Features
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Adding a pop of colour to the community
A community centre in Maybury, Woking has undergone a vibrant transformation to better respond to the community’s needs, designed by budding RHS Diploma student, Lois O’Connell. The Arch Community Centre in Maybury, Woking owned by Woking Borough Council and leased to the Woking Asian Business Forum was the muse for level 4 students on the RHS Diploma in Horticultural Practice course. Student Lois O’Connell’s design ‘Live in Colour Garden’ was selected to give the communal space a breath of fresh air, creating a collective space, informed by, and designed for the local community. “We looked around the site when we…
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Unblurring the line between therapeutic horticulture and horticultural therapy
The global pandemic saw a significant push for global mental health reform and an uptake in mainstream media coverage, singling out the therapeutic benefits of engaging with nature. Now as we enter into a post COVID world, the line between therapeutic horticulture and horticultural therapy remains dangerously blurred for many. Annabelle Padwick, the founder of Life at No.27, a UK based mental health organisation and horticultural therapy provider is advocating for changes to the legislations, a clearer depiction of the connections between horticulture and mental health and increased funding to create this new equilibrium. The Horticultural Sector committee at present…
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Zoe Claymore on empowering renters to garden
The National Wildlife Trusts’ first Hampton Court Show Garden ‘Renters Retreat’ designed by Zoe Claymore, highlights ways to support the natural colonisation of local wildlife in residential gardens, employing transient tenant friendly features. Over eight million households in England alone rent, of those eight million, over five million households have access to private outdoor spaces. “We really needed a garden explicitly focused on renters and what could be achieved in a rented space for novice gardeners.” Befitting its name, the Renter’s Retreat exclusively uses a myriad of impermanent tenant friendly methods at multiple price points, creating a realistic source of…
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Unleash the Potential of Your Outdoor Space: Enhance Your Landscape with Porcelain Paving
Creating the perfect outdoor space can require a lot of work, but with porcelain paving, you can elevate your garden to the next level with just one addition. Porcelain paving comes with a wide range of practical benefits, all tied together with outstanding beauty! In this article, we’ll be looking at some of the many benefits that come with adding outdoor porcelain paving to your property. Exceptional beauty Porcelain paving is renowned for its exquisite beauty and timeless elegance. Available in a wide range of colours, patterns, and sizes, porcelain paving is diverse enough that there’s a style guaranteed to…
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Space to Work, Rest and Play
The Xtend, range of contemporary garden buildings from Forest Garden, the UK’s largest manufacturer of timber garden products, accommodates the needs of people looking for a quiet and organised office space at home. It can separate family and working life without the cost, time and complexity of building an extension. These new buildings have everything one could wish for in a home office ‐ contemporary looks, real energy efficiency, ease of construction and keen pricing, all backed by a 15‐year structural warranty. Xtend buildings from Forest Garden are made with pre‐cut Structurally Insulated Panels (SIPs). The unit arrives as a…
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Top 5 Natural Stone Cleaning Mistakes to Avoid
Cleaning your natural stone can be a scary task. However, with the right information and products, you can avoid any unnecessary mistakes. Let’s explore the top 5 mistakes people are making when it comes to taking care of their natural stone and how to prevent them! Using Harsh Chemicals The use of harsh or abrasive cleaners on your natural stone surface is a big no-no. These chemicals can cause etching, discolouration, break down existing sealants and ultimately damage instead of cleaning your stone. Vinegar is often recommended as a natural alternative, but it is acidic and may damage the sealant,…
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Ruth Gwynn on the benefits of gardening through menopause
Menopausal support takes centre stage at this year’s BBC Gardeners’ World Live (GWL) with menopause expert Dr. Louise Newson partnering with award-winning garden designer, Ruth Gwynn to create a show garden representative of the nutritional and physical power of nature. Over 50% of the world’s population will go through menopause, with the postmenopausal population gradually increasing in line with the rise in life expectancy, yet it is still a topic many feel possesses limited awareness and support. Holistic menopausal support and wellbeing centre Newson Health has partnered with Gwynn to create a garden that shines an overdue light on the…
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Skilled Landscapers Recognised By Marshalls Register Awards 2023
Marshalls is dedicated to collaborating with professional landscape installers to provide them the necessary support for the growth of their businesses. We also recognise and reward excellence in their work. Recently, Marshalls plc hosted its annual installer awards in Wales this year on May 12, 2023. The event served as a celebration of skill, talent, and expertise, where national winners were announced in ten categories related to garden and driveway projects. These prestigious Marshalls Register Awards are specifically designed for the 1000+ businesses that have received accreditation from this leading hard landscaping company. The event, hosted by Sky Sports Presenter…
