14 minute read
Sustainable landscaping solutions
HUSQVARNA
In 1995, Husqvarna launched the world’s first robotic lawnmower, the revolutionary Automower®. Today, more than two million gardens all over the world are home to a robotic mower from Husqvarna. Day and night, rain or shine, Automower® can be relied on it to be out there doing its job, running effortlessly by itself.
Husqvarna Automower® 550 and 535 AWD are the first robotic mowers developed specifically for green space professionals. Whether you manage sporting fields, golf courses, parklands, or private property, you can rely on Automower® to provide impressive, healthy, and premium cut lawns. Equipped with professional controls for simplified interaction and remote control and surveillance through HUSQVARNA FLEET SERVICES™, these well-appointed robotic mowers were designed for landscaping and green care companies, with the aim of improving lawn quality and sustainability, while reducing costs and free up your workforce to focus on more complex tasks, such as hedge trimming or tree care.
The Professional Series takes all the benefits of Husqvarna’s domestic robotic lawnmowers, with additional design features for commercial use. These mowers can tackle lawns of up to 5000m2, steep slopes of up to 70 percent, and with an area capacity of up to 208m2 an hour. Ultra-silent drive wheel motors in the robotic mower limits noise levels to just 58-62 dB(A). This provides the ability to cut silently day and night without disturbing park users or residents of nearby areas, for great-looking lawns around the clock. Automower® 550 is optimized for lawns with a capacity of up to 5000m2 and can handle slopes of up to 45% (24°). Landscaping and green care companies can control Automower® via HUSQVARNA FLEET SERVICES™ or via an app on their phone. Connectivitiy between the user and the mower is achieved through cellular networks or Bluetooth capabilities, while Automower® 550 handles all types of lawns with perfect cutting results – even in rainy conditions.
Automower® 535 AWD takes slope handling to another level. This quiet, connected mountain climbing lawnmower is designed for professional use, and manages 70 percent (35°) inclines and rough terrain – with zero direct emissions and top performance. This all-wheel-drive robotic mower features technology that optimizes the control of each wheel in order to enable superior operation even in the most demanding of areas. With an impressive slope performance, Automower® 535 AWD rewrites the rules for autonomous maintenance of green spaces, improving the safety of your workforce. A pivoting rear body design enables truly excellent manoeuvrability for navigation on complex lawns and through passages while considerably enhancing traction in rough terrain.
Husqvarna Automower® series is available to purchase from your local Authorised Husqvarna Elite Automower® Dealer.
For more information on how to increase productivity and efficiency with the help of Husqvarna Automower®, email our Professional experts
North Island -
hayden.ritchie@husqvarnagroup.com
South Island -
philip.nesbit@husqvarnagroup.com
Visit WWW.HUSQVARNA.COM
THE SMART WAY TO MOW
No matter what size or shape your lawn
SEE HUSQVARNA AUTOMOWER® IN ACTION
AUTOMOWER® 305
Compact robotic lawn mower for efficient mowing of more open grass areas. Suitable for smaller lawns up to 600 m².
AUTOMOWER® 315X
Advanced ultra-quiet X-Line robotic lawn mower with Automower® Connect for more complex lawns up to 1600 m².
AUTOMOWER® 435X AWD
Our all-wheel-drive robotic lawn mower, designed to handle complex areas, tough terrain and slopes up to 70% (35°).
DISCOVER OUR WIDE RANGE OF ROBOTIC LAWN MOWERS
Steep slopes, big, small or complex? Every lawn is unique, that’s why Husqvarna has developed a wide range of smart robotic lawn mowers to fit you and your lawns every need, whatever they may be. Developed with the outstanding reliability of Swedish engineering and the latest user-friendly technology, find your perfect match with the robotic buying guide at HUSQVARNA.COM/AUTOMOWER
Leaving legionnaires’ disease alone
To avoid contracting Legionnaires’ disease, workers should wear gloves when working with garden soil, compost, mulch, or potting mix.
Anyone who works with bagged or bulk organic material such as garden soil, compost, mulch, or potting mix is at risk of inhaling Legionella bacteria.
In New Zealand there are two main types of Legionella bacteria. One is legionella longbeachae which is mainly found in garden soil, compost, mulch, and potting mix.
This guide covers how to work safely with these products. The other is legionella pneumophila which grows on wet surfaces and is mainly found in water systems.
Legionellosis is a generic term for the diseases caused by legionella bacteria. The most commonly reported form of legionellosis is a type of pneumonia called Legionnaires’ disease.
Legionnaires’ disease affects the lungs causing a severe form of pneumonia. Although it’s not contagious, contracting the disease can be fatal.
