re better off improving our own skills than getting complacent Have you noticed how much technology there is in today’s vehicles? Heads-up display, intuitive audio systems, in-cab cameras, telematics, self-parking, blind spot warning, lane departure, and even autopilot steering systems. The driverless vehicle is closer than we think.

With so much information and safety features available to the driver you would think that accidents and the subsequent aftermath would be a thing of the past. But have we reached the point of over-reliance on technology, where drivers are becoming deskilled and lulled into a false sense of ability? Recent statistics indicate that 97% of all road traffic accidents are due to driver error, and I wonder how many of these are as a result of fiddling with the technology, be it the information system, satnav, or a total belief that the ABS on their car allows them to tailgate at 80mph on the motorway and still stop safely.

We can fit cameras and tracker systems to our vehicles to monitor drivers’ behaviour and be comfortable that the technology will protect our drivers and our business – but just look at how much information is coming in. Do we really have the resources to analyse what it’s telling us to such an extent that we can address the rogue driver before they have an accident? The truth is that much of this information is only used after an incident to analyse what happened, or as a defence against somebody else’s bad driving. It may be that the in-cab camera proves that your driver was at fault and, had you been monitoring their behaviour in the weeks leading up to the incident, could have been prevented.

I’m not criticising technology – personally I think it is a great boost to road safety – but it should be used in conjunction with back to basics driver induction and hands-on driver 32

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TECHNOLOGY SHOULD BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH BACK TO BASICS, HANDS-ON DRIVER TRAINING, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO PUTTING YOUNG DRIVERS IN 3,500KG TRUCKS training, especially when it comes to putting young drivers used to handling small hatchbacks in 3,500kg trucks loaded with kit and five workmates. I do, however, think that some of today’s technology can be enhanced by previous formats, in particular, satnavs. How many of us totally rely on the voice in the box and don’t even think about checking the route on a map or A-Z, which is now stuffed in the door pocket or lost in the bowels of the boot? Ignore these at your peril, as they could save you a lot of embarrassment, as many lorry drivers will attest.

The main causes of accidents on today’s roads are failure to look properly, exceeding the speed limit, and driving too fast for the conditions. I’m sure we’ve all been guilty of at least one of these, but what of the staff we employ to drive our vehicles? There’s no doubt that having a camera or a telematics tracker fitted to vehicles can have a positive effect on driver attitude and reduces the type of behaviour that can lead to accidents.

But beware of complacency from your drivers and from yourself. Technology will give you the information, but if you don’t act on it, it might as well not be there. You may also think that by fitting all of this technology your insurance premiums will reduce, but this is only the case if it is used as part of an overall risk management programme of which effectiveness is borne out by consistently reducing accidents. The basic skill of driving has not changed – technology has made it easier, but beware of falling into a false sense of security.

ABOUT ANGUS LINDSAY Angus spent several years working on arable farms in Scotland before joining VSO in Egypt, implementing a mechanisation programme, managing field operations for a commercial cotton plantation in Nigeria and working as a contract instructor for Massey Ferguson in Yemen.

He gained an MSc in agricultural engineering and mechanisation management at Silsoe, joining Glendale as machinery manager in 1994 and then in 2009, idverde UK as group head of assets and fleet.

Contact: angus.lindsay@idverde.co.uk

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

20/12/2016 08:45

INFORM

THE LANDSCAPE INSTITUTE AWARDS ADAM WHITE

Landscape architect Adam White looks back at the Landscape Institute Awards 2016 and shares some of the highlights For the fourth year running, I was pleased to be invited back to co-host the Landscape Institute’s National Awards ceremony in London.

Following in the footsteps of Wayne Hemmingway, Majora Carter and Dame Fiona Reynolds I was joined on the stage by my co-host for the day, TV presenter and author Simon Reeve.

Simon began the day by giving an insight into his career and how he went from failed white van driver to global adventurer and a New York Times bestselling author. Simon has travelled to more than 110 countries making multiple award-winning TV series for the BBC. He has received a One World Broadcasting Trust Award for ‘an outstanding contribution to greater world understanding’.

In a refreshing change to previous awards, Simon was joined on stage by landscape architect Romy Rowlings. Romy fired a selection of questions from the audience to Simon in true TV chat show style. He talked about his love for the wild natural landscapes of Devon and his admiration for an American charity he recently discovered on his travels called KaBoom!

KaBoom works to bring active play into the daily lives of all children, particularly those growing up in poverty.

We then moved onto the awards ceremony

The Nene Park Trust winning Client of the Year

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proper. Hats off to The Paul Hogarth Company who won a Highly Commended Award for The Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland’s first long-distance driving route developed to present the dramatic landscapes from north Donegal to west Cork as one marketable destination. It leads visitors through some of the world’s most spectacular coastal landscapes that have inspired their own particular language, literature, art, song and dance.

In one of the most hotly contested categories (Design for a Small Scale Development) BCA Landscape picked up the top award for the Rotunda Community Campus.

On a piece of semi-derelict brownfield land, a new campus has been designed that improves community links, enables wheelchair access and incorporates a kitchen garden to link with the college’s cafe, while also promoting growing and eating fresh fruit and vegetables.

I was delighted to be able to welcome one of my practice’s very own clients onto the stage when they won Client of the Year. I have the first-hand experience of how The Nene Park Trust understands and values quality design and genuine engagement. I have worked with them for five years on a number of different projects and they were a deserving winner of this category. The judges said: “The obvious trust and enthusiasm the client has placed in the landscape architect’s hands is refreshing and commendable.”

Scooping this year’s President’s Award, was TACP Landscape Architects for its Green Infrastructure Action Plan for Pollinators in South East Wales. Landscape Institute President Merrick Denton-Thompson said: “For me what was so exciting about the project is that it went from a national policy down to local delivery; through collaboration with a number of local authorities and professions.”

To present the College of Fellows Award I was joined on stage by Paj Valley, a fellow

Ferry Meadows Country Park was an award winner

Fellow of the Landscape Institute. I was delighted to see this award go to my old employers, the environmental charity Groundwork London for their LIFE+ Climate Proofing Social Housing Landscapes project.

This project, which was also Highly Commended in the Adding Value through Landscape category, has delivered low-cost retrofit of climate change adaptation measures across three social housing estates in the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham. Energetic engagement with the residents has succeeded in converting initial widespread scepticism into enthusiastic understanding and support.

All the award-winning projects are currently on display to the public until the end of the year at The Building Centre, Store Street, London.

Alternatively, a full list of the winners can be found at: www.landscapeinstitute.org/ awards/2016-li-awards ABOUT ADAM WHITE FLI Adam White FLI is a director at Davies White Ltd, a multi award-winning chartered landscape architects’ practice in Kingston upon Thames. He is the youngest landscape architect to be made a fellow of the Landscape Institute and an RHS Gold Medal and BBC People’s Choice Award winner.

Twitter: @davies_white www.davieswhite.co.uk

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20/12/2016 10:23

INFORM

Doing more

WITH LESS

Pro Landscaper finds out from Sunderland City Council how it makes the most of its parks and green spaces during a time of austerity

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underland City Council is a unitary authority located on the northeast coast of the UK, between County Durham and Tyneside. It covers an area of around 53 square miles, comprising a historically industrial cityscape and coal mining villages, as well as a seaside resort.

Despite its prominently industrial past, however, Sunderland also has a proud heritage of public parks, spaces which serve a population of just under 280,000. It currently houses a collection of 27 managed areas, including traditional Victorian and Edwardian promenade parks, numerous sports pavilions and pitches, and maintained footpaths and cycling routes.

It also has a parks department doing a great job swimming against the tide of austerity, in its quest to give the city’s inhabitants green spaces they can continue to be proud of.

Open cast coal mine Colin Curtis is the assistant head of place management, Citywide Services, for Sunderland City Council. Pro Landscaper asked Colin for some background on the history of Sunderland’s parks, some of which date back to the 19th century.

“Many of the city’s traditional Victorian and Edwardian era parks were bequeathed by wealthy industrialists,” he said. “The aim of that was purely philanthropic. They wanted to provide public spaces for their employees to enjoy some rest and relaxation, and ultimately escape from the often harsh environments in which they worked.

“A lot of the modern parks and open spaces you see now were actually created on former coal mining spoil sites and mineral railways. As those industries declined and closed, they found a new use for those areas, which has obviously been beneficial to the city’s residents.”

These ‘reconstituted’ sites include Herrington Country Park, which was developed in the location of a former open cast coal mine, and Barnes Park in the city centre which is a traditional park, recently regenerated with the help of £5m from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

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INFORM WE HAVE A WATCHING BRIEF AROUND DIFFERENT LOCALITIES, WITH TEAMS ENGAGING WITH COMMUNITIES AND FINDING OUT WHAT THEY WANT

These two parks serve both the city itself as well as the wider area, providing spaces for walking and horse riding, as well as fun fairs, concerts, steam rallies and even open air cinema.

Herrington also features a contemporary play area, designed around something called the Lambton Worm, a local myth centring on a nobleman’s battle with a dragon.

Pro Landscaper asked about the strategy when it comes to crewing across the city.

“We have something in the city called our Local Services teams,” he says. “They’re multi-disciplined and provide specific responses to particular locations and communities around Sunderland.

“Out of that team, we retain a small number of specially trained people to lead on looking after the parks. There’s in the region of about 20 of those citywide, taken from a workforce of around 132.”

According to Colin, the council has also developed something of a symbiotic relationship with Gentoo, which is Sunderland’s social housing landlord and former council housing department.

He says: “We pay them to cut the grass on highway verges adjacent to their own land at the same time as they are cutting their own grass.

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That helps to minimise cost, something which is incredibly important in the current economic climate.”

Interesting structure Of all the local authorities covered so far in this series, only Sunderland doesn’t employ what you might consider a stand-alone team to look after its parks and green spaces. With that in mind, we asked Colin to go into the organisational structure, which is quite unusual, in more detail.

“Streetscene Responsive Local Services was formed in 2011 as part of the Council’s Community Leadership Programme which saw elected members having greater involvement in tailoring services to meet local need,” he says. “It operates under a single senior management team, rather than the separate management regimes that existed previously.”

So there’s no overall parks management at all?

“There is, in the form of an assistant head of place management services. The structure has been incredibly beneficial because of the local nature of the place management teams. Communities can now shape the type of horticultural provision they want in their own areas.”

He continues: “The small parks strategic team leads on the development of capital

improvements of larger strategic city parks, as well as pursuing funding bids, and making sure green flags are retained. They’ve been very successful at that.”

He is the Walrus As mentioned, the city of Sunderland boasts numerous green spaces maintained according to a variety of different models. Arguably the main destination, however, is Mowbray Park and Winter Gardens in the city centre, a Victorian formal garden which benefitted from an £8m investment and regeneration just over 15 years ago.

Opened in 1857, and originally known as the People’s Park, Mowbray is central to the life of the city, providing (now as then) a measure of respite from the hectic nature of daily life.

It’s also integral to Sunderland’s cultural identity, housing both the city centre museum and various monuments commemorating important aspects of its history. These include statues of local hero Jack Crawford, as well as 1 Water feature at Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens 2 Mowbray Park 3 The bronze walrus in Mowbray Park 4 Mowbray Park Lake 5 Giant chess pieces in Mowbray Park

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INFORM

an effigy of the Walrus from the poem The Walrus and the Carpenter, whose author Lewis Carroll was a frequent visitor to the northeast.

Clearly, sizeable investment has made a huge difference in parks such as Mowbray, as well as Herrington and Barnes. But what of less visible areas? What’s the strategy in terms of landscaping and planting up in other places around the city?

According to Colin, once again, investment and planning all comes down to local need. He

WITH PUBLIC MONEY POTENTIALLY GETTING SCARCER IN THE COMING YEARS, IT’S DIFFICULT NOT TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT LOCAL AUTHORITY PARK OFFERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY said: “We have a watching brief around different localities, with teams engaging with communities and finding out what they want. We involve friends of parks and other community groups, as well as businesses, which are also a source of potential external funding.

“In terms of conventional planting beds, I have to say we’re scaling back, but that’s actually given teams the opportunity to experiment with sustainable, low maintenance, year round solutions. We have introduced this in the city centre, and at the seafront, both of which have won awards, and on roundabouts.”

He continues: “Going back to the subject of the more high profile locations, the principal landscape architect dictates all the specific planting requirements for the bigger projects.

For instance, his team led the design of the recent seafront promenade regeneration scheme, which featured grass species appropriate to the coastal setting.”

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Council currently runs an annual growing programme using its own nursery. According to Colin, however, this is under review with a cost-saving expansion into the commercial sector under consideration.

Future days At the beginning of this article, we stated that Sunderland City Council is having to deliver more (or at the very least, the same) level of service with ever fewer resources.

This is evident in 2011’s crewing restructure, as well as the authority’s current attitude towards the supply and deployment of bedding plants. Boiling down to specific figures, according to Colin, services in scope of Local Services have seen revenue budgets reduce by £4.8m since 2010.

Pro Landscaper has no opinion about the government’s ongoing austerity project, which has imposed such constrained financial conditions on publically funded organisations across the UK. The important question is how good is the service now, and what will it look like in the future?

Colin says: “We’ve actually had great results over the past five years, despite the savings that we’ve had to find. A key part of that probably lies in our involvement with the Northumbria in Bloom competition, which again gives us the opportunity to work with community groups and ensure we provide the best offer. We have also retained Green Flag status at seven locations across the city. It’s all about good organisation and making the most of what you’ve got, at the end of the day.”

The truth of this is borne out by Sunderland City Council’s success in the National Britain in Bloom large city category in 2014. It’s also apparent in the amount of joy the council’s had with external funding, particularly through organisations such as the HLF. “Successfully applying for new HLF funding is dependent on evidence that the project is sustainable as well as of high quality. We’ve been

successful, at least in part, due to our commitment to maintaining that high standard,” says Colin.

Decades-old commitment The real measure of success, of course, is approval from the public itself, as well as how much use they get out of the facilities. This, according to Colin, has remained at a good level, primarily because of the council’s ‘use orientated’ approach to managing its green spaces.

Speaking of how parks have become essential to the happiness of the population as a whole – and integral to the council’s cost-saving strategy more broadly – he said: “We’ve really used our parks and green spaces to obtain maximum benefit from them as assets. They’re now central to the health agenda, which is an area where we feel we need to contribute and take up the shortfall in health service funding. In conjunction with our colleagues in the Sport and Wellness service we have introduced numerous way marked walking, cycling and running routes of varying distances across the city.

“We also help with the economic life of the city, drawing in visitors from the wider region with events such as the annual international air show, and the Sunderland winter illuminations in Roker Park and the seafront.”

The city of Sunderland has had a decades-old tradition of providing high quality parks and green spaces for its residents to enjoy. It’s currently following through on that commitment, finding new methods of planting, design, staff deployment and so on, in order to maximise its ever dwindling resources. With public money potentially getting scarcer in the coming years, it’s difficult not to be concerned about local authority park offers across the country. At the same time, we can’t wait to see the other innovations that develop out of this time of austerity.