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Author Jenny Bailey on bringing green roofs to children
In celebration of World Green Roof Day (6 June), The Green Roof Organisation (GRO) has partnered with children’s author and nature enthusiast Jenny Bailey to release ‘Journey to the Green Roof’, an interactive children’s book, to inspire nature engagement from an early age. With continued urban expansion, green roofs provide a great many environmental and ecological benefits, offering a sustainable solution to the decline of biodiversity in an otherwise commonly surplus space. Bailey, who co-founded storybook series Tales from Mother Earth, has penned ‘Journey to the Green Roof’ which follows the story of Freya the Bee and Sarah the Ladybird,…
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Taking on BBC Gardeners’ World Live for the first time
Katerina Kantalis is set to make her show garden debut this month. The Australian designer is creating a garden for the APL Avenue at this year’s BBC Gardeners’ World Live in Birmingham alongside contractor New Look Landscapes, which will also be making its debut. “New Look have done quite a lot in the commercial space and want to transfer their skills to the domestic area, whereas I’m more domestic. So, we’re bringing in skillsets from both sides,” says Kantalis. ‘The Chic Garden Getaway’ will aim to show visitors how much can be achieved within a small space. At just…
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Opportunity arises to buy North Yorkshire Garden Centre
CPH are delighted to bring to the market this highly successful freehold Garden Centre offer in excess of £575,000. The business has traded for 31 years by the same family and is run by the two owners + one full time member of staff and 4-6 part time seasonal staff. The business used to trade all year round but due to the owner’s intended retirement, it now trades March through to October. Clearly, any new incoming owner could choose increase the openings but according to the owners “it’s a pleasurable and relatively easy business to run with low overheads and…
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Outdoor Living Evening at SOLEX 23
GET FIRED UP FOR THE FIRE FOOD AND OUTDOOR LIVING EVENING @ SOLEX 2023 Tuesday 11 July – 5.30pm – 7.30pm Are you ready for an evening filled with delicious food, refreshing drinks, and great fun? Look no further than the Fire Food and Outdoor Living Evening at SOLEX 2023. On July 11th from 5.30pm to 7.30pm, come join us for the BBQ Hero competition in partnership with BBQ magazine and mingle with industry experts. Plus, enjoy drinks tastings from Powder Monkey Brewing Co, Tidal Rum, and Beefsteak Club wine. Do you have what it takes to be crowned the…
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Making the most of the world famous show
We feel that Chelsea is the annual opportunity to learn from our incredible horticulturists on a number of levels; about how plants benefit not only plants and soil but our bodies too. Surely this is as relevant as finding out the latest on cultivating a stunning rose, and there is a place for both. Weeds are taking centre stage at Chelsea this year – and with good reason. Weeds are our pioneer plants and are all healers, in one way or another. They are natural, wild plants. They form the basis of all our human medicines, and now is a…
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Chelsea medal winner talks the importance of food education and healthy eating in schools
Food education charity, School Food Matters is celebrating its 15th year anniversary with an edible show garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, designed by Harry Holding Studios, to promote the importance of having access to nature and outdoor learning for children. Over those 15 years, the charity has benefited hundreds of schools and 200,000 children across the UK with fully funded food education programmes, backing the message that every child in every school should have access to a garden whereby they can experience the advantages both nature and healthy eating has on one’s mental and physical health. School Food…
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Behind the Fauna & Flora Garden
The Fauna & Flora Garden at this year’s Chelsea has been four years in the making. Garden designer Jilyane Rickards was fresh from winning a Gold medal and the People’s Choice Award at the 2019 show when she started designing the next one – one which would have as much gravitas as the last. Whilst her show garden four years ago highlighted the work CAMFED does to support females in rural or poor communities in Africa to receive an education, Rickards’ latest garden – showcased this week at the Royal Hospital Chelsea – will raise awareness of a mountain gorilla…
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3 Essentials of Sustainable Site Design
This article was written by Carter Hartong, associate content marketing writer for Vectorworks. Read more from Hartong on the Vectorworks blog. Governments and lawmakers across the globe are increasingly introducing green initiatives to address the ever-growing importance of sustainable infrastructure. But not all change necessarily has to come from these higher institutions. Designers have the power to influence sustainable infrastructure as well. Consider Your Natural Surroundings As designers already know, before you begin any grading, planting, or hardscaping, you must first consider the project site’s existing conditions with an intent to make the least amount of adverse impacts possible. Aside…
