Pro Landscaper September 2019

SEPTEMBER 2O19

DREAMSCAPE GARDEN MCWILLIAM STUDIO

LET’S HEAR IT FROM

REGENERATING BELVOIR

A PLACE TO MEET

TOXIC THREAT

Jane Findlay, Landscape Institute

The recent restoration at Belvoir Castle

APL members discuss making history at Chelsea

The growing danger of oak processionary moth

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WELCOME

W E LCO M E W

questioning if the recognition given to the contractor is correct. We also take a look at the newly planted garden at Chatsworth within our Future Projects section (page 14/15), and Lee Bestall discusses the issues of planning, and why it’s important to involve all parties early in the process – including suppliers.

There is still time to enter yourself or nominate someone for Pro Landscaper’s 30 under 30: The Next Generation Awards, more information can be found on page 113. And finally, the entry process for the Pro Landscaper Business Awards is now open. If you are running a consistently high performing business, this is the awards for you. Whatever your size or discipline, there will be a relevant category.

These awards are independently judged by leading industry figures within the landscaping sector, as well as business experts outside of the sector that have a strong understanding of what makes a quality business.

So get entering now, and in the meantime we very much hope you enjoy the read.

JIM & LISA

THE CHALLENGE NOW, IS TO GET THIS MESSAGE OUT TO THE WIDER GENERAL PUBLIC AND GET THEM TO UNDERSTAND THE TRUE COST AND VALUE OF PROFESSIONAL LANDSCAPING AND DESIGN

©Simon Orchard Garden Design

elcome to the September issue of Pro Landscaper. We hope that you’ve all had an enjoyable and work-filled summer, let’s hope that the season is extended with fair weather during September.

We’re not sure how many people have picked up on the excellent video produced by the SGD recently, which is available on our website – it’s well worth a watch, and is a great way to promote the professionalism of the industry. The challenge now, as always, is to get this message out to the wider general public and get them to understand the true cost and value of professional landscaping and design.

Big congratulations must also go to Tamara Bridge and Kate Savill – both previous winners of Pro Landscaper’s 30 Under 30: The Next Generation – who successfully won Channel Five’s inaugural The Great Gardening Challenge.

Find out more about what Tamara has been up to on page 112.

This issue is packed full of other amazing content, too. Sam Hassall (page 88/89) looks at the true cost for a landscaper and designer producing an RHS Chelsea show garden and

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

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CONTENTS

INSPIRE

31

INFORM 08 10 14 17 22 25 26 29 31 4

Agenda Best format to present designs News Our monthly roundup of industry news Future Projects Chatsworth Garden Let’s Hear It From Jane Findlay Company Profile Living Landscapes View from the Top Adam White Don’t Forget the Plants Holly Youde Through a Glass, Darkly Andrew Wilson Country Estate Belvoir Castle

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Green Wall Getaway Simon Orchard Garden Design Fantastically Floral Silverflowe A Greener Recovery Tectonic Water-Land Blend Design McWilliam Studio Landscape Architect’s Journal B | D Landscape Architects Autumn Living Debs Winrow Collaborative Construction APL: A Place to Meet Lighting Products

NURTURE 63 69 70 71 73 76 79 81

Feature Garden West Dean Gardens Talking Trees Trees and Design Action Group Championing Aftercare Chris Stone Verges to the Rescue Nick Coslett Where Do We Go From Here?

Lewis Normand Soil For Large Domestic Projects Tim O’Hare Tackling The Toxic Caterpillar Oak Processionary Moth Green Roofs Adding life and colour to roofs

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CONTENTS

S E P T E M B E R 2 01 9 E D U C AT E 85 86 87 88 91 93 94 97 99 102 103 105

Pros of Planning Lee Bestall Giving Trees the Green Light Neil Parslow First (Virtual) Steps Luke Mills Recognition For Contractors Sam Hassall Foreign Fields Angus Lindsay Kit Feature Silencing leaf blowers Kit Leaf Blowers

110

Product DNA Steelscapes

PEOPLE

Business Coaches View from industry experts

109

Inside Cotswold Hill Stone Edging EverEdge Fencing Products

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110 112 116 119 122

102

Out and About RHS Garden Rosemoor Flower Show SEPTEMBER 2O19

Life/Style Alexandra Noble 30 Under 30 Tamara Bridge What’s Your Role?

Madeleine Evans, Tivoli What I’m Reading Katja Griffiths Little Interviews Quick-fire questions with the individuals who make up our industry

DREAMSCAPE GARDEN MCWILLIAM STUDIO

LET’S HEAR IT FROM

REGENERATING BELVOIR

A PLACE TO MEET

TOXIC THREAT

Jane Findlay, Landscape Institute

The recent restoration at Belvoir Castle

APL members discuss making history at Chelsea

The growing danger of oak processionary moth

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www.prolandscapermagazine.com

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CONTRIBUTORS

CO N T R I B U TO R S Holly Youde Holly comments on a trend which she has noticed growing recently, of sterile gardens with a severe lack of soft landscaping.

She encourages more soft landscaping to be used in schemes, emphasising its importance and suggests some ways you can gain more experience using this element of landscaping.

P26

ADAM WHITE P25

W W W.URBANLANDSCAPEDESIGN.CO.UK @URBLANDSCAPES

Debs Winrow

ANDREW WILSON P29

As autumn settles upon us, Debs looks to outdoor styling for the chillier months. She identifies some of the key elements that will help ensure you enjoy your garden year-round. From seating which you can leave outside, firepits to keep you warm, candles to create atmosphere, and wood fire ovens with advice on meals to cook.

P54

CHRIS STONE P70

W W W.GARDENHOUSEDESIGN.CO.UK @GARDENHOUSEDSGN

Neil Parslow Lighting trees can be a great way to add cohesion to a lighting scene and due to the diverse range of trees which can be lit, it can be a very rewarding aspect of landscape lighting design. Neil talks us through the number of factors to consider when lighting a tree which you should always bear in mind when aiming for the biggest impact.

P86

NICK COSLETT P71

W W W.LIGHTVISUALS.CO.UK @LIGHTVISUALSUK

Sam Hassall

LEE BESTALL P85

This month Sam discusses the recognition received by contractors and designers when it comes to show gardens and whether it is equal. He analyses the role of both the contractor and the designer, breaking down the cost to each in hours spent working on the project.

CONTACT

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Eljays44 Ltd 3 Churchill Court, 112 The Street, Rustington, West Sussex BN16 3DA Tel: 01903 777 570 EDITORIAL Editorial director – Lisa Wilkinson lisa.wilkinson@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 777 579 Head of content – Nina Mason nina.mason@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 777 593 Features writer – Rachael Forsyth rachael.forsyth@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 777 578 Features writer – Frankie Youd frankie.youd@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 777 570 Equipment editor – Rachel Gordon proarbeditor@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 777 570 Subeditor – Katrina Roy katrina.roy@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 777 570 Subeditor – Sam Seaton sam.seaton@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 777 591

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W W W.LANDPRO.CO.UK @SAMLANDPRO Design – Kara Thomas, Kirsty Turek ADVERTISING Business development manager – Jamie Wilkinson jamie.wilkinson@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 777 585 Head of sales – Jessica McCabe jessica.mccabe@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 777 587 Horticulture Careers – Liam Colclough liam.colclough@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 446 076 Managing director – Jim Wilkinson jim.wilkinson@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 777 589 MARKETING AND CIRCULATION Tel: 01903 777 570 Subscription enquiries – Chris Anderson chris.anderson@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 777 570 Online content editor – Amy Fitz-Hugh amy.fitz-hugh@eljays44.com Tel: 01903 777 570

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by Eljays44 Ltd. The 2019 subscription price is £95. Subscription records are maintained at Eljays44 Ltd, 3 Churchill Court, 112 The Street, Rustington, West Sussex BN16 3DA, UK. Articles and information contained in this publication are the copyright of Eljays44 Ltd and may not be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publishers. The publishers cannot accept responsibility for loss of, or damage to, uncommissioned photographs or manuscripts.

Whilst every effort has been made to maintain the integrity of our advertisers, we accept no responsibility for any problem, complaints, or subsequent litigation arising from readers’ responses to advertisements in the magazine.

We also wish to emphasise that views expressed by editorial contributors are not necessarily those of the publishers. Reproduction of any part of this magazine is strictly forbidden.

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MANAGEMENT Managing Director Jim Wilkinson Director Lisa Wilkinson Business Development Manager Jamie Wilkinson Cover image ©McWilliam Studio

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INFORM

AGENDA

WHAT IS THE BEST FORMAT FOR PRESENTING DESIGNS TO CLIENTS? Robert Barker

Dave Green

Kate Savill

PRINCIPAL DESIGNER, ROBERT BARKER DESIGNS

OWNER, DAVE GREEN GARDENS

OWNER, K ATE SAVILL L ANDSCAPES

I have tried every format to present my designs to my clients and I haven’t been able to find one format that has felt like the right fit. Due to this, I have found that the best approach is to combine a number of formats.

I’ve tried a few different formats for presenting work, but nearly always find that some sort of physical element is needed at some point. Electronic documents are great for sharing, quick changes and for presenting, but when it comes to talking something through and trying to gain an understanding, it’s really useful to be able to draw and annotate a physical plan.

I’ve found that having something to hold, turn and really look closely at helps some clients understand what’s proposed. If there’s time and budget,

I’ve experimented with lots of different styles and ways of presenting in the past but have now worked out a formula that suits my working style.

I like to present printed coloured plans, as I find this the easiest way of communicating my ideas to my clients, for what I intend to do with the garden.

DUE TO THIS I HAVE FOUND THAT THE BEST APPROACH IS TO COMBINE A NUMBER OF FORMATS If my hand drawn illustrations were in the same league as someone like Tom Stuart-Smith, then I would happily stick to one format. Or if we could dedicate hours of time to computer rendering, then that would be great. But in a busy design practice, time is valuable, so we aim to create the best presentations possible within a set amount of time.

To achieve this, we create the design using a mixture of Vectorworks and SketchUp. The design is then printed and illustrated by hand to give the visuals a more individual and hand drawn quality. This is then digitised and prepped so that it is ready to be presented to the client.

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IT’S REALLY USEFUL TO BE ABLE TO DRAW AND ANNOTATE A PHYSICAL PLAN then going further with this and creating physical models is probably the very best way to present an idea. I’ve seen models really help clarify difficult parts of the design, and gaining this understanding and resolving issues early on is definitely better than working things out once everything has started on site.

I LIKE TO PRESENT PRINTED COLOURED PLANS, AS I FIND THIS THE EASIEST WAY OF COMMUNICATING MY IDEAS Normally, I try to keep my plans to A3, as I think it looks a lot neater, but can’t always get away with designs that small.

I computer generate all my plans and visuals, as I find it a much quicker tool to produce the work, then for the concept master plan I will photoshop over this to give it a more painterly feel.

Then, I produce a mood board and create several view points from a 3D model using SketchUp and Photoshop.

I did always love to hand draw, which does look lovely, but found this a pain if you need to adjust anything.

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

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INFORM

Luke Mills

David Keegan

James Scott

DIRECTOR, THE LANDSCAPE SERVICE

OWNER, DK GARDEN DESIGN

MANAGING DIRECTOR, THE GARDEN COMPANY

I find the best way to present plans is to create an experience for the client. I’ve increasingly been using digital media to present design proposals, such as virtual reality, walkthroughs and slideshows.

I always take a sketchbook and pencils

As a designer, I consider presentations as one of the most – if not the most – important parts of my job. Following my initial client consultation, the first part of my design process is the preparation of a mood book. The mood book is my response and interpretation of the initial client meet, the client brief, and my observations of their lifestyle.

Depending on the size and scope of the project, this presentation is usually made and presented to the client as a PowerPoint display.

At the next stage of the process, we have a further consultation of my preliminary designs. This will usually be in a printed A3 format. I will have also sourced samples of hard landscaping materials which I bring to the meeting.

I think there are a number of successful ways of presenting a design to a client rather than rigidly sticking to one format.

The essential element is that you are able to convey your vision.

The vision should be backed up by sound technical drawings that prove buildability and can be easily read and understood by the client and other professionals involved in the project.

I’VE INCREASINGLY BEEN USING DIGITAL MEDIA TO PRESENT DESIGN PROPOSALS, SUCH AS VIRTUAL REALITY, WALKTHROUGHS AND SLIDESHOWS with me to the presentation. I really enjoy sketching at presentations with the client, drawing elements and details of the garden that the digital plans may not necessarily show.

It can also depend on the client and what you think they will understand better.

For the clients who have already gone through the design process, perhaps with an architect, they will better understand flat plans and be more familiar with the design process.

It can be difficult when a client has trouble understanding plans, but it’s the designer’s responsibility to make sure the proposals easily depict the new garden.

I CONSIDER PRESENTATIONS AS ONE OF THE MOST – IF NOT THE MOST – IMPORTANT PARTS OF MY JOB I also present clients with an A3 colour bound booklet which will have copies of landscape plans, planting plans, lighting plans, detailed elevations and 3D images of the proposed gardens. I now feel confident that this works well for both myself and my clients.

THERE ARE A NUMBER OF SUCCESSFUL WAYS OF PRESENTING A DESIGN TO A CLIENT RATHER THAN RIGIDLY STICKING TO ONE FORMAT We often use a mix of CAD drawings and hand rendering at the presentation stage.

We back this with a well-considered mood board. This can be particularly effective when made up largely from a library of images from our own design and build projects. No two projects are alike, but being able to highlight other successful schemes you have designed instils confidence. Finally, I like to present in person to the client, informally around a table with paper copies of the plans that can be sketched on and modifications made as required.

N E X T M O N T H : G I V E N T H E U P C O M I N G G OV E R N M E N T- C O M M I S S I O N E D R E V I E W, W H AT P OT E N T I A L E F F E C TS D O E S H S 2 H AV E ?

H AV E YO U R S AY: C O N T E N T@ E L J AYS 4 4 .C O M

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INFORM

NEWS JOHN MELMOE TO JOIN BOWLES & WYER AS NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

I

t has been revealed that John Melmoe, former managing director of Willerby Landscapes, will be joining Bowles & Wyer as a non-executive director. Informal discussions have been taking place for the past few months, before a joint decision was made to work together.

“John Melmoe’s addition to the B&W team is a huge boost for us,” says John Wyer, chief executive of Bowles & Wyer. “We have always admired Willerby Landscapes, who built up an unrivalled reputation and sustained growth under John’s direction. We felt that there was a strong overlap between the two companies – we have a lot of shared values and both have developed

business models built around long-term partnering with clients.

“We’re really excited to have John join us and look forward to learning a lot from his experience.”

John Melmoe added: “For many years there has been a natural synergy between the way John Wyer and I operate within the landscape industry. As a result of mutual respect, it was an easy decision for me to join Bowles & Wyer to assist them in realising their long-term goals. These are indeed exciting times and I am very much looking forward to working with the staff to assist with the progression of the business.”

The initial appointment is for two years, with Melmoe working alongside the landscape company on various internal projects, as well as attending the board and strategy meetings. www.bowleswyer.co.uk

SGD REL E AS ES N EW FILM A BOUT WO RKI N G WITH A PRO F ESS I O N A L GA RD EN D ES I G N ER

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he Society of Garden Designers (SGD) has produced a short, consumerfocused film designed to explain the process of finding and working with a professional garden designer. Featuring interviews with three registered members of the Society – Lee Bestall MSGD, Helen Elks-Smith MSGD and Adolfo Harrison MSGD – the film highlights the stages involved in commissioning a registered member from the initial brief, through to the finished garden.

Shot on location in London, Sheffield and Hampshire, the film includes interviews with clients who share their positive experiences of working with two designers who feature in the film, and the work of landscape contractors involved in the projects. It’s illustrated with images of over 50 finished gardens, and demonstrates the range of projects being undertaken by SGD designers.

Sarah Morgan, chair of the SGD, said: “We wanted to demystify the process of working with a professional garden designer and show the services our members offer are accessible to all. I’m sure our members will distribute the film widely, and it’ll reinforce the importance of working with a registered member of the SGD.” www.sgd.org.uk

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INFORM

ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN EDINBURGH £70M REJUVENATION APPROVED

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he Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) has won the backing of city councillors to proceed with an ambitious £70m initiative to safeguard Scotland’s priceless national plant collections, and future-proof its status as a world-leading centre for education, horticulture, conservation and plant science.

State-of-the-art facilities will underpin the Garden’s core activities, while visitor experience will be enhanced with refurbishment and extension of the popular public glasshouses.

Councillors resoundingly agree to support RGBE’s Edinburgh Biomes project, which will allow the organisation to address increasing threats, like plant disease and habitat loss.

The project has been approved at a time when two Grade A-listed Victorian Palm Houses and 1960s public and research glasshouses on its Edinburgh site require restoration and refurbishment. Without action, they’d become unsafe by 2025, putting at risk the Living Collection of more than 34,000 plants.

Regius keeper Simon Milne MBE, says: “We recognise this is an essential and urgent project. It’s a necessity to avoid the catastrophic loss of up to four thousand species in our collection.” www.rbge.org.uk

KATE SAVILL & TAMARA BRIDGE WIN GREAT GARDENING CHALLENGE

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esign partnership and 30 Under 30: The Next Generation winners, Kate Savill and Tamara Bridge, have been announced as the winners of Channel 5’s Great Gardening Challenge.

The six-part series was presented by Nicki Chapman and Diarmuid Gavin. It challenged eight pairs of professional garden designers to transform unloved spaces into gardens. In a high pressure competition, Kate and Tamara created three gardens, each within a 48-hour period. This included gardens at the Norris Green Park, Liverpool, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, and RHS Garden Wisley for the final. The gardens were judged by

Carol Klein and Mark Gregory.

The final saw Kate and Tamara tasked with creating an accessible showcase garden within a budget of £10,000. The brief was set

by RHS Garden Wisley Curator, Matthew Pottage, and had to represent the RHS Greening Great Britain campaign.

“Kate and Tamara showed true professionalism and built three stunning gardens,” says Mark Gregory. www.channel5.com/show/the-greatgardening-challenge/

NEWS IN BRIEF MAYOR OF LONDON LAUNCHES GOOD WORK STANDARD Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, launched his Good Work Standard, a benchmark for high employment standards. He urged employers to join him in making London the best city in the world in which to work. www.london.gov.uk

DMU TO PLANT 1,000 TREES FOR NEW STUDENTS De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) will plant 1,000 trees on behalf of students joining this year. The trees will be planted on the 200sq mile National Forest site. www.dmu.ac.uk

VISION TO CREATE A WEST MIDLANDS NATIONAL PARK A report commissioned by the government welcomed ambitious proposals to create a National Park in the West Midlands region. www.bcu.ac.uk

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INFORM

Online Exclusives KRISTIAN REAY RHS YOUNG DESIGNER OF THE YEAR INTERVIEW

WORK BEGINS ON NATURAL AND INCLUSIVE PLAYGROUND IN THE REGENT’S PARK

Pro Landscaper spoke to Kristian Reay who has recently been awarded RHS Young Designer of the Year to discuss the concept around his garden, future plans, and how he came into the industry. www.prolandscapermagazine.com/ kristian-reay-young-designer-of-theyear-interview

G SKETCHUP: A MODEL WORKFLOW SketchUp is a 3D modelling computer program that allows designers and landscape architects to visualise their designs. In a three-part series, Paul Hensey discusses how to use SketchUp and the benefits it has. www.prolandscapermagazine.com/ sketchup-a-model-workflow

loucester Gate Playground, to the East of ZSL London Zoo, is to receive a complete refurbishment over the next five months.

The metal, sterile and flat feel of the former playground will be replaced with a landscaped space that children of all abilities can play in, is rich with planting, and features equipment made from natural materials such as rope, bark and willow.

MOVEART PLAYSCULPTURE ® ADDED TO ALL URBAN’S PORTFOLIO

S

BIODIVERSITY NET GAIN REPORT Pro Landscaper gives a brief summary of the Department for Environment Food and Rural affairs’ summary of responses and government response to net gain. www.prolandscapermagazine.com/ biodiversity-net-gain-report

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The new playground will be almost double the size of the former playground.

It will feature water and sand play, climbing equipment, a zip line and a willow den.

It will also feature all the traditional favourites such as swings, a slide and a roundabout.

The new space will be zoned so that children of a younger age have equipment suited to them in the centre with a more formal planting style, and as they circle around the playground, the equipment becomes more challenging and the planting wilder.

Nick Biddle, park manager of The Regent’s Park and Primrose Hill, said: “It’s very important that we give children of all abilities the opportunity to play together, and this is reflected in the design. All areas of the playground are wheelchair accessible, including the walkway bridge and water play area.” www.royalparks.org.uk

wiss brand moveart playsculpture® is the latest to be added to All Urban’s designer portfolio in a UK exclusive. moveart playsculpture® has created multiuse art objects which encourage fun and exploration.

Each form has been uniquely developed using its signature HIP profiling technique.

Ideal for city streets, plazas, public parks and gardens, canal sides and more, urban planners can choose from a set of beautifully designed standardised sculptures, or work with moveart

playsculpture® to design bespoke forms.

The designs are inspired by the double helix, the geometry of which symbolises adaptability of life. These sustainable forms are made from durable accoya wood, and have an extremely long life, with minimum maintenance. They’re also designed and manufactured in accordance with the European safety standards for playground equipment SN EN 1176.

Paul Collings, director of All Urban, says: “We’re delighted to welcome moveart playsculpture® into our high-quality portfolio.

We welcome readers to join us at our first pop-up event in Sheffield Botanical Gardens in September. Norbert, original creator of moveart playsculpture®, will talk on HIP profiling. The event is free but booking is essential via Eventbrite.” www.allurban.co.uk

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22/08/2019 08:43

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INFORM

FUTURE PROJECTS

Chatsworth garden Derbyshire, ENGLAND THE GARDEN AT CHATSWORTH IS CURRENTLY UNDERGOING ONE OF ITS BIGGEST TRANSFORMATIONS BY TWO OF THE UK'S MOST ILLUSTRIOUS GARDEN DESIGNERS

O

ver the past nearly 500 years, current today, so history books in the future will make sure we’re choosing varieties they the garden of the magnificent record this as the 12th Duke and Duchess’ new can source. We need all the plants to come Chatsworth House in the Peak layer of development in the garden. in at the same time so we can logistically start District has evolved enormously.

"The strong garden team of 25 will be at one end of the garden and work our way A smaller version of the existing 105 acre garden working with Tom over several years to create through, rather than having to go back and slot was created when the house was this new layer, work for which has planting in later.” built in the 16th century, but a pivotal already begun in the Rockery. This The numbers of plants being sourced is change saw Sir Joseph Paxton join as 1.2ha area of garden was inspired astounding, too, particularly for Arcadia, head gardener nearly three centuries by the 6th Duke’s trip to the Alps in a 15-acre undeveloped part of the garden – the later. He created an arboretum, a the 19th century, and is one of the development of which is being supported by rockery and a trout stream, as well as focal areas from Paxton’s time as global fashion house Gucci. An impressive the Great Conservatory. This was an the head gardener.

8,000m2 of perennials will be planted during 84m-long glasshouse which took four “We’re not planning to change the years to build, and was unfortunately Rockery much, but we 2 Trout Stream Cottage Garden / demolished in 1920 after falling into want to provide better and Jack Sensory Garden disrepair during the First World War. access to it for PERENNIALS Pond TO BE PLANTED IN Paxton’s legacy, though, remained. visitors,” says Steve.

ARCADIA Now, following the £32.7m “We’re planning to put in renovation of Chatsworth House, new paths and seating, and home to the Duke and Duchess of we’re also adding new rocks Devonshire, the garden is undergoing in areas to define these its biggest transformation since new paths and Paxton left the estate. With enhance the effect.

EMPLOYEES celebrated garden designer, Paxton, “Tom has designed as part of its history, as well as a planting style which C H AT S W O R T H arguably the most famous landscape will run all the way GARDEN TEAM gardener of all time – Capability through the Rockery, Brown – working on the garden at so pretty much all the Chatsworth, those working on the existing planting is development of their works were going, apart from CHATSWORTH carefully chosen. features such as the Multi-award-winning garden more mature maples RESTORATION designer, Tom Stuart-Smith, is and cornus. All the low leading the project alongside level planting has been Chatsworth’s head of garden and landscape, swapped to a new perennial mix, Arcadia Steve Porter. “We wanted somebody who could which will start with a bulb layer come in and help us to deliver something world in spring, perennials flowering in class,” says Steve. the summer, and right through to Rockery “Over the centuries, there have been some seed heads and grasses in the fairly influential people involved here and we autumn, so we will have a long have had some amazing additions to the garden season of interest.”

Ravine which has been improved by the family over All plants are being sourced from Crocus the years. We wanted to add something that in Windlesham, Surrey. “They’re part of the GARDEN DEVELOPMENT PLANS captured the style and type of planting which is collaborative process, working with us to

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acre GARDEN 8,000m

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©Ch atsw orth Hous e Tru st

HOUSE

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P R OJ ECT D E TA I L S

WE’RE GOING TO CREATE AN EXCITING, BEAUTIFUL, CONTEMPORARY GARDEN THAT STANDS ON THE SHOULDERS OF THOSE EARLIER GIANTS autumn 2019 and spring 2020, equating to around 80,000 plants. This follows the planting of 150 large trees and shrubs earlier this year.