1 Herrington Country Park 2 Barnes Park 3 Barnes Park www.prolandscapermagazine.com

21/12/2016 10:40

BLUE TULIP GARDEN DESIGN

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Updating a front garden with bold shapes

OLD MEETS NEW GUSTAFSON PORTER

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Blending a new London development into its historic surroundings

SITTING PRETTY ARTSCAPE DESIGN & BUILD

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Using planting to highlight a garden’s best features

BLOCK PARTY CLS LANDSCAPE & EARTHWORKS

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Transforming a university campus with granite paving

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G T N O FR

N E D R A

PORTFOLIO

AHEAD OF THE CURVE BLUE TULIP GARDEN DESIGN A strong geometric design gives this large front garden a bold update

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he client was keen to give her rather large but uninspiring front garden a bit of ‘wow’ factor. From her point of view, this was the outdoor area that she saw every day as she came to and from work, and she was willing to spend a decent sum of money on creating a space to be proud of and which made the most of its ample size.

The original garden was mainly laid to lawn, planted around the edges with a few woody shrubs and dominated by a large evergreen tree which, although giving structure to the garden, blocked the views around the space.

The brief The design brief was quite simple: to create an attractive space that enhanced the contemporary style of the 1950s house. Fortunately there was sufficient hard landscaping to accommodate two or three vehicles, so the soft landscaping didn’t need to be reduced in size, which is so often the case with front gardens.

Blue Tulip Design was given free reign to decide whether the lawn was reduced or removed entirely and as it wasn’t required it was the first thing to go,

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PROJECT DETAILS Project value Build cost £10,500 Plants £2,000 Build time Design process: June 2013 to August 2013 Construction/planting: October 2013 Size of project 95m2 (+ 89m2 driveway)

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allowing for swathes of planting that would become the main component of the garden.As the actual driveway surface wasn’t going to be touched, the area to work within could not be changed, so the major challenge was to create a design that worked in such an awkward space.

The design Taking a bold approach, a strong geometrical design was imposed that linked the main body of planting with the narrow bed of planting at the opposite side of the drive. A ‘sun’ like structure was settled upon with curved lines of planting, gravel and granite stone setts sweeping out from a central stone circle. A large granite stone ball was sat in the central point, which gives a pleasing focal point amongst the soft grasses and perennials.

The granite setts and gravel give structure to the space and allow access amongst the plants for maintenance. The plant palette included the grasses Anemanthele lessioniana, Molinia ‘Transparent, Carex comans ‘Frosted Curls’ interspersed with perennials Heuchera 1 The original concept illustrates the bold new layout 2 The view that greets the client as she approaches the house 3 A magnificent granite sphere provides the main focus 4 Existing planting did nothing to enhance the house 5 The landscape team ensured the build went to plan 6 The client was happy to lose the lawn 7 Granite setts and gravel are laid in bold swathes amongst the planting

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‘Obsidian’, Geum ‘Mrs J Bradshaw’, Salvia nemerosa ‘Caradonna’ and Echinacea ‘White Swan’.

Construction and planting went smoothly, helped by the expert and considerate approach taken by the landscape team. The client was thrilled with her new garden and said that it was the envy of her street.

ABOUT BLUE TULIP GARDEN DESIGN Blue Tulip Garden Design in Wilmslow works across Cheshire and the North West, with a varied portfolio of completed projects of all sizes and styles. Louise HarrisonHolland, an experienced and professional designer, creates beautiful gardens perfectly integrated with your home. Our total design and installation service means you can nd everythin in one place; all tailored to your own requirements. www.bluetulipgardendesign.co.uk

REFERENCES Garden design Blue Tulip Garden Design

7 Holly Road North, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 1LX 01625 524877 www.bluetulipgardendesign.co.uk Silver granite setts Natural Paving

0845 0721150 www.naturalpaving.co.uk Flint gravel CED Ltd

01773 769916 www.ced.ltd.uk

BEFORE/DURING

Stone Ball (90cm bush-hammered natural granite sphere) Stone World

01844 279274 www.stoneworld.co.uk Plants Ladybrook Nursery

0161 4408060 www.ladybrooknursery.com Lighting (Domo spreadlights) Lighting for Gardens

01462 486777 www.lightingforgardens.co.uk Construction Greenbelt Landscapes

www.greenbeltlandscapes.co.uk

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OLD MEETS NEW GUSTAFSON PORTER + BOWMAN London’s New Ludgate development successfully softens the edge between public realm and private project

PROJECT DETAILS Project value £2m Build time March 15 to June 16 Size of project 7,000m2

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he City of London is dominated by tight urban areas with a poor interface between the streetscape and commercial sites. This is particularly visible in terms of paving, where York stone often ends abruptly when meeting more contemporary paving used on commercial schemes.

New Ludgate sits in the heart of this urban fabric, surrounded by three main roads and pedestrian traffic from nearby transport links at City Thameslink and London Blackfriars. An opportunity to redevelop the site allowed Gustafson Porter + Bowman to create a space for the public to enjoy. Recognising the context rather than ignoring it enhances the project’s sense of scale and softens the edge between public realm and private development.

The brief The brief for New Ludgate was to unite two distinct commercial office buildings by reintroducing a historic existing alleyway and incorporating a new public groundlevel piazzetta, while additionally developing a south-facing roof terrace on the development’s fifth floor. The piazetta seeks to www.prolandscapermagazine.com

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tie the new development seamlessly into the surrounding urban fabric and character.

The design The design draws on the history and context of the site, recalling similar hidden passageways in London, and opens a new additional west-east pedestrian route through the urban block. On the development’s fifth floor, Gustafson Porter + Bowman developed a large south-facing roof terrace for office workers, which benefits from day-long sunlight. The aim was to create a boundary between the natural oasis of the roof terrace and its urban context without creating the feeling of being ‘in a fishbowl’ and overlooked by adjacent buildings. Comprised of dense planting arranged in colourful bands of perennial plants, ornamental grasses and evergreen structural planting, this screen grounds the user to their own context rather than being exposed by ‘the big view’.

large ‘super-block’ developments cut across ancient thoroughfares and reduced the number of alleyways.

The New Ludgate development responds to the City Corporation’s ambitions to reintroduce these lost routes which are now of great value to the working population, allowing for breakout spaces from offices amongst cafes and shops. Today, this is once again a place to pause within a frenetic environment.

Site history The site was once occupied by the Bell Savage Inn, a public house and coaching inn, and ‘Lud Gate’, which provided access to a prison. Both were accessed by passageways.

In the second half of the 20th century the old medieval layout of the city was disintegrating as

Piazetta concept A small piazzetta on Old Bailey marks the entrance to a west-east passageway which links Old Bailey to Limeburner Lane and makes a transition from the traditional pavement of York stone to dark granite.

Design development led to a bold

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geometric paving pattern which takes inspiration from fashion designer Alexander McQueen and the 20th century artist MC Escher.

Gustafson Porter + Bowman’s design team was certain from the outset that it did not want to use a standard piece of paving on the scheme, and through lengthy design iterations developed a set of nine mosaic pieces which give a crafted and unique quality to the space.

3D development allowed for accurate stone cutting, reducing wastage on site, and improving quality control of the installation.

Piazetta design The design began with Neil Porter’s handdrawn sketches and through subsequent modelling culminated in precision cutting of the stone, requiring close contact and 1 Photo of fifth-floor roof terrace looking west 2 Complete aerial plan of New Ludgate showing fifth-floor roof terrace and piazetta 3 A set of nine mosaic pieces give a crafted quality 4 Planting with St Paul’s Cathedral in background 5 A small piazzetta on Old Bailey marks the west-east passageway entrance 6 The considered positioning of street furniture and trees increases the sense of space

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collaboration with the wider construction team.

The seemingly random geometric paving leads pedestrians to a focal point at the centre of the piazza, marked by a mature Liriodendron tulipifera and surrounded by integrated solid granite seating, itself a subtle extension of the paving pattern.

The complex existing street levels required Gustafson Porter + Bowman to undertake complex 3D reviews to tie the new development into the surrounding streetscapes and road levels.

The considered positioning of street furniture and trees in the piazza increases the sense of space and creates a vibrant new meeting and gathering place in the city.

Roof terrace concept New Ludgate sets a standard for terrace gardens throughout London, dominating the view from the upper floors and creating a rich and vibrant place to sit or entertain.

The terrace includes a dense planting scheme which varies in height and corresponds to an understated colour scheme for pockets of the raised flower bed, which is wrapped in a sinuous white Corian bench. Both subtle and sculptural, its form continues to wrap around the very edges of the terrace while its varied height creates ample soil depth. The design of the planting bed allows for two channels which give spectacular views for the building’s users to St Paul’s and the City of London beyond.

Additional green roofs were designed and installed on the top floors of each building, integrated with the photovoltaic strategy on these levels. Gustafson Porter + Bowman’s 3D design files were used by the manufacturer at construction stage which ensured a consistency in the realisation of the design from concept through to installation.

3D PLAN

Roof terrace planting Plants are grouped together according to colour and form. Bands of yellow flowering evergreen Euphorbias contrast with the tall blue flowering spikes of Erynginum, Echinopsis and Aster, while low hummocks of flowering thyme are seen against the towering purple balls of Alliums. All are framed by the plumes of tall grasses.

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1 Ornamental grasses in addition to plants 2 3D modelling showing massing of flower bed and wrapping form 3 Section of fifth-floor roof terrace in relation to building 4 Planting alongside entrance to terrace from the fifth-floor 5 Fifth-floor roof terrace, as viewed from St Paul’s Cathedral 6 Concept rendering for final design 7 Planting detail and distance from building 8 Bold geometric paving takes inspiration from Alexander McQueen and artist MC Escher

REFERENCES Landscape design Gustafson Porter + Bowman

Tel 020 7284 8950 Email enquiries@gp-b.com Web wwww.gp-b.com Plants Coblands

www.coblands.co.uk Deepdale

www.deepdale-trees.co.uk

ABOUT GUSTAFSON PORTER + BOWMAN Gustafson Porter + Bowman is an award-winning landscape architecture practice which has received public acclaim for creating authentically engaging spaces within a global portfolio. The development of our design work has continuously pushed the boundaries o hat constitutes the eld o landscape design and our work is known for its sensual and sculptural features. www.gp-b.com

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Lindum

www.lindumgreenroofs.co.uk Robin Tacchi Plants

www.robintacchiplants.com Van den Berk

www.vdberk.co.uk Stone Gormleys

www.gormley.co.uk Marshalls

www.marshalls.co.uk/commercial/natural-stone

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SITTING PRETTY

ARTSCAPE DESIGN & BUILD This traditional garden makes clever use of planting and seating to show off its best features and views

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he client lives in a ground floor apartment in an executive gated development which has its own gardens and also looks onto communal gardens. The gardens had been laid mainly to paving, lawns, a Photinia hedge, some scruffy plants and a large unsuitable sycamore.

A more interesting garden was requested that was in keeping with the property and could be used for entertaining, relaxing and ensuring that the views of the communal gardens to the east were not obscured.

We started by transplanting the Photinia hedge to the back garden and opening up the views to the communal gardens. The existing terrace outside the kitchen was extended to provide more space and to catch the afternoon sun.

Lawns were removed and cut-outs were created for herbs and informal plants to soften the apartment and provide colour and interest. The existing manholes were either recessed or located within the planting to conceal them.

A small gravel path with stepping stones gave access to a bench. The dining table was offset to the French doors so as not to obstruct the views from the kitchen. In the back garden some of the paving was removed and then planted to soften the house. A bird bath was included opposite the doors with a bench placed against the wall and Box hedging surrounding the paving for structure and height.

Permission was given to remove the sycamore which then provided more light to the rear border.

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PROJECT DETAILS Project value ÂŁ19k Build time Two months Size of project 200sq m

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PORTFOLIO

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1 Haddonstone bench within the existing planting 2 A new herbaceous border created by the lawn 3 Seating area looking onto the communal gardens 4 Herbaceous border separating the dining area from the communal gardens 5 Wire mouse sculpture 6 Thymus planted in the paving 7 Wooden bench overlooking the birdbath

ABOUT ARTSCAPE DESIGN & BUILD Artscape Design & Build Ltd founded in 1979 is a multi-award winning company. Our knowledgeable, experienced and creative team oers a pro essional service to all our clients, project managing your scheme ensuring it is completed to the highest standard. We are passionate about designing, creating landscapes and maintaining gardens. We are based in Berkshire and undertake projects in the Home Counties.

www.art-scape.co.uk

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

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PORTFOLIO A stone seat was located to catch the sun and decorative planting to add colour, interest and to soften the fences.

There was a dead space between the two gardens which was redesigned, keeping the existing block paving but removing the remaining slabs and replacing them with planting.

A beautiful brick wall was softened with low planting and a timber structure linked the house to the boundaries and allowed the Wisteria and other climbers to grow over.

Modern sofas provided a pleasant area to relax. Simple lighting allowed the garden to be used in the evenings and enjoyed from the house.

BEFORE

REFERENCES Garden design Artscape Design & Build

01628 629238 www.art-scape.co.uk Archways Bouchier Fencing

www.bouchierfencing.com Gravel Stoneworld Stone & Slate Supplies

www.stoneworld.co.uk Plants Farnham Common Nurseries

www.fcn.co.uk Turf London Lawn Turf Company

www.londonlawnturf.co.uk Stone seat and bird bath Haddonstone Ltd

www.haddonstone.com Teak bench Alexander Rose Ltd

www.alexander-rose.co.uk Sofas Deco Alfresco

BEFORE 48

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www.decoalfresco.co.uk

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

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BLOCK PARTY

CLS LANDSCAPE & EARTHWORKS Granite paving blocks transform Teesside University’s campus

PORTFOLIO

T

his public realm project joins a long list of schemes undertaken for Teesside University by CLS Landscape & Earthworks on Southfield Road, Middlesbrough. The £1.5m project was part of a wider project to regenerate the university campus and link its north and south sides, including alterations to the existing Southfield Road ‘streetscene’ to create a more welcoming and pedestrian friendly campus heart within the existing university campus.

Design & build This section of Southfield Road has now been completely pedestrianised. The majority of the works were directed by the specification from landscape architect Austin Smith Lord. Works included the installation of new drainage, granite sett and flag paving, new street furniture, street

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PORTFOLIO

PROJECT DETAILS Project value £1.9m Build time Sept 14 to Nov 15 Size of project 5,500sq m

ABOUT CLS LANDSCAPE & EARTHWORKS Building a reputation of excellence since 1968, CLS Landscape & Earthworks is a division of Cleveland Land Services specialising in hard and soft landscaping.

