Landscape Juice

Kingfisher to go beyond transactional retailing to engage its customers

I love the new strategy at Kingfisher (owner of B&Q). See Telegraph - Kingfisher plants a forest to grow sales - and be neighbourly.

With a housing market in steep decline - or at best stagnating - Kingfisher says it will go beyond transactional retailing and invest directly into communities.

The good thing, or at least the way I read it, is Kingfisher is investing in more than one community.

On the one hand it intends to invest by planting more trees than it uses to create its products. It will do this, partly, by investing money in projects administered by the Department for International Development on recently deforested areas that can be quickly turned around.

LANTRA hold National Occupational Standards review consultation

Professionals with a keen involvement in the horticulture industry are being asked to complete an online survey as part of the industry’s job skills National Occupational Standards (NOS) review.

From 30 January to 24 February 2012, Lantra will run a UK-wide online consultation to find out more details about the activities carried out by workers in the industry.

NOS are a collection of job roles and tasks that describe what someone needs to do, know and understand to do a specific job competently.

David Winn, Lantra’s Horticulture Manager said: “The Standards form the foundation of future horticulture qualifications, so by sharing your expertise today you will be improving the workforce of tomorrow. They are also helpful to businesses as they help employers identify the skills their employees’ need, highlight best practice, develop training plans and assist in the construction of job descriptions.”

The Scraptors world beyond the garden gate

If you go down to the woods you might be in for a surprise as metal dragonflies, giant owls, and even a tadpole man greet you on a new sculpture trail at Stourhead National Trust Estate.

The Scraptors are a group of four sculptors whose brief from the National Trust was 'to work with the landscape and encourage visitors to venture Beyond the Garden Gate'.

The Green Schools Revolution takes shape

The Co-operative has launched an education programme for schools that will look to promote three key themes: energy, water and healthy living.

Titled the Green Schools Revolution (GSR), an array of teaching resources are available offering information on things such as wind farms, reducing water consumption and how food grows.

And it would appear the Co-operative has hooked in to the growing appeal of green issues amongst young people, with an accompanying survey of school children claiming the environment comes a close third in terms of learning priorities just behind Maths and English.

Why the gardener is top of the class

If there is one group of people equipped to redress the balance and to teach kids where vegetables come from, it is gardeners.

In order to do this many Landscape Juice Network members have been working on school projects, writes Carol Miers.

Here today – Who’s here tomorrow? A focus on young people in horticulture

The Institute of Horticulture’s conference later this year will focus on youth and the need to ensure that the industry has the right quality and quantity of staff to provide for its needs in the future.

The Institute of Horticulture will tackle some of the most challenging issues facing the industry at its annual conference on 8 October 2011.

Entitled 'Here today: Who’s here tomorrow? A focus on young people in horticulture', the conference will consider how the industry can respond to the challenges of ensuring that the right calibre of entrants are available both in quantity and quality to fill the employment needs of such a wide, diverse and extensive employer pool.

School kids grow with food gardens, Task Force launched

A Food Growing in Schools Task Force was launched at the RHS Chelsea Flower show by the Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman, on Monday, 23 May, keeping the topic of school lunches high on the agenda.

The RHS Campaign for School Gardening has been promoting the importance for children to grow plants. When they issued a report in June 2010, it had found a variety of gardening benefits, amongst those were working in a team, more confidence and better self-esteem.

Should the government encourage young people into land-based business?

Rural French businesses have suffered a drain of people in recent years as youngster shun running their traditional family farms and enterprises, instead turning to more profitable roles in towns and cities.

As a result, there is fast becoming a vacuum and skills gap and the French rural industry seem to be really worried that not enough young people are prepared to take over: it's partly money; partly lifestyle.

Take a look at the magazine in the video sent out by our department (not commune as I describe it in the video) 47 Lot et Garonne - enticing young people into land-based businesses.

It's absolutely what the UK government should be doing too.

What do you reckon?

Botanical gardens planned for Kabul University

The Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh is teaming up with the Kabul University to set up botanical gardens in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

An AFP news release reports that the new gardens will help future generations of Afghans learn horticulture and all about native plants.

Mohammad Yasin Mohsini, dean of the Kabul University's agriculture faculty, said that the gardens will play an important role and he believed they would become a popular asset with students.

One day gardening course with Peter Donegan

My long-term blogging buddy, Peter Donegan from Dublin, is starting a series of day-long gardening courses.

The subjects on the agenda for the day are:

* gardening basics
* how to grow your own from seed
* growing plants on a budget
* window ledge balcony gardening
* looking after your plants
* planting your planters
* growing in a confined space
* not enough hours in the day/ the 10 minute gardener
* herb and salad kitchen gardening

If you are up for it then get in touch directly with Peter via his blog.

By the looks of it and judging by the comment, it's filling up fast so you'll have to be quick.