Steve says sourcing these plants, putting them in the ground and getting them

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established will likely be the biggest challenge of the entire transformation, so the team is installing irrigation, using water from the lakes to help the plants thrive. They are also introducing over 1,000t of green waste compost across the site to prepare it for planting, as well as to prevent weed growth.

Work on transforming the garden is now in full swing, but the process started off site at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2015, when decorated designer Dan Pearson won Best in Show, as well as a Gold medal for his Chatsworth Laurent Perrier Garden. The show garden was a recreation of the Trout Stream at Chatsworth, and Steve says this kick-started the renovation, with elements of the garden being relocated to the actual trout stream on the grounds of the Chatsworth estate.

As well as revitalising this area of the garden, Dan is also redesigning the Jack Pond, creating a contemplative space for visitors beneath a Corten steel pavilion. A bench will curve around an elliptical pond, surrounded by a soothing planting scheme.

“Tom Stuart-Smith and Dan Pearson have the vision and talent to continue Chatsworth’s radical tradition,” said the Duke of Devonshire when the full scale of the project was announced. “We are going to create an exciting, beautiful, contemporary garden that stands on the shoulders of those earlier giants.”

©Chatsworth House Trust

TOM STUART-SMITH AND DAN PEARSON HAVE THE VISION AND TALENT TO CONTINUE CHATSWORTH’S RADICAL TRADITION To have both Dan and Tom, two of the most illustrious garden designers in the UK, working on the improvements means that the evolution and the prestige of the garden at Chatsworth will continue, and will most likely still be remembered for centuries to come.

©Matthew Bullen

©Chatsworth House Trust

Client Chatsworth House Trust Garden Designers Tom Stuart-Smith and Dan Pearson Contractor In-house garden team Nursery Crocus

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22/08/2019 15:31 11:07

INFORM

Let ’s Hear it From

JANE FINDLAY

FIRA LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN DESIGN THIS YEAR MARKS THE LANDSCAPE INSTITUTE’S 90 TH ANNIVERSARY, USHERING IN A NEW AGE AS ADAM WHITE STEPS DOWN AS PRESIDENT IN SUMMER 2020, AND JANE FINDLAY STEPS UP. WE SPEAK TO JANE ABOUT WHERE IT ALL BEGAN, HOW FIRA HAS DEVELOPED OVER THE YEARS, AS WELL AS WHAT SHE HOPES TO ACHIEVE DURING HER PRESIDENCY

F

or Jane Findlay, becoming president of the Landscape Institute (LI) was never on her radar. It was previous president Noel Farrer who first proposed the idea, but it wasn’t until a meeting at the LI that Jane decided she had to run for the role. “I was looking at the board of past presidents, and there were only four female names on it. In an industry with a membership which is fairly 50/50 I knew our presidency should be reflecting this diversity too.”

The new board of trustees has definitely achieved this, with Jane, vice president Carolin Göhler and honorary secretary Romy Rawlings flying the flag for female landscape architects. It

FOR ME IT’S ABOUT PUTTING IN STRATEGIES WHICH WILL GO BEYOND THE LIFE OF MY PRESIDENCY was whilst on a family holiday that Jane first heard of landscape architecture. With a keen interest in the sciences as well as the arts, Jane had hopes of working for the Forestry Commission as it also peaked her passion for wildlife and conservation.

But, whilst talking to a family friend who worked for the Forestry Commission, her eyes were opened to other possibilities: “He talked to me about Dame Sylvia Crowe, and how rather

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LHIF Jane Findlay KR.indd 17

than doing forestry work, she designed forests.

It just ticked all the boxes.” From there, Jane attended Leeds Polytechnic (now Leeds Beckett University) to study landscape architecture, and after, she got her first job at Percy Thomas Partnership working alongside Sue Radley. Jane and Sue worked all over the world, from Hong Kong to Malaysia to the Middle East. Building a dedicated team, they completed projects in the healthcare sector as well as for British embassies and housing developments.

As Percy Thomas began to struggle financially in the late 1990s, Jane and Sue were offered the opportunity to buy themselves out, and thus, Fira was born. Now, its team of 15, with a network of freelancers and specialists, do work from very early planning right through to delivery, always ensuring they have a presence on site.

Fira have worked on a number of landmark schemes over the years, including Brindleyplace which played an important role in opening up the Birmingham canal system, but for Jane, it’s their hospital projects which really stick in her mind. “The big hospital schemes have been a huge part of my life. Those are the projects where you really feel like you’re making a difference.

We want to help make a patient’s journey as pleasant and stress-free as

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possible by creating a healing environment.”

One of such projects was the replacement for Headley Court, The Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre, which is for injured servicemen and women. The centre is set in a beautiful parkland with outdoor physical and mental rehab facilities.

Jane’s current favourite project is the National Memorial Arboretum, which Fira has been helping the clients with for the past 10 years. Part of this work has been the delivery of a visitor centre, the reorganisation of the site and a project to connect the trees with the remembrance to increase the horticultural experience. Jane says on Fira’s design approach: “It’s an integrated, well thought-through design work which is highly technical but also very creative.”

A huge part of the presentation of Fira’s design work is the technology that it uses. It has always been at the front-end of any digital change. “We try to make digital work for us, rather than doing digital for the sake of it.”

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WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE’RE NOT INSULAR, THAT WE’RE OUT THERE PUSHING FOR THE RELEVANCE OF OUR PROFESSION Jane and the team have made a lot of effort over the years to refine their processes, so they are able to deliver very big projects. Having previously invested in BIM (building information modelling) technology, they have since moved on to virtual reality which they find most beneficial when presenting to user groups.

Jane acknowledges that this kind of technology is a large investment, but feels it is essential to make it: “We have to demonstrate that we can work alongside architects and engineers who are already using this technology.

The LI hold digital courses, and I want to keep pushing this dissemination of information.”

Jane has recently taken a step back from the day-to-day running of Fira, with Jeremy Parker, Ryan Sudall, and Victoria Philips stepping up as directors and the new faces of Fira. Though Jane will very much still be a part of the business development of Fira, the LI presidency came at the perfect time as she was looking for something else to focus her time on. Although she admits she doesn’t know all the inner workings of the LI,

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she sees this as an advantage: “I think having not been heavily involved in the LI means I don’t have any political baggage – having fresh eyes and enthusiasm will be a positive thing.”

Jane aims to build on the work which has been done before, setting up a legacy which will continue to propel landscape architecture long

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LHIF Jane Findlay KR.indd 19

IT’S AN INTEGRATED, WELL THOUGHT-THROUGH DESIGN WORK WHICH IS HIGHLY TECHNICAL BUT ALSO VERY CREATIVE after her presidency is over. Part of this legacy is getting more women into senior positions, as she believes it is here where the gender balance dwindles. Jane attributes this to the challenging years where women may be juggling their career as well as having children. She hopes that by offering them support through courses such as continuing professional development (CPD), they will be able to return to work more confidently, assisting with and encouraging them into senior positions.

Being one of the most northernly candidates for the presidency role, Jane also feels it’s important to integrate the northern and midland regions, as they can all too often be isolated with a lot of focus put on the capital.

“I’m really pleased that the LI conference is going to be held in Birmingham next year.

There’s a lot going on in Birmingham, and the wider midland area has a huge population of landscape architects. It’s really important to connect with them, so hearing their issues is crucial to me,” Jane explains. Though she is perfectly placed to give voices to these regions, Jane stresses that London practises won’t be overlooked or neglected.

One goal which is at the top of Jane’s agenda, and no doubt many presidents before her, is to continue to push the relevance and importance of landscape architecture. “We have to make sure that we’re not insular, that we’re 1 Royal Liverpool University Hospital 2 National Memorial Arboretum Armed Forces Memorial 3 (L to R) Dr Wei Yang (elections officer), Adam White, Carolin Göhler, Jane Findlay, Romy Rawlings 4 Derwenthorpe development, York 5 Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary Garden 6 National Memorial Arboretum Remembrance Centre 7 Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff

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8 out there pushing for the relevance of our profession and all the things that we can offer.”

Jane believes that in order to make themselves relevant, landscape architects need to be seen as credible practitioners, which for her includes being well informed, having the right skills and tools, and being robust.

Part of fulfilling this goal for Jane means creating a network of landscape champions who may be in the profession or associated with it and can be called upon to talk on the radio, television, to journalists or to government departments when necessary. “A president is

AS WITH MANY ROLES IN THE LANDSCAPING INDUSTRY, PUSHING FOR RELEVANCE ALSO MEANS MAKING LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MORE VISIBLE TO YOUNGER GENERATIONS

only there for two years, so there’s a limit to what you can do. For me, it’s about putting in strategies which will go beyond the life of my presidency,” Jane explains. As with many roles in the landscaping industry, pushing for relevance also means making landscape architecture more visible to younger generations.

Jane is heavily involved in the LI’s Landscape Apprenticeships Trailblazer – a government supported scheme that sees students studying whilst they work. This is of particular appeal as university costs are rising, and Jane hopes to connect with more leavers to find out the benefits of it. The industry’s connection to nature and wellbeing, and all issues surrounding climate change, is undeniable. As Jane summarises: “Our time is now. If we can’t make ourselves heard now, when the focus is on the environment, when will we make ourselves heard?”

8 MoD Abbey Wood, Bristol 9 Derwenthorpe development, York

C O N TA C T Jane Findlay Jeremy Parker Tel 01215231033 Email Birmingham@fira-la.com

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LHIF Jane Findlay KR.indd 20

www.fira-la.com

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21/08/2019 14:55 14:13

MANO MAL EʼS BENEAT

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INFORM

WE MET MANAGING DIRECTOR TECW YN EVANS ONSITE AT A PRIVATE RESIDENCE IN KENT TO FIND OUT HOW HE WENT FROM OVERHAULING A SMALL FAMILY-RUN MAINTENANCE BUSINESS IN WEST LONDON TO PICKING UP SOME OF THE LARGEST DOMESTIC LANDSCAPING PROJECTS IN THE SOUTH-EAST How was Living Landscapes founded?

I changed the name in 2012 to Living Landscapes from The Real Gardening Company, a business my wife Nancy set up around 20 years ago. Back then, it was focused on garden maintenance in West London.

Nancy was studying gardening and garden design whilst I was working in telecoms.

She started maintaining gardens, and as it got gradually busier, I started to help out occasionally. It led to landscaping work, which I had experience in from being in the army.

It spiralled from there. When we had our first child, Nancy was unable to carry on working, so I became more involved in the business and went to Capel Manor College to gain an NVQ in hard landscaping.

How did the business develop from there?

The landscaping work continued to grow.

We dropped the maintenance eventually as the landscaping was taking up too much of our time, but it was when we relocated to West Sussex after having our second child that we decided a change in name was a good idea.

At that point, we were doing much larger projects and wanted more show work, so we felt it was necessary to rebrand.

It helped to get us to a position where we could approach the APL and BALI to see if they could help us to progress our goals of contacting designers and landscape architects and moving to show work.

So, being a member of the trade associations helped the business to evolve?

It helped in a number of ways. It gave us credence when approaching designers. Being part of a governing body compared to someone who wasn’t, for instance, supported quotes when initially going to clients. It was about how we portrayed ourselves on a piece of paper compared to others.

I also realised that designers and landscape architects like to work with registered companies. If they’re tendering for projects, they will actively seek BALI members, for example, because in theory that means they will have three landscapers of equal standing tendering for the work.

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Company Profile.indd 22

COMPANY PROFILE

LIVING LANDSCAPES

MATT EW C IL Sʼ BEST IN S OW BEST CONSTRUCTION WINNER

BALI PRINCIPAL AWAR

WINNER

R S

AMPTON COURT

SURRE

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ESTABLISHED 2000 EMPLOYEES 5 AWARDS 2 BALI PRINCIPAL AWARDS, 2 APL AWARDS, RHS BEST CONSTRUCTION AND BEST IN SHOW; 12 RHS MEDALS IN TOTAL TURNOVER £850K

APL AWARDS ENTRY 2019, SUSSEX

Why were you initially keen to build more show gardens?

Garden shows are kind of like trade shows for landscapers and designers. It’s great to be constructing wonderful spaces and putting them on show, but you’re also showcasing how well you can build, and it raises your profile tremendously. I reached out to Phil Tremayne of the APL, offering to build a show garden for free if he could get us in. By doing that, we connected with other people who saw the garden and it helped move us up the ladder of designers who are involved in shows.

Design in central London, and I enjoyed doing it, but we experienced the same problems we have had before with commercial projects.

Do you still build show gardens now for the same reasons?

Not so much now. I enjoy it, but there’s a lot of stress involved. I did five years in a row, and by the fifth year, when we built gardens both at Chelsea and Hampton Court, it was just too much. There’s only so much profile raising you can do. After that, you have to consider what’s good for you mentally and physically, and what’s good for the business. I got a bit carried away with show work, but it got us to a good stage, and now I’m in a position where I can decide whether I want to build a garden or not.

If I don’t engage with the design emotionally then it’s not worth it.

Are there any plans to expand the business?

No. I’ve done that before, with two projects running at the same time and running back and forth, trying to keep clients happy. I realised quite quickly that clients prefer the business owner to be on site, and that having two projects just splits your time and energy. So, two years ago I downgraded. There are less people, but there’s the same quality of landscaping from one side of the garden right through to the other side. I’m very happy with the business now and I wouldn’t change it.

How do you feel about the work you are currently doing at Living Landscapes?

I’ve achieved what I set out to do through the show work and the associations. We’re working for Marian Boswall Landscape Architects, who I regard as one of the best designers in the country. It’s nice to be working with designers that I really like.

So, Living Landscapes has reached a fortunate stage. We carry out one project at a time and I’m predominantly on site, involved with the project. Our approach has paid off, it gets us work with very reputable designers.

The business supports my life and those working for me, but we’re all doing work we love to do. It’s not just a way to make ends meet.

Is there a minimum value for projects you undertake?

I remember when I first quoted £10K for a project and thinking about how I couldn’t charge that much money. Now, we have a minimum of around £150k upwards to around £800k. We haven’t worked on anything beyond £1m yet as we avoid commercial projects.

BALI PRINCIPAL AWARD WINNER 2016, SURREY

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Company Profile.indd 23

So, you don’t take on commercial work?

I’ll look at it. We recently did a commercial rooftop garden for Matthew Childs Garden

Do you work on projects across the whole of the south-east?

We’re based in Horsham, West Sussex, so that’s our central area. We’ll extend westwards into Hampshire, working with Rebecca Smith Garden Design. We’re covering the south-east of England, working with other excellent garden designers, including Rae Wilkinson Garden Design and Manoj Malde Garden Design.

I’M VERY HAPPY WITH THE BUSINESS NOW AND I WOULDN’T CHANGE IT What is the one thing you think the industry could and should do better?

There’s a massive shortfall in people coming into the industry, and a perception from the public that landscaping and working outdoors isn’t that much fun. Sometimes it isn’t, but it takes a certain type of person to be able to do it, as it does with any other trade.

GoLandscape, an initiative that I am an ambassador for, is a good example of an initiative trying to change this. They’re going to career fairs and actively raising the profile of landscaping and horticulture to try to get more people into the industry.

C O N TA C T Oakhill Road, Horsham, RH13 5LE Tel 020 8579 1236 Twitter @LivingLandUK Instagram @livinglandscapesuk Email livinglandscapesuk@btinternet.com

www.livinglandscapesuk.com

Pro Landscaper / September 2019 23

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21/08/2019 14:52 30/07/2019 10:33

INFORM

A DA M W H I T E A COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY

THIS MONTH, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT AND PRESIDENT OF THE LANDSCAPE INSTITUTE, ADAM WHITE, ENCOURAGES ALL LANDSCAPE PROFESSIONALS TO SUPPORT THE LANDSCAPE INSTITUTE’S CLIMATE AND BIODIVERSITY EMERGENCY DECLARATION

B

ack in July, the Landscape Institute (LI) board met to discuss whether the LI should declare a climate and biodiversity emergency. The decision was unanimous – it was necessary to take action, and do so immediately. After all, we are all members of a multi-skilled profession that stands at the forefront of climate action.

We are all concerned about the lives of future generations, about species’ extinctions and about deteriorating environmental quality.

The LI has worked to protect, conserve and enhance the natural environment for the last 90 years, but now, we find ourselves in a time of international crisis. Our Royal Charter obliges

OUR ROYAL CHARTER OBLIGES US TO ACT, NOT JUST IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST, BUT IN THE INTEREST OF PLACE AND NATURE TOO us to act, not just in the public interest, but in the interest of place and nature too.

As Kate Bailey, chair of the LI’s Policy Committee says: “The landscape profession is particularly talented when it comes to mending damaged habitats, degraded landscapes and neglected places. As a profession, we must not be complacent and there is still huge room for improvement.”

I’m sure you’ll all be aware of Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old from Sweden leading

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VFTT Adam White.indd 25

the #ClimateStrike movement. We are all being challenged by the younger generations about our inaction in the face of a predicted global temperature rise of 3°C by 2030. The UK Government recently announced that it will bring forward legislation this year to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

The intention at the LI is to acknowledge the current crisis, and to send a strong message to other professions working in the built and natural environment that we will commit to a programme of realistic, tangible measures to address climate change and biodiversity loss within the next five years.

The declaration identifies actions that the LI and members are already taking, and others that we want to commit to. These include: plans to measure the LI’s current carbon baseline, embed learning around sustainability, resilience and climate adaptation into the CPD programmes, accredited courses and entry standards, and the provision of toolkits and guidance to improve professional practice.

We need the whole membership and wider industry to advise, support and share their

knowledge with us to make this work.

Over the next six months, we will engage with professionals, practices, employers, experts and partners in allied professions to gain insight and advice, to help deliver on our commitments.

We will need your views about the declaration – what you are already doing and what you intend to do in your working practices, ideas for what practical actions do or don’t work and suggestions for practical examples of landscape schemes that directly address climate change. Our next step is to establish an expert climate change panel to share expertise and knowledge that will guide and inform the major changes the profession commits to.

Caring about the environment – our air, water, land, plants, trees and animals – is motivated by something that is simple and universal. It is our collective responsibility to leave our planet in a stronger position for our children. We are the first generation to know what we are destroying, and we could be the last that can do anything about it.

If you wish to get involved and/or receive more information, please contact: policy@landscapeinstitute.org.

Image ©Ekaterina Simonova/Shutterstock

ABOUT ADAM WHITE PLI Adam White PLI is a director at Davies White Ltd, a double RHS Gold medal, double BBC People’s Choice and RHS Best in Show award-winning chartered landscape architects practice. He is the President and a fellow of the Landscape Institute.

Follow him on social media at: @davies_white.

www.davieswhite.co.uk

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21/08/2019 10:30

INFORM

H O L LY YO U D E DON’T FORGET THE PLANTS

HOLLY YOUDE ENCOURAGES DESIGNERS TO USE MORE SOFT LANDSCAPING FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH AND WELLBEING AND FOR THE CREATION OF BEAUTIFUL SPACES

I

’m not afraid to admit that I struggle with soft landscaping design. Don’t get me wrong: I love plants and the atmosphere and drama they can create, along with their aromas and visual impact.

Personally, I just feel that I’m the wrong person to put them together. I understand that there are far more capable and talented designers whose strength is in soft landscape design, and I will ask for their services when required. I am more of a technical designer, and believe that there are very few designers who are both as strong with their hard landscaping and technical design ability as they are with their creative and artistic planting capabilities. If you are great at both, then good for you – you will have a very successful garden design career!

WE HAVE NOTICED A GROWING TREND IN PROJECTS: A RISE IN STERILE SPACES WITH A LACK OF SOFT LANDSCAPING We have noticed a growing trend in projects: a rise in sterile spaces with a lack of soft landscaping to soften the hard features, and large expanses of paving and structural features. We have been guilty of these type of projects in the past too, but have realised the impact of this and have placed more importance and been more insistent with

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Holly Youde.indd 26

clients that they must have proportionate planting.

If you are finding your projects are lacking on the planting elements, try to identify why this is. Is it because you are lacking in confidence or knowledge, or are you just not interested in the plants? Could you or anyone in your team upskill and start the learning process? Although it is something that comes from an interest or passion and needs to be learnt over time, at least you are making some headway.

Try collaborating with another local designer. If you build a relationship, it might be of mutual benefit – they may even be happy to plant it for you. It’s in your interest to make the space look the best it can be, and we all have a responsibility to keep Britain green.

It’s now more important than ever to incorporate more plants and trees into gardens. Too many customers aspire to low maintenance solutions, which leads the designer or landscaper towards minimalistic planting, but this can have a detrimental effect on wildlife, biodiversity and also on general health and wellbeing. Also, consider the effect that too much hard landscaping has on climate change. The more we pave, the more heat will be trapped and the less saturated the ground will be. In the grand scheme of things, a small garden isn’t going to make much difference, but little by little it will have an effect.

In the design and build world, we are in a great position to make a change and influence

the end result. So, if you are not already doing so, try and have a proportion of your projects dedicated to soft landscaping – it will make the space come alive. After all, a garden is not a garden without the atmosphere of plants and trees.

A B O U T H O L LY Y O U D E As joint director of Urban Landscape Design Ltd, Holly plays a fundamental role in the growth and diversification of Urban Landscape Design. Recent wins for the company include the Pro Landscaper Business Awards Landscape Company <£2m Turnover Award, Best Commercial Garden at the APL awards, Employer Excellence Award in the BALI Awards and the High Sheriff of Cheshire Award for Enterprise. This year, Holly has been listed as one of the Business Insiders 42 Under 42 entrepreneurs in the North West.

www.urbanlandscapedesign.co.uk

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ANDREW WILSON THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY

ANDREW WILSON EXPLORES THE PROCESS OF PLANTING PLAN PRODUCTION, AND ASKS WHETHER IN THIS DIGITAL AGE WE ARE PROGRESSING THIS VALUABLE PART OF THE ART AND SCIENCE OF DETAILED DESIGN

T

he planting plan lies at the heart of the detailed development work produced by the garden designer in the delivery of a garden design project. In the pre-digital age, plans would be produced in several ways, often expressing the design character and individuality of the author, but generally following a series of basic rules.

The accepted way of expressing a plant in a planting plan is the circle, which allows the designer to determine the spread of the plant in order to obtain a workable density when plants are associated together. The circle can also be expanded to take in larger specimens or shrubs, or instead linked together to indicate a larger group of the same species.

THIS SIMPLE GEOMETRIC APPROACH PRODUCES CLEAR AND CONCISE DRAWINGS THAT CAN BE ACCURATELY LABELLED OR DIRECTLY ANNOTATED Overall, this simple geometric approach produces clear and concise drawings that can be accurately labelled or directly annotated.

For most of my lectures, even now with the growth of randomised naturalistic planting schemes, I have continuously advised against the use of a key. I suggest that this is a last resort on complex or randomised schemes

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in which the placement of key plants or groups remains important.

The main issue lies in clarity of the plans designers produce, and what they deliver to the person on site who will be doing the planting.

So many designers are self- congratulatory in their plan production, rather than considering what the information means to a third party.

The digital age has ushered in many incredible benefits, but the planting plan is potentially much worse off for its digitised format – a casualty of misguided software producers who have effectively muddied the waters. The introduction of symbols for each species used is completely unhelpful when organising planting densities, and often impossible to read or interpret by a third party.

Plans often become a jungle of texture, or colour-coding favouring simple block planting, rather than more intricate associations, drifts, randomised patterns or naturalistic satellite planting. The introduction of colour is nullified if the recipient has no access to a colour printer, making this form of key coding irrelevant.

The main benefit of the coded symbols is to the software system, as it will recognise the individual plant and quantities used – and, hey presto, the planting schedule is produced as

you go. Call me a dinosaur, but I actually think that the process of checking my planting plans through in the production of the schedule is really important. So often now, people just want to race to the finish, rather than taking time to reflect and check on their work. It is so much easier and cost effective to rectify issues on screen or paper rather than on site.

Each year, my students are like children in a sweet shop as they start to operate in CAD, whilst I persevere in simplifying the plans into the black and white, circle-based format that always delivers on site. The ironic thing is that re-programming circles into the CAD system (in order to be identifiable within the programme) is very time consuming.

I use simple symbol-based keys for fillers and bulbs as they can add complexity to annotation.

For more randomised and naturalistic planted schemes, I use percentages with supporting instructions on how plants may be grouped, as this avoids the need for complex and repeating keyed systems. I’d really like to sit down with the main software producers and discuss a basic re-think or review on how planting plans can be better produced – any takers?

Pictured: Gravel garden planting, Andrew Wilson & Gavin McWilliam. All our planting design is supported by detailed planting plans.

