Landscaping through the recession

I am delighted to introduce another guest blogger to Landscape Juice - something that I hope will become a very regular feature on the site.

Today is the turn of Nicky Patterson, a landscaper from Glasgow who perhaps gives us a little more insight into the challenges that face garden related businesses in the recession but, also spare a thought for them when you consider that many small companies and one-man-bands have also been forced into laying down their tools because of the weather.

Read Nicky's blog...

Creating function through design

There seems to be a mix of both treatments and experiences of the economic downturn for businesses of all sizes within the horticultural industries. Many have recorded a fall or perceive a fall in sales or expected income; some have recorded an increase, and some no change or no perceived change in their expected income generation.

As we descend further into what is forecast to be a deep recession, much has been made in the media of the opportunities for investment in home improvements; but how might we as designers and landscapers capitalise on this early affirmation of a substantial base of requirement for our services?

I am a garden designer and landscaper based in the South-side of Glasgow in the west of Scotland. My city has in recent years enjoyed a wealth of investment from developers spurred on by the recent general economic growth, and by the influx of multi-nationals setting up primary or secondary headquarters within the city.

This development has transformed the Clyde-side from the redundant waste-ground landscape of the old, dead, shipyards into a vibrant and exciting urban-scape that we Glaswegians are now proud of, and are keen to represent to our city’s visitors.

Housing developments have also been introduced throughout the city – many replacing the infamous but failed concrete tower blocks and the unimaginatively-planned industrial estates which lent their vulgarity to Glasgow’s less proud reputation of the past.

The suburbs too have been built upon and villages and boundaries have been blended and extended into the surrounding Green Built areas.

This has provided in Glasgow, as I’m sure it has in a similar way in other European towns and cities, fertile ground for the growth and cultivation of hundreds of small trade-based businesses aiming to meet the demand for home improvements and developments - none more so than those associated with gardens and gardening.

Many of these new-found firms seem to have suffered gravely through the media’s recent “credit-crunch” fuelled scaremongering, which depleted consumer confidence in general to a depressing low before Christmas. This wasn’t helped of course, by the reams of redundancy notices being served at this time - but it lead many small businesses closer toward a dire strait indeed.

In October I had suffered a 3rd consecutive project cancellation through a client redundancy or “financial position changing for the foreseeable future”: I was forced to axe 3 full-time staff and reduced my resources to only myself and a labourer. The business was on a slippery slope and as debts mounted I genuinely anticipated accepting failure.

There will most certainly have been some casualties recorded when all the dust settles but fortunately enough for me, just as we began our Christmas break, I was offered participation in a live TV broadcast at the very start of January which restored my own dwindling confidence.

Even without this though we have already had a steady stream of enquiries and now have provisional bookings for almost 6 months ahead this year. My busiest January yet! So indeed the confidence to invest in home and garden improvements is evident at present.

Various commentators have predicted this continuation in confidence in reaction to the slumping and stagnant housing market – which, it seems, will take some time to get back into motion. Kevin McLoud of TV’s Grand Designs noted recently that there is no better time than when in a recession to build your own house.

Endorsement of home building – surely itself the ultimate project in home improvements - can only be a positive sign on which to found our current marketing strategies, but more importantly to reflect within the scope of our current projects.

Much of our work as designers and landscapers involves producing small garden spaces for use by young families. I feel this seems to be a discipline in its own right within the general practice of garden design.

We have to endeavour to produce a space which is compatible with adult activity, child activity and the more general family activities as well as providing a utility area, suitable planting and compatible features and materials – all within what will become increasingly strict budgets.

This requires packing a whole lot of function into a small space to ensure the production of a garden which fulfils the potential value of every square foot of a client’s property.

This will become a crucial skill in ascertaining whether or not landscapers and designers can navigate the recession; as property owners will now more actively seek a real return on investment into their garden spaces.

This return needs to procure an obvious improvement in quality of lifestyle for the client as well as the impression of a financial return when the economy gets back into forward gear some years down the line.

On top of this the space has to look great in order for us to fulfil our mission statement as designers.

For this to work then we, as the industry in general, need to create more market awareness as to the importance and relevance of design in a garden. We can easily facilitate this today through the use of social networking and membership of modern trade associations such as the Landscape Juice Network.

The successful delivery of this message will have a two-fold effect; the first to convince those already pursuing a garden project without any design that they really do require design services in order to procure the most return from their investment; the second is to educate the mass-uninterested of the potential value in lifestyle and function-solution that their gardens hold.

We landscapers and designers must also now work closer together and in developed cooperation in order to survive. The relevance of design should be expressed at every client introduction: the result will be better produced garden spaces, delivering maximum function to the users, which will in turn spur more and better quality work both for ourselves and for our industry peers.

This process will also subconsciously assert a wider spread accepted professional reflection upon the industry – which is surely something that we would all covet.

We landscapers and designers now stand at the front-line of the war against recession and represent the whole horticultural diaspora, much of which will be looking increasingly toward us to provide them with consequential revenue generation– the maintenance businesses, plant wholesalers, material producers and suppliers, tool hire companies and so on.

There is much gesture in the media at present of how this recession will provide many with the opportunity to start up a new and potentially very successful business.

Perhaps we should treat this recession in a similar way: as a pan-industry shake-down – a shedding of old skin – a good pruning - and emerge refreshed and stronger than ever and with recognition as a true trade and true profession.

GardenImprovements.com

Address: 16 Meadowbank Place | Newton Mearns | Glasgow | G77 6TB

Telephone: 0141 5855053

Mobile: 07985767477

email: enquiries@gardenimprovements.com

Website: www.gardenimprovements.com