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7 Highlights from Press Day at Chelsea
Chelsea had a renewed buzz today, and it wasn’t just from all the biodiverse gardens. Hundreds of visitors flocked to press day to immerse themselves in the variety of show gardens on display, and what a variety – designers this year have tackled everything from mental health and grief, from diversity to a colony in Korea, and from community gardens to insects. Sustainability was also an overriding focus this year, with some designers and contractors going above and beyond to make their garden as environmentally friendly as possible. This was the real return of Chelsea post-pandemic, and it’s seemingly stepping…
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A Good Samaritan
Over the last 70 years, the Samaritans has answered 134 million calls – that’s millions of people in need of its free services over the last seven decades. Last year, volunteers spent nearly one million hours responding to these calls, and so it’s thanks to these 23,000 volunteers that the support provided by the Samaritans is even possible. And one of these volunteers has designed a show garden for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year. Garden designer Darren Hawkes has lost friends to suicide and so he wanted to help the charity which could make a difference by offering…
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Bringing Jiri Mountain to Chelsea
Tell us about the concept behind the garden. The garden is an evocation of Mount Jiri in South Korea, a primeval forest (the last remaining) rich in medicinal plants. It is a rare and beautiful place that has been protected from humans. I began thinking about the positive balance between humans and nature through the Jiri Mountain National Park, where unnamed valleys and mountain peaks exist, and where medicinal plants thrive in abundance. In the east of Jiri Mountain, about 1,500 kinds of medicinal herbs grow naturally and the environment serves as a gigantic seedbank. The restoration of the primitiveness…
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Greenery integrated into public space
Within the industry of street furniture, mmcité is one of the first manufactures in the world to introduce products created by 3D concrete printing. Following solar panels, wireless charging, and green roofs, 3D printing is another innovation mmcité not only experimented with, but also introduces to the market in the form of a thoughtful design. “Times are fast-paced, and customers don’t want to wait. There is always some type of crisis lurking around the corner. This forces us to be flexible and efficient. That’s why, in collaboration with the technological leader in 3D concrete printing, ICE Industrial Services, we have…
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Show-stopping solutions
Every year, there is a garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show that gets people talking. It could be an unexpected planting scheme, a wild take on a theme – or, in the case of Sarah Eberle’s garden last year, an extraordinary material used in dramatic ways. At the show last year, Eberle – Chelsea’s most decorated designer – created the MEDITE SMARTPLY Building the Future Garden, with an impressive waterfall cascading over a building down into a pool below. Not only did it earn Eberle her 20th Gold medal, but it also scooped the Best Construction Award, having been…
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Caribbean Blinds Case Study: The Rows & Vine, Ridgeview Wine Estate
Luxury shading company enhances vineyard dining experience at Ridgeview Wine Estate Since the global pandemic, many hospitality and commercial establishments have reconsidered the use and functionality of their outdoor spaces, making them more of a priority now than ever before. In July 2022, outdoor shading manufacturer Caribbean Blinds delivered a highly effective and stylish shading solution in the form of 4 luxury double louvered roof pergola canopies at a vineyard restaurant in the South Downs, resulting in the ultimate outdoor dining area that can be used all year round. The client Based in the picturesque South Downs National Park, The Rows &…
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PC Landscapes appoints new associate designer to lead expansion
Noemi Mercurelli has joined PC Landscapes as an associate designer to head up the expansion of its design branch. Mercurelli will also be supporting PC Landscapes in its ambitions to be carbon neutral. The Surrey-based design and build company already has a strong focus on sustainability and Noemi will be applying her passion for the environment and biodiversity to supporting this goal. One of Pro Landscaper’s 30 Under 30: The Next Generation winners in 2016, Mercurelli joins PC Landscapes from a large multi-disciplinary practice. She had worked at PC Landscapes previously for three years, up until 2021. “The business…
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Time to get serious about measuring biodiversity in urban landscapes
The decline of nature is continuing apace, with the UK in a particularly worrying condition, having just 53% of its biodiversity left, according to research by the Natural History Museum. Significantly below the global average of 75%, the need to boost biodiversity across both built and natural environments is a national imperative. It is to this backdrop that the government’s Biodiversity Net Gain policy will be rolled out this November, which will require all housing, industrial or commercial developments in England to boost biodiversity by 10% in order to receive planning permission. It’s a first step towards a more nature-inclusive,…
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