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

www.lcgd.org.uk

Pro Landscaper / September 2019 29

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regenerating

BELVOIR

Photograph ©Charlotte Graham

WITH BELVOIR CASTLE BEING A FINALIST IN THE HISTORIC HOUSES GARDEN OF THE YEAR AWARDS, WE SPEAK TO HEAD GARDENER, TOM WEBSTER, ABOUT THE RECENT RESTORATION OF ITS ROSE GARDEN, AS WELL AS PLANS FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE GROUNDS

B

elvoir Castle’s history dates back to the 11th century and its grounds stretch over a staggering 16,000 acres of land. A gift from William the Conqueror, Belvoir has been in the family ever since with Robert de Todeni building the first of four castles to perch on the hill.

The gardens have also undergone major changes over the years, the latest of which was completed in 2016 by the present Duchess of

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Rutland, which brought to life the lost plans of Capability Brown.

Though Belvoir Castle has a team of dedicated local contractors who tend to the strimming and mowing of the extensive grounds, Tom Webster is its only full-time gardener, providing plenty to keep him busy.

Tom explains that although the previous gardens were impressive, you can’t rest on your laurels: “There’s some amazing work that’s

been done here in the past, but a garden doesn’t stand still and so you can’t either.”

His attention is focused on the gardens which surround the impressive castle, hailed as one of the finest examples of Regency architecture in the world. The gardens aren’t outshone by the castle though, with differing length walks giving visitors the chance to explore all they have to offer, the shortest of which lasts 20 minutes, and the longest three hours.

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Rose Garden The exquisite Rose Garden has recently been renovated, with 11-time Chelsea Gold medal winner David Stevens responsible for its updated design. Famous garden designer Harold Peto was responsible for the original design, so they were in great need of a refresh.

Harold’s plans have only recently been discovered in the Belvoir archives, and reveal the Rose Garden is boat-shaped, with the Chinese horse at the bow and the circular seat at the

IT’S ALL ABOUT HOW THE VISITORS FEEL WHEN THEY LEAVE HERE. I WANT THEM TO BE INSPIRED, TO TAKE AWAY IDEAS AND ENJOY THE GARDENS SO MUCH THAT THEY TELL EVERYONE THEY KNOW stern. David’s plans included the extension of the garden which involved the removal of some of the lawn area, and in this space he designed a rose arch to create a linear walkway, drawing visitors through the garden.

When developing the original rose garden, Peter Beales himself worked with the Duchess to hand select the right species for the planting scheme. For the regeneration, the task lay in the hands of Ian Lima, and what better rosarian to take up the job than Ian, having grown up with the Beales family and worked with them since

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he was at school. The Duchess gave Ian a brief of white and pink, as Belvoir Castle is often hired out for weddings, and she wanted to create a beautifully delicate space for wedding photos to be taken. Ian selected largely modern varieties as they will continue to flower throughout the year, will look more compact and have better resistance to disease.

Tom explains he also got to advise on some of the roses chosen: “I suggested a few old varieties as well, which we have interspersed amongst the newer roses, because I like a rose with a history to it. Also, the fragrance from the old roses is unparalleled.”

Amongst these varieties is Rosa × alba ‘Alba Semiplena’, Rosa ‘William Lobb’ which only flowers once but gives off a sensational fragrance when it does, as well as Rosa gallica ‘Versicolor’ and Rosa ‘Sally Holmes’ which Tom loves for its spectacular grouping.

Establishing themselves in two other beds in the rose garden, Tom has planted some Itoh peonies, a cross between herbaceous and tree

peonies. Tom explains: “These have been bred so that they are quite tall, will flower over a longer period and produce sensational large blooms in a variety of colours.”

Tom also planted some lilies and tulips, with the best intentions of creating a progression of flowering which wouldn’t clash and give the garden extended interest. With the unexpected weather, things didn’t quite go to plan though.

“Our flowers came up early this year because of the climate. The lilies came up first, and then the tulips, and nothing happened with the peonies at all.” However, Tom has faith they will work next year, and has plans to spray Chrysanthemums in amongst the gaps to further the progression of flowering.

Tom is lucky enough to have not suffered terribly with pests and diseases, which he attributes to the location of the rose garden.

“The roses got a little bit of blackspot this year, but I haven’t had to spray them yet. Where I live, down the hill in the village, I have it on all my roses, but I think the castle’s roses aren’t at as

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much risk because the garden here is fairly exposed and has excellent air flow.”

International inspirations As you drop down from the rose garden, you uncover Belvoir Castle’s Italian inspired garden.

Ornate statues have been placed around the paths, found elsewhere on the estate, and moved closer to the castle for visitors to admire.

Winding steps and paths lead you down further until you emerge through hedges to discover a

6 stunning lily pond. This peaceful haven leads to the Japanese Woodland. Here, visitors can find 250 specimen camellia along with Magnolia denudata, hydrangea, rhododendron, snakebark, Japanese maples and various bamboos.

The woodland also boasts the tallest Yew tree in the country.

It is Charles William from Caerhays Castle in Cornwall and Burncoose Nurseries who is

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responsible for the display and variety of plants which thrive in this area of the estate. The Williams family being avid seed collectors undertook several expeditions to Western China, cultivating the seeds they found back home in Cornwall.

A GARDEN DOESN’T STAND STILL AND SO YOU CAN’T EITHER The Duchess Garden The Duchess garden is thus named because the last Duchess, Dowager Duchess of Rutland, rediscovered them. Tom explains: “During the war when a lot of the men from the estate had gone to war, not a lot of work was being done on the garden. Fast forward to 1970 and whilst out on a walk, the Dowager Duchess of Rutland came to a gate and saw lots of overgrown boarders and paths.” Previously titled the Spring Garden – not due to spring planting but due to the abundance of natural springs in the hills and banks – the garden is now made up of winding steps and herbaceous boarders. The garden also boasts one of the few root and moss houses in the country and from this perch, visitors can look out through the variety of unusual trees and shrubs which make up the Duchess’ garden.

Future plans Tom has been cultivating a wildflower meadow in his own garden at home to experiment, in the hopes of replicating it on part of the estate.

“There are definitely some areas which would really benefit from a wildflower meadow. It would reduce the amount of areas we have to strim as well, so could be beneficial all round.”

He also has lots of exciting plans to keep developing the other gardens, which Tom wants to keep under wraps for the time being. His plans will add to the amazing work which has already been done, highlighting the individual characteristics of each garden even more, with lots of unique elements planned, which may not have been seen anywhere else in the country.

Belvoir Castle is also a finalist in the Historic Houses Garden of the Year Award – a public voted award organised by Historic Houses Association. The results will be announced in November at its annual general meeting, and Tom and the Duchess have high hopes of winning this year. Tom’s aspirations boil down to a simple desire though. “It’s all about how the visitors feel when they leave here. I want them to be inspired, to take away ideas and enjoy the gardens so much they tell everyone they know.”

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Castle approach Lily pond in the formal Rose Gardens The Rose Garden Spring Garden ©Charlotte Graham Root and Moss House ©Charlotte Graham Tufa Grotto

C O N TA C T Belvoir Castle Grantham, NG32 1PE Tel 01476 871001 Email reception@belvoircastle.com

www.belvoircastle.com

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PROJECT D E TA I L S Project value Approx. ÂŁ60k Build time 6 weeks Size of project 45m2

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G R E E N WA L L

GETAWAY URBAN GARDEN

SIMON ORCHARD GARDEN DESIGN L O C AT E D I N W A N D S W O R T H C O M M O N , S O P H I S T I C AT E D S T Y L E M E E T S V O G U E T O C R E AT E T H I S U R B A N , M U LT I - L E V E L G R E E N W A L L E D G A R D E N

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imon Orchard Garden Design was asked to design a contemporary and sophisticated garden which would complement a very slick basement conversion. This urban split-level garden needed to provide maximum outdoor space for the clients for entertaining and hosting.

The clients contacted Simon in a bit of a fluster having already started on a sizeable basement conversion, but with no garden design plans in place.

The main contractors were beginning to ask questions about the garden-to-be that the client was unable to answer.

The new basement kitchen had full-width bi-folds, so the clients wanted something impressive to look out onto to match the stylish interior of the house.

The garden was north-facing, only receiving sunlight at the end of the garden.

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Design and build The clients originally wanted to settle for white rendered walls and light paving, however Simon felt this was going to look slightly brash and ‘shouty’, along with the high maintenance of keeping it looking good. Simon showed the clients examples of a cooler blue-grey and green colour palette, and was delighted when they said they loved this look. After researching materials, sawn Black Basalt paving was decided upon, a very hard-wearing and easy maintenance stone with a contemporary feel.

As a result of the basement conversion, there was a level change of about 1m – too much of a height difference for a plain retaining wall.

So, Simon Orchard Garden Design designed lower level raised beds in front of the retaining wall between the central steps to hide the drop and lead the eye up to the second level. Boundary and retaining walls were constructed from rendered blockwork and painted a dark grey to tie in with the paving colour. Bespoke western red cedar trellis from The Garden Trellis Company was left in the natural colour to contrast with the rest of the grey scheme.

The raised beds either side of the steps were planted up with lush, shade-tolerant Ilex crenata balls, Hakonechloa macra and Euphorbia x martini. On the upper level, two cloud-pruned Ilex crenata in drum planters from Urbis flank

1 Wide, shallow steps lead the eye up to the second level 2 An intelligent lighting scheme adds drama after the sun sets 3 Lush planting hides a level change 4 The view from the new basement 5 A green wall was planted in drifts for a fluid and naturalistic look

either side of the steps. The pièce de résistance, however, is a three metre-high, full-width living wall, offering a year-round show-stopping vista when viewed from inside the house.

Evergreen perennials with different colours were planted up in drifts to create a naturalistic and fluid look. Lighting was a key element in the scheme, extending the hours of enjoyment into the evening and creating a theatrical setting.

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Challenges Working in such a tight space created its own challenges. Being a mid-terrace, all materials had to come in through the house and down the stairs, taking great care not to damage the newly created interior.

As in any small garden, attention to detail was paramount as users of the garden would be seeing everything up close and personal, so there was no room for error. Lighting had to be carefully thought out – too little lighting wouldn’t create enough drama, and too much bright light would bleach out the detail and look too brash. Extra care had to be taken sourcing

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REFERENCES Garden designer Simon Orchard Garden Design www.simonorchardgardens.com

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the perfect in-ground uplighters by the living wall with the correct beam angle and positioning them so that the light would cast over the entire wall.

The key to success was minimising the different types of hard landscaping materials used throughout and keeping the design simple and uncluttered; a great example of the ‘less is more’ philosophy.

Bespoke western red cedar trellis The Garden Trellis Company www.gardentrellis.co.uk Drum planters Urbis Design www.urbisdesign.co.uk BEFORE

ABOUT SIMON ORCHARD GARDEN DESIGN Simon Orchard Garden Design is owned and run by Simon Orchard, a dedicated and passionate garden designer with endless enthusiasm and a keen eye for detail.

Combining his creative skills, attention to detail and technical knowledge, Simon Orchard Garden Design creates stunning gardens that clients can enjoy all year round – not just for three months of the year. www.simonorchardgardens.com

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

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Plants Premium Plants www.premium-plants.co.uk Spike spot lights Collingwood www.collingwoodlighting.com Recessed living wall spots LuxR www.luxrled.com

DURING WORKS

Black Basalt paving Marble City www.marble-city.co.uk

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A

fter the clients purchased this traditional Victorian villa in Edinburgh, there was one main issue they wanted to deal with. Tucked away behind tall trees and shrubs, their narrow drive only had parking for cars in tandem – something particularly inconvenient for the young family. The grassed front garden was essentially a blank canvas and offered silverflowe design great opportunities to vastly enhance the client’s property.

Brief The brief was initially to increase space for car parking, but it then grew into creating a smart, modern setting for the house. The clients wished to blend the old and the new and were open to the inclusion of bespoke elements as well as bold, modern design ideas.

The build The front garden was a generous size, so silverflowe design relocated the driveway to a ‘dead space’ near the other side boundary where there was sufficient room for flexible parking. New, decorative wrought iron gates were fitted, with a discrete electronic opening system and a cobbled surface for the drive to maintain local character. A water attenuation chamber was also installed in compliance with local planning laws and SuDS regulations.

Marshalls’ crisply cut Drivesys Split Stone in Basalt was introduced to bring a contemporary feel to the traditional drive surface and widen the colour palette, contrasting with the pale sandstone of the house and paving. The charcoal colour was continued in curving steel retaining walls around the drive and

FA N TAST I CA L LY

FLORAL

CONTEMPORARY GARDEN S I LV E R F LOW E D ES I G N S I LV E R F L O W E D E S I G N T R A N S F O R M T H E F R O N T G A R D E N OF THIS VICTORIAN VILLA WITH SEASONAL PLANTING

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PROJECT D E TA I L S Project value £120,000 Build time 3 months Size of project 460m2 Awards APL ‘Designer of the Year’ Silver Award winner

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crisp edges to the lawns.

Opening up this old corner presented potential privacy issues, so 22m of 2m tall Instant Yew Hedging was installed along the street boundary.

Seven new 4 to 5m tall Acer x freemanii ‘Armstrong’ trees contribute interesting leaves and fantastic yellow and orange autumn colours above. Tall, thin Quercus robur ‘Koster’, Malus ‘Rudolph’, multi-stem Amelanchier lamarckii and a transplanted, crown-lifted rhododendron bring instant screening, division and a feeling of maturity to the new garden.

Marshalls’ Fairstone Sawn Versuro King Size sandstone paving was combined with Fairstone Driveway Setts for the paths. The setts were also incorporated as a frame round the drive to link to the paved areas. Bespoke solid sandstone blocks were cut to form path steps and half-moon upstands as edging for a quality finish. The worn house steps were replaced with massive 2m long solid sandstone pieces, precision winched into place.

Lower Fagus sylvatica ‘Purpurea’ hedging was introduced to screen the conservatory and to act as a division within the garden. Old timber decking was redesigned to integrate the conservatory better into the garden. Millboard Enhanced Grain in Limed Oak was used for the surface, with contrasting charcoal coloured bespoke steel edging and step risers bringing a crisp, contemporary feel to the decking.

Continuing the dark steel lines into raised beds allowed planting opportunities directly outside the conservatory window.

Planting in generous drifts laid down a unifying framework, reinforcing the strong shapes. Repetition was used to strengthen and elevate the design whilst linking the various parts of the garden together. Limiting the colour

and planting palette in each border increased the drama, achieving waves of colour through the season, and airy movement in the ornamental grasses.

Planting The season moves from drifts of Narcissi giving way to tulips then the balancing balls of Alliums with Euphorbia ‘Black Pearl’ and the Paeonias ‘Coral Charm’ and ‘White Wings’. Early summer sees Salvia ‘Caradonna’ and Geranium ‘Blue Sunrise’, shifting through Agapanthus ‘Headbourne Hybrids’ and ‘Jack’s Blue’ to Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’, Kniphofia ‘Tawny King’, Eryngium ‘Big Blue’ and Heleniums later in the season. Fragrant Trachelospermum jasminoides frame the front door.

In autumn the colour of the trees and shrubs take over, such as Malus ‘Rudolph’, Cornus ‘Midwinter Fire’ and scarlet Euonymus alata ‘Compacta’, with the blonde grasses Deschampsia ‘Bronzeschleier’, Molinia ‘Heidebraut’ and Stipa tenuissima as a calming backdrop. Evergreen woodland ground cover, ornamental grasses and hedging maintain the planting structure through the winter, with warmth from purple Pittosporum ‘Tom Thumb’ and Hydrangea ‘Phantom’ florets.

There are highlights of intense colour from Scilla siberica and acid green Euphorbia robbiae offset by pale Narcissi in early spring, followed by violet Salvia ‘Caradonna’ and orange Geum ‘Prinses Juliana’. Raised beds outside the conservatory windows show off the fluffy seed heads of Deschampsia Goldtau, complementing

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Autumn Cornus leaves intensify lavender-blue Asters Harmonising bobbles of Eryngium, Allium and Verbena The new open and inviting front garden Alliums float above a sea of Heucherella ’Tapestry’

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Crocosmia ‘Honey Angels’. Both the clients and their neighbours can enjoy stilted hedging of Photinia x fraseri ‘Red Robin’ along the boundary, underplanted with Hydrangea ‘Limelight’.

Planting choices in the side garden outside the conservatory and kitchen lend this area its own character, whilst linking to the front through purple Pittosporum, ornamental grasses, geraniums and Japanese Anemones.

The original old driveway is filled with shadetolerant woodland plants such as textural ferns and Carex with flowering Hellebores and Tiarella. Paving recycled from the old garden was used to make a new path through this area. silverflowe design’s planting is designed to be as sustainable as possible. Organic matter is added prior to planting and planting distances are adhered to in order to ensure healthy growth. Beds are watered and mulched after planting, whilst maintenance plans advise annual mulching to conserve moisture and improve soil structure. The instant hedging was watered via a leaky hose system for the first two seasons only, then no further irrigation will be used.

Habitat-adapted planting groups are selected for each area of the garden so they will have the best chance of success. Early season plants and bulbs and late season flowering plants are included in the planting palette to provide nectar-producing flowers for

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11 to 12 months of the year. silverflowe design offers a biannual consultation visit to advise on planting and ongoing care and development of the garden.

For this project, silverflowe design sourced ethically produced stone products from reputable suppliers and polyurethane based decking boards with a low carbon footprint.

Driveway run-off was collected in a water attenuation chamber under the drive. The original sandstone pavers were re-laid in the side gardens, and existing shrubs were saved and incorporated into the new design.

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Billowing planting softens crisp lines in summer The Witch Hazel brings character to the side garden Natural materials provide a setting for the house Steel planters and Millboard steps Detailed stonemasonry elevates new piers Chunky sandstone edging with corner detail

A B O U T S I LV E R F L O W E silverflowe are an Edinburgh-based garden design duo: Diane Blood and Steven Johnston. They believe in the power of clear, coherent design in creating gardens which are functional and durable, while reflecting its clients’ personality and property. The duo strives to produce gardens which are beautiful, resilient and biodiverse.

www.silverflowedesign.co.uk

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REFERENCES 6

Garden designer silverflowe design www.silverflowedesign.co.uk Landscape contractors Puzzled Monkey Landscapes www.puzzled-monkey.co.uk Stonemason Dunedin Stone www.dunedinstone.co.uk Blacksmith Duddingston Forge www.duddingstonforge.co.uk Electrical services Kalm Electrical Contractors www.kaimelectricalcontractors.com

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Paving, setts and driveway cobbles Marshalls www.marshalls.co.uk Deck boards Millboard www.millboard.co.uk Plants MacPlants Nurseries, East Lothian www.macplants.co.uk McLarenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Nurseries, Barrhead www.mclarensnurseriesltd.co.uk

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Semi-mature trees and pleached Photinia Boot & Dart www.bootendart.nl/en

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A GREENER

R EC OV E RY N H S C H A S E FA R M H O S P I TA L TECTONIC T H I S O U T S I D E S PA C E C R E AT E S A C A L M I N G A N D C O M F O R T I N G H AV E N , P E R F E C T F O R PAT I E N T S ’ A F T E R C A R E

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eurorehabilitation patients are at elevated risk of depression due to prolonged hospital stays. Stroke is not just a condition of the elderly – the ward also cares for younger stroke patients. Having a safe, engaging outside space allows patients more freedom during their stay, especially for family visits.

Tectonic’s lead designer, Chris Valiantis, had in recent years been a patient in this hospital wing, and had many family ties to the hospital.

As such, he wanted to give something remarkable back to the hospital, its patients and staff. The Royal Free Charity and NHS Trust’s brief was for Tectonic to create a specialist garden tailored for patients as they underwent treatment and recovery.

Design/build This garden utilizes an organic and free-flowing feel, symbolising the gentle but steady progression of recovery for the hospital’s stroke and rehabilitation patients. Tectonic designed the garden to help patients build muscle

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strength and balance, enjoy therapy sessions in the fresh air and take part in horticultural activities. A dedicated patient gardening area was created to assist with regaining patients’ motor functions, by using their hands to pot, prune and water plants.

Tectonic’s creation is based on a Japanese theme and provides a haven for patients who are overwhelmed by noise from the busy ward.

It incorporates a gardening project with raised beds to enable patients to participate in gardening – all designed to support recovery.

An existing day room, already utilised by patients for therapy, was extended outside for the continuation of the patients’ gardening and horticultural activities. A green house and raised planters provide easy access for wheelchair users and a seating area for group discussions and meetings.

Japanese tranquil zone As one progresses from the more organised therapy space into the centre of the garden, there is a free-flowing shift into a Japanesestyle garden. As part of Tectonic’s requirements for creating an ‘exercise area’ in this space, it used different flooring materials to assist the patients re-learning how to traverse a variety of different floor finishes. These included Marshalls Woodstone Sleepers laid on an arc and in-filled with white cobble stones, resin laid in a curved shape providing a clean stable walkway for patients and a timber-decked Japanese bridge spanning a blue slate area.

The use of a fish pond with trickling water within the garden adds an element of peace.

1 A patient and member of staff crossing the bridge 2 Lush textural planting around the pond 3 Initial conceptual design master plan

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PROJECT D E TA I L S Project value £65K Build time Consultation, design and planning: 8 months; build time: 5 months.

Size of project 272m2 Awards Gold Medal for Best Public Building Gardens

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At the other end of the courtyard is a modern timber representation of a ‘Japanese tea room’, where patients comfortably sit enveloped in a semi-closed structure, focusing attention inwards towards the garden, rather than feeling overlooked by the upper levels.

Challenges The logistics of working in the middle of a hospital environment were challenging, as they were within internal courtyards with wards leading directly onto them. Tectonic had to satisfy a number of health and safety requirements, ensuring sound pollution and patient privacy was maintained at all times. All existing planting and paving had to be manually removed by hand from the gardens. Much of the unskilled labour force was from local workers kindly donating their time, including staff from Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Metaswitch, Santander and the Masonic Charitable Foundation.

Over 120 working drawings were produced to ensure correct placement of the electrics, paving, resin, pond, planting beds, Japanese tea house and bridge. Tectonic felt it imperative, as with its other specialist therapy garden, to have continued interest in maintenance and upkeep of the gardens. Tectonic, therefore, undertook a maintenance contract for the first 18 months, to ensure the gardens would develop and flourish.

4

REFERENCES Custom designed and built Japanese tea house Tectonic www.tectonicuk.co.uk Western Red Cedar Roof Shingles Kennings Building Supplies Ltd www.eroofs.co.uk BEFORE

Custom designed and built Japanese-style half-moon red bridge Tectonic www.tectonicuk.co.uk

5 4 Low level textural planting to allow view from glass corridor 5 Japanese tea house with curved sleeper pathway set on white cobbles

Main contractor for laying paving and Ronacrete resin bound surfacing Diamond Services South East Ltd www.diamonddriveways.co.uk

ABOUT TECTONIC

Electrical contractors Neotek Electrics Ltd www.neotek-electrics.com

Chris Valiantis, of Tectonic, built a successful, 30-year career as an architect, specialising in large-scale commercial schemes around the globe, before going on to study landscape and garden design at Capel Manor. Chris then teamed up with Ollie Neaves, and they now have an award-winning company specialising in high-end landscape, design and installation projects across the domestic, commercial and public sector spheres.

www.tectonicuk.co.uk

46 Pro Landscaper / September 2019

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All images ©Tectonic & David Bishop, UCL Health Creatives

Soil, manure, woodchip mulch, slate and boulders Thompsons of Crews Hill www.thompsonsofcrewshill.com

Resin edging EverEdge www.everedge.co.uk

DURING THE BUILD

Paint Crown Paints www.crownpaints.co.uk

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INSPIRE PROJECT D E TA I L S Build time Design Period: August 2018 April 2019 Construction Period: November 2018 - April 2019 Size of project 330m2

WATER– L A N D B L E N D D ES I G N

CHINA EXPO BEIJING’S GARDEN EXHIBITION MCWILLIAM STUDIO

MCWILLIAM STUDIO DESIGNED A DREAMSCAPE GARDEN FOR THE BEIJING EXPO 2019 W H I C H S PA N S 1 6 2 D AY S A N D F O C U S E S O N T H E T H E M E O F A H E A LT H Y L I F E S T Y L E

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T

he International Horticultural Exhibition 2019 in Beijing, China, is a 162-day event held from 29 April to 7 October and covers 960ha. Andrew Wilson and Gavin McWilliam werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t given a specific brief for the garden they designed for this event, but being six months long, the garden had to be designed to provide interest throughout the duration. It also had to be planted like a normal garden to allow for healthy establishment.

1 1 A visitorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s view across the garden 2 A view back into the planted space 3 Matrix planting was used to diffuse colour into grasses.

4 The multi stemmed birch created essential vertical emphasis 5 The Corten screens create a subtle sense of diffused enclosure

Inspiration The garden is a dreamscape exploring the concept of drift, in which clarity becomes indistinct and certainty co-exists with ambiguity. Through migration, ideas change and evolve and are eventually re-defined, but the shape of new thinking is not always immediately obvious, clarifying gradually from the abstract to the tangible.

Nature also shares this shadow land, and plants especially colonise and change the landscape in which we live, drifting and re-integrating over time, diffusing boundaries and softening definition. In this garden, a series of ideas is explored: the boundary between land and water, the diffusion of light through vegetation, together with the ambiguity this produces and the sense of movement and transition from a remembered landscape to a future destination.

