acquired from 50 years of Award Winning Landscape Design & Build
Category: Commercial
50 years ago, when we first started, commercial landscaping often suffered from lack of attention.
If you could get enough moisture. Weed control and regular cutting of grass areas in the first six months, then the sites often thrived and were much less costly to maintain. – It takes around 25-30% of the installation budget each year. At least, for the first two or three years to become established.
Playgrounds needed a weekly inspection. This was due to the high chances of vandalism. Quite a lot of the playground equipment was dangerous to users. More tactile and safety conscious equipment was beginning to appear.
Roof gardens- which were in their infancy. Needed a weekly aftercare program. Mainly due to the increased temperatures found on the roof – Interestingly above the third floor unless there was significant snowfall, the plants overwintered quite well.
I was taught from an early age that : “Quality is remembered long after the price has been paid.”
Landscape Knowledge Is all about people. People who are passionate about their environment, their gardens & landscapes. Along with the experts that helped to create them.
Ann & Chris discuss traditional landscapes. Trends, techniques, plants and materials from across the globe. Our many years of experience has produced a wealth of knowledge. As well as pictures and ideas for you to enjoy. We have included a growing list of interviews with colleagues and other experts.
Here are some examples of what you can find within these pages :
Ann & Chris continue their interview with Bill Sosinsky , CEO of Energime University. Bill has recently returned from a trip to China. He talks to us about how the Chinese are adapting, planning and coping with the enormous growth the country has seen over the past few years.
We all have moments that become pivotal in our lives. Setting us on a course that sets us on the journey to …….
Mine was learning to sail around the age of 9 years – well 8 years if you include the first time I went sailing. In what appeared to be a very slow gaff rigged, slow sailing boat.
Being shipped off to boarding school at a tender age. My father was a merchant ships Captain.
The school had a lake with a mixed fleet of dinghies. I learned to sail first in a Cadet – a small but lively dinghy you could race. Of course, we did with some success.
The school also had quite faster ‘Enterprise’s ‘ which provided a very pleasant afternoons racing, not to mention quite a workout…
Progressing to 420’s a much more modern design and an impressive workout. I preferred to helm, flying around on a trapeze whilst fun was a sure way to get soaked.
On leaving school, the opportunity to sail diminished somewhat until a friend who Ocean sailed invited me to crew on a Contessa 32, suddenly sailing became serious, a superb yacht with great handling characteristics, a rather steep new price back in 1979. A vessel still going strong today..
Field Hockey
When sailing wasn’t possible I played grass Hockey across London for over 25 years…it was a different level of energetic playing from September until April with tournaments across Europe in the summer, my favorites were trips to Hamburg and Amsterdam, although I did arrange one to Lyon which was a little different.
On moving to the USA in 1999, it took me a little while to rediscover lake sailing.- Lakes here are much larger , with commensurately larger sailing boats. It’s way more fun and convenient.
Sailboat Racing
Sailing over the weekend, a pastime that is both enjoyable, exciting, fun and yet very calming. The winds were as always very variable, around 10 mph gusting to perhaps 20mph – sufficient to heel our boat, driving her forward quickly.
“Stiletto” – our Capri 25
The question is – how long can you keep the cocktail upright?
On a more peaceful run down the lake we talked about ‘Those Moments that stand out in your life”
Sedate Sailing
We still own ‘Stiletto’ but have added a rather more salubrious Catalina 28. ‘Quinley’ has many more creature comforts as our ages march onward. A galley, showers, a wheel, bimini, open transom, inboard diesel power, hot and cold pressurized water. all manner of instruments. Recently new sails and a bowsprit…
Work
When we reached work moments, some were amusing. I was asked to write them down. So here are a few. Let me know what you think ?
During college days we, that is the student committee – I was Social Secretary, liked to produce lighthearted pranks from time to time. Being Social Secretary it fell to me to help create, vet and often implement said pranks..
We often had outside groups visit the college for talks, or demonstrations or even just to visit.
This particular day, the Women’s Institute was coming for some reason, the day was warm and sunny, so the night before we decided to ‘decorate’ a crab apple on the lawn just outside the main house.
When the coach arrived the next morning the ladies were confronted with a new strain of ornamental fruiting tree – “The Spaghetti Tree” was fully covered with over 20 lbs of the very best spaghetti, soaked for 10 mins and boiled until soft enough to adorn the tree. The tree was also attracting a large colony of birds who took particular liking to the delicious fare.
Many pictures were taken of this phenomenon as a sign explained the tree only fruited once every 12 years !
This spurred on to more things horticultural, so a few weeks later yet another plant was discovered , this time outside the refectory a paving slab had been pushed up and a new strain of oak tree had emerged – Quercus australis inverta was indeed a site to see, this Upside Down Australian Oak Tree had it’s trunk buried in the ground with a full compliment of roots spreading out to a height of 5ft.