We are proud to have an excellent reputation for providing high quality, professional projects to a wide range of private and public sector clients. www.cleveland-land-services.co.uk

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lighting and ‘gateway’ features at east and west approaches. A new raised lawn was formed along with small areas of soft landscaping and a new tree avenue planted.

Paving & furniture Granite paving blocks were laid in a Bogen design (similar to Florentine). This European style has been used by the landscape architect in several other schemes across the county. The blocks were laid using an ultrascape Pro-Bed which was able to be mixed on-site. Ultrascape Pro-Prime was used to provide the bond

between the paving and the fine bedding mortar and Ultrascape Flowpoint as a rapid setting grout.

Street furniture was fabricated in Corten steel and designed especially for the project. A variety of bench sizes were installed – three, four and six metres. A granite pier which the university logo was engraved into was installed to the entrances at both ends of the pedestrian area.

Planting The tree avenue and pits used a Strata sphere and Strata cell system. Roots were directed into the cells under the plastic pit. Trees were www.prolandscapermagazine.com

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PORTFOLIO

1 The new ‘curve’ building 2 Aerial of the campus heart at night 3 Granite pier entrance engraved with logo 4 The site under construction 5 Main thoroughfare joining north and south sides 6 Transition between the central heart and thoroughfare 7 The newly pedestrianised Southfield Road 8 Granite cobbles in band formation around raised lawn

REFERENCES Landscape construction CLS Landscape & Earthworks

www.cleveland-land-services.co.uk Landscape architect Austin Smith Lord

www.austinsmithlord.com

strapped and ratcheted into the Strata sphere.

The system incorporated breathing pipes and caps at the surface to allow air to ventilate to the root system, while still allowing vehicles to be driven over the strata cells under the paving. The scheme involved several areas of small shrub beds and one large shrub bed beside the student’s union. Roll-on Medallion turf was chosen for the grassed area below the living wall.

Challenges A gas main had to be diverted to allow the tree avenue to be planted. CLS worked closely with www.prolandscapermagazine.com

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British Gas to redirect the supply.

Pedestrian access needed to be maintained throughout the site at all times, which was particularly high during term time. A phased approach was essential, as was site and public safety. CLS also had to accommodate the movement of delivery vehicles to adjacent pubs, restaurants and the student’s union.

The cold weather conditions and bad winter in 2014/15 posed a significant problem that had to be overcome as the Instamac mortar bed could not be used in temperatures below 20°C.

Granite Hardscape

www.hardscape.co.uk Drainage piping and materials James Burrell

www.jamesburrell.com/ Plants Crowders Nurseries

www.crowdersnurseries.co.uk Furniture Streetlife

www.streetlife.nl/en

Pro Landscaper / January 2017 51

20/12/2016 14:34

INSPIRE

WINTER GARDENS Anji Connell offers inventive planting and design ideas for making gardens usable spaces throughout the winter

Large glass conservatories known as winter gardens were popular with European nobility in the 17th to 19th centuries, partly to display magnificent collections of tropical and subtropical plants, but also to provide an extension of their living spaces just as our conservatories, modern glass extensions and garden rooms do today. Nowadays we tend to think of winter gardens as vegetable gardens or spaces in which architectural planting serves as living decoration, but they can be so much more.

form, creating some fantastic sights, especially in low light, sunsets and frost or snowy weather.

When planning a dramatic winter show the first thing I look for is where the sun falls, to check for possible planting sites for the stars of the show, the strongest of which is Cornus. I favour the bright red bark of Cornus alba ‘Sibirica’, as when the sun hits the effect is dazzling.”

Nic continues: “The Acer griseum’s peeling bark looks good on its own, but get the low sun behind it and it lights up. Prunus serula is another top performer, with its polished satin bark, and the common willow, although a thug if Planting left to its own devices, when pollarded produces Nic Savage of Savage Garden Design 2m of elegantly arching stems that gleam in the Cornus alba says: ”I like to make sure there’s sunshine and look beautiful when frosted. something left for the owner to see once Grasses, in particular the effects created by the summer’s showy flowers have died verticality of Calamagrostis acutiflora ‘Karl Acer griseum back. In winter trees and shrubs Foerster’ and the plumes of continue to perform their Miscanthus sinensis, Calamagrostis expressive function in skeletal are stunning.”

Such winter garden plant displays look fantastic when viewed from inside the house, especially from a minimal glass extension that lets you A stepped living wall creates an illusion of enjoy nature year round by space in a townhouse built by Brooklynbased architects Lubrano Ciaverra and maximising the glazing and garden designer Marni Majorelle of Alive blending seamlessly into the Structures. The kitchen glazed doors open to the excavated garden letting in light during garden. Thermally insulated glass

©

n. oe H ‘t rrit Jo

to ho ritp r Jo

Caspar Schols gabled garden shed with movable walls creating different open and closed layouts

means you can soak up every last ray of sunshine by folding back your glazed panels.

Lighting Lighting is a sure-fire way to visually extend a view by illuminating the darkness. “With up to 16 hours of dark in winter, feature lighting is essential. An uplit tree that looks good in summer should look sensational in winter with the light reaching the beautiful tracery of the uppermost branches,” says Nic. “Gardens in the UK are so often a fairweather space, and normally only enjoyed during our short summers and rare warm evenings, but with good lighting they become another ‘room’ that we can enjoy year round,” explains Sian Parsons, senior designer at John Cullen Lighting. “The first step is to draw your eye out into the garden with ceiling recessed or wall mounted spotlights set above glass doors that pool light down onto the floor surface. By repeating internal light sources out past the glass we make the interior and exterior space John Cullen Lighting, spotlights set above glass door

the day and forming a fabulous view at night

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INSPIRE

Outdoor rooms, sheds and coverings Caspar Schols created and built a gabled garden shed for his mother (see left page) with timber and glass as a hobby room and entertaining pavilion. It looks at first like a typical garden shed, however the walls slide in and out on wheels to create different layouts.

Dining and seating areas can be covered for weather protection; consider using living willow and rammed earth with live planting.

AN UPLIT TREE SHOULD LOOK SENSATIONAL IN WINTER WITH THE LIGHT REACHING THE BEAUTIFUL TRACERY OF THE UPPERMOST BRANCHES

Heat Garden designer Claire Merriman says: “Outdoor fireplaces, fire bowls and fire pits have become a lot more popular in recent years. They are great for entertaining on top of keeping warm.” Claire suggests using heated seating: “Leisurequip has beautifully crafted outdoor heated loungers, but the same result could be achieved by building cables into block work and rendering in a similar way to indoor ‘spa seats’.”

Sian agrees: “Creating comfortable seating around fires allows us to get outside in cooler months.” She suggests enhancing this with a cosy floating effect made possible by a linear LED light source under the seating. “The addition of glowing storm lanterns and spiked uplights to the trees, and hanging Starlighters [a light source similar in appearance to a bird feeder], that gently twinkle in soft winds, all create a magical effect. The storm lanterns wash the floor with a gentle glow, creating a lovely evening ambience.”

Larger landscaping Modern-Shed recently transformed a sloping garden into a series of terraced spaces that are used and lit in a variety of ways, and suggests

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Anji Connell.indd 53

© John Cullen Lighting

John Cullen Lighting, uplit box balls

Andy Sturgeon’s Telegraph Garden, RHS Chelsea 2016, with smooth limestone seating set amongst bronze coated steel plates with a fire bowl of hammered bronze, made by James Price

Pools, hot tubs and natural pools Discreetly lit hot tubs, heated swimming pools and natural pools that glow invitingly provide a pleasant way to enjoy winter months, particularly with soft lighting and the additional heat and light from a fire.

There are a great many inventive design and planting ideas to turn gardens into liveable spaces regardless of cold weather, and plenty to take advantage of when seeking to merge the internal home space with the external.

© Charlotte Rowe Garden Design Charlotte Rowe Garden Design transformed a courtyard into a stylish space for entertaining with a fireplace and sunken seating

© Charlotte Rowe Garden Design Charlotte Rowe Garden Design’s ‘chill out’ garden, with orange cushions on benches around brazier

using ground lighting stakes connected to cords that allow you to move them around as the plants grow. The light source they provide is a warm white LED Par lamp that is equivalent to a 75W flood. Ryan Smith advises: “Ideally when you light from the ground you need to point up at something that will catch the light, so by placing a light source at the base of a large tree and shining up the trunk you can highlight its architecture and with the leaves lit up, you will expand the feeling of space at night by creating a canopy of light overhead.”

© Joe Fletcher

feel like one. It’s also important to think about drawing the eye out past the immediate area into the garden to extend the internal space out.

Mary Berenfeld Architecture constructed angular, board-form concrete walls with occasional steel armour slicing their way up the hill to avoid swallowing large swathes of square footage with a conventional stair. Especially stunning at night when the lighting leads you up to its suprise terrace

ABOUT ANJI CONNELL Internationally recognised interior architect and landscape designer Anji Connell is a detail-obsessed Inchbald graduate, and has been collaborating with artisans and craftsmen to create bespoke and unique interiors for a discerning clientele since 1986. Anji is a stylist, feature writer and lover of all things art and design.

www.anjiconnellinteriordesign.com

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INSPIRE

1 2 King’s Cross A contemporary roof terrace with lawn area

INSIDE EUROPLANTERS Europlanters’ managing director John Wilkes spoke to Pro Landscaper about how the company has developed, the products it manufactures, and the large scale projects it has supplied

B

3 4 5 Birmingham Library GRP replicates stainless steel on large roof terrace 54

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ritish manufacturer Europlanters has been supplying planters for over 25 years. The company was founded in 1989 before being taken over by current managing director John Wilkes. At the time, he was the only employee, turning over £55k. This has now increased to over 25 employees and well over £1m in turnover, 21 of which employees are involved in the production process.

The company, based in Cheshire, annually produces around 5,000 glass reinforced plastic (GRP) planters, using over 20t of fibre glass matting a year and around 7,500L of paint. The fibre glass planters are most suited to larger commercial schemes, both interior and exterior, with its smaller containers being sold to consumers via its website and trade clients.

John tells us: “We are recognised more readily for design and build of large podium or roof gardens and not an individual style. We do focus on a contemporary look but manufacture all sorts of different designs to suit a client’s environment.

“Our first and possibly most prestigious project was the new Library of Birmingham where planting beds of ‘tear drops’ were produced in GRP and painted metallic silver.”

The Library of Birmingham, designed by architects Mecanoo, was built in 2013 and cost an estimated £189m. Europlanters was contracted

by Frosts Landscape Construction to produce bespoke GRP teardrop-shaped planters, 5.2m in diameter, to create a mesmerising rooftop garden.

Since completing that project, Europlanters

has been involved in a number of large projects in London at King’s Cross and in the Southwark region using its GRP planters. It was contracted by BAM construction to create 132 separate sections from six different moulds for a rooftop garden as part of property developer Argent’s transformation of King’s Cross, one of the largest developments in central London with 67 acres of site.

Europlanters was brought in to work on two communal outdoor terraces of a prestigious office building, one of 50 new buildings in the development. The project took ten weeks for Europlanters to complete, with the GRP sections produced at its factory being used to build a total of 11 planters with a matte finish, followed by the fitting of a bespoke drainage system.

WE ARE RECOGNISED MORE READILY FOR DESIGN AND BUILD OF LARGE PODIUM OR ROOF GARDENS AND NOT AN INDIVIDUAL STYLE Working with Willerby Landscapes, an astounding 160t of compost was used, 44 bulk bags of hydroleca, 1,800 plants and 42 trees. On top of this, 60m2 of turf was used to create a raised lawn in one of the planters, and a diverse planting scheme was used for the troughs, including strawberry plants.

As well as large projects such as this within the UK, Europlanters also supplies to Ireland and overseas, and in 2014 manufactured a number of www.prolandscapermagazine.com

20/12/2016 12:58

INSPIRE

planters for a large commercial development in Grand Canal Square, Dublin. The 10,000m2 public space is part of Dublin’s South Docklands, and Europlanters was asked by Greenscene Interiors to create giant illuminating planters for a seven-storey office building within the development.

The LED lit triangle-shaped planters, to be used outside the entrance and in the atrium, were finished in a striking red (RAL 3003) to complement other architectural aspects in Grand Canal Square, and took eight weeks to complete, weighing approximately 126kg each.

Europlanters has a number of exciting projects on the horizon as well. John says: “Our largest project at the moment is being installed near Hanover Square, London, on a garden terrace six floors up. The planters here are corten clad GRP, creating units in excess of 11m long, and our floating benches will also be installed to provide seating areas for up to 30 people.”

The floating benches John refers to are part of Europlanters’ street furniture offering, with wooden

8 9 10 LeSoCo, London Railings and seating attached to planters for safety and comfort

seating bound to the sides of a planter. “We supply various types of seating and benches, often attached to a large planting bed, and will continue to bring out new designs and ideas for outdoor living. We also supply various landscape related products to aid planting out raised planters.”

One of the most recent projects completed by Europlanters in which these floating benches were used was worth in excess of £80k. Working with TC Landscapes and the main contractor Balfour Beatty, the company supplied planters for two rooftop terraces on levels two and six of the new Lewisham Southwark College campus in Waterloo.

The terraces are part of the £40m project to create state of the art facilities for the college, and the terraces featuring Europlanters’ products offer views of some of London’s landmarks, including the London Eye and St Paul’s Cathedral.

All of the planters used were GRP and sprayed in a matte dark grey (RAL 7021) finish, with a guarantee of ten years. The long planter along the

edge of the terrace was made from 1000mm units, all 800mm high, and the hand safety rail attached manufactured from galvanised steel before being powder coated to match the planters. The hardwood seats creating the floating benches were Sapele planks ‘floating’ on stainless steel cantilever brackets bonded in to the GRP planters, with the hardwood being lacquered to protect it and give it a lustrous look.

With already a vast range of products from planters to street furniture, what else can we expect to see from Europlanters in the upcoming months? “Without giving too much away, we are working on designs of integral planters and seating aimed at clients with minimal space. These products can be used both commercially and for private gardens and terraces.”

We look forward to seeing the next offering from Europlanters and following the inspirational projects it is bound to be involved in in the future.

CONTACT

6 7 Grand Canal Square, Dublin Large, modern street furniture

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

Europlanters.indd 55

Europlanters, Unit 11, Chadkirk Business Park, Vale Road, Romiley, Stockport, Cheshire SK6 3NE 0161 426 0207 0161 449 7900 sales@europlanters.com www.europlanters.com Pro Landscaper / January 2017 55

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Bourne Classified Ad.pdf

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HIGH END PLANTERS

INSPIRE

Europlanters

Encompass

RIVET RANGE H105 x W40 x D60cm Material Glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) Price from £99.95

ALMA PLANTER H140 x W50 x D47cm Material Polypropylene Price £400

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Urbis Design CAMELLIA BOWL H66 x D100cm Material Glass-reinforced on rete verdigris finish Price £879

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Oxford Planters Ltd THE ORIEL AND OBELISK H182 x W60cm Material Accova Price from £1,410

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21/12/2016 11:36

JANINE PATTISON

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Tackling the planting for an exposed coastal site

ORANGE REVOLUTION JAMIE BUTTERWORTH

66

Replace off-trend pastels with bold oranges in planting, says Jamie Butterworth

BIG IN JAPAN NOEL KINGSBURY

68

Noel Kingsbury explains why the Japanese garden is so much more than its clichés

GOING NATIVE ANDY MCINDOE

69

Andy McIndoe considers the long-standing tradition of the British native shrub

NURTURE

DESIGNER PLANTS

PLUS...