Symptoms
Legionnaires’ disease usually develops two to ten days after exposure to Legionella bacteria. The usual initial symptoms are headache, muscle aches, malaise, and fever.
By the second or third day, other symptoms develop including cough (sometimes with blood-streaked phlegm), shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and confusion. Anyone who develops a high fever, breathlessness and/or a cough after handling garden soil, compost, mulch, or potting mix should visit a doctor as soon as possible.
If your workers work with bagged or bulk garden soil, compost, mulch, or potting mix, then you must manage the risk of your workers getting legionellosis.
PCBUs have a duty to look after the health and safety of workers and must also ensure that others are not at risk from the work at hand. Risks must be eliminated so far as is reasonably practicable. If it’s not possible to eliminate risks then they must minimised using control measures.
Control measures
Control measures involving storage, work areas, handling, and clean-up will help minimise the risk of workers – and other people – getting legionellosis.
Regarding storage, keep bags or bulk supplies of garden soil, compost, mulch, or potting mix in a cool place, out of the sun. Legionella bacteria can grow quickly in elevated temperatures.
If you store garden soil, compost, mulch, or potting mix in containers, including bulk bins, label these containers with health warnings and handling requirements. In addition, work areas in greenhouses, potting sheds or other enclosed spaces should be well-ventilated.
Those handling materials at risk of transmitting legionella longbeachae workers should:
• Wear gloves • Avoid opening bags in enclosed areas • Open bags slowly, directing the opening away from the face to avoid inhaling the mix • Dampen potting mixes and other organic material before use to reduce dust • Use a water mist bottle or a lowpressure hose with a gentle spray – spraying too hard creates the risk of breathing in mist that contains legionella bacteria. • Wash their hands well after handling materials even if gloves were worn during handling.
PCBUs should provide a clean-up kit for dealing with spilled organic material and train workers how to use it. The kit should contain:
• Instructions for use • Disposable respirators • Gloves • A water mist bottle • A brush and shovel set • Plastic bags to contain spilled material • Tape to seal the bags and to repair any other bags that have split or been cut • Incident reporting forms.
The above content is provided by and under the copyright of WorkSafe. The article was altered to fit this magazine.
Composting New Zealand is the foremost supplier of composts, mulches & greenwaste processing to the lower North Island, with delivery available and bulk bagged compost (1 ton and half ton bags) stocked at Mitre 10 & Placemakers branches nationally.
As a family run business, we recognise loyalty and treat our customers with warmth, honesty and respect.
Composting New Zealand is a preferred supplier of soils and mulches to Fletcher Construction Co, Fulton Hogan, Downer NZ and most councils nationally (especially for playground chip).
We also offer a wide range of products, including Rain Garden Mix, firewood and aggregates, from our Composting NZ branches through Wellington and the Wairarapa, and you can drop your greenwaste off to us for processing and recycling.
Multiple bulk products always available.
Delivery to sites from New Plymouth across to Hawkes Bay and the lower North Island.
Email: cnzltd@xtra.co.nz | www.compostingnz.co.nz
Composting New Zealand
• Paraparaumu - 160 Otaihanga Road, Otaihanga | P: 04 298 8774 • Porirua - 25 Ulric Street, Plimmerton | P: 04 233 0220 • Upper Hutt - 45 Park Street | P: 04 526 8726
Wairarapa Landscaping & Garden Supplies
• Masterton - 49 Waingawa Rd, Carterton | P: 06 370 3015
Composting New Zealand Greenwaste Disposal
• Waikanae - 45 Park Avenue
Sustainable landscaping
With climate change, the summers are getting hotter and dryer, causing cities to implement water restrictions. Drought conditions are causing New Zealanders to reconsider how they use their water, especially in outdoor spaces.
As a result of Auckland’s total water storage dropping below 50 percent for the first time in 25 years, Auckland introduced water restrictions on 16 May 2020.
Restrictions have changed since then but are still in effect a year on. Auckland isn’t the only city in New Zealand to put water restrictions in place.
Over the summer period, Christchurch also implemented water restrictions to ensure there was enough water for potential fire emergencies. However, restrictions were lifted by February. With water restrictions coming and going, it’s hard not to think that this is a new way of life for some regions in New Zealand if not the whole country. Do our outdoor spaces reflect that or are they a part of the problem?
During stage one water restrictions, Auckland residents and commercial operators are allowed to use hand-held hoses fitted with a trigger nozzle for various activities including yard maintenance.
Still, if plants are dependent on regular watering from a city’s water supply, it would suggest that the plants aren’t suitable for drought conditions in the first place.
Choosing the right plants Ideally, the plants used in an outdoor space should suit the environment they’re planted in. The easiest way to go about this would be to turn to what naturally thrives in the environment such as native plants.