Design and build McWilliam Studio issued detailed plans and construction details, and the garden was built

3

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4 remotely by Chinese contractors, with regular updates on the construction and fabrication being sent for comment via email. Mark Gregory made a number of visits to oversee all the gardens being constructed, and provided on-site consultancy to the Chinese contractors.

McWilliam Studio sent over specifications and drawings, and the team sourced the materials locally, sending over photographs for approval.

A wide pathway provides a clear route through the garden, although the surface changes, degrading from crisp detailing to a broken, textured and eroded surface.

Alongside and in parallel, sculptural shards of stone emerge from the undulating landscape spilling out into the water.

Emerging from a shady grove are grasses such as Deschampsia cespitosa ‘Bronze Veil’, Miscanthus ‘Ferner Osten’, Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ as well as the fluffy Calamagrostis brachytricha.

Planted alongside are woodland edge perennials such as Aruncus dioicus ‘Zweiweltenkind’, Sanguisorba officinalis with drumstick flowers, pure white Anemone x hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’, prickly Dipsacus fullonum, Angelica gigas and the fragrant Actaea simplex ‘Brunette’.

The planting then becomes more colourful and ornamental, with burnt orange Eremurus x isabellinus ‘Cleopatra’, violet blue Eryngium x tripartitum, Kniphofia ‘Tawny King’, vivid Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Firedance’, Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’ and violet Salvia ‘Caradonna’, before merging into wetland margins to a pool beyond.

Transparent grasses, mist and gauzy foliage such as Cenolophium denudatum, Ammi majus and Filipendula ulmaria soften the transition between land and water as the pathway descends beneath the reflective surface of the pool. A series of semi-transparent walls also run through the garden. The laser cut pattern of holes is an abstraction of tide marks in sand, creating an ambiguous sense of movement and containment.

Challenges Building a show garden remotely was particularly challenging. Not having a regular presence on site meant that the level of detail McWilliam Studio normally requires was very

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Portfolio 4 Gavin McWilliam Andrew Wilson KR.indd 51

hard to achieve. The construction team did a great job. However, some of the precision, as well as the subtleties of the garden, were ‘lost in translation’.

Plant availability was also a significant challenge. The horticulture industry in China is very different to the UK, appearing to be much

more landscape than garden focused, with a particular emphasis on shrubs and annual bedding. This scheme was reliant on perennials and grasses – the team did a great job tracking down plants across the country, although a significant number of substitutions had to be made.

5

DURING WORKS

A BOU T M CW I L L I A M ST U D I O

REFERENCES

McWilliam Studio is one of the country’s leading garden design practices. The practice is led by award-winning garden designer Gavin McWilliam, in collaboration with fellow award-winner, Andrew Wilson. They design bespoke gardens and public landscapes. The studio is based in Beaconsfield, but as a practice they work across the South East and

Client Beijing Garden Expo www.horti-expo2019.org

internationally at both garden and landscape scale.

www.mcwilliamstudio.com

Organisers China Horticultural Society Company Limited and Stephen Bennet

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1

LANDSCAPE A R C H I T EC T ’S

WE SPEAK TO ROB BESWICK, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF B|D LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS ABOUT ITS AWARD-WINNING SCHEMES, INCLUDING THE UK’S FIRST EVER FRESHWATER PUBLIC BATHING POND

JOURNAL

I

t was in 2008 that Rob Beswick founded B|D Landscape Architects, after having worked in London, Chicago, Bristol and Bath as a project landscape architect on many prestigious and award-winning schemes. B|D works on a broad range of projects across the UK and overseas. It is working on university campus and public realm regeneration projects, from Newcastle to Norwich, and is currently designing and delivering 20 primary and secondary schools in and around London. B|D works on projects of all scales, from large multi-phased masterplans for clients, including Fidelity, to the small-scale scheme of a 900-year anniversary ‘cloister garden’ for Tewkesbury Abbey.

B | D L A N D S C A P E A R C H I T EC TS

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52 Pro Landscaper / September 2019

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Design inspiration Oxford Beecroft is a recently completed public realm project that is picking up a number of national awards. It is set in a confined urban site, constrained by notable buildings, including Keble College and Chapel, the Clarendon Laboratory and Martin Woods Lecture Theatre, Parks Road, and the University Park, as well as a mature cedar tree planted in 1880. Rob explains that B|D gains inspiration for its designs from the site itself: “Our approach combines contemporary sustainable design with creative ecology looking to glean the unique genius loci from each place – our designs draw inspiration from the history, ecology, environment, use and character of the site” The Oxford Beecroft scheme completed last year, creates a distinctive and high-quality landscape environment – a new quad for Oxford that will be of

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significant value and provide a setting for the Beecroft building, whilst acting as the front of house to the Science Area, contributing to the quality and diversity of the area.

Public spaces The King’s Cross Pond was the first freshwater public bathing pond of its kind in the UK. The ongoing scheme has won a number of awards and it’s easy to see why. The 40m-long pond is purified through a natural and closed-loop process, using wetland and submerged plants to filter the water and keep it clean. The pool is surrounded by wildflowers and grasses that change with the season and evolve over the years. B|D took the project through from scheme design to completion for Argent at King’s Cross and is a great example of what it aims to achieve in every project it undertakes.

3 “We believe in creating extraordinary effects with ordinary things in order to deliver meaningful and much-loved public spaces.

We relish collaborating in multidisciplinary teams pushing the boundaries of contemporary design using technological innovation and sustainable materials.”

The ground-breaking, popular Pond Club was sited within Cubitt Park at King’s Cross from 2015-2016 and developed in collaboration with OOZE architects for Argent Estates.

4

WE BELIEVE IN CREATING EXTRAORDINARY EFFECTS WITH ORDINARY THINGS TO DELIVER MEANINGFUL AND MUCHLOVED PUBLIC SPACES Landscape led Lovedon Fields is an exemplar landscape led Happiness Architecture Beauty (HAB) Housing development close to completion in the village of Kings Worthy, and has won a number of RIBA and Landscape Institute awards.

Located on the edge of this historic village, the project challenges the way houses are built in the UK. The HAB initiative aims to make homes a joy to live in by paying careful consideration to history, landscape, sustainability and community.

B|D’s plan for the site was to create allotments, a biodiverse country park area, a circular cycle path for children, wildflower

meadows and a village green, to enhance the development of 50 new homes on site.

Rob comments about working on the project: “It was a real collaboration between the client HAB, architects John Pardey Architects and us. It was a challenge for us, as we had to design a landscape that mediates between two different conditions – the countryside and private houses in the public realm.”

Drawing board B|D’s Wilmer Place project with Belsize Architects is for a mixed-use development on a constrained and controversial site in Stoke Newington. Its design creates a large open space in front of the building that forms a green square, helping to redefine the urban fabric and provides an environment for neighbours to connect. The proposals provide flexible commercial space at ground and lower ground floor alongside 19 residential units. The design had to deal with the challenge of being close to significant heritage assets, like the Listed Abney

5 Park Cemetery. “The building responds by creating cuts in the massing which serve to maintain a visual connection to the park, as well as bring light to the public square,” Rob explains.

1 Wilmer Place with Belsize Architects ©wearevisuals 2 Kings Cross Pond Club with OOZE ©John Sturrock 3 B|D London studio that was set up in 2018 4 Oxford Beecroft, Quad ©Ben Pipe Photography 5 Wilmer Place with Belsize Architects ©wearevisuals 6 Lovedon Fields with John Pardey Architects ©JPA

C O N TA C T B|D Landscape Architects Sun Street, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire GL20 5NX Tel 01684 298 582 Email info@bdlandarch.com

6

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www.bdlandarch.com

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LIGHT GAS OUTDOOR FIREPITS TO KEEP WARM

LANTERN LIGHT

AU T U M N LIVING DEBS WINROW INTRODUCES US TO SOME OF THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS O F A S T Y L I S H , W E L L- D E S I G N E D O U T D O O R S PA C E , A S W E L L A S T H E I M P O R TA N C E O F E N S U R I N G T H AT C O L D E R D AY S A R E C AT E R E D F O R

A

ADD OUTDOOR RUGS TO DECKS AND PATIOS

54 Pro Landscaper / September 2019

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s we settle into autumn, getting clients to recognise their investment in the garden is for longer than a few perfect summer days is important.

Firstly, having somewhere to sit. Create welcoming spaces for relaxed outdoor living by ensuring that there is at least some area of seating in the garden that is ready at a moment’s notice in any weather conditions – it’s usually best to place this near the house.

This can be a simple wooden bench, pair of wooden chairs, a metal bistro set, or you can even splash out with concrete furniture. These types of seating are great because it takes out the need for clients to have to dig around in the

garage for the outdoor cushions, meaning they can enjoy a spontaneous cup of coffee without any hassle.

Ideally, pieces of furniture (especially table and chair sets) should look good even without any dressing. This means that when they are viewed from the house, they still look like they fit into the garden design and will continue to draw the customer outside when the weather improves. Even the best stylist will struggle to convince anyone that the introduction of green furniture and BBQ covers look good.

Of course, if budget allows, creating a veranda style design off the house or designing a covered freestanding area is even more ideal, allowing clients to make their dream of outdoor living more obtainable throughout the year.

The incorporation of covered outdoor spaces is becoming a bigger requirement from clients

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RENSON ALGARVE SET UP IN A WARMING STYLE

DESIGNER BENCHES THAT NEED NO CUSHIONS

who simply want to be able to take back a little control on the time they can spend outside.

At Garden House Design, our aluminium louvered roof canopies have allowed many of our clients to experience winter barbecues, Christmas days outside or candlelight feasts watching a storm. The ability to add side blinds, sliding doors, lights, heaters and even sound systems really takes the concept of outdoor living to another level. Because outdoor buildings can be mounted to a wall or stand on their own, they are adaptable in any garden.

A touch of flame The element of flame through a firepit, a lantern or a simple candle will immediately draw us outside, even if the temperatures are lower. A dancing flame and the aroma of smoky wood can bring out the magic in our gardens and lengthen the season for living outdoors.

There are many choices available in gas or wood options, with some even allowing us to cook on them. New and bold fireplaces look superb, but may take a little more build time.

Look for gas firepits which hide the gas bottle underneath, taking away the need for the horrid orange pipe running across the deck or patio.

Build in a dry wood store area for curing dry logs for both firepits and wood fired ovens.

Place candles in glass lanterns or jam jars so they won’t be blown out at that first breath of wind – add oil filled burners to create a warm ambience. Mix natural light with electric garden lighting and you can create a perfect backdrop for enjoying the garden at night.

Entertain outdoors with bold flavours Leave the salads and pavlovas behind and encourage your clients to embrace tasty

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Debs Winrow.indd 55

flavours for drinks and food. The idea of wood fired ovens for cooking pizzas can be easily understood, but there are great outdoor cooking books and videos to help clients really reap the benefits of outdoor cooking in all seasons.

Look to Mexican flavours with bowls of chilli and fajitas, hot and spicy pizza toppings, or even a roast, all achievable with the available array of outdoor cooking products. Outdoor cooking should also be encouraged in its simplest form.

Goulash or curry can be made inside, then simply warmed up and served outside to give parties a different theme.

Clients can also spill outside for the last and often the best part of the meal – dessert! Try making pancakes, pizza bases topped with Nutella or prepare in advance a bread and butter pudding ready to pop into your outdoor oven at the last minute to cook through. Swap the gin bar for a hot chocolate station with warming tipples of brandy and Kahlua to make the adults return for more.

This year, we’ve also embraced the idea of moveable kitchens with our Morso range of outdoor tables on wheels. This allows our clients to move them under the dry if the evening isn’t quite as fine or warm as the forecast predicted.

Instant décor Not all outdoor room fixtures and fittings have to be permanent, so bring outdoor rugs onto decks and patios, invest in soft throws and blankets and encourage guests and family to grab them on the way out. If it’s harder to set up and decorate an outdoor area with the weather being a little uncertain, a handy tip is to make up decorated trays. This way you can set all the styling items up which can’t necessarily be left outside – like scented candles, for example – so the clients can just grab them on the way out.

OUTDOOR FIRE PLACES

ROAST VEG ETAB L ES FOR AUTUMN EATING

ABOUT DEBS WINROW Debs Winrow, creative director of award-winning landscape company Garden House Design, is an avid trend spotter, responsible for seeking out the latest and best outdoor living products, and developing an expansive portfolio to offer to both consumers and fellow landscapers and designers.

www.gardenhousedesign.co.uk

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R

HS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival 2019 saw a new type of collaboration on a familiar garden.

This year’s A Place to Meet garden saw 18 APL members and apprentices working together for approximately 230 hours over 17 days to construct the space. Designed

by Cherry Carmen, with Kebur Landscape Division as the main contractor, the garden scooped a Silver medal and received much praise from the public and media.

Cherry started her career path off by studying horticulture back in 2009 achieving RHS Horticulture Level 2 and 3 qualifications, which led to her setting up her own design business in 2012, Cherry Carmen Garden Design. “I really wanted to do a plunge pool, it was so hot doing the APL garden last year!

I wanted to include it because I thought it would be something different. I don’t think it’s really been done before at Hampton Court.”

The garden itself demonstrated how to merge together the hard lines from contemporary construction with soft detailing from naturalistic, textural planting. It also showcased an impressive array of levels, demonstrating how they can be implemented to create focal points and features. Wildlife friendly planting such as Zanthoxylum simulans, Melica altissima and Daucus carrota was also included in the design to attract pollinators and showcase sustainability.

“I wanted to do something very modern and then collaborate it with wildlife-friendly planting, but I was trying to think of something that would also showcase landscapers’ talents. We really wanted to show the standard of landscaping.”

For Cherry, it was important that the final design not only showcased the hard work of those 18 contractors involved but also reflected her own personal style: “I wanted to do a mixture with the space that we had and represent the APL, have all these people collaborate and be proud of what they’ve done. Obviously, I wanted it to have a bit of me in there too.”

Cherry notes that the whole experience, although hard work, was extremely enjoyable

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C O L L A B O R AT I V E C O N ST R U C T I O N F O R T H E F I R S T T I M E I N R H S H I S T O R Y, 1 8 A P L M E M B E R S W O R K E D C O L L A B O R AT I V E LY T O G E T H E R T O C R E AT E A N A W A R D -W I N N I N G D E S I G N .

P R O L A N D S C A P E R C AT C H E S U P W I T H A F E W O F T H E I N D I V I D U A L S I N V O LV E D . and definitely something that she would like to be a part of again. When asked what her favourite part of the process was, the plants stole the spotlight for her: “I’m rooted in horticulture, so I was excited about getting my hands dirty. I really feel that once the trees,

BUILDING THE GARDEN STRENGTHENED THE APL COMMUNITY IN BOTH FRIENDSHIP AND EXPERIENCE hedging and plants start going in, it really transforms the space.”

For main contractor Kebur Landscape Division, this was its first time building a judged show garden. Contracts manager Craig Deeley

said that it was a particularly valuable experience: “It was a great chance to showcase what we can do, so I think it was a positive experience all round. It was a completely new challenge to us, so we were very keen to prove what we can do and what we are capable of.

Working alongside other companies means you come back with more ideas, it was fantastic.”

Craig felt that even though there were several contractors onsite, everyone worked together collaboratively with the standard of workmanship being very high. “All the feedback was very complimentary. There was a lot of interest in the garden from the public.”

However, a garden rarely comes without its challenges and this space had issues regarding the masonry. Craig says: “A lot of masonry went in – it all had to be built to last and that was a challenge because it was such a tight timescale.

If we hadn’t had the other APL members we would have really struggled because of the way it had to be built.”

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IT WAS A GREAT CHANCE TO SHOWCASE WHAT WE CAN DO Phil Tremayne, general manager for the APL, was one of the key members involved in developing the concept, sending information to APL members and dealing with company selection. He said: “When we said we were going to build a garden at Hampton Court, we wanted to include our APL apprentices and some World Skills individuals, but we also thought we should predominately open it up to people who have never built a show garden before.”

A Doodle poll was sent out to APL members in order to spread the word regarding the collaboration. 32 companies responded, with 18 taken on to take part with the garden build. The collaboration included a range of APL members,

such as Landscapeplus, Creepers Nurseries, Kebur Building Supplies and John Lewis Furniture and Dressing.

Following the success of the garden, Phil says that it would be something the APL would like to do again in the future: “Every member that was involved with it had an amazing time, they’ve been really grateful for the experience. It has been a fantastic achievement and experience for all. Personally, from the APL perspective, I’m thrilled with how it went.”

APL chairman Rod Winrow was also pleased with the garden’s success and felt that the objectives the APL set out to achieve were met: “We wanted to encourage younger landscapers, trainees and apprentices to be involved at a garden show.

Secondly, we were endeavouring to educate the public on the reasons why, when building a garden, a professional vetted landscaping company should be used. We believe that we achieved both of these objectives, strengthening the APL community in both friendship and experience.”

Rod echos Phil’s sentiment that this is something the APL plans to do

again in the future, and aims to deliver even more impressive results for the association and at next year’s event. “Another show garden would reinforce our messages of teamwork and publicise and promote the strength of the APL community. As an APL team we learnt so much from building this show garden, all lessons that can be taken into our own business and help us get Gold next year.”

STRUCTURAL PLANTING IN PLACE

DURING WORKS

COLLABORATORS AT WORK

PLANTING

DURING WORKS

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KEBURʼS CAMERON

PLUNGE POOL

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LIGHT VISUALS Product Marker Path Light The Marker Path Light is a compact 3W fitting with an IP68 rating used for low-level illumination of paths and walkways. Key features include a high-quality interchangeable LED module, powder coated 316 stainless steel and a 10-year warranty.

Internal anti-moisture barrier comes with the product as standard.

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LANDSCAPEPLUS Product LuxR Wayfinder, Halo and Saber The Saber and Halo have now joined the popular Wayfinder in LuxR’s range of pole lighting, providing a soft glow for ambient landscape lighting with little or no glare. Using ultra efficient LED light engines with industry-leading Cree LEDs, LuxR fittings have been specifically developed to meet the challenge of delivering high-quality, practical lighting with maximum energy efficiency and a long, maintenance-free life.

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GARDEN AND LANDSCAPE LIGHTING Product Copper Adjustable Path Light Copper adjustable path lights provide a great way to light paths, steps and low level planting beds. These can also be used to light from within heavily planted areas as the spike/pole puts the fitting above lower level planting, allowing the light to break through.

With some strategic placement, these lights can help navigate the garden at night. The lights come with a long ground spike, 90° tilt and 270° swivel feature. G&L also offer stainless steel and aluminium options at a lower price point.

Priced from £62 (not inc. VAT) WWW.GARDENANDLANDSCAPELIGHTING.CO.UK

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Majestic Trees’ Pruning Manager, Maria Bengtsson will be leading this practical workshop which will begin with a brief review of fundamental pruning techniques, and then swiftly move out onto the nursery, where participants will have an opportunity to personally wield pruning tools as they put theory into practice.

Cost: £25.00 (advance registration essential).

To register your place, visit the trade area of our website or contact christina@majestictrees.co.uk

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London 2019 Tomorrowʼs Urban Spaces 17 October 2019 | London

www.prolandscapermagazine.com/future-landscape-conference

Seminar Programme

What?

The Future Landscape Conference London 2019 is a brand new conference for the commercial landscaping sector.

It will be hosted by Eljays44, the producers of FutureArc, Pro Landscaper and hosts of the industry-leading FutureScape events. The conference will explore current trends and prepare the sector for whatʼs ahead.

Why? Delegates will hear the views of top, trusted names from major companies in the world of planning, landscape architecture, property development, commercial landscape contracting and architecture. You will be able to enter the discussion, share views and learn about the future of the market. It is also a great opportunity to network with other professionals in the industry.

8:30

Arrival, registration, coffee & tea

9:45

Welcome

10:00

Keynote speaker introduction

Jim Wilkinson, Eljays44

10:30 – 11:30 11:40 – 13:00 14:00 – 15:30 15:40 – 17:00

How? Email laura.harris@eljays44.com, or call 01903 777570 to register your interest in this event. Alternatively, visit www.prolandscapermagazine.com/future-landscape for further info.

Peter Massini, Greater London Authority

Session 1: Urban Design & Planning

Simon Ward, Atkins | Ludo Pittie, WSP | Jaquelin Clay, JFA Environmental Planning | Eric Holding, JTP

Session 2: Designing Communal Spaces (Build to let)

Dr Phil Askew, Peabody | Adrian Judd, PRP Architects | Selina Mason, Lendlease | Adrian Wikeley, LUC | Noel Farrer, Farrer Huxley

Session 3: Revolutionising Soils & Landscaping (Soils and soft landscaping)

Tim OʼHare, Tim OʼHare Associates | Dr Mike Wells, Biodiversity By Design Ltd | Alistair Bayford, idverde | Jonathan Bourne, Bourne Amenity

Session 4: Greening the Skies (Podiums)

Paul French, fabrik | Chris Churchman, Churchman Thornhill Finch | Chris Bridgman, Bridgman & Bridgman

17:00 – 17:30 Drinks Finish

17:30

Confirmed Speakers

Adrian Judd

Chris Churchman Churchman Thornhill Finch

JFA Environmental Planning

Peter Massini

Dr Phil Askew

Simon Ward

PRP Architects

Greater London Authority

Peabody

Jaquelin Clay

Atkins

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Tim OʼHare

Tim OʼHare Associates

Sponsors

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F E AT U R E GARDEN WEST DEAN GARDENS

©Trevor Sims

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N E ST L E D AT T H E FO OT O F T H E S O U T H D OW N S , W E S T D E A N G A R D E N S C OV E R S 9 0 AC R E S A N D I S H O M E TO W E ST D E A N C O L L EG E . T H E G A R D E N S A R E A L S O A S O U R C E O F I N S P I R AT I O N FO R I TS M A N Y ST U D E N TS , M E A N I N G A B A L A N C E M U ST B E ST R U C K B E T W E E N B E A U T I F U L LY D I S P L AY E D F LOW E R S FO R V I S I TO R S A N D T H E N E E D S O F T H E C O L L EG E . W E S P E A K TO TO M B R OW N , T H E C U R R E N T H E A D GARDENER, ABOUT THIS BALANCE AND HIS VISION FOR THE GARDEN’S FUTURE

T

he Great Storm of 1987 ravaged the south of England, destroying 15 million trees in its wake and wreaking havoc to our landscape.

It was after this devastating event that West Dean Gardens saw its biggest transformation, as Jim Buckland and Sarah Wain developed it into the oasis that it is today.

The true origins of the gardens stretch back to 1622, when the original manor house was built

by James Lewkenor – and many of the ground’s mature beeches, limes, horse chestnuts, planes and cedars date from this period. It was in 1971 that West Dean College was opened as a centre for education and training in conservation and the visual and applied arts.

Though a plethora of courses have been added to the college’s programme since, the student’s appreciation of the gardens is still just as extensive. This provides a challenge

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WALLED GARDEN INCLUDING VEGETABLE DISPLAY, BOX HEDGES AND DOUBLE PEAR ARCH

©Trevor Sims

and opportunity for the garden’s staff, as the visitors and users of the garden are twofold: members of the public and the college’s students and staff.

West Dean Gardens has just welcomed Tom Brown into a new position as head gardener, working on the gardens alongside six full-time staff members and 30 volunteers. As a member of the RHS Herbaceous Plant Committee and RHS show judge, Tom has big plans to develop the planting on the grounds, incorporating both creative and artistic influences.

Arts and crafts gardening West Dean Gardens boasts 13 Victorian glasshouses, divided into 26 sections, some of which are open for the public to view and all of which are currently undergoing restoration.

The attention to detail which West Dean Gardens has been built on is most evident within these glasshouses, where pots and canes are washed in the scrubbing station after every use and staged ready to be used again. Each

SUMMER WALLED GARDEN DISPLAY

64 Pro Landscaper / September 2019

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©Trevor Sims

SUNKEN GARDEN

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SUNKEN GARDEN

glasshouse has its own identity. On a northfacing wall in one of the shadier glasshouses, a collection of hardy and half-hardy ferns are grown in baskets, with Staghorn ferns mounted higher up the wall and Streptocarpus interplanted to add colour.

Another glasshouse has been aptly named the tropical house, a verdant location featuring species such as Episcia, evergreen Peperomia and Vanda orchids grown alongside Spanish moss. In another slightly more temperate glasshouse, colourful coleus, Begonias and bold Streptocarpus blossom.

Perhaps one of the more celebrated glasshouses is the chilli house, which is home to around 100 different varieties and is the main attraction at West Dean’s Chilli Festival. “Every morning we go through and monitor the temperatures in all the houses to ensure they’re staying constant.”

Tom also notes that the glasshouses are the most intense area of the gardens: “I find myself spending most my time in the glasshouses – anything under glass will deteriorate very quickly if you don’t look after it.” Because the glasshouses are open to the public, Tom also has to ensure that they have two of everything

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THE ATTENTION TO DETAIL WHICH WEST DEAN GARDENS HAS BEEN BUILT ON IS MOST EVIDENT WITHIN THESE GLASSHOUSES in case the display plant succumbs to disease or pests.

