Landscape Juice

Batten down the hatches...things could get messy again

The Japanese stock market has dropped over 7% overnight sparking a wide-ranging sell-off across Europe.

It's not surprising really because the recent bubble in European indices had no relationship with the underlying asset and fundamental value of the companies behind them.

Trading in the last couple of years has been led purely by market sentiment and technical trading - in other words greed and fear. As stock markets moved higher they fuelled a greedy rush by speculative traders to ride the rise. Short sellers dared not enter the market.

The bubble in stock markets must not be confused with economies and recovery.

Only this week the International Monetary Fund said that despite recent improvements in some indicators of economic growth, the economy is still a long way from a strong and sustainable recovery.

“Recent data suggest some improvement in economic and financial conditions, which is encouraging. But the United Kingdom has a long way to go. Investment has been persistently weak and unemployment, especially among young people, is high,” said David Lipton, the IMF’s Deputy Managing Director.

Price fixing scandal hits the cement industry

Only last week we heard news that fuel companies have been colluding to fix fuel prices and now we hear that the cartel that is the cement industry has been fixing cement prices.

Fuel and cement are two commodities the landscape industry just cannot operate without.

Just five providers account for ninety percent of the UK's cement market, seventy-five percent of aggregates and sixty-eight percent of ready-mix concrete.

Back in 2011 the Office of Fair Trading asked the Competition Commission to investigate the cement industry over concerns for the lack of competition.

The industry is worth some £4 billion each year to the UK economy.

The five major producers of heavy building materials in the UK: Aggregate Industries, Cemex, Hanson, HCM and Lafarge Tarmac. HCM is a new firm established in January 2013.

Live tweets from the Chelsea Flower Show

Tweets about "#rhschelsea"

Visit Number 10 Downing Street's garden

The Downing Street garden will join over 200 private, hidden and little-known gardens opening to the public as part of Open Garden Squares Weekend 8-9 June, 2013.

Open Garden Squares Weekend is a two-day event, where community gardens and private squares throughout London welcome visitors from around the world.

Gardens range from historical private squares to contemporary roof gardens, prisons, barges.

The Number 10 Downing Street garden can be visited only on tours on which places will be allocated in a public ballot.

One ticket gives access to over 200 gardens on both Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 June 2013.

Open Garden Squares Weekend is organised by the London Parks & Gardens Trust and presented in association with the National Trust

Website: www.opensquares.org

Tree house to die for

How is this for a magnificent treehouse?

Well not exactly a tree house but built into a slope that helps extend the house into the tree canopy giving the feeling of being a house in the trees.

Floating on curved laminated wood beams, passing through a generous glass wall which wraps around the main living room.

Designed by Robert Harvey Oshatz

How to deter cats from your garden

Are you sick and tired of cats coming into your garden and fouling your borders, gravel and possibly even worse, your child's sand pit?

Not everyone loves cats and cat owners don't understand if others don't share their love of felines.

There is a natural deterrent you can plant which cats are said not to like.

Coleus Canina is said to give off an unpleasant odour which cats find unpleasant.

Coleus Canina - or Plectranthus caninus, to give it its Latin name - is an herb of the mint family Lamiaceae and is native to east Africa and southern Asia.

These plants root easily from cuttings or layering. They like full sun. Coleus Canina can be grown in the shade but will send out shoots to search for sun.

sara - Simple Accident Reporting App

Millions are injured at work every year – 600,000 in the UK alone – and the cost to businesses is immense.

The Health & Safety Simple Accident Reporting App – sara – is near miss and accident reporting tool for businesses. Available on iPhone and soon to be released for Android and Blackberry.

The makers say it’s simple and quick to use and "in just a few minutes you can complete a report, attach photographs of the incident and even record voice notes. Then simply press send to submit for investigation and follow-up."

Website: sara - Simple Accident Reporting App

Moscow Flower Show organisers to visit Chelsea

Did you know that Moscow has a flower show?

Well it does and the Moscow Flower Show organisers will attend this year's Chelsea Flower Show to learn and share their experience from the event at the Royal Hospital Chelsea 21-25 May.

The Russian delegation will be following the footsteps of the Dowager Empress of Russia who visited the first show in 1913, will attend the event on Monday 20 May.

Karina Lazareva, the President of the Moscow Flower Show and Chelsea 2006 Gold Medalist said:" Moscow Flower Show which takes place in the iconic Gorky Park 16 - 23 June follows the tradition of Chelsea Flower Show in strive to attract the leading Russian and international gardening specialists.

Many garden designers will be exhibiting at Gorky Park site.

The international judging panel will chaired by James Alexander Sinclair.

Chemical flowers created in a glass beaker

What do you think of these rather peculiar flowers?

These colourful flower-like sculptures aren't made by mother nature but by chemists in a lab. They are just microns across.

By manipulating chemical gradients in a beaker of fluid, Wim Noorduin, from the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, found that he can control the growth behaviour of these crystals to create precisely tailored structures.

"For at least 200 years, people have been intrigued by how complex shapes could have evolved in nature. This work helps to demonstrate what’s possible just through environmental, chemical changes," says Noorduin.

The precipitation of the crystals depends on a reaction of compounds that are diffusing through a liquid solution. The crystals grow toward or away from certain chemical gradients as the pH of the reaction shifts back and forth. The conditions of the reaction dictate whether the structure resembles broad, radiating leaves, a thin stem, or a rosette of petals.

Read the full story of how these crystal flowers were made.

Chelsea Fringe: Flowerbeds installation 18 & 19 May

Saturday 18 May, 2.30 – 4.30pm

The Flowerbeds installation

Vienna-based artists Anita Duller and Hannah Stippl create paintings in a multi-layer technique with stencils and used pattern rollers on paper, canvas or walls, encouraging a spirit of spontaneity. Through their work The Flowerbeds create unexpected findings and surprising interpretations in both paintings and horticultural installations.

Watch the artists at work creating a one-off, large scale painting inspired by the Geffrye’s gardens and join in a free workshop to create a garden-themed mural using similar techniques.

Sunday 19 May, 12 – 4.30pm

The Flowerbeds installation

Watch artists Anita Duller and Hannah Stippl create a one-off, large-scale artwork inspired by the Geffrye’s gardens, using a multi-layer technique with stencils and used pattern rollers on canvas. Through their work The Flowerbeds create unexpected findings and surprising interpretations in both paintings and horticultural installations.

For full details of what time the installations start and how to find them, click here.