Liking the sustainability page on the LJN

I'm loving seeing the 'Sustainable Group' on LJN, for me it's a huge part of why I so enjoy the work that I do.For me, dry stone walling and Cornish hedging are fantastic methods of building boundary walls, retaining walls and garden features that look great but also are perfect habitats for all manner of insects, small mammals and beautiful fauna. With the many people joining this group, its great to see that other people are interested in ongoing environmental concerns, taking animal, plant and insect habitats as an example.A good example for me is a job that I was involved in at the end of last year. This job was to build a slate retaining wall of 35 metres by 1.4 metres, replacing the existing concrete block wall which had started to 'push out' and crack due to pressure from behind the wall from lack of suitable drainage. They had had quotes from various landscapers for the work, one of which included £1000 just to remove the existing concrete block wall, which would of course go straight to landfill. The way for me of working sustainably was to re-use the concrete blocks, smashing them out then using the pieces as backfill, thereby recycling the blocks and passing savings back to the customer to boot.Being lucky enough to live and work around Cornwall is a constant inspiration to my work. Its great to know that by building these walls and using sustainable hard landscaping methods, I am helping to work towards a sustainable environment.
Votes: 0
E-mail me when people leave their comments –

Comments

  • Great to read,

    It is always nice to see people that care about environment,
    I also tried to recycle materials on projects that I did and now try to offer recycled materials.There are not as nice as your dry stone walls but sure good for environment.

    Keep on going- you got it
    ofer
  • Thanks very much ofer, feedback is always good, especially when it is positive and like-minded!! Sounds like you have an interesting business yourself, really hope that your work is still going good in the present financial climate, keep up the good work with your recycling, I will endeavor to do the same!

    Si
  • Hi Si,
    I'm new to the site and halting on my way to peek at the Sustainable Group. Great way to repurpose the concrete blocks and win-win situation to boot. I'm not a landscaper but am involved in construction of sorts and try to repurpose materials wherever possible both for more sustainable use of resources in design and the time worn qualities....and the creative challenges it presents like you have just demonstrated. Alas I am working with too much concrete at the moment and need to explore other materials that will enable less use. I'm currently combining ashes from the forge and other reycled aggragetes and thinking about experimenting with more natural materials used in ancient traditional wall building including lime based mortars (not ideal) animal and plant products. Grateful for any tips and enjoyed your'e post.

    Helen
This reply was deleted.

You need to be a member of Landscape Juice Network to add comments!

Join Landscape Juice Network

Open forum activity

Aaron Bullus posted a discussion
Thought I'd sign up to this forum. And I hope I'm allowed to post stuff for sale on here as this will be a one off? I have for sale a tiny pro robot, it's not the new edition but it's the bigger one of the two. If anyone is interested then please…
3 hours ago
Aaron Bullus is now a member of Landscape Juice Network
3 hours ago
Intelligent Gardening replied to Marc Ollerenshaw's discussion Insurance
"NFU are very exensive but are very good when it comes to making a claim apparently... but hopefully never have to. I was looking for a combined policy to cover all insurances but according to my broker there isnt one so I end up paying a broker fee…"
yesterday
Amy is now a member of Landscape Juice Network
yesterday
Peter sellers replied to Duncan Neville's discussion Instant hedging
"Agree with you Graham, we have a client with a long run of Laurel which we only cut once a year mid june and have done for over 20 years, the client is fussy with a capital F ! It's a superb evergreen hedge which is bomb proof.
As to this so called…"
Wednesday
Graham Taylor replied to Duncan Neville's discussion Instant hedging
"Disagree there!  I maintain a site with a couple of of large laurel hedges and one cut in July suffices and keeps it looking nice.  Agree.... looks nasty immediately after cutting but quickly perks up so you don't notice the cut leaves.  Pretty much…"
Tuesday
Duncan Neville replied to Duncan Neville's discussion Instant hedging
"Thanks Tim"
Tuesday
Duncan Neville replied to Duncan Neville's discussion Instant hedging
"Wow,  that's impressive !  Thanks"
Tuesday
Duncan Neville replied to Duncan Neville's discussion Instant hedging
"That's pretty much my thinking, but I am seeing them more and more. Mostly at expensive new builds. Mostly people with very limited gardening experience wanting an immediate finished product. "
Tuesday
Kevin Harden replied to Duncan Neville's discussion Instant hedging
"Elveden Brochure Edition 3 (EMAIL).pdf
I hope this helps, if anyone has any hedging requirements, we are happy to help.
Regards,  Kev"
Tuesday
Brett Bouchard is now a member of Landscape Juice Network
Monday
Tim Bucknall replied to Duncan Neville's discussion Instant hedging
"Yes 5' actual instant shaped hedging is very expensive, but if that's what he wants he'll have to pay for it.  A good compromise is use individual plants- you could use 1.5m, but 1.8 or 2m plants would probably be bushier, and by trimming to height…"
Monday
Tim Bucknall replied to Duncan Neville's discussion Instant hedging
"He needs instant 5' hedge."
Monday
Kevin Harden updated their profile photo
Monday
Robbie posted a blog post
Sunday
Anthony Toop replied to Duncan Neville's discussion Instant hedging
"Agree, nothing worse than driving past a new Cherry Laurel hedge planted too close to boundaries or buildings, and thinking they'll regret that decision in a few years time!
If a client really wants Laurel, i atleast try to push them towards the…"
Nov 16
More…

Tiny robot rigby Taylor

Thought I'd sign up to this forum. And I hope I'm allowed to post stuff for sale on here as this will be a one off? I have for sale a tiny pro robot, it's not the new edition but it's the bigger one of the two. If anyone is interested then please…

Read more…
0 Replies
Views: 15