72 NURTURE cover.indd 59

NURSERY REPORT (P62) IAN DRUMMOND (P67) JACKIE HERALD (P71) NURSERY FACTFILE (P72) WEED CONTROL (P73)

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73 21/12/2016 10:46

01428 741655

Pleaching Topiary Hedging Specimen Trees & Shrubs Tel: 01428 741655

WHOLESALE CATALOGUE 2016/2017

Call for our 2016/2017 Wholesale Catalogue or to visit the nursery

Supplier of plants to prestigious and award winning landscapes A Market Leading, Award Winning Landscape Solution www.crowdersnurseries.co.uk | enquiries@crowders.co.uk | 01507 525000 |

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20/12/2016 16:35

NURTURE

NURTURE NEWS New website design for Laurica Plants

Stark & Greensmith Jade Goto joins forces with launches new air Provender Nurseries plant display

Stark & Greensmith, which produces laser cut architectural fence panels and garden screens for domestic and commercial use, has teamed up with Provender Nurseries at the Landscape Centre in Swanley, Kent.

The award winning British product design studio has installed a 12m long permanent display of its laser cut panels within Provender’s Display Glasshouse, for trade and retail customers to visit and understand the visual impact of the screens in a physical setting.

The full range of Stark & Greensmith’s products is now on sale at Provender Nurseries. The partnership was announced at a recent launch attended by garden designers and landscapers who praised the product’s strong aesthetic.

Creative director and founder Martine Le Gassick commented: “The chance to work with Provender Nurseries is a wonderful opportunity for us. Its offering to the landscape design and construction industries is excellent – we’re delighted to have our panels so prominently on display with them, and to have them as our first UK stockist.” www.provendernurseries.co.uk www.prolandscapermagazine.com

Nursery News.indd 61

In keeping with the latest interior trends of indoor gardening, a stylish and contemporary new air plant display has been launched.

The Airbox has been designed by award winning landscape architect Jade Goto, who has created cutting edge gardens for RHS flower shows. Jade developed the Airbox design as a greening solution for urban dwellers with limited or no outside space. The low maintenance yet high aesthetic value of air plants (Tillandsia) made them the perfect candidates to design a space for.

Tillandsia are unusual in that they grow without soil, obtaining all of the nutrients they need from their immediate environment.

The Airbox is handmade in Brighton from Perspex and as each box is made to order there is the option of bespoke colours.

Jade commented: “This is our first product launch, but the feedback from both the horticultural and design community has been fantastic. We are hoping that we have designed a product that makes indoor gardening accessible to people of all abilities whilst providing a beautiful piece of design for the home.” www.airbox.shop

Mobilane announces key appointment Mobilane, a leading supplier of living systems for exterior and interior use, has appointed Eloise Littlejohn to the role of key account development manager for the UK. Eloise will have responsibility for client management and developing new business and brings 10 years of experience at Ambius (part of Rentokil Initial plc).

In her new role at Mobilane, Eloise will be responsible for existing client account management

and relationship building, as well as making sure that they know about the entire Mobilane product range.

She will also deliver CPD training for architects to enable them to specify products and systems, as well as looking for new distributors, installers and partners.

Commenting on her new role, Eloise said: “I want Mobilane customers to see me as somebody who can help them, and who can deliver excellent customer service.” www.mobilane.co.uk

Laurel grower Laurica Plants has redesigned its company website to make it easier for clients to use.

The company, based in Jabbeke near Bruges, has decided to update its website for wholesalers, buyers for garden centres, and those in the landscaping sector to be able to easily access what they are looking for along with relevant advice and more information about the company itself.

Director Marian Maenhoudt said: “We wanted a new website with plenty of pictures and a good structure, so people don’t have to search too long to find what they’re looking for. For the professional designer and plant buyer, we have made this clearer so that they can choose their own requirements.” www.laurica.be

SEND US YOUR

NURTURE NEWS! editor@pro-landscaper.co.uk

01903 777 570

Pro Landscaper / January 2017 61

20/12/2016 13:02

NURTURE

MARKET REPORT: WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE

NURSERY INDUSTRY? The nursery industry has some key challenges ahead, what with the uncertainty surrounding Brexit. Pro Landscaper spoke to a range of nurseries about biosecurity, tight margins and what they think the future looks like

WHAT

MAIN CHALLENGES DO YOU CURRENTLY FACE?

HOW HAVE YOU DEALT WITH

INCREASING COSTS? One of the biggest challenges that nurseries are facing as we head into the new year is finding a way to increase their margins. For a long time prices have been stagnant in the market, a fact that is not sustainable in a time of cost increases across the board.

Adam Dunnett, sales and marketing director at Wyevale Nurseries, explained why a minimal price rise has been a concern: “There are certain pressures with the introduction of the National Living Wage and increases in the cost of general raw material. Nursery prices have not risen to reflect these additional outlays, meaning margins have either dropped or remained level, making growth difficult.”

There is no argument from Robin Wallis of Hortus Loci: “I’ve got lists going back to the Nineties showing that since then plants have only gone up in price by 10-20%. The price of everything that a nursery needs appears to have doubled or tripled in that time – composts, plastics, water and insurance have gone up dramatically.”

So why haven’t nurseries raised their prices in line with their costs?

“There are still people out there selling 2L shrubs for £1.” Robin explained. “They’re not doing anybody any favours to be honest.

Pricing is killing things like buyer security.”

Adam believes there needs to be more focus on quality, arguing that some suppliers may opt to sacrifice this to offer plants at cheap prices.

“The fact is customers are not policing the stock they receive efficiently enough, which allows some suppliers to get away with it.”

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A problem that Nick Coslett of Palmstead has encountered is that in some instances the end user of the nursery’s products is not technically knowledgeable about a living product, which can lead to confusion over expectations. “Some plants, such as trees, can take seven to 10 years to grow. People are not always willing to wait for things to get bigger, they want a fully sized mature tree straight away.” This creates the problem of nurseries having to second guess which plants to grow years in advance before they can see a return on their investment. If at the end of this time a tree fails to sell, the money spent growing and nurturing it has been lost.

So how do nurseries need to develop in order to solve this problem?

“I think we need to help those buying plants more. People are looking for more and more guidance on the plants and we need to provide this,” explained Nick.

With that information, what exactly can nurseries do to make such knowledge available to their customers? “We are trying to provide more information through our website and we have also started running small courses. We had a bulb planting demonstration day recently where we had a planting machine in, and a mixed group including designers and local authority contractors to watch the process. There is a thirst for knowledge and we need to continue developing packages which provide that.” The courses on offer aim to provide information to those who use the nurseries which in turn can be passed on to clients, helping everyone to gain a better understanding of the role nurseries play and what to expect from their plants. www.prolandscapermagazine.com

21/12/2016 10:28

NURTURE

THE UK NURSERY INDUSTRY NEEDS TO FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE TO CONTINUE GOING FORWARD. INVESTMENT AND COOPERATION ARE NEEDED

ARE CURRENT UK

BIOSECURITY

EFFORTS SUFFICIENT? Bringing in plants from around Europe is a central part of many nurseries’ business – some plants are simply quicker and easier to grow in and import from other countries. Of the nurseries we spoke to, the amount of produce they currently import ranged from 10% to 50% of their overall stock.

The uncertainty surrounding the impact of Brexit, and the depreciation of the British pound against the euro, has made importing plants more expensive, as Phillip Rusted of Practical Plants explained: “I import stock for quality, the range available, ease of service and price. I aim to have 50% of my stock imported, although the effects of Brexit may lead to the figure of UK stock being nearer 75%.”

Another issue discussed was the current biosecurity measures in place, such as the plant passport system, to try and minimise the risk of bringing in diseases from the continent. The current system means that plants entering England which could carry diseases have to be awarded the passport to be allowed into the country. Nick Coslett, however, does not believe the current measures are sufficient: “While our plant health system is more robust than some other European states, I still don’t think it is going to stop diseases coming in. To meet our long term growth aspirations we will have to increase importation, but we also have to ensure that we are keeping the plant health issue under control.”

The reason biosecurity is such a threat is due to the number of diseases that have been spread around Europe in recent times, such as Xylella fastidiosa and ash dieback. Wyevale Nurseries has been severely affected by the latter, having to destroy over 200k ash trees in the past few years.

However, a major positive has been that MEP Anthea McIntyre has had a report approved in a plenary session of the European Parliament in November, calling for all EU countries to work together to address plant disease. The report, which must be transposed within 36 months, calls for all countries to complete a survey list of all quarantined pests to bring all countries up to the same standard of inspection. The MEP has also warned UK government not to ignore the issue as part of talks surrounding Brexit.

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Nursery Report.indd 63

HOW DO YOU SEE THE

INDUSTRY’S FUTURE DEVELOPING?

We asked nurseries what they felt was going to be the biggest change going into the future. Adam is excited by demand for new species: “In the last two years, we have started to see the landscape amenity market open its eyes to more exciting ranges. There are a lot of positive indicators for the industry, house building is on the up and we’re seeing more commercial projects being taken on.” An increase in these type of ventures is beneficial for UK nurseries as it will lead to an increase in the demand for their shrubs.

However, there are still obstacles for the market to overcome, as Robin said: “The industry is distilling, and you have to be a certain size to survive. It is the small specialist nurseries growing interesting plants that the industry needs to support.”

Phillip Rusted believes that more specialisation is needed for the industry to thrive again: “The UK nursery industry needs to fundamentally change to continue going forward. Investment is needed in nurseries and cooperation is needed for these businesses to continue. It’s no good looking back to the ‘good old days’. Nurseries need to specialise in reduced species quantities and grow what they are good at growing. Working together with other nurseries, or traders such as myself, will offer them routes to market and ensure that we maintain an industry which is very close to my heart.”

Looking ahead, there is plenty to be positive about in the nursery industry. The government has begun to discuss biosecurity and nurseries have noticed a change in the demand for different ranges of shrubs, allowing them to increase margins. Although some changes may be needed, the challenges have been identified and plans are being put in place to keep nurseries thriving.

THERE IS A THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE AND WE NEED TO CONTINUE DEVELOPING PACKAGES WHICH PROVIDE THAT

Pro Landscaper / January 2017 63

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20/12/2016 16:43

NURTURE

Aster and salvia provide late season colour

Echinops and verbena create a long lasting display

Verbena bonariensis creates a see-through veil

Golden rudbeckia and verbena work well together

Designer PLANTS How Janine Pattison tackled the planting for an exposed coastal site

The challenges we faced when designing the planting for this coastal garden in Dorset were many. The harsh effects of wind, salt and sand combined to create very tough conditions for the plants. There are positives around gardening next to the sea, though, including reduced chance of frost, generally warmer temperatures and higher levels of sunshine.

Wind is one of the most destructive elements to a coastal garden – creating shelter is a priority.

We used trees, hedging, fencing and evergreen shrubs to help filter the wind.

Wind can strip plants of moisture, causing drought stress through desiccation. If the plant is losing more moisture from its leaves than it can absorb via its roots the plant will wilt.

Unless the drought stress is remedied by watering, the plant will become vulnerable to pests and diseases or may simply die. Dryness at the root zone is a common problem for coastal plants as the soil is often sandy and free draining and the plant cannot keep up with demand for moisture by its leaves. www.prolandscapermagazine.com

Designer plants.indd 65

This condition can arise at any time, as even in winter when the plant is dormant it may become desiccated. These plants appear to be alive in winter but fail to emerge in the spring. Evergreen shrubs seem to be most vulnerable to this.

The sandy soil is very free draining and warms up quickly in the spring. Water passes through quickly and can leach away nutrients, so fertiliser is required in the growing season. The lack of organic matter in the sandy soil means that it contains few nutrients so the preparation of the ground before planting is critical.

In the air, salt burns sensitive leaves; in the soil, it competes for available moisture, and in the water, it is toxic to the tissues of all but the most specialised plants. Seawater is around 3% salt and a solution of half that is fatal to most ordinary plants. An irrigation system was installed with a mixture of sprinklers to help wash salt off the foliage, and drip line to get moisture down into the root zone.

The sea air is not all bad, though. Salt has antiseptic qualities and it is believed the saltladen air found on the coast can have a positive effect on reducing fungal growth on plants.

The planting scheme was designed to be low maintenance with tough plants able to tolerate the conditions.

Plant list

• Achillea ‘Terracotta’ • Agapanthus africanus • Agastache ‘Blackadder’ • Anemone x hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’ • Artemisia arborescens • Aster ericoides ‘White Heather’ • Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ • Carex elata • Convolvulus cneorum • Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora ‘George Davison’ • Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’ • Echinops bannaticus ‘Taplow Blue’ • Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue’ • Eryngium bourgatii and maritimum • Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’ • Hebe ‘Autumn Glory’ • Hebe pinguifolia ‘Pagei’ • Helenium ‘Sahin’s Early Flowerer’ • Iris pallida ‘Argentea Variegata’ • Luzula nivea • Monarda ‘Squaw’ • Miscanthus sinensis ‘Yakushima Dwarf’ • Panicum virgatum ‘Heavy Metal’ • Pennisetum villosum • Pittosporum tobira • Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’ • Sarcococca confusa • Verbena bonariensis ‘Lollipop’ • Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Fascination’ Pro Landscaper / January 2017 65

20/12/2016 08:56

NURTURE

L

et’s face it, 2016 wasn’t the best year as they go. From Trump to Brexit and the Great British Bake Off being sold – and who can forget Ed Balls being voted off Strictly? I think it best to draw a line under 2016, and move on swiftly. However, I have good news. Bright colours (in particular orange) are now well and truly back in fashion, and quite rightly so. The soft pastels of 2012 have definitely outstayed their welcome, and we now need an infusion of hot, bright, bold colour to cheer everyone up from the hangover of 2016.

Orange is such a dynamic colour, ranging from fiery to softer tangerine shades, and who doesn’t love a bit of ginger? It’s such a prevailing colour that should definitely be taken advantage of more than it is. Contrast it with a zing of blue for a powerful statement, or mix it with bright yellows and red to produce a riot of colour.

Below is a selection of some of the plants that I believe will help to play a part in this exciting evolution away from safe and repetitive pastels.

