Chatsworth Gold – a new breed of garden show medal
Outdoor Options has been awarded a gold medal for the Butter Wakefield ‘Belmond Enchanted Gardens’ at the inaugural RHS Chatsworth Flower Show. Delighted with the result, director Brian Herbert said: “The garden is the result of a fantastically creative dream team. It is our first show garden to have virtually no hard landscaping which meant even more planning and finite attention, the result of which is a flourish of natural colours and foliage that look like they have grown there many years, and not just been recently installed. I am so pleased the team’s efforts were given the top reward.”…
100% funding to create new woodlands
Landowners interested in creating new native broadleaved woodlands in and around the Yorkshire Dales could be eligible for grants to fully cover the costs of saplings, stakes, guards, fencing, gates, labour and first year weeding. Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT) is managing funds provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and The Fuelcard Company to create new woodlands that provide biodiversity benefits, alleviate flood risks, enhance the landscape and benefit the local economy. Potential schemes in the Ingleborough area are of particular interest as part of Stories in Stone, a four-year programme of community and heritage…
Cheeky monkeys everywhere are learning with LazyLawn
Children across the country are learning even in the playground as local leading artificial grass company enters its sixth year of working with Monkey Puzzle Day Nurseries. LazyLawn Bucks and Oxfordshire first installed for Monkey Puzzle Day Nurseries back in 2011 and, to date, it has installed artificial grass in 20 nurseries of its 50 franchises. A further three installations are planned for 2017, which will take the number of nurseries with LazyLawn to over 50% of the franchise’s total number of nurseries. Over 1,000 square metres of a variety of products including roadways kits and caterpillars have been installed…
The Brewin Dolphin Garden at RHS Chatsworth 2017
Brewin Dolphin’s inaugural garden at RHS Chatsworth has been designed by multi award-winning designer Jo Thompson. Embracing the majestic setting, the garden maximises the beautiful views and natural curves of the landscape and provides a spectacular contemporary viewpoint from which to enjoy Capability Brown’s historic vistas. Sited on the banks of the River Derwent, the scale of the garden reflects the grandeur of its setting combining contemporary industrial materials with naturalistic planting. Central to the design, an imposing contemporary sculpture crafted from reinforcing steel bars that sweep through the space, taking in the shape of the river in a series of wide curves before cantilevering dramatically…
New Technical Brochure for Optigreen
Optigreen, the specialist green roof systems supplier, have released an updated version of their fully comprehensive Technical Brochure. Consisting of 96 pages, the brochure combines basic and specialist knowledge of roof greening and gives safe and approved solutions in accordance with GRO and FLL Green Roofing Guidelines. Each green roof system solution is presented with the most relevant data, system build-ups, accessory products and a brief description. The brochure also includes some new Optigreen products and system solutions for blue roofs, pitched roofs and roof planters. Webcodes included in the new brochure, mean you will always be able to access…
Birmingham gardening therapy charity Thrive returns to BBC Gardeners’ World Live
Students attending Birmingham gardening therapy charity Thrive will have their own garden on show at BBC Gardeners’ World Live at the NEC this month. The young people attend the charity’s Grow and Learn programme at Kings Heath Park in and together designed and created a garden for BBC Gardeners’ World Live at the NEC this month. Entitled ‘Life and Times of Miss Potter’ the garden has been inspired by the hit film ‘Miss Potter’ which starred Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor. All the students involved in the garden are from Chadsgrove School in Birmingham and have been supported by Thrive horticultural therapists…
Lack of awareness of correct guidance puts landscapers at risk of using contaminated topsoil
A lack of awareness around wider legislation governing topsoil, particularly surrounding contamination testing, is facilitating the use of potentially contaminated product on landscaping projects across the country, warns a leading soil supplier. The British Standard for Topsoil – BS 3882:2015 – outlines parameters for a variety of horticultural properties that topsoil must meet to be deemed compliant, including texture, pH and NPK values (ref: Table 1). However, there are no set criteria for contamination testing as it is dependent on the proposed end-use of the topsoil at the recipient site. Instead, Notes 3 and 4 of Table 1 refer the…
Strong roll call of top nurseries to exhibit at Great Comp Garden’s annual Summer Show
Great Comp Garden’s Summer Show Saturday 12th August & Sunday 13th August. The Summer Show is Great Comp Garden’s biggest event of the year and held when the garden is at its peak of colour. This popular event featuring art, music and the best in plants, is highly regarded by plantsmen and women. The two-day event at this quirky plantsman’s delight will feature live jazz band ‘Strings n Things’ playing on the lawn as well as the best in RHS award-winning and specialist plant nurseries. William Dyson, curator at Great Comp, has put together a strong roll-call of over 40…
Can you afford to lose your tools?
A break-in takes less than 10 seconds. If you suffered a break-in and your valuable tools and equipment were taken, could you continue your job without them? The cost of replacing your tools, fixing your damaged van and repaying lost wages – the loss of tools has the potential to ruin a tradesperson. Cue Van Vault – the robust and secure storage solutions are designed to deter even the most intelligent thieves from stealing your tools and equipment. “I’ve had two break-ins to my van but I have a Van Vault box and whilst they had a go at the…
A buzz in the Lune Valley
The Lune Valley has been a hive of activity, as a team of hard working volunteers and local wildflower experts joined forces with the Lune Valley Community Beekeepers to help improve the area for bees and other wildlife. Since 2014, seven new pollinator patches have been created around Caton and the Crook O’ Lune, providing an important nectar network for insects. It’s part of the ‘Wildflowers for the Meadows’ project which is delivered by local charity Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT) working in partnership with the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), thanks to funding from Lancashire…
