LJN Blog Posts

Comments

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  The Perfumed Garden December 19, 2009 at 10:38am

  Totally agree
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  Steven Callaghan December 19, 2009 at 11:34am

  A very interesting post. This is something we have already come up against with the show, the allegation from the eco Taliban being that by it's mere existence we are encouraging the covering of the country in high CO2 emission concrete paving, etc.. etc.
  
  On the flip side, the vision of you all cycling to the job towing a small trailer, cutting lawns with a scythe and doing all reshaping jobs with just a shovel does not come easily.
  
  It's something we want to feature a lot at the show as it's a fascinating debate - for example, the growth in gravel and grass stabilisation products have created far more hard surfacing options than when I was contracting in the paving business, the famous front garden drainage legislation and, of course, the cost implications to all of this which I suspect are at the heart of many decisions - will your customers pay you to do all trimming, cutting and digging without using any power tools?
  
  It would certainly do something to stimulate employment but one imagines the minimum wage would have to be reviewed PDQ?
  
  The feedback I get is the consensus view seems to be that often eco legislation is conceived in what might best be termed an economic vacuum - too often the practitioner feels totally remote from what he or she reads.
  
  Or maybe `i'm wrong?
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  Sustainable Land Management December 19, 2009 at 2:36pm

  Hi Steven, it is a truly huge issue, my own opinion is that by having a stronger 'hard landscaping'
  industry the sustainablity issues can be mitigated by ensuring that the relationship with the 'soft landscaping' remains strong. This parellel is vital to the industry and would be strengthened if hard landscaping backs off a little from the construction industry as a whole.
  
  I think the great 'greenwash' debate has been truly warped by politics and particularly the subsequent reporting by the media - for example: Planting a tree to offset CO2 - the UK government have allowed a position to develop where CO2 sequestration by way of planting can only be recognised through multi national trading. This has meant that the fact that if you planted your own CO2 offset it is not official and therefore doesn't seem to count. This is nonsense - plant 6 young trees a year to offset your vehicle's emmissions, (in your clients gardens or your own).
  
  The present state of the industry requires an industry based show, the PR drive of the last two decades has left a lot of the shows and media in a position where they have deliberately created an echelon to the industry which is both no longer relevant to the masses of smaller outfits, (the core of the profession), and truly unsustainable. With the new force that is the LJN together with the shows and media stepping in to replace the old traditionals that now appear to simply further polarise the whole issue there can now be a real showcasing of landscaping and its sustainable credentials.
  
  As such I believe the traditional industry media can now be very easily ignored by the average practitioner, it is simply been left behind and as such most of the legislation is also. There are now many smaller outfits discovering and sharing sustainable techniques, (the Rammed Earth blogs an example) and subsequently the legislation is also being pre empted by the practitioners in many cases from the simple fact that there was a void before.