The Christchurch City Council has an interactive ecosystem map which lists the area’s key characteristics such as soils, landforms and native plant species. The map is available to the public so that users have access to plant guides which can be used for restoration projects and landscape design. Of course, for those outside of the city limits a landscape architect can guide you in your choice of plants.
Taking a cue from native plants can also guide property owners and landscape designers in what other plants will work in the same space, even if they’re not endemic to New Zealand.
Mace Landscape Group
Creating Auckland’s landscape comes naturally to Mace Landscape Group; it’s something they’ve been doing for over 45 years.
From small beginnings, they’ve grown to an 80-strong team across three divisions, and the commitment and reputation the company was built on continues to flourish within the business today.
This is evidenced in their recent success at the Registered Master Landscapers 2021 Landscapes of Distinction awards, where they collected four gold and two silver awards within the design, residential construction, and commercial garden maintenance categories. Director Michelle Mace says the results are a great reflection of how far the company’s come in its lifetime.
“While commercial design and build projects are still our core business, the growth of our residential and maintenance divisions has been really successful and the types of projects we are undertaking and being recognised for are a great reflection of the team’s abilities.
Looking ahead, Mace Landscapes continues to grow and be a leader in the industry. “We’ve broadened how we measure our success to include more environmental and people-focused initiatives,” Michelle explains.
“This aligns with feedback we’d been hearing from our clients for more emphasis on sustainable solutions and a big push on health and safety within construction in general, as well as our own goals for the business.” With dedicated design, residential, commercial and maintenance teams, Mace Landscape Group offers complete services of the highest standard, backed up by a legacy 45 years in the making.
Contact them today to discuss your next landscape project.
During water restrictions, Auckland residents and commercial operators can only water lawns and gardens with a handheld watering hose fitted with a trigger nozzle.
This is helpful in choosing drought resistant plants if you live in an area that has variable water supply and water restrictions are likely.
Understanding the specific ecosystem you reside in is key in successful landscaping and water preservation, especially if we are to expect water restrictions to be a more frequent and regular part of our lives.
Helping to create Auckland’s landscape since 1975.
www.macelandscapes.co.nz
Mulchit
In early 2000 Mulchit took the first steps towards a collaboration with a New Zealand based manufacturing company to develop Woolbond™, an eco-product that is an alternative to overseas products such as Coir Mat that are currently in use and produce a larger carbon foot print. Why not come up with a locally made product that works better and utilises the waste of an entirely different manufacturing process?
Woolbond™ is a trademark eco matting used for erosion control and stabilization in major civil construction and residential sites across the country. The role of Woolbond™ is to create an immediate and stable platform that allows time for plantings to become established. It is manufactured in three different thicknesses with each weight used for slightly different applications.
Woolbond™ comes in large rolls with each roll typically covering a 66m2 area. If required the rolls can be manufactured to certain square meter dimensions, roll lengths and widths. Most often the Woolbond™ roll out is on banks or steep areas of newly cleared land, such as sloping land leading to waterways or cut throughs due to roading developments.
Installing Woolbond™ is the job of landscape companies contracted to the civil companies. Once in place mass planting of the area is carried out and the Woolbond™ holds the banks firm and provides root protection and moisture retention until such time the fresh plantings establish a canopy cover of their own. Through research, monitoring and crucial customer feedback we can confidently say that Woolbond™ will last several years, well long enough to do its job, at which stage it has move through its biodegradable phase, breaking down and enriching the soil.
Woolbond™ was recognised almost immediately by the larger landscape and civil works companies because it was cost effective, incredibly efficient, but most of all filled a space in the market with a concept that worked and made things easy. Mulchit have always looked for ways to increase their market share by developing products that they see essential to the needs of landscape developers and civil works companies. Woolbond™ is one of those and has filled a part of their business where there once was a gap.
Mulchit began as a mulch blowing service where their specially kitted trucks would load up from a small yard and head out each day to various commercial and residential sites that required areas to be covered. To this day installing mulch via truck and blower is still a large part of the business but with development of cutting-edge products such as Woolbond™ there is a bright looking future ahead.
“Developing smart products that benefit all is what gets me out of bed in the morning,” Mulchit director, Matt Oxborough says.
Auckland's Expert in Mulch Landscape Products & Services
Mulchit has a range of high quality mulches and landscape products. We cover small residential requirements to large scale commercial projects such as mulch and mulch blowing, playground and animal bedding. Our bulk products are locally sourced and environmentally friendly. Ask about our Woolbond™ eco matting, used for erosion control and stabilization in major civil construction and residential sites across the country.