Some years later I came across this amazing tree…the Andansonia
We have some great interviews planned for the next few months.
Our first is with Bill Sosinsky , CEO of Energime University. Bill has recently returned from a trip to China. He talks to us about how the Chinese are adapting, planning and coping with the enormous growth the country has seen over the past few years.
The interview is one of those must listen to events… we all have seen or heard of the Great Wall of China, a quite amazing feat of building, as seen here.
I wonder how many of us can comprehend the current building program? 100 million homes in the next 5- 10 years…!
Truly a monumental task of ingenuity, engineering and collaboration, Ann and I were just amazed talking to Bill about the growing issues they are trying to solve.
We will have two parts to this fascinating interview you can listen to the first part here – www.growingtrends.org
We would love to hear from you with ideas or suggestions on programs, either fill in the form below or just send us an email to info@grotrends.com
Ann & Chris have been busy preparing a new series of podcasts for you all to enjoy.
We have interviews with experts in the field of sustainability, recycling, food production, hydroponics and aquaponics. Our list of author interviews is growing all the time, we’ve recently added children’s book authors connected with nature.
We were having a discussion about Parks the other day, the consensus was that whilst they are constantly evolving there was a need to include more of today’s more modern infrastructure within a park boundaries.
Do you think that is the case?
For instance – constant wifi?
24 hour video access to see wild life etc. ?
Adoption of solar energy , for example path lighting powered by solar ?
More group areas for meetings outside ?
More refreshment areas ?
Less grass areas ?
The addition of vegetable areas for people to try or see how to grow ?
More opportunities to show visitors how to do something?
It’s not often you find a garden that was founded in 1673. Which is when the Apothecaries’ Garden was formed.
Ann was on a trip to Europe recently and dropped in on the beautiful Chelsea Physic Garden. Situated on the side of the River Thames in London.
The gardens original purpose was to train apprentices in identifying plants. With the gardens location close to the river creating a warmer microclimate. This significantly increased the many non-native plants that could be grown.
In 1700 the garden had started an international botanic garden seed exchange system, which continues to this day.
The gardens cover some four acres and are leased on what is known as a peppercorn ( very low) rent in perpetuity.
They are with out doubt one of London’s secret ‘gems’ and thoroughly worth a visit.
The gardens mission ” Linking people with plants and nature”
The interview starts with Ann talking for around 8 minutes to a group of school children on a field trip. The gardens have over 100 such school visits a year. Ann then talks to Michael a very knowledgeable and extremely helpful member of staff. We kept all the typical inner city sounds on the recording – the enthusiasm of the children is very heartening.
Integrated pest management is the preferred method of bug control…
They have a project called “Shelf Life’ it is just an incredible way to show children where their food comes from
You can also listen to Ann’s interview on iTunes at Growing Trends
We would love to hear your comments and suggestions for a show… just send us an email to Growing Trends
Ann and I interviewed John Stanley recently about his new book, he jointly wrote with his wife Linda, aptly named – Food Tourism – A Practical Marketing Guide.
The fastest growth in tourism today is the culinary sector.
Listen to John as he explains the overall direction of food tourism, including how he sees future development.
A few snip bits:
25% of the food we buy comes from 2% of the farmland around our cities, which is being swallowed up by development.
Farmers used to make 38 cents on every dollar now its down to an average of just 6 cents
Eating local seasonal food saves you around 25%, and is actually healthier for you!
Our interview this week is with Bill Sosinsky and Joe Ravet, it’s all about the amazing properties of algae and the work being done today that could transform many areas of our lives. This fascinating interview is in two parts, with the second part coming next week.
Algae has some fascinating uses :-
As an Energy Source – a 737 plane flew from Houston to Chicago on fuel derived from algae, way back in 2011
As a Fertilizer – from as long ago as the 16th century, seaweed has been used a fertilizer.
As a source of Nutrition – China has been consuming Algae for over 2000 years, they harvest over 70 species as does Japan, Ireland, Chile, Wales, Korea, California, New Zealand, Hawaii, Scotland, Greenland and Iceland to name a few. It was an ingredient in Aztec foods.
Oils obtained from some algae have high levels of unsaturated fatty acids, others essential omega 3 fatty acids.
As a Pollution control – treating sewage with algae, reducing the use of toxic chemicals that would be used. They can absorb fertilizer run off from fields. Aquariums can be filtered by algae
As a Pigment – alternative to chemical dyes
As a Medicine – helping fight malnutrition, immune health, reducing cholesterol
Amazingly there could be more than 72000 algae species worldwide.
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