This detail and rigor demonstrated in the glasshouses can be seen throughout the gardens. In the kitchen garden, beetroot, radishes and coriander are grown in neat rows and different coloured lettuces are grown in patterns. In the fruit garden, trained fruit trees are shaped into cylinders and cones, and across the gardens, hedges are pruned into creative cloud shapes.

“It’s arts and crafts gardening,” Tom explains. “It’s not necessarily doing things at the bare minimum, it’s about embellishing things as you go. It’s about taking a little more time and effort and using your imagination and

TOM BROWN

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creativity to create something a bit more than the norm.”

The cut flower garden was previously used purely as a display garden, but Tom wants to keep pushing the balance between display and use, with hopes that the team can cut around 50% of the flowers to be used in various ways, getting into a habit of live heading to promote the growth of new flowers. The garden certainly has an abundance of varieties on offer, from Nicotiana, Zinnia and cosmos, to dahlias and sunflowers, surrounded by a perennial border full of Sedum, Astrantia, Eupatorium and Phlox.

IT’S ABOUT TAKING A LITTLE MORE TIME AND EFFORT AND USING YOUR IMAGINATION AND CREATIVITY TO CREATE SOMETHING A BIT MORE THAN THE NORM

©Trevor Sims

West Dean College of Arts and Conservation The vegetables and flowers grown in the glasshouses not only serve as a visually pleasing display for visitors, but also get used in the college kitchen and for various courses.

“Any sort of real developments that we do, we've got the students in the back of our minds,” Tom explains. The flowers get used not only for the more obvious courses such as flower arranging, but also as inspiration for art, photography and even a silk lily course.

HOT BORDER WITH PEAR ARCH

66 Pro Landscaper / September 2019

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Planning for the future Tom and his team are currently in the process of selecting what will be grown in the glasshouses each month for next year. One will be developed into a begonia house with lots of different varieties and colours, whilst Tom and the team hope to fill another glasshouse with bulbs in the spring.

Another opportunity which Tom will have early next year is with the ground surrounding the college, as the scaffolding which is currently up to restore the roof will be coming down early

next year, leaving a large empty space around the building. Tom hopes he’ll be able to create a perennial border as it’s something the site is currently lacking.

When planning for future planting schemes, Tom must always bear in mind the needs of the college. Though some of the gardening courses are fairly constant – garden design and vegetable growing, for example – others will be created depending on what the needs of the gardeners are at the time, meaning Tom almost has to predict these needs so he can plan the planting around these. “We don’t necessarily know the needs of the gardeners in the future.

Will gardens keep getting smaller, are we going to need drought tolerant planting, or species that can tolerate a very wet summer? It’s exciting, but it’s certainly a challenge.”

Many of Tom’s plans going forward have the college’s students in mind. One of his biggest concepts for the future is the creation of a night garden which students can relax in during the evenings. He hopes to use blue and white flowers in the garden which will come alive at night and hopefully inspire the students.

“West Dean Gardens has a lovely community feel to it. There are always students walking around in the evenings, we hold occasional weddings here so there is often music playing and champagne flowing.

Everyone is just as at ease, but not at an expense to the gardens.”

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TA L K I N G T R E E S R E C E N T LY A P P O I N T E D T R U ST E E H E L E N E L K S - S M I T H I N T R O D U C E S T H E T R E E S A N D D E S I G N AC T I O N G R O U P, W H I C H W I L L B E W R I T I N G A S E R I E S O F A R T I C L E S OV E R T H E N E X T F E W M O N T H S O N T H E N U M E R O U S B E N E F I TS O F T R E E S

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society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit.” This often-quoted Greek proverb underlines that planting anything, and especially trees, is about the future. Implicit is the understanding that future generations will value those trees, nurturing and protecting them, ensuring the trees continue to grow, outlasting each generation. Planting trees brings immediate benefits but is also an investment in the future.

In Blue Planet II David Attenborough gave a rallying cry to do more to protect the environment. This is far from the first time we have been presented with such a strong message, but this time it seemed that there was something I could do – something that would have a direct impact and that, although small, it just might make a difference collectively. I changed my shopping habits, or rather I tried to. It’s virtually impossible to shop at a supermarket and go home with the weekly shop without plastic. I fall off the plastic free wagon pretty often, but I keep on trying. And importantly, so are many others.

It’s a bit like that with trees. Planting trees makes a difference. We can see a tree in isolation, something of beauty up close, or perhaps as a backdrop, but when viewed as something bigger that same tree becomes even more powerful. In towns and cities that tree

WE ARE WELL PLACED TO PLANT TREES, TO VALUE THOSE IN THE GARDENS AND LANDSCAPES UNDER OUR CARE, AND WE CAN INFLUENCE OUR CLIENTS TO DO THE SAME becomes part of the urban forest. We are well placed to plant trees, to value those in the gardens and landscapes under our care, and we can influence our clients to do the same.

This is the first in a series of articles under the umbrella of the Trees and Design Action

Helen Elks-Smith, Keith Sacre and Dr Kieron J. Doick are speaking on the panel ‘Right Tree, Right Place: Choosing the Tree to Get the Benefit’

Group (TDAG). The purpose of TDAG is to bring together individuals, professionals and organisations from a wide range of disciplines to increase awareness of the role of trees in the built environment. Many of you who work in the public sector will already be aware of TDAG, but as over 65% of land is in private ownership TDAG is just as relevant for those of us whose focus is mainly private gardens. Private gardens have a key role to play in the urban forest, and with housing pressure on villages and small towns the urban forest is not just relevant for our cities.

So, why do trees matter? What is the evidence? Each month, TDAG will present an article delving into the detail of current knowledge and best practice, providing links to supporting professional resources on the subject of trees in the landscape. The articles will be written by subject specialists and cover a number of key topics. Dr Kieron J. Doick, head of urban forest research group, will explore the urban cooling effect of trees, a key topic relevant to climate change. In the following months TDAG will explore the economic benefits of trees, how trees can add value, and the urban tree canopy, answering questions such as: How much do we have? How much should we be aiming for?

Size matters and larger trees provide more shade and shelter and catch more rain in their leaf canopies, yet in urban areas, our large, mature trees are under threat, while the new trees being planted tend to be smaller varieties.

In the New Year, Dr Andy Hirons will take a detailed look at tree selection. The final article will address another hot topic – biosecurity – focusing on the questions we should be asking when buying or selecting our trees.

TDAG publishes a number of best practice guides, provides a forum for cross-sector working, responds to consultations and facilitates knowledge and research dissemination. More information can be found on the TDAG website www.tdag.org.uk and if you would like to join TDAG in promoting its aims please contact TDAG direct.

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CHRIS STONE EXPLAINS WHY THERE NEEDS TO BE MORE INDUSTRY RECOGNITION FOR MAINTENANCE AND AFTERCARE COMPANIES

S

adly, over the last few years, I have carried out little work in gardens or on landscaping sites. I spend most of my time in meetings or pricing up work. Though this is something I hope to change slightly in the future, it has also been invaluable.

Stepping back from the coalface has allowed me to view the industry from a different perspective, to put my energy into building the business, and look for opportunities as to how we can refine what we do and what we offer.

We’re far from being anywhere near perfect, or where we want to be, but as the amount of work grows and quality of the opportunities improve, we’ve changed how we carry out much of our maintenance and aftercare work.

I think it’s easier for change to be implemented in hard landscaping. You don’t have much choice but to learn new skills and deal with new materials. Don’t get me wrong, I’m suggesting it’s easier because you must improve, not because it’s a doddle. Producing the exquisite gardens we so often see, requires more skill and craftsmanship than ever before.

On the other hand, garden maintenance requires a real want to change things. We are faced with an ever-increasing list of pests and diseases, and there’s a greater choice of plants than ever, so we must know what’s what.

Gardens include so many different elements now, so caring for them means we need to understand them. We need to be plant care, pruning and training experts, as well as lawn care and irrigation specialists. We have to know what effect our herbicide and pesticide

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CHAMPIONING

A F T E RCA RE spraying, lawn care and cleaning products have on the client’s hard landscape materials.

If we allow it to be viewed as ‘just gardening’, it will never be afforded the respect it deserves.

I know I mentioned this in passing last month, but it’s worthy of closer inspection. Just this week I saw a post on an industry Facebook group where a member almost apologised for posting pictures of a garden tidy they carried out. I was heartened by the response from other group members who suggested it was every bit as worthy of praise as a new patio or wall.

Please stop apologising! We should be one industry, whether you specialise in hard landscaping, soft landscaping or maintenance.

IF WE ALLOW IT TO BE VIEWED AS ‘JUST GARDENING’, IT WILL NEVER BE AFFORDED THE RESPECT IT DESERVES But there is more we can do. As members of trade groups, we can enter our completed gardens, landscaped and planted, into a myriad of categories for judging. If you carry out the maintenance or aftercare of these gardens, however, there are so few options of having your domestic work judged, and therefore, acclaim is lacking. Competition drives success and means we strive to be better – it raises standards. The two main trade associations should recognise garden maintenance and aftercare companies and individuals as part of the industry.

We see many beautiful ‘finished’ gardens and applaud the landscaping, but we should revisit them later on to see how they’re being cared for, nurtured, and how the designer’s vision is being realised. If this is part of what we’re

already seeing in our magazines and at award ceremonies, then a nod to those undertaking the aftercare would be a step closer to receiving recognition for their contribution to a scheme.

Since offering aftercare, we’ve seen a difference in the type of work we’re carrying out, and that’s down to educating our clients. We are often now engaged to ‘finesse’ new gardens.

This hasn’t happened by chance. These clients maybe wanted a run of the mill ‘hoe, blow and mow’ service, but by offering an alternative and physically showing them the difference, they understand the value of the work we carry out.

Offering aftercare is the way forward – don’t let it be just a tag. Put meat on the bones, consider what you do differently and how you can offer extra value to your clients. Forge relationships with designers and landscapers – give them a reason to use you. It’s time to start believing in ourselves and value our considerable skill, knowledge and passion, and start shouting about what it is to love gardens.

ABOUT CHRIS STONE Chris Stone is founder and managing director of Bushy Business Ltd; an RHS and APL awardwinning company which carries out garden design, hard and soft landscaping, maintenance and aftercare in domestic gardens throughout the south-east of England.

www.bushybusiness.com

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V E R G E S TO THE RESCUE NURTURE

OXEYE DAISIES ON WEYMOUTH RELIEF ROAD VERGE ©DR PHIL STERLING/STEPHEN BROWN

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NICK COSLETT EXPLORES HOW GOING FORWARD, LOCAL AUTHORITIES COULD MAKE BETTER USE OF GRASS VERGES TO IMPROVE BIODIVERSITY

ow do we respond to the ‘ecological breakdown’? The UK has lost 97% of native wildflower meadows since World War Two, when tractors first arrived. Dig for Victory and the well-meaning push for productivity using fertilizers and pesticides has industrialised our agricultural landscapes, squeezing out habitats. What remains is a precious gene pool reservoir, usually in isolated patches in need of conservation and encouragement to link up and expand into wider field margins.

However, can we make better use of our amenity grasslands? Could they be the glue to

GRILLO CUT AND COLLECT MOWER IN ACTION ©DR PHIL STERLING/GILES NICHOLSON

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bind these remnants together? Can seed mixes help to nurture our wildlife? One point that has been recently discussed in the industry is the good and bad use of engineered seed mixes, both annuals and perennials, raising the old question of native or non-native. These seed mixes were first seen by many at the Olympic Park meadows, creating a ‘wow’ effect in 2012 using both native perennial and non-native annuals. Crowds were drawn to these scenic places, and wildlife was attracted likewise to the mass of season long food on offer.

These pictorial seed mixes, native or non-native, do benefit and enhance wildlife (see Sheffield Biodiversity in Urban Gardens project and the RHS’s Plants for Bugs research).

Councils which use these seed mixes on their ecologically poor urban amenity grasslands are making steps toward improving biodiversity, and should not be criticised but encouraged to make verges which make folk smile.

Councils are being chastised to a much greater extent for mowing verges with native plants in full bloom, adhering to a thoughtless cycle of maintenance.

They need to take a look at what Dorset Council has achieved: wildflowers and financial savings.

Ecologist Dr Phil Sterling was appointed to control the verge mowing and he reorganised it completely, moving down to two cut and collects a year. In the first two years, he sufficiently depleted the nutrient levels of verges to a level where

native wildflowers could compete against the previously dominant grasses. The verges subsequently bloomed, and butterflies and

WHAT REMAINS IS A PRECIOUS GENE POOL RESERVOIR, USUALLY IN ISOLATED PATCHES IN NEED OF CONSERVATION other invertebrates increased dramatically.

On one such verge, 30 species of butterfly were recorded – over half the UK species of butterfly.

Amenity grassland has the potential to be a biodiversity rich place by reducing nutrient levels and encouraging wildflowers to emerge, either by natural regeneration or seed. Who says it must all be close mown green deserts?

See www.butterfly-conservation.org/ buildingsites for information on how Dorset achieved this.

ABOUT NICK COSLETT Nick has spent his working life in landscape and horticulture. He initially trained as a landscape architect, then parks manager, and for the last 20 years, he has worked with Coblands and Palmstead nurseries, running the Soft Landscape Workshops which have become popular industry events. He’s been involved with BALI as national and regional chairs. Now retired, he is a BALI National Landscape Awards judge and Chalk Fund trustee, and has more time to follow his lifelong interest in the industry.

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WITH BREXIT ON THE HORIZON, NEW CONTRIBUTOR LEWIS NORMAND QUESTIONS THE POSSIBLE CHANGES IN IMPORTING PLANTS FROM EUROPE

W

hatever your position on Europe or the Brexit debate is, there’s no arguing that every element of UK horticulture will be impacted by the changes that are coming soon. We will, of course, remain as a European island, but will likely have a different trading relationship to other member states, including our primary ornamental plant supplier nations of the Netherlands and Italy. Whether you see this as good or bad likely depends on your position within UK horticulture, but there are strong arguments on both sides. The only thing for certain is that we are still left guessing at the possible outcomes of where our future lies.

Importers will understandably be worried about how their businesses could be impacted with both plant import restrictions and data recording rule changes. My experience of speaking with a number of plant importers from both inside and outside of the UK is that there is still a great deal of confusion on changes to upcoming plant import rules, especially over labelling, recording and communicating points of origin. Little clarity has been provided on these changes and it certainly isn’t widespread news yet, so there is clearly work to be done in terms of explanations of expectations from Defra and support to those implementing changes.

It is worth remembering here that labelling changes will affect every person and company in the UK selling plants. That will include those reselling plants to end users, so garden designers, contractors, gardeners, florists and so many others will also be involved in managing traceable accounts of plant purchasing and movement, especially those involved in purchase directly from outside of the UK. This is potentially a lot of work and it may well lead a number of smaller plant importers to reconsider their position.

The one thing that seems unavoidable is that plant prices will increase to cover costs of these

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WHERE DO WE GO

F ROM HERE ?

extra requirements. As always, joined-up thinking and clear communication seems to follow change rather than direct it. We run the risk of reactively responding to this evolving

WITH PLANT COST FROM THE CONTINENT INCREASING, OPPORTUNITY FOR UK GROWERS TO REGAIN SOME MARKET SHARE IS SURELY UPON US process of greater transparency, rather than directly influencing it.

I don’t think that there is anyone out there that would decry the reasoning behind ultimate traceability of plant origin as a means to manage biosecurity and protect our

increasingly threatened horticultural landscape. While we may not decry it, though, the understandable groans of the industry considering the cost of managing additional paperwork and working more closely with plant health may well initially drown out our cheers of happiness that future risks will be greatly reduced.

The likelihood is that plant prices will indeed rise. Interestingly, I noted that a Dutch supplier’s prices rose from the day before to the day after our 2016 referendum result – market recognition that changes were surely on their way. Those price rises have continued, and we are at a point now in the UK where, for the first time in decades, our home-grown prices are becoming more competitive than European imports.

Opportunity With plant cost from the continent increasing, opportunity for UK growers to regain some market share is surely upon us. For decades now we have witnessed a decline in the UK nursery industry, with myriad businesses of every size and scale closing, or consolidating. College and university applications for horticultural courses have sadly declined and many courses are no longer running, leading to the continued skills shortage at the grass-roots level. This is something which we have been unable to fundamentally turnaround for at least the last 20 years that I have been working in horticulture and design.

Could a strengthened UK market give renewed interest in studying and working in our industry? Will it lead to average pay increases and improved profitability in businesses? As always, we will see, but should also consider whether we can contribute to the solution rather than simply wait for it to come along. Can we as individuals do more to

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support our horticultural colleges, apprenticeship schemes and other new entrants to the industry?

Do these changes enable land and resource rich nurseries to expand their offering? Can we pick up some of the market that Europe has provided previously? I work with a number of nurseries that are expanding their offering to reduce the costs of European plant import and

THERE IS STILL A GREAT DEAL OF CONFUSION ON CHANGES TO UPCOMING PLANT IMPORT RULES, ESPECIALLY OVER LABELLING, RECORDING AND COMMUNICATING POINTS OF ORIGIN transport and to offer a UK equivalent. This reduces costs to their business in terms of potential import tariffs and the additional expenditure on plant movement traceability.

It also helps reduce the carbon footprint of travel. Dutch plant producers in particular have recognised the good sense in finding an alternative marketplace to the UK and are building stronger relationships with Poland, Russia and Eastern Europe to fill some of the gaps that may come if and when we reduce our plant import needs.

As a supplier of plants to RHS show gardens, we have worked with phytosanitary restrictions on lavender and rosemary, trees and Xylella host species. These were put in place to ensure that all of these plants have been grown in the UK for at least a year. My suspicion is that this will extend to a greater number of species in the coming years, benefitting UK growers.

Interestingly, I have noted that a number of designers are asking for this in their day-to-day plant requests, showing that this conscious

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movement to a UK grown product seems to be gaining momentum. It is easy to get all ‘rose-tinted spectacled’ over this and imagine the strength of UK horticulture of the 20th century returning, but really any success here is a win. Too many UK growers have shut up shop in recent years, unable to sell their businesses or pass them on to an enthusiastic next generation of family. I’d prefer to see a nursery being sold to a new grower rather than as land for developing into houses as so often happens in our horticultural history. Wouldn’t it be good if we reduce our need for cheap imports and instead grow, or more appropriately regrow, again, better valuing our industry and plants?

I love Europe and I’m a huge fan of European horticulture. I don’t ever see a time (and definitely don’t want there to be a time) when we isolate ourselves from plant imports, but I do see a need to offset restrictions, maintain excellent biosecurity and most importantly build back our industry at home in order to celebrate UK horticulture again. There’s a lot of question regarding the future, and I’ll happily concede that I don’t have the answers, but fortune favours the brave – changes are afoot.

ABOUT LEWIS NORMAND Lewis has worked in a wide variety of roles within horticulture over a 20-year career. He lectured in garden design and horticulture, and designed gardens in the UK, Europe and the Middle East.

Since 2011, Lewis has focused on nursery sales, now working as sales manager at Bernhard’s Nurseries, and has helped to launch a number of new plants into the UK plant market. He is a specialist supplier to show gardens, supplying over 100 gardens at major shows.

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S O I L FO R L A R G E D O M E ST I C P R OJ EC TS W H AT TO LO O K O U T FO R . . .

T I M O’ H A R E LO O K S AT T H E M A I N S O I L C O N S I D E R AT I O N S FO R N E W P R OJ E C TS .

H E A L S O D E TA I L S THE PROBLEMS GARDEN DESIGNERS A N D C O N T R AC TO R S M I G H T C O M E U P AG A I N ST I F I T I S L E F T TO C H A N C E

I

t may not be the most exciting element of a new garden’s design and construction, but if you ignore the soil, the full potential of any scheme may not be achieved. The garden could even fail to establish or be left with long-term problems that are difficult and costly to repair later on.

Existing soil resource If there are existing soils on site, these should always be ‘investigated’ in the first instance to see if they can be re-used. The cost of disposing of soils has vastly increased in recent years and buying in new soil doesn’t always guarantee that the soil will perform any better. There is no such thing as an ‘average topsoil’ or ‘typical

LIMITED SPACE

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topsoil’. Given the UK’s varied geology, climate, land-use and topography, the resultant soils that have evolved are very changeable. Topsoil can range from an acid, infertile sand, to a weakly structured silt, to a strongly alkaline, gravely clay.

IF YOU IGNORE THE SOIL, THE FULL POTENTIAL OF ANY SCHEME MAY NOT BE ACHIEVED As the soil properties alter, so can the potential to re-use the soil. Whilst certain soils are suitable for most applications, those with more extreme characteristics are not. For example, clay soils are excellent for arable crop production, but they can be virtually unworkable when wet, and too solid when dry.

The soil assessment should ideally consider the condition (soil structure, compaction, topsoil depth, watertable depth, etc) and composition (particle size, pH, organic matter, nutrients, etc) of the existing soils. The end result should be a better understanding of the

soil’s attributes, but probably more importantly, its limitations. The assessment should be able to answer these sorts of questions: • Is there sufficient depth of topsoil? Topsoil depths can range from 100 to 400mm • Are the soils sandy, clayey or silty? This will have an impact on both the design and construction of the garden • Does the site drain? Is there a shallow watertable? Will additional drainage be required?

• Does the soil have a very low or very high pH? Low pH soil can be easily amended but a high pH is very difficult to lower and maintain.

• Is the topsoil impoverished? Will it require amelioration with compost or fertiliser?

Armed with this information, an informed decision can be made as to whether the existing soils can be re-used in part or in full for the new scheme.

Imported soils If the site soil is unsuitable for re-use, or if there is a shortfall, imported soil will need to be sourced. Sourcing good quality topsoil and subsoil still seems to be a major concern and risk for landscape gardeners and contractors.

We still hear horror stories of ‘screened muckaway’ being used as topsoil, and ‘concrete crusher fines’ or ‘recycled sand’ being offered as subsoil. These types of material are noticeably cheaper than properly certified soils, and this should automatically ring alarm bells. Such materials contain chemical and physical contaminants, such as heavy metals, hydrocarbons, excess alkalinity, asbestos, glass shards – rendering the soils completely unsuitable for garden projects.

Soil Specifications One of the best ways of ensuring that the imported soil is of the required standard and composition is to use a robust Soil Specification, which sets out what should

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and should not be in the soil. This can be issued to a contractor or directly to the soil supplier as part of the contract. The most functional specifications are those that list which properties the soil should possess.

These normally include: visual examination, particle size analysis (texture and stones), pH and electrical conductivity (salinity) values, plant nutrients (N, P, K, Mg), organic matter

content, and chemical contaminants (heavy metals, hydrocarbons, etc).

The values set against each soil property may well vary depending on the required performance of the soil and the specifics of the garden design. Don’t fall into the trap of using the same soil specification for every scheme regardless of the site conditions, the plant species selected and the particular constraints of the project. Usually some modification to a ‘template specification’ is required for each project and often it is appropriate to have more than one specification if a variety of different ‘landscape habitats’ are to be established (eg. tree pits and wildflower grassland).

with the relevant standard should therefore be prerequisite for selecting an imported soil. However, a word of warning – just because a soil meets the standard, doesn’t mean it is suitable for every project or occasion.

There is a lot of small print and caveats in these documents, and unfortunately the standards accept soils with relatively high silt and clay contents, which aren’t always appropriate for new build schemes, or for work in the wetter months.

Excessive soil handling The use of imported soil means that a brandnew soil profile will have to be ‘constructed’.

The main distinction between using imported soils and the soils that are already ‘in-situ’ is the additional disturbance the soil receives during importation and placement. Many soil types, especially silt or clay-based ones, cannot withstand this degree of disruption and simply collapse and self-compact when placed. This often leads to prolonged problems with poor drainage and aeration, and restricted root growth and function.

British Standards for Soil

Sand-dominant soils are best Experience has shown that sand-dominant soils are the most appropriate for such projects as they are more resilient to excessive handling, they are easier to spread and work, and they are more forgiving in wet weather. Sandy loam topsoils usually provide the right balance between drainage, aeration, water retention and nutrient supply, particularly when ameliorated

The British Standards for Topsoil (BS3882:2015) and Subsoil (BS8601:2013) are specifically intended to assess the quality of soils that are moved and traded. Compliance

with a suitable compost. Even sandier subsoils (sand or loamy sand textures) are preferable as they retain their porosity and permeability when placed to a greater depth below the topsoil.

SOIL TESTING

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Soil suppliers It is always advisable to buy soils from a reputable and dedicated soil supply company rather than a company involved with waste management and recycling. The topsoil manufacture industry has grown tremendously over the last 10 years and good quality, sandy

THE SITE SOILS SHOULD BE TESTED

soils can now be found throughout the UK. As a bare minimum, any reputable supplier should be able to readily provide details about their company and the soil materials they sell.

The soil should be regularly tested (at least every three months) by an independent company (rather than an ‘in-house’ laboratory) and the results should be accompanied by an interpretive report to point out any restrictions or limitations that a soil may hold, and to advise on what ameliorants may be required before planting, turfing or seeding.