Agastache ‘Kudos Mandarin’ Moving away from the more typically used Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’, this is a real curve ball. Boasts a prolific amount of apricot coloured flower spikes from June until September, with the additional bonus of lightly fragranced flowers that are perfect for bees and butterflies.

ORANGE REVOLUTION

©Walters Gardens, Inc.

The trend for soft pastels is behind us – time to light up our planting with bold shades of orange, says Jamie Butterworth

Jamie Butterworth

ease of growing. I think we will be seeing a lot more of this plant in the coming years.

Erysimum ‘Apricot Twist’ I’ve never been a huge fan of wallflowers, but this is probably the one exception. It flowers prolifically from spring right through to the end of summer, with the most vivid orange flowers that are sure to add a real zing to any garden.

Eschscholzia californica I can’t think of a more cheerful plant than the wonderful Californian poppy. A dynamic annual that is sure to add a vigorous boost to any planting, it loves a bit of full sun and good drainage. Best sown directly in the ground from April onwards, and is remarkably easy to grow.

These plants will undoubtedly cheer up any planting scheme, and surely the more exciting colours we can add to our gardens the better.

If we all make a real statement with our planting, making it more colourful, more engaging and a little bit more inspiring, then we can continue to use horticulture as a way of improving and brightening people’s days – after all, that’s what plants are all about.

ABOUT JAMIE BUTTERWORTH

Baptisia ‘Cherries Jubilee’ Probably the most colourful Baptisia available and a fairly new introduction. The flowers open a deep maroon colour and fade to a rusty orange with a dash of yellow through the centre. It was bred for its compact size and 66

Pro Landscaper / January 2017

Jamie Butterworth.indd 66

Graduating from RHS Garden Wisley with a distinction in summer 2015, avid plantsman Jamie now works as show plant manager at Hortus Loci, growing the plants or major o er sho s such as Chelsea, Hampton Court and Tatton. Jamie is a YoungHort associate director and RHS Young Ambassador, promoting horticulture to young people across the UK. Jamie is also a gardening broadcaster for BBC Radio London.

Email: jb@hortusloci.co.uk www.hortusloci.co.uk

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

20/12/2016 10:42

NURTURE

Ian Drummond discusses the benefits of plants in terms of air quality, fatigue and stress reduction and morale boosting effects

N

ow that we have heaved ourselves through the joyful excesses of Christmas, does January find us ready for the challenges of 2017? If not, there are of course an alarming number of ways to get into physical and emotional shape – a journey which typically commences with a challenging detox, before catapulting forward to a healthy eating plan, coinciding with sustained bouts in the gym, or, if you’re lucky, a friendly personal trainer.

Personally, I would like to offer another way, and while it may not have quite the same effect as the traditional routes to fitness, I nonetheless admire its gentle, holistic approach.

This feel-good route to happiness is of course plant based (and doesn’t involve eating them). We have all known for a long time now that being in the presence of plants improves air quality, reduces fatigue and stress, increases concentration, boosts morale and generally adds colour to our lives. But more than this, different plants can be used to boost specific areas of health and happiness.

HEAL THYSELF

Ian Drummond

Air detox Health and beauty fans know all about the benefits of Aloe vera (below left and above right) in cream or gel form, but pop this plant on a sunny window sill and it will also monitor air quality. When there are harmful chemicals in the air it will produce brown spots, while filtering out nasties like formaldehyde and benzene from indoor air. Avoid bathrooms and steamy kitchens as it prefers dry and warm conditions.

Images ©thejoyofplants.co.uk

Back to nature You can feel some of the benefits of a green jungle just by choosing the right indoor plant.

The rubber tree (Ficus elastica), from the ornamental fig family, has large, glossy leaves and will eventually grow to 4m in height. Although it will tolerate a couple of hours of direct morning sunshine, ideally place it somewhere with an abundance of bright but indirect light to appreciate it at its best. Don’t over water, and occasionally wash the leaves with a damp sponge or cloth to keep the foliage shining with health. www.prolandscapermagazine.com

Ian Drummond.indd 67

Eastern health There’s nothing like a nice financial windfall to boost health, happiness and start the year well, so I have to include the jade plant, also known as the money plant, on this list. According to ancient Feng Shui practices, not only is this gorgeous plant thought to shape up your chances of financial success but as long as it’s not overwatered, it will live happily and beautifully for many years.

Cleanse while you sleep It’s a given that plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen during the day, but did you know that the snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata, below), cleans the air while you sleep? Not only does it absorb carbon dioxide, but it also rids the air of other nasties such as formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethylene, xylene and toluene, while giving out reviving oxygen throughout the night. A great plant choice for the bedroom, this striking and statuesque specimen has a range of eye-catching variations and is also tolerant of low and even artificial light.

ABOUT IAN DRUMMOND Ian Drummond is the creative director of Indoor Garden Design, Europe’s leading interior landscape design company. Based in Highgate, north London, IGD has been bringing nature into offices for over 40 years.

www.indoorgardendesign.com

Pro Landscaper / January 2017 67

20/12/2016 08:59

NURTURE

Noel Kingsbury considers the history of the Japanese garden in Britain, and how to move past common clichés

J

apanese gardens have something of a bad reputation in Britain. We have very few good examples, but many clichéd representations; a lantern, some maples, some rocks and there you have it, a Japanese garden. This is a shame, as it’s one of the world’s great design traditions, and has much to teach us.

The reasons for the rather pitiable state of the Japanese garden in Britain are largely historical. There was a fashion for them in the early 20th century and many were built, but often by people with little understanding of the underlying aesthetics. The ‘Japanese garden’ was often a convenient label for a mish-mash of novel garden features, the name giving dignity and an exotic explanation for what might otherwise be seen as a purely idiosyncratic creation.

There are many aspects of the Japanese tradition which are highly relevant to contemporary designed spaces. One is the minimalism, the ability to convey a strong visual message with the smallest amount of physical material possible; part of this is the idea that absence (emptiness) is as important as presence. Such concepts lend themselves to many contemporary architectural environments.

The nature of the materials is, or should be, irrelevant; indeed the exclusion of traditional

BIG IN JAPAN

Noel Kingsbury

materials such as lanterns, bamboo, maples or even rocks, may be seen as desirable, as these now carry such a baggage of associations that they can undermine our perception of the design.

On a recent trip to Japan with a group which included several garden designers, one comment which many people made was about the static nature of the gardens. We were a group sympathetic primarily to biodiverse naturalistic gardens, so we tended to see this as being negative. However, in many corporate

projects, this can be seen as a positive quality.

There are a great many situations where a relatively unchanging design is regarded as desirable or even necessary. I have written here before of what seems like a fashion for rather mindless clipping of shrubby planting in designed landscapes. What is not perhaps understood from the pictures we see of the

THERE ARE ASPECTS OF THE JAPANESE TRADITION WHICH ARE HIGHLY RELEVANT TO CONTEMPORARY DESIGNED SPACES. ONE IS MINIMALISM iconic Japanese gardens, is just how important clipped shrubs are here. So, we potentially have a design methodology for contemporary spaces which includes a carefully thought through approach to informally clipped shrubs.

Actually, what I enjoy most about being in Japan is the way that confined spaces are planted up so creatively. Many commercial projects may involve planting beds only 50cm or so from back to front. The solution here is generally a three-layer woody plant mix: high (>2m) canopy foliage layer, a middle foliage layer filling the gaps between the trunks of the high layer, and a low ground cover layer. A version of this system can often be seen in hedge-type plantings fronting suburban gardens too.

Looking beyond the iconic images and clichés, is vitally important for learning from this most creative of garden cultures.

Left: The garden at the Adachi Museum (near Matsue, Japan) is a striking example of traditional techniques, but applied in the Eighties. It is the kind of planting which designers of corporate landscapes, who need to deliver good looks 365 days of the year, could learn much from

ABOUT NOEL KINGSBURY Noel Kingsbury has been involved in the horticulture industry since the mid Eighties as a nurseryman, garden designer and writer, with features appearing in The Garden, The Daily Telegraph and Gardens Illustrated. He has played a major role in introducing the British gardening public and the horticulture profession to naturalistic planting with a series of books since the mid Nineties, four of which he has written with Dutch designer Piet Oudolf.

www.noelkingsbury.com

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20/12/2016 12:56

NURTURE

Andy McIndoe focuses on the native British shrubs that have long been used for hedging and structure

T

he use of British native shrubs for hedging, structure and the benefit of wildlife rightly continues a strong theme in landscape planting. Most are excellent transitional subjects. Planted as whips they are inexpensive, easy to plant and tolerant – perhaps that is sometimes their downfall. Unfortunately, mixed native hedging has

been widely used in many inappropriate situations such as small gardens, new builds, and where it cannot be maintained. Left to grow naturally, most subjects make large shrubs which take up space and may add little ornamental value. They are then cut back and can become an eyesore, rather than an enhancement.

Native mix hedging may include a wide range of species; it is important to be selective according to use. Prunus spinosa (blackthorn), for example, is a tough, thorny shrub, often slow to start but producing a dense thicket of dark stems. It is lovely in early spring covered in white blossom.

Crataegus monogyna (hawthorn) is also a prickly subject, however it is less hostile. White spring flowers, attractive to bees and other pollinators, are followed by dark red fruits that the birds appreciate. Its dense network of resilient branches responds well to trimming and withstands exposure, even in coastal situations.

For me this will always be my choice for the mainstay of native planting.

Crataegus monogyna

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Andy McIndoe.indd 69

GOING NATIVE Andy McIndoe

Hazel, Corylus avellana, is usually included in native hedging. It’s a great subject to coppice and is good planted in groups as a transitional shrub. There it can be cut back to the ground every few years and allowed to grow into attractive multi-stems draped in golden catkins in spring. As a hedging subject it works if used in moderation in high country hedges. In a more tamed situation it is useless, producing bare upright stems and a thin barrier nearer the ground.

The guelder rose, Viburnum opulus is another wonderful plant that I use in a similar way, and perhaps in preference to hazel.

Corylus avellana and holly It works in a hedge, but trimming it robs it of its attributes. White lacecap flowers in spring, wonderful autumn foliage colour and drooping clusters of redcurrantesque fruits that birds love. This is perfect planted as a group of three whips, 90cm apart, where they will develop into a large, loose shrub; perfect for a paddock or in meadow grass.

Spindle, Euonymus europaeus, puts on an amazing autumn display whether allowed to grow naturally or trimmed as a hedge. The flowers are insignificant, the fruit capsules bright pink, splitting to reveal orange seeds; an amazing

Euonymus europaeus

sight with the crimson-pink fall foliage. An excellent choice for chalk and clay soils where the colour and fruit production are at their best.

Native evergreens are few, and in hedgerows the only possible choice is jolly, Ilex aquifolium.

Where possible it is always worth adding to a mixed hedge for the long term. It is slow and can be temperamental if planted as a bare root transplant; young, pot-grown subjects are always the best choice, even if they cost more.

Where space allows dog rose, Rosa canina, is a great addition if you want an impenetrable barrier. Those thorny stems are not to be approached without caution. However the sweetly scented early summer blooms and long lasting hips are a delight.

All native hedgerows planted with wildlife in mind should incorporate honeysuckle, Lonicera periclymenum. This woody climber is adapted to

Rosa canina hips

growing through shrubs and it enjoys the shade they contribute. The fragrance of the flowers is unsurpassed and the succulent red berries are a food source for wild birds. From a landscaper’s point of view, it can also be a useful addition which helps to bind other subjects together.

ABOUT ANDY MCINDOE Andy McIndoe is a practical horticulturist with more than 30 years’ experience in ornamental horticulture.

He has designed and advised on gardens of all sizes and has been responsible for 25 Gold medal winning exhibits at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

Twitter: @AndyMcIndoe

www.andymcindoe.com

Pro Landscaper / January 2017 69

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20/12/2016 16:48

NURTURE

LOW POLLEN PLANTING FOR HEALTH

A

Jackie Herald (pictured with Shenagh Hume) informs on how the way we plant certain species in public spaces affects allergies, and what we can do to improve health

t Palmstead’s soft landscaping workshop last year, numerous garden designers and landscape contractors approached Shenagh Hume and I after our talk ‘Unintended Consequences’, in which we had explained the impact of airborne pollens on respiratory health.

Pollen calendars indicate the key species and their peak times for pollen production – through a sequence of trees and shrubs, followed by grasses in the summer and weeds in early autumn. The RHS Chelsea Flower Show falls in the middle of this when plane trees give out their pollen and irritant hairs – triggering the ‘Chelsea cough’. Witness the many contractors and designers wearing masks, rubbing their eyes and coughing during the show build.

The statistics speak for themselves.

Worldwide, the UK has the third highest percentage of population with hay fever (Allergy UK). The London Bridge Business Improvement District area represents a trend of the last 10 years – where 28% of the common public realm trees were recorded as birch (Team London Bridge GI Audit and Feasibility Study, The Ecology Consultancy, 2012), a tree that tops the

recommended list for several local authorities.

Birch, as allergy specialists have known for years, is one of the most potent allergens.

Trees and shrubs are the green lungs of the planet, when you consider the function of their leaf canopy to capture carbon and filter particulates. To do this efficiently ribbed, sticky and/or hairy leaves are helpful, with a generous surface area. Numerous species tick these criteria, yet aesthetics, rather than scientific and medical evidence, is often the primary driver for selecting species and location. In health terms, it doesn’t make sense to mass-plant trees for leaves which then emit copious invisible clouds of allergenic pollen.

The impact of pollen may well be increased in wind tunnels and enclosed spaces, especially where hard landscaping predominates.

Pollen is the male sperm of the plant world. So, in the case of dioecious species, for lower allergen impact, select female plants. The trouble is that many nurseries and suppliers don’t know the sex of the clones on their stock lists – if they do have the horticultural know-how to tell boys from girls, you might be asked to come back next year, when they’ll let you know after flowering.

Probably no good for current projects.

HOW TO MAKE A HEALTHIER DIFFERENCE • • • • • • • •

Use plants scoring 0-5 on the OPALS scale as a guide to low pollen plant selection Avoid monoculture and over-density Choose insect pollinated over wind pollinated plants Existing trees with catkins can be tip pruned in late autumn or winter before the pollen season In dioecious species, choose female over male Generally, the more flowers and berries, the better Consider the planting in relation to the placement of garden features, windows and doors (where the vacuum generated by opening and closing can draw pollen indoors) Use hedges and climbing plants as barriers to airborne particulates (but remember that the dust and pollen these plants harbour can trigger allergic reactions during maintenance).

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JackieHerald.indd 71

AESTHETICS, RATHER THAN SCIENTIFIC AND MEDICAL EVIDENCE, IS OFTEN THE PRIMARY DRIVER FOR SELECTING SPECIES AND LOCATION Selection is the primary consideration, however for the longer term maintenance matters just as much.

