Founded in 2008. The Landscape Juice Network (LJN) is the largest and fastest growing professional landscaping and horticultural association in the United Kingdom.
LJN's professional business forum is unrivalled and open to anyone within within the UK landscape industry
LJN's Business Objectives Group (BOG) is for any Pro serious about building their business.
For the researching visitor there's a wealth of landscaping ideas, garden design ideas, lawn advice tips and advice about garden maintenance.
Replies
I think you are probably right Gary, but could it be a sink or swim situation? Out of all the start ups, how many are still going after 10 years - 50%, 25%, 15%?? Virtually all those who survive, seem to thrive and be inundated with work and maybe lack the motivation/time to chase the objectives you mention. It doesnt stop us moaning about them tho!!
Looking at your 'list', the biggest threat to all landscapers are the 'other trades' trampling on our ground. eg builders 'whacking' some block paving down, ruining a patio with shoddy laying and pointing, erecting a fence with the bottom 3" buried in the ground and of course the builders favourite - turf laying - after all 'anyone can lay a bit of turf - what do you mean, preparation'?!!. When I started out, builders would hand all paving/fencing/ turfing/planting etc over to 'the landscaper' - those were the days!!
Looking in, it doesn't seem that apathetic to me and its all too easy to dismiss the readership of the LJN, online and I not sure how it is with printed matter, but it is clearly evident that issues raised on the network get 'picked up' by others. I would say that the disenfranchisement of the wider industry suits too many people including those that purport to speak on the industry's behalf but in reality profit from the disenfranchisement - the accreditation groups are as guilty of this as the media. But this is nothing new and has been brewing since WWI and then made worse by WWII when a huge bank of professional gardeners disappeared off to fight the war. As such the future for the LJN and more is ascertained as the nonsense touted by others gets more and more ridiculous. There is also a factor where egos can run amok, with excuse because they have had to to work independently for so long - but this can equal good and progressive debate.
My comments were not in any way meant to dismiss the readership of LJN, for as we know they have a lot to say ;-) It was meant also to question the wider landscape 'industry'.
However, I feel we are at or near crtical mass and have a voice that is being heard in various places.
This 'voice' has the ability to be very, very powerful if directed in the right way.
I want to see that progress to benefit all those active on LJN and those that reference the site - whether members or not.
In essesence for LJN to become the defacto landscape industry site...............
Your electrician friend might be right, but he has an ace up his sleeve. I can't get any electrical work done on my house without using a qualified and registered electrician. If I do it myself, or go for an unqualified bloke doing a cash-in-hand deal, I can't get building regs, and will have trouble selling the house. Corgi-registered plumbers the same, and every "trade" from dentists to solicitors have to carry insurance, be qualified etc. in order to work.
We have no such recognition as a "trade". There are a few laws that we need to adhere to, such as waste trasfer licences or spraying certificates, but let's be honest here; your client isn't going to have to prove to anyone that the bloke who did his drive, cut his lawn or weed-killed his patio, was qualified. Until the trade is given a proper level of respect in law, we are on our own when competing with everything we all deal with every day, from stupid legislation to rogue traders.
Not much of an answer, but I think the only way thing will change is through massive lobbying. You need a large trade organisation to do that, such as Corgie, and we just don't have that in our industry. That's why most of my work is commercial, where the client requires at least insurance before I can work for them. How you persuade domestic clients to do the same I don't know.
I guess that's the attitude; we are just idiots doing a job anyone could do. There's no need to know what you're doing? I can spray dangerous chemicals around without regard to your children? Use dangerous machinery on your property without being trained?
Plenty of people have been ripped off for thousands by poor landscape workers, just look at the "retaining wall" thread recently. I spent my summers at school helping an electrician and working in an electrical suppliers, so can happily rewire a socket, but it's illegal for me to do so. Why should we not be valued as a trade in the same way as electricians?
We won't be seen as "professionals" by the paying clients until we at least acknowledge that we're experts in our field ourselves. Don't sell yourself short. :-)
stephen Huxtable said:
I think there have already been big strides in our industry and I think LJN, directly or indirectly, have been the leaders of that change.
It's the first industry site (that I know of) that Marshalls ventured into and therefore became the first major company to interact directly through a dedicated industry site.
Landscape Juice (and latterly LJN) brought many worrying issues in our industry to the fore and either helped to change them directly of forced/pressured others into making changes.
It is pressure from LJN that has pushed the three associations into upping their game.
LJN wouldn't settle for drip irrigation and worked directly with the water companies and other parties to affect change...and we got it. I sincerely believe that without our intervention others would not have strived as they have to work harder.
Landscape Juice has created an industry show just three years after forming.
I think the peer-to-peer interaction on here isn't apathetic either.