Tim O’Hare Associates is running its soil CPD conference again this September – discover more about SoilsCon 2019 at: www.toha.co.uk

ABOUT TIM O’HARE Tim O’Hare, principal consultant of Tim O’Hare Associates LLP, has been advising on topsoil testing and quality assessments within the landscape industry for more than 20 years. He works with many landscape architects, garden designers, contractors and topsoil suppliers to ensure the soils they use, specify, import or supply are ‘fit for purpose’.

www.toha.co.uk

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TAC K L I N G T H E TOX I C C AT E R P I L L A R WITH REPORTS OF OAK PROCESSIONARY MOTH ON THE RISE, PRO LANDSCAPER FINDS OUT EXACTLY WHAT THE TREE PEST IS AND HOW THE INDUSTRY IS RESPONDING TO THE THREAT OF IT SPREADING ACROSS THE UK

A

few years ago, the only place oak processionary moth (OPM) could be found in the UK was London.

This year, though, the unusual tree pest is being discovered as far afield as Cardiff and Sheffield. Wolverhampton-based Boningale Nurseries is so concerned about it spreading that it has ceased importing oak trees, and the RHS banned the species from being brought onto the show ground at Chelsea this year.

If this isn’t enough to raise alarm bells, Defra implementing tighter restrictions on oak tree imports might be. The department is eager for the UK to remain a protected zone, and is cracking down on oak trees being brought into the country from other areas of Europe.

It’s not just oak trees which are under threat from the pest, either. The caterpillars are harmful to human health – the more a person is exposed, the worse the symptoms. With OPM becoming a growing cause for concern, then, what exactly is it? Why is it increasingly hitting the headlines? And how is the industry reacting?

Moving across the tree in a nose to tail procession, it’s easy to see how these nonnative caterpillars got their name. As moths, they lay their eggs towards the end of the summer months, generally choosing larger oak trees. Once hatched in the spring, the caterpillars move in their distinctive pattern, creating a nest on the tree and weakening it in their wake.

“OPM is a defoliator,” says Dr Glynn Percival, plant physiologist and technical support at Bartlett Tree Research. “So, over time it will repeatedly defoliate the oak tree, causing it to slide into a spiral of decline. Most trees can tolerate one or two defoliations without any major impact on longevity, but the third or fourth defoliation starts to affect the tree.”

It also causes the oak tree to be more susceptible to other pests and diseases. Glynn says the main concern, though, is the health

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hazard. “White hairs on the caterpillars have sensitive toxins. The first time you come into contact with it, you might develop a mild rash, but by the fifth or sixth exposure you could end

ANYBODY WHO HAS LOOKED INTO THE SITUATION OF OPM NOW WOULD CONCLUDE THAT THE PROBLEM IN HOLLAND IS SO EXTREME THAT IT IS IRRESPONSIBLE TO IMPORT ANY OAKS FROM THERE up in A&E. Each time you come into contact with it, the severity increases.

“The critical period is throughout April to late May. After that, once the caterpillars have gone through their final stage of turning to moths, they’re harmless. The only other concern is the nests, which are full of hairs. They eventually deteriorate, but the hairs slowly start to fall out of the nest and get blown around.”

The good news is that OPM tends to spread slowly – 2 to 5 miles a year, according to Glynn.

The bad news is that this year it appears to be spreading at an alarming rate. “It was mainly restricted to the London area, but it has exploded this year.”

In July, oak processionary moth was discovered near Cardiff Central station on trees which had been imported from an area of Europe where OPM is widespread. The University of Sheffield also issued a press release confirming it had found the pest on one of three oak trees that it later discovered had been imported from Holland, rather than being UK stock as it had

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first believed. All three trees are being destroyed and replaced later in the year, but concerns have been raised over how infested stock is spreading across the country.

“We suspect a nursery has brought infected oak trees from abroad and distributed them throughout the UK,” says Glynn. “It’s the only logical explanation for it spreading to all these different places within such a short space of time.”

Eager to avoid adding to the problem, Boningale has taken drastic action, ceasing the importation of oak trees. It will now only source UK stock which has been examined by UK inspectors during the last growing season.

Managing director, Tim Edwards, came close to implementing similar measures last year, when Defra introduced new legislation which prevented oak trees (with a girth of 8cm or more at 1.2cm above the root collar) from being imported into the UK’s OPM protected zones unless certain conditions were met – predominantly, that the oak tree was grown in an OPM-free area and had undergone rigorous inspections.

There was a problem, though, says Tim. Holland’s competent authority Naktuinbouw claimed it had been carrying out inspections in line with the UK’s new measures for the last two years, and therefore, Dutch exports were legitimate. Tim questioned this, as did Defra, but after Naktuinbouw sent details of the inspections, Tim says, that Defra “reluctantly conceded that inspections in Holland were of an adequate standard”. Boningale remained cautious about importing oaks, though, asking Dutch growers to confirm in writing that the plants they were exporting had been grown and inspected within the Dutch inspection regime.

“I thought that was the most responsible action to take and would have eliminated any problem I could foresee.”

As reports of interceptions continued to increase, however, Tim decided it was time to stop importing oak trees, and Defra announced it would bring in even tighter regulations to protect England from OPM. Oak trees will only be able to be imported from OPM-free countries, from designated pest-free areas, and must have been grown ‘under complete physical protection for their lifetime’.

For Tim, the responsibility also comes down to what the regulations call ‘professional operators’: “That’s us, the nurseries and the landscapers we’re supplying. We have to ask ourselves whether it’s our duty to abide by the black and white language of the regulation, or whether it’s our duty to go beyond that. I think it’s our duty to go beyond the regulation.

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CATERPILLAR NEST ON THE TRUNK OF AN OAK TREE

Anybody who has looked into the situation of OPM would now conclude that the problem in Holland is so extreme that it is irresponsible to import any oaks from there.”

The demand for oak trees in the UK outweighs the production on home soil, though.

We need to start producing more oaks, says Tim, rather than relying on European imports, despite this having a possible detriment on business. “If I have an order of oaks, I can either choose a UK produced oak to satisfy the order or decline that order if I can’t. It’s a very difficult business decision. But we have to ask ourselves, what’s more important? The short-term gain of those few oaks or the long-term biosecurity of the country. For me, and for Boningale, that’s a

THE CATERPILLARS ARE HARMFUL TO HUMAN HEALTH – THE MORE A PERSON IS EXPOSED, THE WORSE THE SYMPTOMS

CATERPILLARS IN NEST

really easy decision. I’m going to forego the sale of those oaks and instead do my bit for the biosecurity of the country and behave as a professional operator.”

There also needs to be a penalty in place for nurseries which distribute infected stock, say Glynn. “There should be legal ramifications.

If I were a landscaper or garden designer, I would stipulate to nurseries that they need to guarantee I’m receiving OPM-free trees and ask for some form of certification.”

The eggs are camouflaged in with the bark, making them difficult to spot at a quick glance, so rigorous inspections need to be carried out.

“One of the advantages of the nurseries is that they can use quite a diverse array of insecticides, so they can clean up their trees.

Once those trees leave the nursery, though, the choice of insecticides is dramatically reduced.”

If OPM is discovered once the trees have left the nursery, then an approved contractor should be sought to remove the nest. All of the kit used throughout the removal and treatment – ropes, harnesses, boots, trousers, etc – then has to be incinerated as washing the equipment will not remove the toxic hairs.

Oak processionary moth could therefore be an extremely costly tree pest for the UK if it continues to spread. Glynn is concerned that the industry’s reaction to it may be too little, too late. “It reacted incredibly robustly to Xylella, but for some reason OPM did not fall into the same category. We don’t have Xylella in this country, but everyone is aware of it.

“OPM is just the tip of the iceberg, too. There are other pests and diseases out there which are just as nasty. Nurseries should quarantine their trees for a year. They’d be able to spot an outbreak and either cull or treat the trees to eradicate a problem.”

Although Tim says the UK is ahead of most of its European competitors in terms of keeping pests and diseases out the country, he’s also concerned that if the UK continues to import oak trees, OPM could become endemic. As he poignantly puts it: “Oaks are under threat from a number of problems already, it’ll be criminal for us to allow another to get a foothold.”

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LEE BESTALL DISCUSSES THE BENEFITS OF EARLY DISCUSSIONS, AS WELL AS GETTING SUPPLIERS INVOLVED IN A PROJECT FAR IN ADVANCE

n my opinion, it’s never too early to get your suppliers involved with a project.

In fact, I’d suggest getting them involved before you even know the project exists.

Confused? Let me explain.

In today’s demanding ‘one click’ world, where product delivery expectations are now quoted by the hour rather than by days or weeks, you could argue that it’s never been more important to give our suppliers the heads up to help them deliver to us in good time. Sometimes I really feel for our suppliers, I regularly hear desperate landscapers call them up last minute and order products for next day delivery because they weren’t organised enough to plan ahead or because a client used the dreaded phrase “can you just”.

By working with suppliers during the concept development phase of a project, designers can help minimise disruption to tight

schedules and low budget projects by selecting more widely-available materials, avoiding non-standard sized products and developing an

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understanding of the logistical challenges of getting the products to site.

I remember when I first started designing, I specified an astroturf lawn at 4.2m wide, only to find out (after my client objected to the join) the

standard width for such a product is 4m. Had I contacted the suppliers beforehand, I’d have avoided the join and the huge amount of waste.

I also recall a time when a welder paid to ship a piece of metal box section from Turkey because it was a non-standard product from our usual supplier. The 2mm wouldn’t have made any difference at all to the project, but it did to the people ‘following our specification’.

A QUICK CALL TO UNDERSTAND THE PRODUCT OR TO QUESTION THE SPECIFICATION WOULD HAVE AVOIDED SUCH A SITUATION A quick call to understand the product or to question the specification would have avoided such a situation. But, at what stage do you engage with your suppliers? At the design stage, costing or construction? It’s a good idea

to develop your understanding of what’s out there before you really need it. Continued learning for your team is the best way to do this. It’s a win-win for all concerned.

Many suppliers are more than happy for you to send drawings to them, and in my experience, seem to enjoy having some sort of input early on in a project. They often bring up new questions, or suggest different products and materials – often resulting in a better result all round.

In summary, some of the benefits of early conversations with your suppliers include: utilizing their industry specific knowledge and experience (not only theirs but also that of their customers), reduced lead times by selecting stock items for low budget or quick turn round projects, increased efficiency, increased profitability by reducing waste, better value for your client, less environmental impact, intelligent design and better solutions.

A B O U T L E E B E S TA L L Lee Bestall has been designing and managing the construction of gardens in his signature style for more than 10 years – and his honest, genuine passion is infectious. He regularly writes gardening and outdoor-style articles for magazines, is brand ambassador for Spear & Jackson and a stand-in presenter for BBC Radio Sheffield’s Gardeners’ Question Hour. www.bestall.co.uk

Pro Landscaper / September 2019 85

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GIVING TREES THE GREEN LIGHT W H E N L I G H T I N G T R E E S , T H E R E A R E A N U M B E R O F FAC TO R S TO B E A R I N M I N D FO R T H E B I G G E ST I M PAC T â&#x20AC;&#x201C; N E I L PA R S L OW S H A R E S H I S A DV I C E

L

ighting trees is possibly the most rewarding aspect of landscape lighting design, due to the wide variety of trees available within the landscape. With majestic oaks, potted acers, dense evergreens and deciduous trees with translucent foliage available, trees offer a truly diverse way to add cohesion to a lighting scene and can look amazing when lit properly.

Many times I have seen single high wattage flood lights used to light large trees. Although this is a cost effective method of covering a wider area, this tends to produce a flat and bland effect. Also, when compared to the use of multiple spot lights carefully placed in strategic locations around the tree, it does not accentuate the trees shape and form. When selecting suitable trees to illuminate, look for deciduous trees with interesting branch systems as these will look particularly spectacular without leaves during winter.

Installing a combination of spike or recessed uplights with downlights mounted in the trees produces the most desirable effects, coupled with the use of glare shields and hex baffles to reduce unwanted glare.

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Neil Parslow.indd 86

The uplights can illuminate the underside of the canopies with translucent foliage, permitting light much further into the canopy.

Light fittings mounted higher up in the trees can be used to fill the upper parts of the canopy with light and create balance. Fittings mounted within the trees can also be used as downlights to highlight soft planting or paving below, and downlighting the trunk provides a

TREES OFFER A TRULY DIVERSE WAY TO ADD COHESION TO A LIGHTING SCENE AND CAN LOOK AMAZING WHEN LIT PROPERLY wash of light on interesting bark textures whilst anchoring the tree to the ground.

Before mounting any light fittings, check locally for any tree preservation orders. You also need to ensure the tree is able to take the weight and shock of equipment being mounted.

If possible, avoid using tree straps and mount equipment on the trunk, not branches, as this will reduce the overall stress to the tree.

Anchoring light fittings and cabling to trees can also be achieved with corrosion-resistant 316 stainless fixings and fasteners driven into

the cambium and heartwood and will not poison the tree. Specialist dual thread screws, which have a wood screw thread to one end whilst the other is a machine screw, are well suited. For fixing cables, there are exterior grade cable ties designed for use with stainless steel screws â&#x20AC;&#x201C; these should also be left with space for tree growth. Cable fixings only need to be placed about every metre, but ensure suitable cable slack is left in place for growth.

A B O U T N E I L PA R S L O W Neil is the founder and lead designer at Light Visuals, a London-based landscape and architectural lighting manufacturer.

Neil trained as an electrical designer before his passion for lighting and landscapes transferred to the design and installation of landscape lighting. This passion also extends to the design engineering and manufacturing of high-quality British-made lighting products. www.lightvisuals.co.uk

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21/08/2019 14:26

EDUCATE

F I R ST ( V I RT UA L) ST E P S INTERESTED IN USING VIRTUAL RE ALIT Y TO PRESENT DESIGNS TO CLIENTS? LUKE MILLS E XPL AINS HOW TO GET STARTED

V

irtual reality has certainly been getting more exposure recently. It’s increasingly being used in gaming, films and even on design TV programmes. This makes things much easier when it comes to pricing the service, as clients already understand what they are getting for their money and what to expect.

If your client is not familiar with VR, bringing the headset and examples of projects to initial site meetings is a great way to involve the client at an early stage, and may help you stand out.

Design presentations should be an experience for the client. Delivering an engaging experience is my aim, not just a plan.

This can make the designers role a lot easier by not having to fully rely on describing a plan for the client to understand the design. Not

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everyone can understand a 2D plan, but they can understand 3D visuals. VR allows the client to get absorbed in the experience and

DESIGN PRESENTATIONS SHOULD BE AN EXPERIENCE FOR THE CLIENT technology without getting too involved in the sometimes overwhelming detailing so early on.

I’ve recently been working on a new sensory garden for a children’s hospice. This is a perfect example of how VR can be used to invoke senses at an early stage for all different ages and disabilities. Placing the headset on the children will be an amazing experience to see the garden, which has been created especially for them. I cannot imagine trying to explain this off a 2D plan – it just does not have as powerful of an effect.

So, how do you get started in VR? I have found there are four stages to get started in a simple, cost effective way. To begin, create a simple 3D model of your design. This can be done using design software, such as Vectorworks, Sketchup or Lumion.

Secondly, you’ll need to render your model to include a variety of

features, such as surface textures, plants, trees, people, landscape objects, and so on. Thirdly, create a panoramic photo from your 3D model.

This can be done within the rendering software.

Lastly, upload your panoramic photo to a VR app on your phone and place in the headset.

I use VeeR, which is free and easy to use.

If you are familiar with software and 3D modelling during the design process, it is a small step to creating VR proposals. I highly recommend training courses when getting started, and YouTube videos and online forums are also brilliant for problem solving.

Alternatively, you can outsource the entire process – I regularly work with other designers turning their designs into VR proposals.

I hope you have enjoyed reading these articles, I have enjoyed writing them. If you are considering using VR, feel free to get in touch, whether it be virtually or in person.

ABOUT LUKE MILLS Landscape and garden designer, Luke Mills, is director of The Landscape Service. Based in Dorset, The Landscape Service provides landscape and garden design, landscape planning and consultancy services on a variety of private residential and commercial projects across the south, producing landscapes that reflect architecture and nature.

www.thelandscapeservice.com

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21/08/2019 10:53

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IS IT R IGH T T H AT C ONTR ACTO RS D O N ’ T GET

RECOGNITION AT C H E L S E A?

THIS MONTH, SAM HASSALL DISCUSSES THE R O L E S O F B OT H THE DESIGNERS A N D C O N T R AC TO R S WHEN IT COMES TO S H OW G A R D E N S . H E A L S O Q U E ST I O N S W H E T H E R AWA R D R EC O G N I T I O N I S R E A L LY A S E Q U A L A S I T C O U L D B E FO R E V E RYO N E I N VO LV E D

C

an the media and the RHS be brought into a dialogue to change the equality of awards and recognition at Chelsea and other flower shows?

There is a media bias on publicity and awards which I feel is unjust when I see our designer clients praised and recognised, but our contractor clients being the bridesmaids.

The build of a show garden is a collaborative endeavour. In most cases, it’s the gumption, courage and ambition of the designer up front that throws their hat into the ring, jumps

through the hoops, spends many hours on preparation, and then finally, gets accepted.

There is no figure that can capture this.

If the designer’s proposal is rejected, then that’s time and money lost. But if the scheme is accepted, there are weeks then invested in prep and sourcing, detailing and discussions, meetings and travel.

Then there’s the build time, and the time attending the show and the breakdown.

There’s also the sleepless nights where many details were formed and even finalised, which are not fed into the costing below.

DESIGNER COSTS BASED ON A CONSERVATIVE £75.00 PER HOUR Initial concepts and application

100 hours

7,500.00

Post acceptance development, meetings sourcing and supplier visits

300 hours

22,500.00

Build time

400 hours

30,000.00

Cost to designer

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Sam Hassall KR.indd 88

60,075.00

So, the designer’s input is no mean value and deservedly should get top billing.

However, it is a team effort, and whilst the designer did take the risk and invest the time and sleepless nights up front, they should get the top collaborative credit.

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EDUCATE

The contractor’s role in the build process Should the contractor get equal billing on the programme, the website and build credits?

The input of the contractor is enormous and generally beyond the call of duty – a contractor once told me, it’s the best three weeks of his year – even with its challenges and late nights.

From acceptance day, the contractor supports the designer who has been tee’d up already and starts putting in time. The contractor is involved in sourcing and logistics before the build starts. More importantly, the contractor is the engineer on the project and works out the details of how to get the build done, working closely with the designer to

maintain the design intent. There must be collaboration between design and build teams.

Constructors usually get deeply involved with the construction detailing in order to assist the designer in achieving their concept long before the build starts. The contractor would invest 300-500 hours in calculating costs, methods, meetings, health and safety, ordering, and logistics – and that’s still not counting sleepless nights, where again, some of the best decisions are conceived and finalised.

Admittedly, contractors quote and get paid for their input and go out to make profit on a show garden build (or should do). The contractor often divides their need for

remuneration between profit and fame – calculating the publicity factor from doing an award-winning build and the value of their publicity. Again, this is another strong reason why joint billing is important to the contractor.

Richard Curle of Landscape Associates, an experienced constructor of both Main Avenue and the other garden categories, confirmed that from Christmas to show day, there was at least a day or two a week to start off with, which escalates in intensity towards show day.

A quick view of what a contractor might spend on his own direct labour on a Main Avenue garden – based at a labour cost rate (without profit) of £28 per hour:

CONTRACTOR TIME Planning and site meetings

80 hours

4,800.00

Meetings with the designer

60 hours

3,600.00

Administration work

40 hours

2,400.00

Sourcing and supplier visits

24 hours

1,440.00

Preshow final prep

24 hours

1,440.00

Build, 12 people per day, 8 hours per day, 21 days

2,016 hours

56,448.00

Overtime 12 people as above, 6 hours per day

1,050 hours

44,100.00

Accommodation, subsistence and transport expenses Attendance during the show Breakdown and clean up disposal, returning of materials, etc

5,000.00 25 hours

700.00

160 hours

4,480.00

Cost to the contractor

124,408.00

There are also hired plant and disposal costs which are not addressed here.

The case against naming the contractor I have heard an argument that the BBC advertising standard precludes naming of contractors, as it’s deemed as advertising. This does not hold water as the designers get publicity for their efforts, and why not?

As stated above, it’s unlikely that the designer recoups the full cost of their input (time-wise) to the project.

The solution for contractors Dialogue with the RHS would guarantee the design and contracting teams a partnership credit which they so richly deserve. The designer should be generous and magnanimous in sharing the credit, both in media announcements and at award time. This may be a case for the contractor’s associations of BALI and the APL to take up and represent.

Credits for assistance with this article Richard Curle Landscape Associates Jake Catling The Landscaping Consultants Mark Gregory Landform Consultants

ABOUT SAM HASSALL Sam Hassall is a horticulturist and landscape engineer, with a specialist cost consultancy: LandPRO Ltd. He also developed the Liberate Estimating system and the Gardencosts website.

info@landpro.co.uk www.landpro.co.uk

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Pro Landscaper / September 2019 89

22/08/2019 15:54

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FO R E I G N F I E L D S THIS MONTH ANGUS LINDSAY DISCUSSES THIS YE AR’S DEMOPARK E XHIBITION AND THE TECHNOLOGY WHICH WAS SHOWCASED

T

his year’s Demopark exhibition (in central Germany) saw over 40,000 paying visitors attend one of Europe’s premier outdoor exhibitions. The event is dedicated to ‘all things grounds’ – landscaping and sports turf, which was undeterred by sweltering temperatures that reached over 35°C. Since visiting this exhibition in 2015, I’m still amazed by the huge range of equipment on display, and the “let’s build a solution” attitude taken by European manufacturers. The kit

on show ranged from the humble trailer to enormous prime movers, not unlike a Gerry Anderson design ready to emerge from the belly of Thunderbird Two. Despite the soaring temperatures and exposed location (ex-Luftwaffe airfield), visitors were still keen to try out equipment, both on the static and demonstration plots. With echoes of

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the old SALTEX days, the enthusiasm for the event was quite infectious.

The innovative approach of some manufacturers addressing issues is staggering – in some cases, a simple solution opens up a whole world of opportunity. For instance, the humble hook-loader system has transformed the logistics within the waste and recycling industry – but why not go smaller? There have been options for 3,500kg vehicles for many years, but as the base vehicle becomes heavier, the usable payload reduces. So, why not a hook-loader trailer? Manufacturers showed an infinite range of configurations with payloads of up to 2,000kg, including tipping bodies, welfare units, water tanks and refuse containers.

One Dutch company has taken a novel approach to address the issue of moving excavators used for dyke and drain clearance operations between locations. Normally, this involves loading the excavator on a low-loader and towing it by truck or tractor to site, but the Dutch have ditched the low-loader. They have kept only the wheels and the draw-bar, combining them with the excavator’s dozer plate and chassis. This allows it to be towed as a self-contained unit behind a tractor – something which helped them win the Demopark Innovation Awards’ silver medal.

There were also several alternatives to chemical weed control – only to be expected with the shadow currently hanging over glyphosate and its future. Generally, these focused on mechanical options, such as power brushes and weed rippers, as well as several heat-based units using LPG to scorch the weed – from simple pedestrian units, to full scale tractor mounted systems. Along with the current chemical-free hot water systems, these all give viable, but energy-hungry, alternatives

to chemical use, and in the case of power brushes and weed rippers, there may be future issues with premature wear to gullies and channels if the units are used too aggressively.

Robotics also made a strong appearance, covering grass cutting, gritting, cultivation and vegetation management – with the remote control machine no longer being restricted to banks mowing, but finding a niche as a bespoke tool carrier for all manner of operations.

ELECTRIC POWER IS ALSO FINDING ITS WAY INTO MORE THAN JUST VEHICLES Electric power is now also finding its way into road sweepers, site dumpers and two-wheel tractors, which are available emission-free and silent, but with a hefty price tag.

To summarise, we shouldn’t be afraid of taking a lead from our continental cousins – there’s nothing wrong with looking over the Channel to see how our neighbours do things.

A B O U T A N G U S L I N D S AY 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 has an Agricultural Engineering and Mechanisation Management MSc from Silsoe, and joined Glendale as machinery manager in 1994, then idverde UK in 2009.

angus.lindsay@idverde.co.uk

Pro Landscaper / September 2019 91

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Q U I E T LY D O E S I T

THERE IS GROWING MOMENTUM TO SILENCE ‘NOISY’ MACHINERY – SHOULD LANDSCAPERS HEED THE CHORUS OF DISAPPROVAL?

I

n parts of the US, including affluent Palm Springs in California, petrol-powered leaf blowers were banned this year, much to the chagrin of some professionals. The ban is to reduce noise and emissions pollution, but those doing maintenance jobs are unhappy about needing to buy battery-powered replacement tools and argued that because of the time taken to recharge, they would earn less because of reduced working hours.

In the UK, a small-scale campaign exists to try and implement a ban – ASBLOW wants to see legislation to ban ‘anti-social’ leaf blowers and it is calling on those who use gardeners to only use those which are ‘blower free’.