Regular clipping and pollarding, to prevent the formation of high pollen flowers, is recognised practice in making sculptural topiary, neat suburban hedges, and controlling the canopy spread of street trees to permit passing traffic. Planting silver birch for its beautiful bark, and then tip pruning annually to remove the catkins before they release their pollen, would be a solution – but possibly impractical and unaffordable on a large scale, especially in the public realm.

Generally, aim to specify more flowering trees and shrubs – a great source of nectar year round for bees and bats and good for respiratory health too.

With thanks to Shenagh Hume, garden allergy advisor for Allergy UK, for her allergy and asthma advice.

1 Photinia x fraseri ‘Red Robin’ 2 Arbutus unedo, the strawberry tree 3 Female Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Silver Queen’ 4 Evergreen Magnolia grandiflora is low in pollen

ABOUT JACKIE HERALD Jackie Herald is an award-winning designer of school gardens, winning the SGD’s Community Spaces Award in 2013 and 2014. She has collaborated with Shenagh Hume on low pollen planting schemes, publications and presentations. www.jackieherald.com

Pro Landscaper / January 2017 71

20/12/2016 11:52

NURTURE

NURSERY FACTFILE

“

“

With over 35 years of customer service, the company prides itself on being instant landscape specialists

MEET THE TEAM L to R: Alastair Beddall, managing director; Julie Rockell, nursery sales advisor; Graeme Jenkins, sales & business manager; Steve Vincent, horticultural sales advisor

BESTSELLERS

MOST UNUSUAL

ABOUT Practicality Brown Ltd is an innovative, class-leading company, with divisions operating in the landscape and forestry sectors. With over 35 years of excellent customer service, the Buckinghamshire based company prides itself on being instant landscape specialists, with a range of instant hedging products, large shrubs, topiary and semi-mature trees to provide everything for a mature garden.

Its plants are often seen gracing awardwinning gardens at RHS Flower Shows.

M40 M1

Iver Prunus laurocerasus ‘Novita’, semi mature trees

Carpinus betulus, pleached tree

Practicality Brown Instant Native Hedge

TESTIMONIALS “We used an instant hedge from Practicality Brown for our RHS Hampton Court garden this year. I had struggled to find hat as oo ing for ith other suppliers and Practicality Brown was extremely helpful and accommodating. It found what I wanted and sent me photos prior to delivery as I was not able to visit to hand pick them. I have s e ified its hedging on other projects which has always been good quality.”

Rae Wilkinson 72

Elveden instant hedge, Green Beech

“I have loved working with Practicality Brown over the years be a se no it o ers st rdy fie d grown stock, including the lovely mixed native hedging that I recently ordered for RHS Chelsea. The other great thing about ordering is the service, which is always friendly and helpful. It’s cliché but really nothing is too much trouble.”

Tracy Foster “I have had the pleasure of working with Practicality Brown on major projects and show gardens over the years. It has helped enormously in our attaining of

Pro Landscaper / January 2017

Nursery Factfile.indd 72

Betula jacquemontii, semi mature trees

M25

This Taxus spiral is a seemingly simple form that adds an element of sophistication, and can provide the finishing to h for a project.

three Gold medals at RHS shows including Chelsea and Hampton Court, which is a testament to its sta rod ts and o any Paul Martin “I worked with Practicality Brown on a domestic project where we needed to s reen o a ho se e wanted a solution that would do the job from day one and chose Elveden Beech instant hedging.

This was more subtle than a wall or fence and looked amazing from day one – you wouldn’t have known it had just been planted.”

Lisa Cox

Heathrow M4

LOCATION Practicality Brown Ltd, Swan Road, Iver, Buckinghamshire SL0 9LA

CONTACT Tel 01753 652 022 Email trees@pracbrown.co.uk Web www.pracbrown.co.uk Twitter @PracBrownLtd www.prolandscapermagazine.com

20/12/2016 09:13

NURTURE

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WEED CONTROL A roundup of products to help control any unwanted growth in your projects

Agrigem Ltd Pearl (Glufosinate ammonium) ear is a so b e on entrated herbi ide ontaining g of g fosinate a oni hi h o ers ontro over ann a erennia and grass eeds as e as ore ha enging horsetai eeds t an be sed on a range of s rfa es s h as fen e ines nat ra s rfa es not intended to bear vegetation er eab e s rfa es over aying soi s and hard s rfa es t is fast a ting and designed to be ore e ient than g y hosate based rod ts

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Geosynthetics

2 in 1 Geotextile he in Geote ti e re ires one a i ation for f e e tiveness ts ain se is in s a s a e ro e ts of a residentia nat re s h as garden ro e ts de ing insta ations and soft ands a ing he Geote ti e sho d be a ied to a s ooth s rfa e and is inned in a e ith a s rior to the over ateria being a ed over the to he eed s ression fabri s resses the gro th of eeds and vegetation fro beneath it sing the atest non oven te hno ogy the Geote ti e in is high y n t re resistant and er eab e and reates ore shade beneath a o ing ore ater and o ygen to rea h the soi be o

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Green Tech Gt Ecomatt Mulch Mats he Gt o att h at is a biodegradab e and o ostab e gro nd over to rote t and aid the estab ish ent of yo ng ants shr bs and trees t o ers eed s ression ith high er eabi ity eve s for ater and n trients he ats an be sed for ands a ing o er ia anting tree anting and otor ay anting t an be sed on ost soi s here it is re ired to aid in yo ng ant estab ish ent and is insta ed in the sa e ay as any other gro nd over idea y inned ith a degradab e eg at one er onto soi t revents the eeds fro gro ing by b o ing o t ight and a ting as a hysi a barrier hi st sti a o ing ater to enetrate and i a so ee soi s oist for onger than n overed areas

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Cardley Wave Mini Series 14/6 After application of the Mini Series 14/6 the top layer of vegetation is i ed o a ost instant y o to three treat ents are re ired to i the eed to the root e to the se of hot ater as o osed to he i a s the ini eries an be sed in ind and rain and an be a ied to ost s rfa es

WWW.CARDLEY-GROUP.COM/CARDLEY-WAVE www.prolandscapermagazine.com

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SEAN BUTLER

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Money-saving solutions without sacrificing quality

ANNUAL WEBSITE MOT

79

ROSS HEWITT What to look for when analysing and maintaining your website

WHAT I’M READING CAROLYN WILLITTS

82

The Social Life or Small Urban Spaces by William H Whyte

TRADING WITH DEKOR EUROPE

83

Talking the past, present and future of business with Dekor Europe

EDUCATE

VALUE ENGINEERING

PLUS...

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ROBERT WEBBER (P80) BATTERY POWER (P84) LITTLE INTERVIEW (P90)

80 EDUCATE cover.indd 75

21/12/2016 10:31

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21/12/2016 09:14

EDUCATE

VALUE ENGINEERING: AN OVERVIEW Tips and tricks to help you save money on the job with cheaper alternatives, from Sean Butler

The concept of value engineering is one that came about during WWII, at the General Electric Company. With a shortage of raw materials and component parts, purchase engineer Lawrence Miles was asked to study several hundred product changes that the company had been forced to make due to the war. He was surprised to find that his substitutes provided substantial product improvement and cost reduction. ‘Value engineering’ allowed for a generation of alternatives to the existing solution and what started out as a necessity was turned into a systematic process.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TODAY? Value engineering techniques are applied during the design phase. They look for solutions to problems, identify and eliminate unwanted costs while improving quality, and promote the substitution of products for less expensive alternatives without sacrificing functionality.

So, what does this mean for our industry?

When the scenario is: “We absolutely love the design, it’s just too expensive,” this applies to both the designer and the contractor. From a designer’s point of view it’s disappointing not having their design realised, and from the contractor’s view it has taken a lot of unpaid time pricing the project.

So does the designer go back to the drawing board or does the contractor sharpen his pencil?

It should be a collaboration between both. Value engineering methods are best introduced in the design process so as not to affect timescales, completion dates or incur additional costs that outweigh the savings on offer. www.prolandscapermagazine.com

Sean Butler.indd 77

VALUE ENGINEERING METHODS The systematic process of value engineering involves a ‘job plan’ which can be divided into four major phases: 1. Informative phase: identifying what functions and performance characteristics of the project are important 2. Speculative phase: identifying alternatives that provide the necessary functions at a lower cost 3. Analytical phase: applying cost comparisons and evaluating how well they meet the required functions 4. Proposal phase: presenting the results of the value engineering study to the client.

CONSIDERATIONS Materials What do you do when, for example, a preferred paving material is unavailable or no longer cost effective? In this particular garden, due to availability issues a 1m x 1m paving was used instead of 600mm x 900mm. This saved on labour costs and was aesthetically pleasing, dividing the garden into 1m x 1m segments.

Construction methods When the costs of particular methods or tools are rising, we can look for alternatives. For example, using a concrete raft is cheaper to construct than strip foundations where a large expanse of support is required.

Logistics Logistical costs are often out of our control, and with Brexit and the US election, the fluctuating costs in our supply chains can be high. For example, sourcing plants from abroad may not always be cost effective. The same

LOGISTICAL COSTS ARE OFTEN OUT OF OUR CONTROL, AND THE FLUCTUATING COSTS IN OUR SUPPLY CHAINS CAN BE HIGH applies to the costs to move labour, plants and other materials to and around sites.

Site limitations It’s important to consider access restrictions, planning restrictions, mobile plant authorisation and noise control.

Planning Plan the build stage by stage using gantt sheets or similar so that all functions are accounted for and alternatives considered from the outset.

Hidden costs These can include plant hire, additional labour, specialised knowledge, delivery charges, permits and levies on bespoke items. Ask for discounted costs, trade accounts or other reductions.

Profits You may have heard of the ‘Pareto Principle’ or the 80/20 rule, in which 20% of input (time, resources, effort) is said to account for 80% of the output (results, rewards). This rule can also apply to profits from 20% of products or profits from 20% of customers.

Introducing value engineering in the design stage has a number of advantages, including optimising the performance of a project and eliminating wasteful practices. Identifying alternative materials and processes that function at a lower cost, before any commitment to funds is made, will save money in the long run.

ABOUT SEAN BUTLER Sean Butler is a landscape designer and director of Cube 1994. With a background in civil engineering, Sean has an in-depth understanding of the design, construction and maintenance of the physical and naturally built landscape. www.cube1994.com

Pro Landscaper / January 2017 77

20/12/2016 09:10

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21/12/2016 08:53

EDUCATE

THE ANNUAL

WEBSITE MOT Ross Hewitt talks taking a trip around your website to make sure everything is as it should be for the first time visitor

Managing a website and keeping everything up to date seems like a straightforward task, but some of you are running websites that are quite the behemoths. It’s a full time job keeping everything in order and it’s easy to lose track of every single paragraph and image. You need to throw some time at it, especially if you’re spending money driving traffic to the site.

Block out an afternoon of your time, open a packet of biscuits (or a bottle of gin) and start browsing and clicking. Move around the website as if you were a first time visitor, and try to think like your audience.

Create a spreadsheet, paste in the URL of any pages that need attention and write a note about what needs sorting out. To give you an idea of what to look for, here are a few things that get people bouncing off your website very quickly and heading elsewhere:

1 2 3 4

Missing images ‘Awaiting image’ or ‘Image to be supplied’ in place of a proper photo of a previous job is just wrong, and a bit lazy.

The basics Can a visitor find a phone number easily and can they find your address? How straightforward is it to send you a message?

Broken links / forms If you use a webform on your contact page, test it weekly. Things break down on web servers and there is a lot of code and software running behind webforms. It’s very irksome for someone to type a long message into a contact form only to have it fail when they click send. Likewise, clicking on links that don’t work is equally frustrating.

Find them and fix them. If your website links to other external websites, make sure they still exist and the expected content is still there.

Browser testing If you have only ever looked at your website in Internet Explorer or Firefox, then you might be in for a testing time, literally. Visit in Chrome, Edge and on your mobile or tablet. All browsers interpret code differently, and what looks good in Firefox might look awful in Microsoft Edge. Times have also changed. Five years ago web traffic was pretty much owned by Microsoft browsers. Now it is different; don’t be surprised if upwards of 75% of your traffic comes via Safari and Chrome combined, so make sure it looks right in these browsers and on any type of mobile too.

CREATE A SPREADSHEET, PASTE THE URL OF ANY PAGES THAT NEED ATTENTION AND WRITE A NOTE ABOUT WHAT NEEDS SORTING OUT

There’s plenty more to run at and list, such as typos, out of date content, badly cropped images, and links to blogs and social media accounts that never get updated, but you get the picture. Performing these checks will be a very beneficial use of your time. You won’t get a certificate but you will convert more browsers into enquiries or purchases.

ABOUT ROSS HEWITT Ross Hewitt is managing director of digital marketing consultancy Secret Pie and author of ‘Savvy Social Media’. Ross began his digital marketing career in 1998 when social networking was ‘something you only did in a pub’. He set up Secret Pie in 2010 and has been helping clients get discovered and loved online ever since. www.secretpie.co.uk Twitter: @Secret_Pie

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

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20/12/2016 09:06

EDUCATE

EXPLORING EFFECTS Robert Webber talks lighting effects in gardens, and how you can alter the ambience of your designs with deceptively simple lighting choices I cannot believe that it’s 2017 already. I want to wish all of my readers, clients, acquaintances and friends a very happy and prosperous new year. I love the landscape industry and I know it’s going to be a great year for us all.

Last month I set the scene by talking about lighting effects and the different ways to light natural features in a garden, as well as imported ones such as statues and water features.

Often we are called upon to create a specific lighting effect within a garden. That’s what last year led me to purchase my beloved Land Rover 110 with a 13m cherry picker. It’s worked hard for us ever since, creating moonlight effects in a variety of locations.

Probably the easiest effect for anyone to create is spotlighting, or highlighting a feature from below so as to pick out its natural beauty at night. This is often achieved using a lamp with a beam angle of 24° to 38° – this way the light spreads evenly from the centre point.

If you are lighting narrow planting such as bamboos or the stems of pleached trees, use an 80

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8° to 12° lamp, so the light travels as a pillar up the object.

For wider planting or features like cedar screens or Japanese maple trees, use a wide angle, normally 60° and upwards. It’s the most used effect in any garden, the most versatile and easiest to create. From that one light position it’s just a matter of simple steps to create others.

Shadowing is the next best effect to try, where you have a wall, hedge or

PROBABLY THE EASIEST EFFECT FOR ANYONE TO CREATE IS SPOTLIGHTING, OR HIGHLIGHTING A FEATURE FROM BELOW SO AS TO PICK OUT ITS NATURAL BEAUTY AT NIGHT structure behind an object, and you wash the light through that object onto the structure behind. It creates a simple shadow, which adds texture and presence to both the planting and the surroundings. It’s best achieved using a warm coloured lamp; normally, the lower the colour temperature, the lower the ‘seen’ light becomes. This is expressed as lumens per watt (lm/W) which is the measurement of the actual amount of light that a lamp gives out. It’s measured at the face of the lamp, so the further the lamp sits from the object, the lower the ‘seen’ light is appreciated.

