Landscape Juice

Cycling gardeners provide an eco friendly service

Most of a gardeners costs will be in getting himself from job to job. A one-man-band might opt for a small van and larger companies a longer wheel based model such as a Ford Transit.

A landscaper come gardener might well opt for a four wheeled drive, opened backed vehicle for carrying loose loads with perhaps a trailer for removing waste too.

But, as Iain Wilson the Brighton cycling gardener and Josh Brown the Norwich cycling gardener have discovered, there is an environmentally friendly way of going about your business, without increasing your carbon footprint or creating unnecessary costs.

Christmas pudding shaped hedge with cream trimmings

Roger and Valerie Holley of Yeovil have made most of the gardening headlines today with their twenty five year old conifers lovingly and painstakingly shaped into a giant Christmas pudding.

The pudding is shaped from two conifer trees that have been clipped or topieried over the last five years to form the large shape.

The cream effect was created with emulsion paint and the holly berries are made out of toilet cistern balls.

Bloggers can learn from journalists

I am always looking for tips and advice when it comes to improving my writing style and I am not adverse to learning from others about how to make, write of pass on a good story.

I have a special interest in how others think and what makes some people push a certain button when the majority might do the opposite.

The Internet is built around and is an extension of a huge mix of behavioural actions and the crest of the wave is always a manifestation of what has occurred below the water line and the height, depth and ferocity of that wave depends on disruptive nature of the forces that have contributed.

Arbtalk - tree surgery discussion forum

If you trawl the Internet you can certainly find lots of gardening websites with forums so that you can ask questions about plants, soils and techniques.

There are far fewer landscaping forums and even less if it is trees and related subjects that you wish to follow.

The Cosmos Therapy Zone nears completion

The Shooting Star Children's Hospice is gearing up for landscaping work after it was revealed that the new ground floor extension is nearing completion.

Mike Seaton, managing director of The Lawn Company has posted an update of the progress on the Grass Clippings blog, together with a letter from the Hospice' Chief Executive Dalton Leong, which explains that due to spiralling costs and the credit situation, only a single story has been added instead of the two storey block that was originally planned.

Jason Lock is appointed CEO of the APL

The Association of Professional Landscapers (APL) has appointed Jason Lock as its chief executive officer (CEO).

Lock was previously with Notcutts for twenty years before being made redundant in September 2008 after Notcutts closed its design office.

Lock's appointment comes at a time when the landscaping industry is waking up to a downturn in its fortunes - every week now there are reports of landscaping businesses going bust or being forced into administration.

The Good Gardeners Association advocates 'no-dig'

I would like to welcome Helen Gazeley as my guest and thank her for this thought provoking post on the benefits of a 'no-dig' garden policy as promoted by The Good Gardeners Association.

A Healthy Approach to Digging

Winter digging: hours of damp cold, heavy soil, clogged spades and backache. If you’re contemplating the task, No-Dig gardening can suddenly look very attractive.

The Good Gardeners Association (GGA) has been promoting No-Dig methods since 1966, and hopes to prove that putting down the spade offers more than a quiet winter by the fire.

When will the recession end?

I don't know about you but I am starting to get the feeling that the consumer is not going to give in easily to the same pressures that have toppled some of the big and great banks and businesses around the world.

I think that is was fairly obvious that this process of correction and settlement of the top end was and remains necessary to balance out a lot of economic factors.

What happened last night, when the bale-out package for the US car giants collapsed and the failure of Woolworths earlier in the week - not to mention the failures of banks and various sizes of business in the last six months - was not necessarily a result of the current financial down-turn but a capitulation and realisation that previous bouts of weakness were not defensible any more.

Marshalls says 'greenwash' is rife in landscaping

Marshalls landscaping has gone on the offensive and accused competitors of 'greenwashing' the landscaping industry saying that whilst there is a tendency by its competitors to talk about the environment, climate change, ethics and carbon footprint, their actions on the other hand, are exactly the opposite.

Marshalls has labelled this greenwashing as environmental window dressing and says that more energy is spent on slick PR campaigning rather than actually doing anything to protect the environment.

Christmas tree rental service kicks off in Dorset

Forget where to buy your Christmas tree this year and start thinking about where to rent because the next big thing in the 'environmental' market place is Christmas tree rental.

Innovative tree surgeon Martin Cake from Charminster in Dorset has over 500 pot grown trees ranging in size from 2 feet (60cm) to 10 feet (3m).

Martin will deliver the tree to your door for free (within a certain area) and collect again after Christmas.

His company is called www.treesforrent.com.