Landscape Juice

APL start talking the talk as Mark Gregory takes office

Last year, I spoke at length with incoming Association of Professional Landscapers' [APL] chairman, Mark Gregory, about the the landscaping industry and how he's planning to be different during his tenure. He's certainly got his work cut out after admitting that the organisation is broke and heavily reliant on the HTA for financial assistance and resources. Whether there will be enough funds with which to work with is another matter. Mark is held in high esteem by his industry peers and I really do think he'll have a positive impact and to be honest, there's probably not a better choice... Read more →

Exclusive interview with APL chairman Mark Gregory

Mark Gregory has had just over five weeks as the new chairman of the Association of Professional Landscapers (APL) and made contact with me here at Landscape Juice after I questioned whether it will be 'same old same old' during his tenure. Mark and I spoke for just over and hour on Friday morning in what turned out to be one the frankest discussions I've had with anyone from either of the UK's landscaping and horticulture associations. Mark talks candidly about how dissatisfied British Association of Landscape Industries' (BALI) members, under the leadership of Alan Sargent, broke away to from... Read more →

Mark Gregory takes APL chairmanship but will it be 'same old same old'?

Mark Gregory is the Association of Professional Landscapers' (APL) new chairman and comes into office promising change as the APL goes into a new phase of development. In his first interview since taking over the role from Adam Frost, Gregory told David Curtis of the Landscaper Magazine (October issue - read online) that the APL has to move on and address the needs of its members. Gregory, however, offers very little by the way of assurance that there has yet been any kind of direction agreed and it's rather disturbing for the APL's membership to continue to hear how the... Read more →

Interview with Andrew Fisher Tomlin

Andrew Fisher Tomlin is past chairman of the Society of Garden Designers, director of the London College of Garden Design and a trustee of the gardening charity Thrive. Recently, Andrew expressed his concerns that the landscaping and garden design industry was knocking each other too much. I speak to Andrew about what's needed and how we can all work together in a much more unified way. Listen to interview with Andrew Fisher Tomlin Read more →

Horticulture's 'Big Society' will put pay to top down control

I'm just loving the new atmosphere surrounding government and especially the latest 'Big Society' initiative. I wouldn't agree with everything the new coalition has said or wishes to implement but I share in the overall ethos of cutting through the sticky mud of bureaucracy and empowering more ordinary people with tools that allow them to make decisions on issues that directly affect their lives or the communities in which they live. For those who work in or have an interest in horticulture or landscaping - and crucially who have followed Landscape juice for the last five years - will be... Read more →

BALI to exhibit at Ecobuild

I'm pleased to see that the British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI) is taking a stand at Ecobuild March 1-3 2011 in a bid to showcase landscaping to a wider audience. I've said in the past that BALI (as well as the SGD and APL) have become fixated on 'show garden' landscaping and design, and forget that the kind of self-indulgent dreamland gardens you see at Chelsea or Hampton Court are not reflective of what the vast majority of British gardeners want or need in their own garden. BALI says in its press release that its aim is to promote... Read more →

The HTA is fighting the wrong corner

Am I the only person to continuously become angry with the 110 year old Horticultural Trades Association (HTA)? The latest news release - HTA slams National Minimum Wage announcement - has once again, made them seem so bloody out of touch and detached from the real world - their advice always seems to be to do the opposite of what market forces are dictating. How the hell can businesses hope to bring in good horticulture apprentices and hard working staff when the HTA are telling the government that they aren't worth paying more than £5.80*? Somebody ought to ask HTA... Read more →

An analysis of the current position of land based industry practitioners

The landscape and horticultural industry is at a major cross-roads. Angered and motivated by recent news that the British Association of Landscape Industries, the Association of Professional Landscapers and the Society of Garden Designers, is to form a coalition, I have been working in collaboration with a land-based analyst, to complete a draft report [see below] into the current state of the UK landscape and horticulture associations. It is my view that the current organisations are dysfunctional, non-effective and have increased fragmentation and division amongst land-based businesses. I am also distressed that a close relationship has developed between these members... Read more →

Landscaping associations suffering 'Great Firewall Wall of China Syndrome'?

Have you been following the Google news concerning its search engine censorship in China? In the last few days, Google has issued a statement saying that it had been a victim of sophisticated and sustained cyber-attacks launched from the Chinese mainland and as a result, it can no longer censor search results passing through its Chinese based servers - it has now diverted all of the Chinese search traffic through its Hong Kong servers instead. Google's action has been condemned by China for making a commercial situation into a political one and has warned Google that its meddling in its... Read more →

BALI moves to clarify their strategic vision but still denies it ain't broke

They claim it ain't broke, yet BALI are nevertheless reviewing their strategy and vision for the future - I assume with the intention of fixing it - it is evidence that landscaping associations are faced with an identity crisis never before seen. On the one hand, I'm feeling extremely frustrated by the revelation that BALI, APL and SGD are planning to get together and exclude the vast majority of UK land-based businesses; on the other, I'm extremely proud that these associations now agree with Landscape Juice that there is a need to reassess their position in the landscaping and horticulture... Read more →