At night I turn off the main functional lights in my home, turn on lamps and softer wall lighting and light candles. This creates a much more relaxing environment for my family – the same applies to external spaces, too.

Adding warmer, lower colour temperature lamps to a garden creates a calmer, ‘softer’ feel for the client. If you increase the colour

temperature then you tend to increase the emotional response to that amount of light.

The whiter the light, the bigger the drama, which is the same principal as stage lighting in the West End. I don’t often use coloured lamps within a garden, but I do use soft coloured lenses to change the colour temperature of a certain type of lamp. Champagne lenses are great at creating a warm moonlight effect, and deeper blues stop the light carrying into the darkness further than you wish.

The most common mistake we find is incorrect lamp choice. Often the fittings are fine, with slight placement adjustment, it’s the lamp we change to create warmth or drama. What’s needed for your client?

You now have the tools to specify your ideas easier. Don’t just specify the actual light fitting, specify the lamp too – even as simple as warm white, daylight white or cold white.

It helps the installer understand the ambience you wish to create.

ABOUT ROBERT WEBBER Robert Webber is the founder of Scenic Lighting, a specialist exterior lighting company based in Berkshire.

He designs and installs garden lighting throughout the UK and internationally. Robert can be contacted on rob@ sceniclighting.com or via his mobile on 07766 051 000.

www.sceniclighting.com

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

20/12/2016 13:08

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21/12/2016 10:18

EDUCATE

WHAT I’M READING Carolyn Willitts, CW Studio

Title The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces Author William H Whyte Publisher Project for Public Spaces

IT IS FAR EASIER, SIMPLER TO CREATE SPACES THAT WORK FOR PEOPLE THAN THOSE THAT DO NOT WILLIAM H WHYTE After much thought, and not wanting to upset any of my other well loved books, I’ve plumped for The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces. It’s a wonderful book that I was introduced to at college on my landscape architecture conversion course. Coming from a background in theatre design I felt far more familiar with the behaviour of humans than I did of plants. I loved the observations that came from watching the behaviour of ordinary people on city streets.

Shortly after reading the book I went on a college trip to Barcelona and completed my own (completely unmethodological) study of how people moved and rested in the city.

I watched and photographed people sitting, leaning and lying down on seats, benches, walls

THE BIG IDEA This is a book about city spaces, why some work and why some don’t. In 1970, Whyte formed a small research group and began looking at urban spaces in New York City. The group discovered that some plazas attracted a lot of people, but that most plazas weren’t used for much except for walking across.

Whyte thought that if they could figure out why the good plazas worked and the bad ones didn’t, they could come up with guidelines and have the basis of a new design code for the city.

FAVOURITE CHAPTER My favourite chapter, and the one I refer to most (I photocopied this chapter from the library book at college and referred to it for years before I found a copy of the book for myself) is ‘Sitting Space’.

THE MOST ATTRACTIVE FOUNTAINS, THE MOST STRIKING DESIGNS, CANNOT INDUCE PEOPLE TO COME AND SIT IF THERE IS NO PLACE TO SIT

I go to this chapter whenever I’m designing seating for a project. In addition to the general observations and ideas, it is the guidelines that I find useful. For example: the best range of heights to enable a ledge to Pro Landscaper / January 2017

What I'm reading.indd 82

WILLITTS

and ledges, while noticing which were the popular plazas and which weren’t. The book encouraged me to look at the behaviour of people in a much more inquisitive way and apply it to public space design.

WILLIAM H WHYTE

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CAROLYN

work well as a seat is 1 foot to 3 feet; the depth needed to seat two ‘backsides’ comfortably is 36 inches; and to help create a successful space, use the same length of sitting space as the length of the entire perimeter of the space. The book also reminds me that sitting on steps usually gives excellent sightlines, making all the ‘seats’ great for watching the theatre of the street.

LASTING INFLUENCE This book has stood the test of time for me because it reminds me, when designing, that plazas are for people, not just for beautifully rendered masterplans and empty architectural photographs. The joy of the city can be how the street scene comes alive at eye level with the colour and movement of people. Most of all, the book has encouraged me to question all the assumptions I make when designing (of which there are many) about how people will actually use a space.

ABOUT THE BOOK After forming research group The Street Life Project, urbanist William H Whyte started to observe public spaces and how people use them. The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces, published in 1980, explores this topic.

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

20/12/2016 10:19

PEOPLE

TRADING WITH DEKOR EUROPE

Can you tell us a little more about Dekor Europe and how it was developed?

Dekor started life in the USA in 2001. From there it has grown from its humble roots of Oliver Bache, director manufacturing premier decking components into a leading designer and innovator of LED lighting products, launching distribution in Europe as Dekor Europe in 2014. As a Cree LEDs Branding Partner, we are leveraging Cree’s innovation and proven technology to expand our product offerings and deliver more reliable, energy efficient and better performing LED lighting products.

What are the main products you supply?

Outdoor LED landscape lighting for many different areas of a garden or outdoor space, with the range including recessed and post capped lighting.

What are the key selling points of your products?

As a ‘made to order’ company for many of our products, we manufacture orders to meet high quality standards, fitting the brief of our clients as

Following customer feedback, we are now making the majority of our products ‘Plug-n-Play’ which provides simple, user friendly installation which is why our connector system is completely self-sealing, with connectors that are keyed to plug in the correct way.

Address Dekor, Europe, c/o Bache Pallets Ltd, Bromley Street, Lye, West Midlands DY9 8HU Tel 01384 880 888 Twitter @dekorlighting

Dekor Europe, distributor of the latest garden lighting systems, is always looking to keep ahead of new innovations. Pro Landscaper spoke with director Oliver Bache

closely as possible. We use the highest quality components and materials possible. Having these high quality standards has allowed us to increase our warranty on our lights and transformers.

We have also engineered our LED technology in designer finishes and looks to complement traditional, transitional, and contemporary architectural styles.

CONTACT

Company name Dekor Europe

Facebook dekorlighting Web www.dekorlighting.eu

Wi-Fi remote app has simple, responsive controls which allow users to turn lights on, off, or adjust the level of brightness. Lights can also be scheduled to turn on and off overnight.

Are you planning on developing your product range?

We are always looking at new developments across the range, including development of more efficient LEDs or new visual designs for the lights we currently have. We’re constantly evolving our range to stay up to date with technology, and lead with new lifestyle products.

What is the next step for the brand?

The next step for the brand is developing more efficient transformers and redesigning a number of our ranges to give more choice for end users.

What are your lead times?

Normal lead times are five to seven days.

What are your delivery locations?

We supply to the whole of the UK and Europe with products distributed by APC or Royal Mail and products are available to see via the internet. We are located in Stourbridge should people wish to see the product range.

What has the biggest innovation been for Dekor Lighting?

The most recent innovation has been the Dekor App, which gives the user the ability to control their garden lights from their phone or tablet. The new

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

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Pro Landscaper / January 2017 83

21/12/2016 10:43

EDUCATE

THE ADVANCEMENT IN

BATTERY POWERED TOOLS Advancements in battery life and performance mean that battery powered machinery is now a legitimate option when choosing kit. Positives including lighter weight, noise reduction and environmental benefits are becoming more readily accessible without having to sacrifice power Battery powered kit has come to play a role in both domestic and professional toolboxes in recent years, favoured for providing a quieter, cleaner method of garden maintenance. The technology has some way to go before it replaces petrol or plug-in electric products,

THE MAIN LIMITATION OF LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES IS REDUCED POWER – A MAJOR ISSUE FOR THOSE WISHING TO DO MORE THAN GARDEN PRUNING. THIS MAY NOT BE THE CASE FOR MUCH LONGER, HOWEVER the main disadvantage of battery power being reduced performance compared to its noisier counterparts.

The ongoing evolution of these batteries is key to why the technology has been able to break into the mainstream market, as they become more efficient and cheaper to run than their rivals. The first compact rechargeable battery, the nickel-cadmium invented in 1899, is still in use today owing to its low cost – but with several drawbacks including low energy density and use of toxic chemicals, constant growth is needed to surpass the battery’s origins and provide the power supply required by today’s user. The is a market in which 84

Pro Landscaper / January 2017

Battery Kit Feature.indd 84

innovation must be sought and boundaries must be pushed to bring battery power in line with the performance of petrol.

The technology moved forward to the nickel-metal hydride battery, giving twice the energy density with no increase in weight, and proving to be the upgrade from nickelcadmium. However, these new batteries still had their flaws – the most prominent of which was a high rate of discharge, losing around 4% of charge per day – which kept the nickel-metal hydride one step behind alternative sources of power.

The most modern innovation is the lithium-ion battery. Boasting a higher energy density, lower weight and lower discharge rate than its predecessors, the lithium-ion has bolstered the domestic and professional markets and can be found in many of the battery powered machinery and tools available to landscapers today.

Despite its obvious improvements on previous models, the main limitation of lithium-ion batteries when used in tools such as chainsaws is reduced power – a major issue for those wishing to do more than garden pruning and a long-standing justification for the avoidance of battery powered tools. This may not be the case for much longer, however – it is the belief of Rebecca Rassie, marketing and communications manager for Stihl, that

“Power is not always the leading factor when choosing a machine.” Rebecca added that Stihl’s offering already includes a number of battery machines with petrol level performance.

Paul Fry, vice president of cordless product management at Milwaukee Electric Tools, is also confident in the future of battery powered kit: “Tools are getting smaller and lighter, and at the same time outperforming their predecessors. Lithium-ion will continue to drive the development of innovative products that redefine end user productivity, and will continue to raise industry standards for cordless performance and reliability.”

As the power tool industry is thought to be valued at over £25bn, it’s only a matter of time until battery power is able to eclipse its rivals. With such significant benefits, as gaps in performance are closed and battery life increases even more, it’s clear why battery powered kit would be a preferred choice for an industry primarily concerned with the environment – as well as getting the best out of its kit. www.prolandscapermagazine.com

21/12/2016 10:45

THE ELIET SUPER PROF THE FUTURE IN SHREDDING

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11/10/2016 15:34

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21/12/2016 09:10

EDUCATE

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CS1600E chainsaw Powered by Ego’s 56V lithium-ion battery • 40cm • 13.5m/s chain speed • Makes up to 100 cuts of 4in by 4in softwood per charge • Operating at 6,300rpm, it has a kickback brake and chain scabbard as standard • Brushless motor system gives a smooth cut Price: £219

ULiB 1500 battery Lifetime of over 1,200 charge cycles • Tool and battery information provided on the backlit display • Battery can be turned around on the harness, top or bottom cable output • attery visib e at night ith s reen and refle tors Battery can be clipped and unclipped with one hand Price: POA

45cm li-ion power trimmer Exchangeable battery system • 1.2 hours charging time • 40 mins running time • 1,250 blade strokes per min • Cuts branches up to 12mm • 16mm blade clearance • Counter rotating laser cut blades • Diamond ground blades • Li-ion power pack included Price: £139.99

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536LiHE3 hedge trimmer Professional battery long reach hedge trimmer with up to 3.5m reach including height of the user • 230cm total length with 55cm cutting deck • 4,000cuts/min • Keypad with sav-E • Remote controlled angle adjustment in 15° steps • Up to 140 min runtime with BLi200 • 4kg (exc. battery) Price: £325

WWW.HUSQVARNA.COM/UK

EXPERT VIEW: PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT

CLIVE IVIL

MANAGING DIRECTOR OF IDVERDE UK’S COMMUNITIES AND OPEN SPACES DIVISION

86

One of idverde’s environmental objectives is the reduction of CO2 emissions. We have been using battery powered and electrical kit, ranging from blowers and strimmers to electric vehicles, for some years now. In that time, we have seen a radical improvement in the quality of the kit, particularly with longer battery life.

Indeed, many of our staff prefer using

Pro Landscaper / January 2017

Battery Powered kit.indd 86

electrical tools as they are generally lightweight and quieter in use.

Because of its quiet operation, battery powered kit is now our first choice in many settings such as in cemeteries, sheltered housing sites and hospital grounds. Electric vehicles are a standard piece of kit for us as they make excellent vehicles to service static sites. We have also received positive feedback

from the public, who appreciate not being disturbed by noisy machinery.

We will continue to look at replacing our current diesel powered kit with battery powered equivalents. We firmly believe it has an important part to play in the future of our industry as we seek to help protect the environment in the course of our operations.”

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

21/12/2016 10:36

JOBS XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX Location:

Xxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxx xx xxxxxxxx xxx xx For more details please go to www.horticulturecareers.co.uk.

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

Call 01903 777 587 or email ellie.downes@eljays44.com with your vacancy.

Call 01903 777 574 or email liam.colclough@eljays44.com with your vacancy

HARD LANDSCAPE FOREMAN

EXPERIENCED AND SKILLED LANDSCAPER

Reporting to the landscape manager, the hard landscape foreman is responsible for leading a team to ensure productive and quality workmanship on hard and some soft landscaping installations. To be considered for the position you must have good working knowledge of all aspects of landscaping in both residential and commercial projects. You should have previous experience managing a small team as well as good organisational skills. Good motivational and time management skills will also be required.

A full driving licence is required and CSCS card is preferred, but not essential.

M Squared is a Glasgow based landscape contractor looking to recruit an experienced and skilled landscaper. This is a diverse role in a rapidly growing company with many opportunities for career and skills development. All applicants must have a sound understanding of hard landscaping, a positive attitude, the ability to follow instructions and manage a team effectively, and be prepared to work long hours and weekends when required. Full UK driving licence required. The role will consist of working on a range of residential and commercial landscape projects.

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

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

SITE OPERATIONS AND PROJECT SUPERVISOR

EXTERNAL GROUNDS SUPERVISOR

We are a small but expanding specialised landscaping company which delivers high end residential projects to the south and south west England. We are seeking a full time site operations and project supervisor with hands on experience to take us to the next level.

The position requires project management, resource scheduling, design interpretation and the ability to follow company procedures.

Urban Planters currently requires horticulturists to lead expanding grounds teams within the midlands. Applicants must have a keen interest and passion for horticulture.

This will be a hands on roll, with candidates expected to have qualifications such as Level 2 or 3 in horticulture or more practical based skills such as PA1 and PA6. The role will involve carrying out grounds maintenance, working/running landscape projects, completing maintenance dockets and more.

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

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

LANDSCAPE FOREMAN

INTERIOR PLANT DISPLAY TECHNICIAN

Our client provides a wide range of landscaping and grounds maintenance services throughout the UK to both public and private sectors. Its trusted and knowledgeable teams take pride in their work and are consistently recognised for high standards of service. They offer all aspects of commercial landscaping and grounds maintenance to local authorities, schools, new build developments and businesses. They require an experienced landscape foreman to join their highly respected crew of landscaping professionals.

