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Navigating Cash Flow Concerns in the Construction Industry
Cash flow is the lifeblood of any successful business. Cash flow is what allows a company to pay its staff, purchase stock, and ensure contractual overheads are paid on time. Once cash flow becomes squeezed, problems can quickly spiral, taking a once thriving company from a position of solvency to one which is struggling to meet its financial obligations surprisingly quickly. Cash flow challenges can arise for a variety of reasons, and in many instances, they are not caused directly by the actions of the company facing these problems. Late – and even non-payment – of invoices is rife in…
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Trades people set to be “worst hit” by ULEZ expansion
The expansion of the ULEZ is causing concern across London’s trade sector, and for good reason. The added charge inflicts unsustainable financial pressure on a number of trade businesses. As of today, drivers of non-compliant vehicles will have to pay £12.50 a day to travel in the now affected areas, which cover a majority of Greater London. The charge, which is equivalent to more than £3k a year, is already incurring multi-level knock-on effects as tradespeople increase their prices to compensate. According to Fix Radio, 25% of construction workers say they have lost work as a direct result of the…
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30 Under 30: A catch-up with Arron Grange
Over the last year, Arron Grange has been playing a significant role in establishing and managing Green-tech’s new warehouse in Ireland. The key account manager, who became became one of Pro Landscaper’s 30 Under 30: The Next Generation last year at just 27 years’ old, was originally employed as a sales advisor in 2016 and has since risen through the ranks and is now helping Green-tech to expand its reach. The warehouse in Ireland opened earlier this year following investment from Green-tech’s parent company, Origin Enterprises, which acquired the business in 2021. At Green-tech, we’re heavily involved in Ireland and…
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Could T-Levels help solve the industry’s skills shortage?
It’s no secret that the sector is facing a substantial succession crisis thanks to an ongoing skills shortage. Encouraging more young people into the sector is the obvious solution, but it’s not quite as easy as it seems. The latest effort is the introduction of new T-Level courses in Agriculture, Land Management and Production. Educational organisation City and Guilds (C&G) will be delivering the new T-Levels, with the aim of attracting more to these sectors and tackling hard-to-fill vacancies. Several prolific organisations within the sector are partnering with C&G to offer industry placements as part of the new two-year technical…
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The Frustrated Gardener is here to help
The Great Comp Summer Show, scheduled to take place this weekend, will feature over 25 specialist award-winning exhibitors, including Dan Cooper. Many will recognise Cooper from his acclaimed gardening blog, The Frustrated Gardener, which he launched in 2012. It quickly took root and he was celebrated in the press for creating a ‘subtropical paradise dominated by dramatic colours and shapes.’ “I decided that I needed some kind of project to really reignite my interest in plants and gardening and to share that with other people. “[The blog] really took off and I enjoyed it, the opportunity to research the content…
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30 Under 30: A catch up with Rachel Platt
A year after becoming one of Pro Landscaper’s 30 Under 30: The Next Generation winners, Rachel Platt has scooped a hat-trick of awards at this year’s RHS Flower Show Tatton Park, including the coveted People’s Choice Award. Platt’s show garden at this years Tatton Park, ‘Chained to Tech’ in partnership with J. Parkers, explores the behavioural and psychological repercussions of excessive screen-based technology usage in young people. “The theme was important to me because I’ve experienced it myself, and I think everyone I’ve spoken to has a son or a daughter that is addicted to technology in some way,” explains…
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The Bees’ Needs of Hampton Court
This years’ RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival saw a significant emphasis on sustainable gardening, with designers showcasing the means to garden for wildlife all year round in a variety of spaces, featuring pollen centric ornamentals to encourage attendees to garden with pollinators in mind. Pollinators contribute the equivalent of more than £500m annually to UK agriculture and food production through crop quality and quantity improvement. They also play an essential part in the nation’s wider, natural ecosystems. A 10-year National Pollinator Strategy was launched in 2014, outlining how the government, the public and professionals in the industry can aid…
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Prioritising going peat-free
Professional horticulture might be exempt for now, but a ban on using peat is looking ever more likely by 2030. The government announced last August that sales of peat to amateur gardeners in England will be banned from 2024, and it pledged to help the professional horticulture sector speed up its transition to peat-free alternatives, recognising that it faces “additional technical barriers that will take longer to overcome.” There are growers, though, which are already taking the leap. Take Greenwood Plants, which says it is on track to be fully peat free by the end of this year. One in…
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The green road ahead
The TV programmes of Sir David Attenborough, Chris Packham and the like have informed us that our future world must be greener and that we ought to be the technologists to affect this. So, we want to do the right things to journey ourselves, our clients and the public down this road. But do we know what the right things are, or are we just tinkering with minor items? Do we understand what sustainability is, what our most sustainable choice of materials are, and what is the impact of our carbon footprint? How do we foster biodiversity net gain? Surely…
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Why a horticultural approach to grounds maintenance will bear fruit
Time for a dirty secret. Years ago, when I was coming into the grounds maintenance business, I was told, “you make your money doing the work you don’t do”. You price the work into your contract and then work your hardest to avoid delivering it. From an ethical perspective, this never sat well with me or for many of us in the profession that work hard every day to deliver on our promises. But that cynical view is sadly still out there – particularly when contractors are racing to the bottom on pricing grounds maintenance as a commodity rather than…
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Three cost-of-living effects that may be here to stay
From Brexit to COVID-19 to the cost-of-living crisis, businesses worldwide have had to adapt to a host of unpredictable, evolving economic conditions. For instance, as lockdowns came to a close, over eight in ten employees who had been working from home said they planned to adopt a hybrid model. Pro Landscaper looks at which changes are here to stay. Mental health awareness Mental health has been at the forefront of society’s mind for some time now, so it is no surprise that this is one of the predictions on the list! With resources such as Perennial’s free Health and Wellbeing…
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