ASBLOW WANTS TO SEE LEGISLATION TO BAN ‘ANTI-SOCIAL’ LEAF BLOWERS Celebs speak out Meanwhile a number of well-known individuals have also castigated blowers, including Queen guitarist Brian May, who said council workers had caused a “horrible intrusion” as he relaxed in his Holland Park home in west London. May called for a return to the days of workers silently using brushes to sweep the roads. Presenter John Humphreys, who lives in west London too, also slammed

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Blowers feature.indd 93

leaf blowers and said they were depriving him of sleep. Actor Tom Conti is similarly incensed by those who use blowers near his home in Hampstead, London, arguing the noise was unnecessary and that leaves should just be left alone.

While celebrities may find their grievances are aired by media, many others will be having to suck up blower noise in silence – and it may well be unpleasant if they are unwell, for example.

What is more, landscapers employing maintenance people should also be mindful of the need to protect their employees since hearing damage is irreversible – ear defenders must be worn and so there is an argument to say it makes sense to use quieter machines if possible.

Leaves are falling Even so, many landscapers will be simply following their clients’ instructions when it comes to leaf removal. They are using blowers because they may have vast quantities to shift and raking these up manually is simply not practicable.

Consequently, if you are planning to switch to a battery powered blower, now is the time to do it. The first day of autumn is 1 September and as the weeks go by, increasing amounts of maintenance work will involve clearing leaves.

Improving performance A spokesperson for supplier Husqvarna said battery handheld blower performance was improving. For example, its 525iB provides

25cc petrol equivalent performance, which should suit full-time professional use and particularly those working in towns and cities.

Other features include cruise control to increase focus on blowing leaves and debris away, along with a boost power mode to give extra power when needed. Its fan design and brushless motor ensures powerful airflow while allowing work in noise sensitive or enclosed areas. Further, an intuitive keypad activates the machine with the tap of a button and will switch off after 90 seconds as a safety precaution for working in public spaces. The machine and batteries are weatherproof, meaning staff can work outdoors in rain if necessary.

Those landscapers with a suite of petrolpowered tools may be loath and perhaps unable to sufficient new equipment as replacements, but they may need to be increasingly sensitive to noise related issues. There may be no bans in force over here, but using noisy equipment at more acceptable times of the day and seeking to minimise this where possible, could well ensure they avoid the wrath of those clamouring for quiet.

Pro Landscaper / September 2019 93

22/08/2019 08:50

EDUCATE

KIT

BLOWERS W I T H A U T U M N FA ST A P P R OAC H I N G , L A N D S C A P E R S P R OV I D I N G M A I N T E N A N C E S E R V I C E S W I L L B E C A L L I N G O N T H E S E R V I C E S O F T H E I R T R U ST Y L E A F B LOW E R . I F YO U A R E I N N E E D O F A N U P G R A D E , H E R E A R E T H R E E M O D E L S T H AT A R E S U I T E D TO P R O F E S S I O N A L U S E

EGO The LBX6000 is a commercial blower, well suited to keeping surfaces clear of leaves and other debris. According to the manufacturer, it sets a new standard, since the LBX6000 is the most powerful handheld blower on the market.

At its maximum, it can blow at a rate of 1014m3/h with a speed of 212km/h and a force of 19.2N – and, unlike petrol blowers, operational volume is particularly low at just 80 decibels. This means that it can be used in even the most sensitive of areas without causing disruption, with a run time of up to 350 minutes when used in conjunction with the BAX1500 backpack battery (sold separately). The EGO Power+ range is available through Henton & Chattell’s nationwide dealer network. www.egopowerplus.co.uk

SCH The leaf blower features a powerful and reliable 9hp Honda engine, which is connected to a shielded steel fan. This heavy-duty fan then draws air from the central input and forces it at speed through the specially shaped low-toground output nozzle.

The shape of this large nozzle helps lift and blow the leaves a significant distance. The blower is fitted with a clevis hitch as standard and there is a 50mm ball hitch as an optional extra. The tow hitch can be quickly replaced with the hand conversion handle, which allows the blower to be manually pulled and manoeuvred – this is useful in areas too restricted to operate a tractor. A front castor wheel allows the blower to be easily manoeuvred into and out of the storage areas. www.schsupplies.co.uk

STIHL The BG 86 C-E is a petrol hand-held blower that is ideal for professional users looking to clear large areas of leaves and grass. It uses Stihl’s 2-MIX engine, which can reduce the amount of fuel lost during the charge cycle. This results in more power and up to 20% lower fuel consumption than regular 2-stroke engines, as well as significantly reducing exhaust emissions.

The BG 86 C-E blower offers better protection for the engine in dusty conditions due to its new HD2 filter, which can eliminate fine dust particles. The filter also repels oil and water and is easy to clean.

To get the blower up and running, the ErgoStart system provides innovative technology which cuts the effort required to start the tool by half, while the starter cord can be pulled at just one third of the normal

94 Pro Landscaper / September 2019

Blowers.indd 94

force. There is also a throttle lock with a built-in stop switch, which comes as standard. It allows for a running machine to switch off immediately after the brief press of a button. Once the machine is at a standstill, the control switch automatically reverts back to the on position, meaning the tool is always ready for action.

The BG 86 C-E is available with either a round or flat nozzle for different applications and it has an effective anti-vibration system that significantly dampens the machine’s oscillations. www.stihl.co.uk

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ST E E L SC A P E S engineering beautiful landscapes www.steelscapes.co.uk

1 Unique joining system A unique bolt-together joining system with no fixings on the seen side, Steelscape’s joining plate is as thick as the edge to ensure curves are not interrupted through joins. Its joining system is so robust it’s possible to join a number of lengths together before installation, saving time.

2 Simple to install Once the site is prepared, all that is required is a spanner to connect the edge together and a hammer to knock in the stakes. Steelscape’s stakes are made from robust 30mm/3mm thick angle sections and will withstand a blow from a sledgehammer if the going gets tough.

5 Consistently positive feedback Since Steelscapes introduced its self-fit edging, it receives regular repeat business from landscapes and designers. It also receives regular, unprompted positive feedback from its ever-increasing new customer base.

3 Customised edging Steelscapes can produce corners to any angle, edging to any length or create a bespoke edging kit from plans or sketches for the most robust and simple installation possible. Forward your designs and Steelscapes will provide a quote with everything it requires – it will even label your edging to correspond with your plan.

6 Personal service Steelscapes is a small company, trading for just over 20 years. It cares that customers receive the correct product and encourages every customer to discuss their order with its team before purchasing. It both fabricates and installs its edging, so it is well placed to provide advice and is always happy to do so.

4 More options

Three height options in 3mm thick edging and five height options in 6mm edging, ranging from 75mm, which is usually used for border edging, up to 300mm high (typically chosen for raised beds and terracing) are all available. Steelscapes also offers corner pieces, a cut-to-length service, base plates for haunching, and stakes cut to any length.

7 Excellent value

Steelscapes’ prices are very competitive, despite offering what it feels is the most effective edging system on the market. For example, its 150mm high/6mm thick edging is only £17 per metre (+VAT and delivery) to include all fixings and stakes. Visit the Steelscapes website for all its prices.

Pro Landscaper / September 2019 97

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t’s a common business success story in this industry – from a shed down the garden to an office with a team of employees. But it’s a tricky transition for a business owner and no one learns about running a business overnight. More commonly now people are turning to business coaches to help them, but how beneficial are they and what exactly could they do for your business?

Nick Ruddle has 12 years’ experience as a business coach, many of which have involved guiding landscaping companies through this challenging transitional period, as Nick explains: “I often start work with a client as they are shifting from doing a job role in their own business to running the business, and it’s not something you can learn overnight. We aim to educate and guide them through that.”

This education covers the key areas of a business, from creating the right culture and recruiting the right staff, to understanding finances, marketing and time management.

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EDUCATE

Nick looks for three things when he starts working with someone – passion, commitment and vision. Although he acknowledges that all businesses and owners are different, he states that the generalised principles of a business are the same, and that all owners need to understand the same fundamental principles.

They all need to have the right staff, systems

I OFTEN START WORK WITH A CLIENT AS THEY ARE SHIFTING FROM DOING A JOB ROLE IN THEIR OWN BUSINESS TO RUNNING THE BUSINESS, AND IT’S NOT SOMETHING YOU CAN LEARN OVERNIGHT NICK RUDDLE, BUSINESS COACH, ACTIONCOACH

and processes in place, communications and structure. They need to know how to sell, market their business, make a profit, and fully understand the financial numbers. Essentially, a business coach will assist in all these areas of

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business which owners need to be proficient in for them to get great results – or as Nick claims, life changing results.

It was in 2012 that Paul Downer saw opportunity for growth within Oak View Landscapes. He explains: “I had a good company that was profitable with no real problems, but I wanted to make it a great business – I needed a fresh challenge.”

Paul decided to look for a business coach and him and Nick have been working together ever since. A large focus for them has been on developing the team and the system so that Paul could work more strategically on the business rather than in it. Since beginning his work with Nick Paul has grown his team with 12 new members, promoted two senior team members to directors, increased the company’s turnover from £1.3m to £2.8m and increased its gross profit by 52%. It has also had a significant impact on his work life balance, with his working hours reducing from 60 a week to 45. “I speak to a lot of business owners that are owner operators who are trapped by their businesses.

I never wanted to create a company that controlled me and was totally reliant on me.”

Graeme Carpenter, owner of Outdoor Creations has also seen the benefits of having a business coach. He has seen a better work/life balance for himself and members of the team, improved company culture and in turn improved staff retention. A business coach has also helped to make the company more organised with a clear structure, system and processes driven by

clear goals and objectives. “We know what we’re trying to achieve and where we want to

I HAD A GOOD COMPANY THAT WAS PROFITABLE WITH NO REAL PROBLEMS, BUT I WANTED TO MAKE IT A GREAT BUSINESS PA U L D O W N E R , MANAGING DIRECTOR, OAK VIEW LANDSCAPES

go, rather than aimlessly seeing where the business takes us,” Graeme explains.

Thanks to today’s technology, Nick is able to video call his clients whilst sharing screens with them, so they are able to view documents together without having to be side by side.

Generally, he will meet with them biweekly, but every three months Nick organises planning days which all his clients attend. They are an opportunity for people to learn from each other’s mistakes and successes and are a great way for individuals to feel part of a community, as they can all too often feel isolated.

Not everyone agrees that business coaches are necessary however, often believing that they aren’t needed to succeed. Phil Jones, CEO

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EDUCATE

GET ADVICE FROM PEOPLE THAT ARE SUCCEEDING AT THE THINGS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT GRAEME CARPENTER O W N E R , O U T D O O R C R E AT I O N S

of ESL Landscape Contractors, doesn’t have a business coach, and although he can see the benefits of talking to someone outside the business, he also feels we shouldn’t forget the expertise we have available closer to home: “Within our businesses we have a wealth of knowledge and experience. It’s not always necessary to look beyond company boundaries.

How many of us take real advantage of those around us every day and let them share in the decision making of the company?”

It could also be argued that people can turn to forums or industry events for advice and to network with people outside the business as well, before having to turn to a business coach for this guidance. Sean Butler, director of Cube 1994, also believes that business coaches can come in many guises: “Reading, listening and writing are all styles of learning. I believe that you should just choose which style of business coach suits you best, whether that’s an actual person or something else.”

Sean himself finds books a great way of learning, finding inspiration in biographies of people like Alan Sugar and Richard Branson to gain business insight. Nick agrees that a company can succeed without a business coach: “You can definitely end up with good results without a business coach, but having a coach makes the journey a lot quicker.”

Nick argues that he is able to help ambitious business owners avoid common pitfalls which can be costly, instead helping them to achieve this success faster.

It could also be argued that for some businesses a coach is a luxury they can’t afford, but Nick, Paul and Graeme all echo the same retort – you can’t afford not to.

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Graeme adds that a good business coach should be able to contribute more to the business than it costs you to retain their services and he’s certainly found this to be the case. He suggests networking as an alternative however, stressing the importance of learning from people who have already achieved what you want to: “Get advice from people that are succeeding at the things that you would like to be successful at. It’s then important to implement what they suggest.”

Sean reiterates this, emphasising how important it is to listen to the mistake’s others have made: “To ignore what has been learnt from other people’s mistakes will only be at your own detriment.”

For Nick, the results speak for themselves.

“Since I’ve been coaching in the landscaping industry, I’ve not stopped working with any of the clients I’ve gained,” he says. He also compares the hiring of a business coach to that

HOW MANY OF US TAKE REAL ADVANTAGE OF THOSE AROUND US EVERY DAY AND LET THEM SHARE IN THE DECISION MAKING OF THE COMPANY? P H I L J O N ES, C EO, ES L LANDSCAPE CONTRACTORS

TO IGNORE WHAT HAS BEEN LEARNT FROM OTHER PEOPLE’S MISTAKES WILL ONLY BE AT YOUR OWN DETRIMENT SEAN BUTLER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, CUBE 1994

of a sports coach. Elite sportspeople will have coaches to help achieve their goals – why should business be any different? Nick’s results do seem staggering, not just in the form of hard numbers as can be seen from Pauls progress, but also in the loyalty and retention he has had with clients. Whether you agree with hiring a business coach or not, it is clear that the key to a successful business is the sharing of information, whatever format that may take for you.

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EDUCATE

INSIDE

C OTSWO LD H ILL STO NE AN D MASO NRY LI MI T ED How was the company started?

Cotswold Hill Stone and Masonry Limited was first set up in 2007, and is celebrating its 12-year anniversary this year. Founded by Don Cook and Tim Beetson, the quarrying company’s head office is based in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire.

Where is the company based?

Cotswold Hill operates two separate quarrying sites: Cotswold Hill Quarry (near Ford, Cheltenham) and Birch Hill Quarry (near Coleford in the Forest of Dean). The company ensures that quarrying is carried out at both sites as ethically as possible, limiting production of unnecessary waste to protect the beautiful, pristine surroundings of the countryside.

THE COMPANY BOASTS A TEAM OF SKILLED STONEMASONS How many staff are there?

Cotswold Hill Stone and Masonry employ 14 staff directly – with a number of additional self-employed contractors – enabling a wealth of knowledge across the two quarries. The company boasts a team of skilled stonemasons that work closely with clients to bring their ideas to life. The sales team regularly visit

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clients and sites, gaining trust and has an excellent reputation throughout the industry.

What is the product range?

Cotswold Hill Stone’s Guiting limestone, extracted at the Cotswold Hill Quarry, is a high-quality limestone featuring a fine texture in a pleasing white or honey-coloured appearance, and is mainly requested as a building or a walling stone. However, it is regularly used to produce or repair architectural features, such as mullion windows and door surrounds.

The Pennant sandstone from Birch Hill Quarry in its tones of grey and blue, is popular as rockery, walling, paving and also as a cropped rough-dressed building stone. It is highly sought after as a masonry stone because of its robust and weather-tolerant nature, regulary used for regency steps, carvings, and grave stones too.

Do you attend any trade shows?

Cotswold Hill and its products can be found at different trade shows throughout the year. For example, they supplied sawn paving, rockery and monolith stone for the winning landscape exhibit at last year’s Malvern Spring Show.

Where have the products been used?

The company’s stone is used throughout the world, whether for people’s homes, shopping centres or even palaces. Cotswold Hill’s stone has been used in the renovation and

PRO LANDSCAPER HEARS FROM COTSWOLD HILL STONE AND M A S O N R Y L I M I T E D , A W E L LR E S P EC T E D A N D E N V I R O N M E N TA L LYAWA R E B R I T I S H STO N E C O M PA N Y conservation of Alexandra Palace in London, Magdalen Bridge in Oxford, Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, Hampton Court Palace in Richmond upon Thames, and even the Houses of Parliament. Cotswold Hill also provided the masonry stone for Windsor Castle.

What was your route to market?

Cotswold Hill Stone and Masonry supplies directly, or the products can be ordered through builders merchants.

What are your lead times?

For Cotswold Hill Stone and Masonry this depends on what product is ordered. Normal build stone can be in stock, or may take a few weeks to collate. Masonry can be two to eight weeks lead time – it all depends on work load.

Do you offer trade discount? What are your standard credit terms?

The account customers have a 30-day payment term. All others are normally pro-forma payments.

C O N TA C T Cotswold Hill Stone

Tel 01386 584 384 Email enquiries@stonequarries.co.uk www.cotswoldhill.co.uk

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EDUCATE

E D G I N G TOWA R D S

EXCELLENCE E V E R E D G E H I G H L I G H TS T H R E E E X E M P L A R C A S E ST U D I E S I T H A S S U P P L I E D R EC E N T LY

STREATHAM HILL, LONDON On this project, EverEdge was tasked with producing a number of Corten steel planters and edging panels. The steel was to be produced for the Streatham Hill development of high-end apartments, designed by London Square.

The contractor, Kingston Landscape Group, worked closely with EverEdge to produce the material to specification and to deadlines, tying in with other works on the site. Edging ranged from 250mm tall up to 700mm and was to be used for planters, lawns and cladding. EverEdge says it is particularly proud to have played a significant role in the prestigious, multi-award-winning project.

ONE BAYSHILL ROAD, CHELTENHAM EverEdge supplied plastic powder coated steel planters for the redevelopment of two Grade II-listed Regency Villas. The villas are being developed for PegasusLife to provide 50 apartments. Glen Howells Architects designed the project to fit in seamlessly into the distinguished streets of Montpellier, Cheltenham.

Sky Garden, the contractor on this project, came to EverEdge to tap into its 25 years of experience. The planters required on the job measure at 900mm tall and have been designed to fit between existing structures on the roof of the building. They are filled with a mixture of materials: void former, grit, bark and 300mm of topsoil.

ISLINGTON SQUARE, LONDON EverEdge's edging and planters were specified for a project for Cain International at Islington Square in London, a development of 371 residential units across three blocks which include offices, a gym, a cinema, a theatre and retail units.

Landscape contractor Maylim Ltd was tasked with the hard and soft landscaping on site, including the installation of EverEdge products. The project required a number of edging products, as well as raised Corten steel planter walls. The landscape architect at Islington Square, Capita Real Estate and Infrastructure, specified EverEdge to provide edging and planters for roof terraces as well as communal gardens.

The many roof gardens feature large multi-curved Corten steel raised planted areas (500mm high) to accommodate trees and shrubs. EverEdge designed and manufactured the planter walls to allow them to be easily built on site to exact measurements. The Corten steel was pre-weathered before being shipped to site to prevent any risk of rust runoff once the panels were installed.

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ALIGN YOURSELF WITH EXCELLENCE Enter your business into the

Pro Landscaper business awards

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21/08/2019 15:25

EDUCATE

FENCING W H E N I T C O M E S TO A G A R D E N ' S F I N I S H I N G TO U C H E S , T H E S E F E N C I N G O P T I O N S P R OV I D E H I G H Q U A L I T Y B O U N DA R I E S W I T H A D I V E R S E R A N G E O F U S E S

KNIGHT FENCING

THE GARDEN TRELLIS COMPANY These handmade Prestige Weave Panels from The Garden Trellis Company provide a stylish screen to any garden. They are made with attractive western red cedar timber and fully framed to create a strong yet lightweight panel that provides privacy, screening and security. Panels are available in 1800mm widths and in 5 height options ranging from 600 to 1800mm.

Price: £163.00 to £344.00 (inc. VAT) www.gardentrellis.co.uk

Knight Fencing’s Diamond Trellis is an attractive alternative to standard garden fencing. The trellis is made from pressure treated FSC certified timber from sustainable sources. Knight Fencing’s talented and experienced workforce makes this trellis by hand in their workshops to ensure the Diamond Trellis is perfect for any garden.

Knight Fencing puts out six different sizes, making it a flexible selection for any garden project.

Price: £34.59 to £101.82 (inc. VAT, dependent on sizing). www.knight-fencing.co.uk

CLD FENCING SYSTEM

AVS FENCING

Embrace your environmental side with CLD Fencing System’s stylish Stone Fence decorative gabion wall. Using its wire mesh panels to create a divide, this fence allows you to display the beauty of local stone, broken brick or other recycled products. The resulting gabion wall is resilient, vandal-resistant and noise-absorbing, while also becoming a natural haven for insects and wildlife. This style is popular for playgrounds, parks and modern housing developments that want to be seen to be green.

Price: On enquiry – price varies due to specification www.cld-fencing.com

AVS Fencing offer a stylish range of decorative fencing panels with a high-quality finish. Omega Lattice Fence Panels are perfect for both small and large gardens and feature a decorative trellis wave design across the top. Lattice panels allow both light and privacy and come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including a full lattice option.

Price: £62.59 to £80.59 (inc. VAT) www.avsfencing.co.uk

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P EO P L E

30 UNDER 30 TAMARA BRIDGE

P112

I N S I D E P E O P L E T H I S M O N T H PA G E 1 0 9 O U T A N D A B O U T: R H S G A R D E N R O S E M O O R F L O W E R S H O W, PA G E 1 1 0 L I F E / S T Y L E : A L E X A N D R A N O B L E , PA G E 1 1 2 3 0 U N D E R 3 0 : TA M A R A B R I D G E , PA G E 1 1 6 W H AT ’ S Y O U R R O L E ? , PA G E 1 1 9 W H AT I ’ M R E A D I N G , PA G E 1 2 2 L I T T L E I N T E R V I E W S

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21/08/2019 15:58

OUT & ABOUT

PEOPLE

RHS GARDEN ROSEMOOR FLOWER SHOW 2019 VISITORS TO THIS YE AR’S RHS GARDEN ROSEMOOR FLOWER SHOW WERE ABLE TO E XPLORE THE L ATEST ADDITION TO THE DEVON-BASED GARDEN – THE COOL GARDEN. DESIGNED BY MULTI-AWARD WINNER JO THOMPSON, THE COOL GARDEN HAS A SOOTHING PL ANTING SCHEME, CRE ATING A REFLECTIVE SPACE WITH MORE THAN 3,000 PL ANTS. IT SHOWCASES HOW GARDENS CAN TACKLE HE AV Y RAINFALL AND FL ASH FLOODING, AND REPL ACES THE FORMER SPIRAL GARDEN WHICH WAS PL ANTED IN 1992 AND DESIGNED BY TOM STUART SMITH.

Photographs ©RHS/Jason Ingram

RHS STAFF AT THE SHOW, WHICH TOOK PLACE FROM 16-18 AUGUST, WERE ON HAND AT INFORMATION PANELS IN BOTH THE COOL AND THE NEIGHBOURING HOT GARDEN, TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT THE DESIGN AND PLANTING OF THESE SPACES.

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WORK

PEOPLE

Best project I relished designing last year’s RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show garden which was a conceptual space and blissfully free from client constraints.

It was a truly enjoyable and very collaborative process with the chance to work with expert horticulturists as well as renowned suppliers and contractors.

Colleagues & mentors I work by myself, so have no immediate co-workers. I do, however, have many friends across the industry that I would deem as colleagues, in particular the other women in the Lifestyle Garden category at Hampton Court last year: Anca Panait, Lilly Gomm and Ula Maria.

Best learning curve A huge learning curve came after finishing university when I decided I would transition into landscape design. Although I had previously spent a few months at a landscape architecture office, it felt like being a beginner again, which was tough after an intensive university experience.

High and low points of your career Highs: Being involved in RHS shows as well as winning People’s Choice for the Hampton Court 2018 garden.

Lows: Missing out on a few gardens I was asked to pitch for. Despite this, it does make me feel grateful that they have come across my business at this early stage.

It forces one to evaluate how to have a better chance of winning the work in the future. Quiet points and dips in workload have taught me to be proactive, focus attention on marketing and to create my own opportunities.

What you hope to achieve in your work during the next 12 months Continue working on private projects, freelancing for other designers and working on commissioned and edition artworks.

LIFE/STYLE

ALEXANDRA NOBLE A L E X A N D R A N O B L E , T H E AWA R D -W I N N I N G D E S I G N E R B E H I N D A L E X A N D R A N O B L E D E S I G N , D E TA I L S H E R C A R E E R , A LO N G W I T H H E R I N S P I R AT I O N S , H O B B I E S A N D T R AV E L E X P E R I E N C E S

INSPIRATION People I greatly admire the work of Kim Wilkie and Charles Jencks. I adore the architectural approach of Ricardo Bofill, Studio Mumbai and Níall McLaughlin. Ceramicist Lena Peters – I love the storytelling aspect of her work. Cecilie Bahnsen’s sartorial creations have also caught my attention recently.

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Gardens Sa Maison Garden in Malta had an incredible sense of atmosphere and discovery. Vaux-le-Vicomte is a masterclass in spatial and perspective understanding.

I found, Charleston in Sussex, Lununganga in Sri Lanka and Fundación RodríguezAcosta in Spain to be profoundly inspiring.

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PEOPLE

PERSONAL Hobbies I love to visit gardens, galleries and art exhibitions. Recent visits have been to Turn End Garden in Aylesbury, Eden Community Garden in Clapham and 51, The Chase: a fantastic NGS open garden which, at the time, was filled with tulips and tree peonies. I also enjoy walking, barre workouts and cooking.

Design tastes I’m usually drawn to design which has a hint of the ephemeral, whimsical or surreal. I’m also a big believer in simplicity of layout and limiting the number of different materials used together in one scheme.

Most treasured possession Two silk scarves from Liberty, which used to belong to my grandma.