Botanica supplies interior landscaping services to the commercial sector plus some exterior grounds maintenance services. We have a vacancy for an interior plant display technician working out of our nursery near Slough. The job involves going to client sites and maintaining their interior/exterior displays on a regular basis. The job may also include looking after the plants in our greenhouses, helping with planting up and installing new displays, installing and removing decorated Christmas trees, delivering fresh flower displays and generally helping looking after our nursery site.

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

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

SKILLED LANDSCAPER

SKILLED HARD LANDSCAPE FOREMAN

Self employed skilled landscaper required for a successful family run business operating in High Wycombe. You must be able to lay patios to a high standard, experience with brickwork is preferable but not essential.

Must have good timekeeping skills and a positive attitude. Full driving licence is essential.

We have an opportunity for a skilled hard landscape foreman to join our award winning landscape construction company based in Kent.

Responsible to the contracts director, applicants must be capable of producing a high level of construction detail, possess exemplary communication skills, have the ability to effectively manage and motivate a site team and deliver projects within the required time scales. Horticultural qualifications and an understanding of soft landscape installation would be preferable but are not essential. Driving licence essential.

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

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

GARDEN CLUB LONDON LTD Location: London

WALMSLEY SHAW Location: Bristol

HORTICRUITMENT Location: Hampshire

ALLSCAPES Location: High Wycombe

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

Jobs.indd 87

M SQUARED Location: Glasgow

URBAN PLANTERS DERBYSHIRE Location: Midlands

BOTANICA NURSERIES Location: Slough

THE LAND DESIGN PARTNERSHIP LTD Location: Kent

Pro Landscaper / January 2017 87

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International Urban Trees Research Conference

Renowned landscape architect and urban forester Professor Alan Simson, from Leeds Beckett University, will bring urban tree professionals from across the world together to focus on: DAY 1

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Conference Partners: Arboricultural Association, Ancient Tree Forum, Birmingham Institute of Forest Research, Chartered Institute of Housing, Forest Research, Forestry Commission England, Fund4Trees, Green Infrastructure Partnership (TCPA), Institute of Chartered Foresters, Institution of Civil Engineers, London Tree Officers Association, Municipal Tree Officers Association, National Association of Tree Officers, National Joint Utilities Group, Place Alliance, Society for the Environment, Trees and Design Action Group, Urban Design Group, Utility Arboriculture Group, Woodland Trust.

Supporter: Royal Institute of British Architects

visit the website at horticulturecareers.co.uk call amber today on 01903 777 581 Horticulture Careers Full Page copy.indd 1

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Go to the app store Wholesale 1 services insuppliers Oak, or Accoya.all types of Enquiries to Tamlyns, 56 HighIroko Street, For more information email info@oxfordplanters.co.uk or call 01608 683022 fl ower bulbs and hedging plants 2 search ‘PRO LANDSCAPER’ Bridgwater, TA6 joinery 3BN service for all interior & exterior design.

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No more ruining expensive chains onwww.jacksonsnursery.co.uk nails etc web: Chobham, All Woking, products manufactured in the Cotswolds using sustainable timber. email: sales@jacksonsnursery.co.uk SurreyCompact GU24 8SX Tractors Tel 0345 23054” 9697 www.lws.uk.com John Deere X748, Snow•Blade, 24hp diesel, 4WD, HST choice of 2 £6’750 web: –www.jacksonsnursery.co.uk Chobham, Woking, www.psdgroundscare.co.uk JD 4600 & Front Loader, 43hp, 4WD, G.Box, Power Reverser – 4331hrs *Excludes£7’750 Vat email: sales@jacksonsnursery.co.uk Surrey GU24 8SX

John Deere 3320, 33hp, 4WD, HST, turf tyres, roll bar – 1230 hrs t?

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ery.co.uk ursery.co.uk

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£13’900 John Deere 1545 c/w Ryetec 60” flail, 34hp, 4WD, HST – 900 hrs £9’000 Plantoil 59x91mm_Layout 1 16/09/2011 15:56 Page 1 £9’750 PSD2700 - ELIET ProLandscaper Adverts 58x90.indd 2 13/03/2013 12:38 £6’90015:43 18/07/2013 Timber Products 13/03/2013 12:38 £7’900 £13’750 Timber Products £7’500 £12’500 needs.£7’500 Balmers GM Ltd, Manchester Rd, Dunnockshaw,

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Ride-On Tractor www.oxfordplanters.co.uk class.indd 98 Buy online at www.lws.uk.com goes wherever it’s needed John Deere 997 Zero Turn Mower, 60” deck, 30hp – 291 hrs £9’000 Buy online at www.lws.uk.com £1’500 John Deere GT235, 48” SD deck, 18hp petrol, 2WD, HST – 355 hrs Makes easy work of branches, Jacobsen HR6010 Wide Area Mower – 1615 hrs £ POA furnishings £2’500 John Deere X320, 48” SD deck, 22hp petrol, 2WD, HST – 195 hrs Ransome HR6010 Wide Area Mower – choice of 2 Outdoor Furniture from: £12’000 Ride-On wet green-waste and mixed leafage Providers of English Handcrafted Planters £3’000 John Deere GX355D, 48” SD deck, 16hp diesel, 2WD, and HST – choice of 2 Ransome HR300, 60” RD deck, 4WD, HST choice of 4 £ POA All products in 24hp Oak, Iroko or–Accoya.

John Dee £5’500 John Deere X495, 48” SD deck, diesel, 2WD, HST – 1922 hrs 4 Season shredder for year manufactured in JD 2653A £6’250 John Deere X740, 54” SD deck, Low-Tip Collector – for choice of 2 round effectiveness Other services include a bespoke joinery service all interior & exterior design.

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P i p e r s E n d , L e t t y G r e e n , H e r t fo r d , S G 1 4 2 P B Tractors Tel 0345 9697 www.lws.uk.com Jacobsen TelCompact 0345 230 230 9697 •• www.lws.uk.com www.psdgroundscare.co.uk Te l : 0 1 7 0 7 2 6 1 3 7 0 F a x : 0 1 7 0 7 2 6 2 8 4 7 FOR MORE INFORMATION: EMAIL 013 INFO@OXFORDPLANTERS.CO.UK OR CALL 01608 683022 FREEPHONE 0800 7363 www.plantoil.co.uk FREEPHONE 013 John Deere X748, 54” 0800 Snow Blade, 24hp 7363 diesel, 4WD,www.plantoil.co.uk HST – choice0808 of 2 Hayter LT www.landmarktimber.co.uk 0808 129 3773 www.landmarktimber.co.uk 129£6’750 3773 E m a i l : s a l e s @ r o c h fo r d s . n e t JD 4600 & Front Loader, 43hp, 4WD, G.Box,www.prolandscapermagazine.com Power Reverser – 4331hrs Hayter T4 £7’750 John Deere 3320, 33hp, 4WD, HST, turf tyres, roll bar – 1230 hrs Ransome £9’000 www.prolandscapermagazine.com / March 2015 98 Pro SNOW CLEARANCE NEEDED ONwww.prolandscapermagazine.com A NATIONAL www.prolandscapermagazine.com JDLandscaper 4410 & Front Loader, 34hp, 4WD, G.Box, www.prolandscapermagazine.com Power Reverser – 2279 hrs BASIS Ransome £9’750 PSD2700 - ELIET ProLandscaper Adverts 58x90.indd 2 www.prolandscapermagazine.com gazine.com 13/03/2013 12:38 GM Manchester QP advert templates.indd 24Balmers 18/07/2013 15:43 Kubota B2410, 24hp, 4WD, HST,Ltd, turf tyres, roll bar – 1720Rd, hrs Dunnockshaw, £6’900 Oxford Planters.indd 1 04/06/2015 14:33 Do you have a tractor / teleporter?

We you to clear BB11 5PF Ride-On Kubota B2410 & Front Loader,Burnley, 24hp, 4WD, Lancs, HST – 1076 hrs need £7’900 18/06/2015 09:02 snow as part of our winter maintenance programme. Ideally Kioti DK551C with Cab, 54hp, 4WD, Gear Box – 612 hrs £13’750 John Dee we would like you to work locally to your base and clear class.indd 99 New Holland TC27D, 27hp, 4WD, HST, turf tyres, roll bar – 2312 rates hrs £7’500 18/02/2015 14:42 class.indd 98 18/02/2015 14:42 John Dee snow from our clients’ sites.

Competitive offered New Holland TN55Ddependant with cab, 55hp, on 4WD,machinary Gear Box – 1751 hrs £12’500 For all Johnyou Dee type. anised Yanmar FE280H, 28hp diesel, 4WD, turf tyres, roll bar – 262 hrs £7’500 John Dee ed in Buy online Contact us at gritting@ground-control.co.uk ForJohn all Dee yo Ride-On Cylinder Mowers John Dee Buy onlin John Deere 900 Commercial Triple, 30” fixed units – choice of 2 £5’500 Jacobsen JD 2653A, 26” 8 blade units, spiral rollers, scrapers – choice of 4 from: £5’500 Ransome JD 2500 (A) (E), 22” 11 blade units, groomers, brushes, grass boxes Ransome -choice of 3 from: £5’750 undries JD 3235B with Cab, 22” 8 blade units, grooved front rollers – 2708 hrs £6’500 Comme JD 3235B, 22” 8 blade ESP units – 2691 hrs £7’500 Huge cho JD 3225C, 7 blade light-weight units c/w rear roller brushes – 2217 hrs £8’000 01473 328272 www.schsupplies.co.uk www.ground-control.co.uk Jacobsen G Plex, recently servicedRoad, & extra set scarifying units available £5’500 The Stables, London Billericay,Essex CM12 9HS Tel 0345 23 Hayter LT324, 6 blade units with 10” fixed heads – choice of 10 from: £6’500 British built, robust equipment Hayter T424, 5 gang, 6 blade – 30” units – choice of 2 from: £9’000 Bespoke orders taken – we Pro can build to your specifications 99 67 www.prolandscapermagazine.com Landscaper / November 2015 93 December www.prolandscapermagazine.com Pro Landscaper / October 2015 Tel 0345 2 Ransome Highway 3 – choice of 2 £ POA Pro Landscaper / March 2015 99 www.prolandscapermagazine.com Pro Landscaper / January 2017 89 Ransome Parkway 3, 30” 6 blade units – 1970 hrs £ POA 50 December 2012 PL App Ad.indd 1 21/01/2015 12:17 Ride-On Front Rotary Mowers 50 December 2012 CLASSIFIED 22/10/2015 11:01 LifeStyle.inddTEMPLATE.indd 67 19/11/2015 15:01 11:50 John from: £6’500 Classifieds.indd 93 Deere 1445,99various deck sizes and hours – choice of 8 22/09/2015 John89Deere 1445 with Cab, 60” SD deck, Serviced – 2126 hrs £8’500 18/02/2015 14:44 Classified.indd 21/12/2016 09:43 John Deere 1545, 62” RD deck, 31hp, 4WD, HST – choice of 2 from: £9’750

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PEOPLE

ANN ROWLAND Director, Landscape Perspective www.landscapeperspective.co.uk Go to reference book I don’t use books much these days, but I use the Crocus website almost daily for inspiration.

Favourite seasonal plant Cirsium rivulare ‘Atropurpureum’.

Ideal project in five words or less Beach resort in Barbados.

Karaoke song of choice Feeling Good, Michael Buble.

Who would play you in the film of your life?

Myself, of course – tempted to say my husband to see life from his side of the fence, but the gender issue would be a problem!

Favourite sporting memory Super Saturday in the Olympics, so glad we were there to watch that epic day.

Best moment of your career Starting up my own business 10 years ago.

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JORDAN LING Designer, Janine Pattison Studios www.janinepattison.com Go to reference book As of right now, the Landscape Detailing series by Michael Littlewood.

Favourite seasonal plant Aquilegia.

One piece of technology you can’t live without My Fitbit.

Favourite sandwich filling Brie, avocado and bacon.

Pro Landscaper asks quick-fire questions to gain a small insight into the people who make up our industry. To take part email lisa.wilkinson@eljays44.com

Top of your bucket list Horse riding in the Okavango Delta.

Ideal project in five words or less A challenging yet creative project.

Pro Landscaper / January 2017

Little Interview.indd 90

Karaoke song of choice A very tone deaf rendition of Genesis – Invisible Touch.

Who would play you in the film of your life?

Michael Cera – he portrays my brand of awkwardness very well.

Favourite sporting memory UFC 193 – Holm vs Rousey.

Best moment of your career Presenting my first concept designs to the client and them being delighted.

One piece of technology you can’t live without My smartphone.

90

Favourite sandwich filling Chicken and mayo.

Top of your bucket list Visit Japan with my wife.

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

20/12/2016 14:07

PEOPLE

STEVE WHITE Director, County Landscapes www.countylandscapes.com

Go to reference book The Garden Planner by Robin Williams.

Ideal project in five words or less Footing a ladder for Trump.

Favourite seasonal plant I’m split between Euphorbia and Verbena!

Best moment of your career Meeting the Queen at RHS Chelsea 1990.

One piece of technology you can’t live without My CAD software.

Favourite sandwich filling Corned beef and pickle.

Karaoke song of choice I never attempt it. In my van I’m the world’s greatest singer…

Who would play you in the film of your life?

Because of the long hair, probably Kurt Cobain, but his agent is strangely quiet.

KATRINA KEIFFER-WELLS

MIKE LONG

Garden designer, Earth Design

Managing director, Genesis Landscapes

www.earthdesigns.co.uk Favourite sandwich filling Lamb and mint sauce.

Go to reference book Paving Expert online.

Favourite seasonal plant Peonies.

Karaoke song of choice Can’t bear karaoke!

Favourite seasonal plant Allium giganteum.

Who would play you in the film of your life?

Ruby Wax.

Ideal project in five words or less Bespoke, challenging, hardscaping, intelligent and seasonal beauty.

Favourite sporting memory 1996 World Cup.

Best moment of your career Winning a Toyota Hilux as contractor of the year with Marshalls.

Best moment of your career Every day is a great moment – I love my job.

One piece of technology you can’t live without iPhone.

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

Little Interview AMENDED.indd 91

Top of your bucket list My daughters living a long and fulfilling life!

www.genesislandscapes.co.uk

Go to reference book Design in the 20th Century.

Ideal project in five words or less East London pub garden.

Favourite sporting memory Watching Nigel Mansell at Silverstone come round the first lap over two seconds ahead of the field.

Top of your bucket list Swimming with manta rays.

One piece of technology you can’t live without Calculator #pythagoreantheorem.

Favourite sandwich filling Cheese and ham, or sometimes ham and cheese – depends how I feel.

Karaoke song of choice I stay clear of it!

Who would play you in the film of your life?

I fear it could be Adam Sandler, though I’d rather it be Jake Gyllenhaal.

Favourite sporting memory I really don’t like sport.

Top of your bucket list ‘Mike’s bucket list’.

Pro Landscaper / January 2017 91

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