Favoured dress style I quite like to contrast proportions. Good quality accessories are key as they have longevity and can add interest to a plain outfit.

I try to support small brands by buying pieces from companies such as Yosuzi, Desmond & Dempsey and Anna Walker London.

Food & drink I enjoy eating fresh food, usually with lots of organic vegetables and I’m currently adding lashings of truffle-infused olive oil to almost everything! Typical meals would be broad bean risotto, courgette noodles with raw vegetables or a tofu stir-fry. I tend to eat meat once or twice a month when dining out.

Most fun you’ve ever had Ziplining for half a kilometre over hills in Sri Lanka.

TRAVEL Places you’ve been/places you’d like to go I’ve been to many cities in Europe as well as further afield, namely Sri Lanka, Bali, Egypt and Morocco twice. I’d like to explore India, New York, Mexico, Japan during Hanami, Iran, more of Morocco and California for the superbloom.

How you like to travel I will usually plan quite a packed itinerary which doesn’t leave much time for relaxing!

How you like to stay when you’re on holiday I love to scour online for beautiful and unique Airbnbs. Last summer I stayed inside a minimalist hillside cave in Spain followed by an artist’s studio in the mountains.

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PEOPLE

3 0 U N D E R 3 0 U P DAT E

TAMARA BRIDGE GARDEN DESIGNER TAMAR A BRIDGE BRINGS US UP TO SPEED ON HER RECENT T V APPE ARANCE, AWARD-WINNING SHOW GARDEN INVOLVEMENT AND SOME E XCITING FUTURE PL ANS FOR HER COMPANY

B

ack in 2015, Tamara Bridge was named one of our 30 Under 30 winners. Since then, she’s gone from one victory to the next, most recently appearing on our TV screens via Channel 5’s The Great Gardening Challenge.

The show challenges six selected teams of award-winning garden designers to transform neglected, unused garden spaces into head turning, creative designs.

Tamara was invited to be on the show with her design partner, Kate Savill: “Last year, we got invited to be part of the show. We thought it was right up our street and we wanted to have a go. It all happened really quickly. Within about a week we had our Skype interview and quite rapidly had to start designing the first garden.”

Tamara met Kate in 2015 whilst competing for RHS Young Designer of the Year, and since then the pair have collaborated to create an array of award-winning designs while continuing to run their own studios. “We teamed up pretty much right after the competition. We had set our sights on getting our garden designed for

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30 Under 30 Tamara Bridge.indd 112

Chelsea and felt that working together would be a really great way of doing that. This has proven to be the case.”

The pair successfully went on to design their first show garden for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2017, which Tamara says was an amazing experience for her: “We were doing

IT WAS REALLY EXCITING FOR US TO SUDDENLY BE IMMERSED WITH ALL THESE REALLY TALENTED PEOPLE Jo Whiley’s Scent Garden, which was amazing.

It was a really quick turnaround for us – we had to get everything together, organised and have all the design in place in about a week. It was really exciting for us to suddenly be immersed with all these really talented people making everything happen.” The design duo also went

on to install The Warner Edwards Garden, which won a Silver medal at RHS Chelsea 2018.

Currently, Tamara is working on various projects around Norfolk, including a stunning walled coastal property and a local pub garden.

She has also been busy breathing new life into a brick and flint design studio based near her home: “I am hoping to run some workshops with lots of creatives, florists, woodworkers, craft makers – really exciting, lovely people.”

Looking forward, Tamara says that she would love to have a garden on Chelsea’s Main Avenue.

Working with clients across the pond is also potentially on the cards: “A few people from the United States have been showing interest, so I’ve been considering going international.”

Tamara suggests that in the future, she is aiming to not only establish her business further, but also to grow her office in order to accommodate larger projects. Bigger projects, especially public spaces, are something she is particularly passionate about: “I love those public spaces where you can really talk to and positively influence people.”

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21/08/2019 14:16

ENTER YOURSELF OR A COLLEAGUE Who?

The rules are simple, you can nominate yourself or a colleague as long as the nominee was aged 30 or under on 1 January 2019 and currently works within the horticulture, arboriculture, garden design or landscape sector. Entrants must have worked in the industry for at least one year.

Why?

120 winners so far

93 male 27 female 37 landscapers 27 grounds maintenance contractors 24 garden designers 16 suppliers 9 landscape architects 4 arborists 1 interior landscaper 1 head gardener 1 soil scientist

Entering 30 Under 30: The Next Generation is a great way to gain recognition for your own work or the work of someone you know. Previous winners have expressed that winning the awards is a wonderful way to enhance their careers.

How? Simply email 30u30@eljays44. com to request an entry form.

Fill out the form to the best of your ability, picking out key moments from your career and showcasing some of your best work. Email the form back to 30u30@eljays44.com along with a high-resolution head shot by 23 September 2019.

Proudly supported by

CONTACT DETAILS

For more information on how to enter, contact Amber Bernabe on 01903 777570 or email 30u30@eljays44.com

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21/08/2019 20/08/2019 15:32 16:13

ADVERTORIAL

ACACIA GARDENS

THE TEAM

Acacia Gardens specialises in hard and soft landscaping services, working with garden designers, its own client base and in the commercial sector. Its maintenance services extend to maintaining a few of the gardens it has built and commercial grounds maintenance contracts Herman Ermal Pobrati Managing director How was the company founded?

Acacia Gardens started in Tottenham in 2004 as a ‘one-man band’ maintenance company.

Eager to progress, managing director Herman Probrati completed a two-year diploma in horticulture at Capel Manor College and built a small team to offer maintenance.

Introducing landscaping services for homeowners and later garden designers made a big difference to the company’s growth and expertise, but the turning point for Acacia Gardens was in 2012, after Herman graduated as a landscape architect. He was fully focused on improving the quality of work and staff training as well as growing the business.

How is it structured?

As a small company, we have clear roles and responsibilities. As director, Herman is the first point of contact for garden designers and homeowners, supported by office manager, Anna-Maria, and in-house garden designer Beatriz. Our 12-strong landscaping team is run by operations manager Genti and foremen Remi and Daniel and our small grounds maintenance team is run as a separate division by Sami, the company’s first employee.

What services does Acacia offer?

Our core business is landscape consultation and construction. We build gardens for our own client base, but also work in partnership with other garden designers, professionals and developers.

AWARDS

What type of projects do you undertake?

We specialise in domestic gardens in London.

We have worked with a number of garden designers, including: Julie Zeldin of Julie Zeldin Landscape and Garden Design, Roberto Silva of Silva Landscapes, Tessa Crichton-Miller of Tessa Crichton-Miller Garden Design, and Emma Appleby of Emma Appleby Garden Design.

Which geographical areas do you cover?

We cover mostly the north, north-west, east and part of central London. We have taken on multiple projects in Hertfordshire as well.

Are you a member of any professional trade associations?

We are members of BALI and the APL. We have ISO 9001 accreditation and a Citation approved Health and Safety Management System. We are also approved installers for suppliers such as, Millboard, Marshalls, London Stone, Jacksons Fencing, Perfectly Green, and Buzz Grass.

What are the plans for the business going forward?

With our business coach Nick Ruddle, we have a one, three, and five-year plan of where we would like to be. As part of our growth strategy, we have created a company vision, mission and culture, and a team to support a well-run business that designs, builds and maintains both residential and commercial outdoor spaces.

We would also like to work in collaboration with as many garden designers as possible, and we always aim to go one step further on raising our standards for quality and service, with care for the environment at the centre of everything we do.

Marshalls Register Regional Award Winner 2017/18 – Best Project by a New Register Member

Gentian Sinanaj Operations manager

Beatriz Blas Cabanes Garden designer

Remy Nela Landscape foreman

CONTACT Acacia Gardens Ltd Garden Office, 483 Green Lanes London N13 5RT

Pro Landscaper small project BIG IMPACT Awards 2018 shortlist Pro Landscaper Podium Awards shortlist Best of Houzz 2017 Customer Service award

114 Pro Landscaper / September 2019

Advertorial Acacia Gardens KR.indd 114

Tel 020 8800 3866 www.acacia-gardens.co.uk

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21/08/2019 16:25

ADVERTORIAL

CASE STUDY 1 Private residence, Nassington Road, London Completed March 2019 Designer Tess Crichton-Miller Garden Design and Green Dream Garden Design Suppliers Travis Perkins, London Stone, EverEdge, London Lawn Turf Co This was the first garden Acacia built for garden designers Tessa Crichton-Miller and Vlad Chirila of Green Dream Garden Design. The access made it a challenging project, with many steps and a large amount of soil and retaining walls involved. There are always unpredictable problems which arise, but this was a worst-case scenario. The previous owners had decided to use soil to cover a load of rubble, which then needed to be dug up. Fortunately, working with great designers and lovely clients, the finish of the garden was amazing. The addition of a garden pod and soft landscaping made a real difference. An amazing seating area was surrounded by planting, and a pod which rotates 3600 provides privacy, sun or shade, and the best views.

CASE STUDY 2

Private residence, Almington Street, London

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

Advertorial Acacia Gardens KR.indd 115

This garden has been designed as an extension of the house. The kitchen tiles extend into the garden, inviting people to wander out and discover the garden, and the pool echoes the shape of the windows.

A pair of steel ribbons are entwined, travelling through the garden, helping to guide the view from inside the house to the raised dining area situated at the end of the garden. The plants, provided by How Green Nursery, differ in height and flowering time, bringing movement to the garden, and the different textures and tones of green add interest to the composition. To evoke a Mediterranean style, Corten steel was used alongside terracotta pots and a fire pit was included by barbecuing.

Background photograph ŠSophie Carville

Photographs ŠSophie Carville

Completed February 2019 Designer Rob Hazeldean Garden Design Suppliers How Green Nursery

Pro Landscaper / September 2019 115

21/08/2019 16:26

PEOPLE

WHAT’S

YOUR

ROLE?

MADELEINE EVANS PLANTS@WORK MADELEINE EVANS, CURRENT CHAIR OF PL ANTS@WORK, SPE AKS TO PRO L ANDSCAPER ABOUT HER T WO DIFFERENT ROLES, HOW SHE BAL ANCES THE WORKLOAD AND WHICH ASPECTS SHE ENJOYS THE MOST

What are your current roles?

I’m an account manager for Tivoli, covering London and the South East where I’ve been for three and a half years. I’m also the Chair of plants@work, which is the association that supports the interior landscaping industry. At plants@work, we are focusing this year on sustainability, aiming to challenge our European growers and suppliers to lessen the waste and use of plastic.

How do you balance the workload?

My full-time job at Tivoli keeps me very busy, but I make time each month for plants@work - we have regular calls and the months leading up to our annual events are quite hectic. For example, we had ‘national plants@work week’ in July, which is a busy time for us. We also have an annual awards ceremony and organise seminars. It’s about trying to raise the profile of the industry and support each other.

We’re in a fortunate position at the moment because the industry is buoyant, and it’s very trendy now to have plants in homes and offices.

How did you get involved with plants@work?

I’ve been working in the interior landscaping industry since 2002. I worked for Ambius for about 13 years and had attended a few plants@

Whats your role KR.indd 116

be nominated and voted in as Chair. It’s a lovely industry to be part of, the people are creative, friendly and supportive, and plants are a fascinating subject to talk about.

IT’S ABOUT TRYING TO RAISE THE PROFILE OF THE INDUSTRY AND SUPPORT EACH OTHER What does a normal day look like, and how often do meetings occur with plants@work?

We have conference calls every couple of months as standard, unless it’s coming up to an event, then there will be more communication. This year, we held our awards ceremony at FutureScape Spring, and ran a day of seminars to engage with those in our industry – that was really good and something we hadn’t done before. I’m lucky to be supported by a great committee, and no two days at work are the same which I love. I’m not a person who could sit in an office every day.

116 Pro Landscaper / September 2019

work meetings and events, so got to know other people in the industry. Then I attended the AGM last year on behalf of Tivoli and was honoured to

What would you say you enjoy the most about each role?

My main role at Tivoli involves visiting amazing buildings in London and the South East meeting lots of different people – I like to chat to people.

Talking to people about plants and their benefits, and seeing the transformative effect they have on a dull office space is always rewarding.

Plants@work is all about the people – getting to spend time with my peers from our industry and, although we’re in competition with each other to a certain extent, we are very supportive. Especially now that the industry is growing and flourishing.

What is most challenging?

There just aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything, that’s the flip side of interior landscaping being popular again. We’re very busy, especially this time of year as lots of office moves and refurbishments are going on.

But, it’s good to be busy and I like a challenge!

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

22/08/2019 15:24

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PEOPLE

W H AT I ’ M READING

Katja Griffiths D E S I G N B Y K ATJ A

TITLE The Invention of Nature: The Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt, The Lost Hero of Science AUTHOR Andrea Wulf

A

lexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was a nineteenth-century superstar, a scientific celebrity whose portrait hung in palaces as remote as that of the King of Siam in Bangkok; his birthday celebrated as far away as Hong Kong.

Andrea Wulf reveals the riveting biography of a brilliant forgotten pioneer of natural science, a visionary German naturalist whose ideas changed the way we see the natural world and, in the process, created modern environmentalism. An exciting, intriguing account of daring expeditions from Russia to the jungles of South America and over to the Himalayas, the intrepid explorer’s travels makes exhilarating reading taking nature, politics and society forming a triangle of connections.

It also covers his relationships with iconic figures such as Thomas Jefferson and how his writing inspired figures like Darwin and Goethe.

Humboldt was interested in all branches of science, recognising the importance of taking accurate measurements.

He studied ocean

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currents, volcanoes, glaciers, climate and vegetation zones, the earth’s magnetic field, botany and a host of other subjects. He stressed the importance of taking what might nowadays be referred to as a ‘holistic’ or ‘ecological’ view of the natural world.

As Wulf explains: “...’Nature is a living whole’, he later said, not a ‘dead aggregate’. One single life had been poured over stones, plants, animals and humankind. It was this ‘universal profusion with which life is everywhere distributed’ that most impressed Humboldt.

Even the atmosphere carried the kernels of

AS A GARDEN DESIGNER, UNDERSTANDING NATURE GLOBALLY IS KEY TO A SUSTAINABLE DESIGN future life – pollen, insect eggs and seeds. Life was everywhere and those ‘organic powers are incessantly at work’. Humboldt was not so much interested in finding new isolated facts but in connecting them. Individual phenomena were only important in their relation to the whole.”

It was this kind of thinking that led Humboldt to invent isotherms: lines connecting locations of equal temperatures on a map. While others might note the temperatures of individual locations, Humboldt sought a joined-up, bigger picture. He was also one of the first people to notice mankind’s often detrimental effects on the natural world: an ecologist before the word was invented. He noted at the time that ‘deforestation, ruthless irrigation, the great

masses of steam and gas produced in the industrial centres’ were the three major forces destroying the environment. No-one but Humboldt looked at the relationship between human kind and nature like this before.

A key to understanding the man and his achievement is to realise that he was a polymath. His generation was the last one in which it was possible to study everything; as the 19th century progressed, the sciences became compartmentalised into separate disciplines.

It’s a truly sensational, inspirational and easy read for everyone! As I am submersed in nature, seeking inspiration or just enjoying the landscape, I often think of Humboldt’s’ observations to detail and how everything around us falls into place – nature is a web of life and a global force. This new idea of nature was to change the people understanding of the world in Humboldt’s time. Something that many of us have perhaps forgotten in today’s society, and as a garden designer, understanding nature globally is key to a sustainable design.

Humboldt’s story is also a timely one, especially in an era in which climate change is still not receiving the attention it needs in order to save the planet. Understanding the earliest explorations and discoveries is part of understanding the vast puzzle the global community needs to put together, and quickly, to solve this ongoing and urgent problem.

As scientists are trying to understand and predict the global consequences of climate change, Humboldt’s interdisciplinary approach to science and nature is more relevant than ever. His beliefs in the free exchange of information, uniting scientists and fostering community across disciplines, are the pillars of science today.

Pro Landscaper / September 2019 119

21/08/2019 13:25

JOBS

For full details on all jobs, please go to www.horticulturecareers.co.uk Call 01903 446 076 or email liam.colclough@eljays44.com with your vacancy

SKILLED GARDENER – PART TIME (4-DAY WEEK)

Horticulture CAREERS

HORTICULTURE CAREERS Location: Kent

This exciting opportunity has arisen for a skilled gardener is based in a 80,000ft2 office environment. The role also currently covers three residential properties as well as a smaller office building nearby. Key responsibilities include assisting the senior horticulturalist and nurturing the garden – in particular conceptual, themed areas. Experience with tending trees, shrubs and perennials as well as excellent plant and horticultural knowledge covering all aspects of maintenance gardening will be required.

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

SITE OPERATIVE

THOMSON ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANTS Location: Surrey Thomson Environmental Consultants has an opportunity for a site operative to join its team on a full-time basis. Thomson’s work involves undertaking wildlife mitigation, habitat creation, landscaping and vegetation clearance projects in and around the south-east, south-west and the Midlands. Experience of working on landscape construction sites as well as enthusiasm and a hard-working ethic is ideal, along with a practically minded approach and a good level of fitness.

Candidates will need to be based in or near to Guildford and be comfortable with staying away near site on some occasions during the week.

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

SKILLED LANDSCAPER

LANDSCAPER

Gardenscapes has been providing customers in Surrey, West Sussex and South London with a variety of garden services, from soft and hard landscaping to tree surgery and lawn care. Now looked to expand its team, the ideal candidate will have an eye for detail. They must have confidence liaising with clients, suppliers and designers, and the ability to work from plans and oversee other team members. Sound knowledge and experience with machines is also important, as well as competency in setting out sites, paving, walling, excavations, foundations, water features and timber work, planting, and border preparation.

This full-time permanent position is for experienced landscapers, available with a basic wage of up to £21,000 (based on experience) per year and plenty of overtime, 4 weeks holiday plus all the public holidays, a pension scheme and the opportunity to progress to team leader level. Daily tasks will include ground preparation, turfing, planting, and some hard landscaping as and when required.

You will need soft landscaping experience and a driving licence.

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

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

SALES CONSULTANT

TECHNICAL SALES MANAGER (HORTICULTURE)

GARDENSCAPES Location: Surrey

RUSSELL PLAY Location: London

Russell Play’s client team are looking for a new sales consultant. Candidates should have a proven track record in winning and delivering work in this sector, taking responsibility for identifying and delivering project opportunities. They will liaise with key decision makers within local authorities, architect practices, the construction industry and private sector organisations. You will also have an established network, understanding of the market and presence in the industry to proactively develop business within Greater London.

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

TEAM LEADER/SUPERVISOR – IRRIGATION INSTALLATION WATERMATIC Location: Hertfordshire

A team leader/supervisor is required near Radlett, Hertfordshire for Watermatic Ltd, a leading UK design, installation and maintenance company of bespoke solutions. Roles and responsibilities will include management of a small team, installation, maintenance, repair and servicing of irrigation systems, assisting work colleagues as and when required. The candidate must have excellent leadership and communication skills, a flexible approach, as well as electrical, mechanical and landscaping knowledge.

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

120 Pro Landscaper / September 2019

Hort Careers Jobs.indd 120

COLE & YATES RECRUITMENT Location: Wiltshire

BATHGATE SILICA SAND Location: Nationwide

Bathgate Silica Sand is looking for a technical sales manager. Bathgate Silica Sand is a leading producer and supplier of high-quality products into a number of different markets throughout the UK. The ideal candidate should be highly motivated, have the ability to work well unsupervised, and will concentrate on new/current business for its horticultural range. Candidates must have excellent verbal and IT skills, sales experience, attention to detail and an ability to multitask, respectable level of education, and proficient with numeracy skills.

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

HL SERVICES HL Services specialise in permanent and temporary recruitment solutions across the UK for the grounds maintenance and facilities management sectors.

Explore a wide range of vacancies in London and across the UK by searching HL Services on the Horticulture Careers homepage. The company is recruiting landscaping and grounds maintenance staff at all levels.

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

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

22/08/2019 14:57

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21/08/2019 15:38

PEOPLE

T H E L I T T L E I N T E RV I E W

PRO LANDSCAPER ASKS QUICK-FIRE QUESTIONS TO GAIN A SMALL INSIGHT INTO THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE UP OUR INDUSTRY. TO TAKE PART, EMAIL CONTENT@ EL JAYS44.COM

122 Pro Landscaper / September 2019

Little Interviews.indd 122

A N CA PA N A I T

ROSS CONQUEST

Designer and illustrator, Anca Panait Studio

Managing director, Conquest Creative Spaces

www.ancapanaitstudio.com

www.conquestspaces.co.uk

If you weren’t in the horticulture industry, what would you be doing?

Archaeologist – I find history fascinating.

If you weren’t in the horticulture industry, what would you be doing?

Selling my soul somewhere.

Other than the UK, which country’s landscape inspires you the most?

Romania, because of its varied natural landscape.

What would you blow your budget on?

Taking a year-long break from work and travelling around the world.

The one person in the industry you’d love to meet?

James Basson. I love his designs and his naturalistic approach to projects.

One thing that you think would make the industry better?

Passing on knowledge to the younger generation by creating more apprenticeship programmes.

Best piece of trivia you know?

The onion is named after a Latin word meaning large pearl: unio.

Who would play you in a movie of your life?

Rachel Weisz?

What three things would you take to a desert island?

A knife, a journal and some chocolate.

Your favourite joke?

Why did the the tomato turn red?

Because it saw the salad dressing.

Karaoke song of choice?

Island in the Sun by Weezer.

Other than the UK, which country’s landscape inspires you the most?

Australia and Japan all day long!

What would you blow your budget on?

Cladding. Everything in Cedar, just for the smell!

The one person in the industry you’d love to meet?

Not that she is in the industry, but the Queen.

One thing that you think would make the industry better?

Great weather would certainly improve things.

Best piece of trivia you know?

You should always put milk in your coffee first.

Who would play you in a movie of your life?

Gareth Wilson (G K Wilson) – the northern ginger brother!

What three things would you take to a desert island?

A Makita battery grinder, a shovel and a blowtorch.

Karaoke song of choice?

The Zephyr Song by Red Hot Chili Peppers.

www.prolandscapermagazine.com

22/08/2019 16:27

PEOPLE

BUTTER WAKEFIELD

STEVE CLARK

JEFF STEPHENSON

Owner, Butter Wakefield Garden Design

General manager, Chilstone

Head of horticulture & aftercare, Bowles & Wyer

www.butterwakefield.co.uk

www.chilstone.com

www.bowleswyer.co.uk

If you weren’t in the horticulture industry, what would you be doing?

I’d have to do something creative or I think I might go mad. Interior design or a painter perhaps?

If you weren’t in the horticulture industry, what would you be doing?

Using my business development skills somewhere else.

If you weren’t in the horticulture industry, what would you be doing?

An oceanographer working on a dive-boat in the tropics, or a field botanist working on dry tropical forest.

Other than the UK, which country’s landscape inspires you the most?

The north-east coast of America, particularly along the coast of Maine.

In the summer, the Italian Alps.

What would you blow your budget on?

Banging Yew topiary in crazy shapes, all different and all sizes!

The one person in the industry you’d love to meet?

The sculptor Henry Moore, his work placed outside thrills me.

One thing that you think would make the industry better?

Easy and efficient collection of green and kitchen waste.

Best piece of trivia you know?

Inside of every Vinca major and Vinca minor flower, you will find a fairy’s toothbrush.

Who would play you in a movie of your life?

Diane Keaton.

Other than the UK, which country’s landscape inspires you the most?

Australia, I love it and all it stands for.

What would you blow your budget on?

Homes for my two kids.

The one person in the industry you’d love to meet?

The Duchess of Cambridge, given that she is involved in garden design.

I am a big fan of the young royals.

One thing that you think would make the industry better?

More collaboration within the industry.

Best piece of trivia you know?

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show reaches over 1.2 billion people worldwide.

Who would play you in a movie of your life?

Daniel Craig, if I get the benefits!

What three things would you take to a desert island?

A picture of my family, water, iPad.

What three things would you take to a desert island?

A pair of secateurs, the complete works of William Shakespeare, and a spade.

Your favourite joke?

I once asked the Queen if she likes football. She said: “No, not really”.

So, I replied: “Can I have your FA Cup Final tickets then?”

Karaoke song of choice?

Suspicious Minds by Elvis Presley

Karaoke song of choice?

New York, New York by Frank Sinatra

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Little Interviews.indd 123

Other than the UK, which country’s landscape inspires you the most?

Japan.

What would you blow your budget on?

A humid tropics biome of my own.

The one person in the industry you’d love to meet?

Ernest Henry “Chinese” Wilson.

One thing that you think would make the industry better?

Higher pay – with elevated status and societal recognition for horticulturists.

Best piece of trivia you know?

Capillary action is the result of Van der Waals forces of attraction and hydrogen bonding.

Who would play you in a movie of your life?

Jim Dale.

What three things would you take to a desert island?

A fuelled plane, a qualified pilot, a copy of Lofty Wisemans SAS Survival Manual to muse over during the journey home.

Your favourite joke?

Mortality.

Karaoke song of choice?

Firestarter by The Prodigy.

Pro Landscaper / September 2019 123

21/08/2019 15:13

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21/08/2019 15:39