Our environmental commitment
A garden has incredible potential to increase biodiversity, capture carbon, cool our urban areas and give us a vital connection to nature.
At the same time, many well-established methods and materials can cause significant harm to the environment, generating waste, extracting irreplaceable virgin materials, and increasing emissions.
In a world increasingly feeling the devastating effects of climate change, we know we must choose more sustainable options to reduce our impact on the planet.
Our approach
When designing gardens and specifying methods and materials, we always aim to use the most sustainable available to us and our budgets.
We’re always learning and looking for creative and practical ways to approach our designs and collaborate on their builds, so our gardens cause the least amount of harm to the land and the life it supports.
We do this while balancing our clients’ practical needs and wishes, encouraging environmentally-positive choices throughout the design process.
What we do
We aim to speed up our gardens becoming carbon neutral. Wherever possible we:
use permeable materials
reuse, recycle, repurpose or rehome materials to reduce waste
source recycled, second hand and local materials and products
source plants grown locally, in peat-free media
choose plants suited to your site’s conditions
plant more trees
keep the amount of hard landscaping and lawn to a minimum
work with existing contours of the land over extensive terracing
capture and divert rainwater over installing artificial irrigation systems
plant in layers to provide a wide range of habitats
reduce the amount of exposed soil by covering planted areas with plants for as much of the year as possible
We also encourage our clients to:
include pollinator and wildlife-friendly planting
choose plants which return each year or self seed, instead of bedding plants
choose the best quality products and materials in budget, so they need replacing less often
use organic methods for controlling pests including attracting birds and wildlife
leave plants standing over winter
leave some areas less ‘managed’
install log piles and insect hotels
leave gaps in boundaries for wildlife corridors
Unless there are absolutely no reasonable alternatives available to us, we do not:
install or maintain artificial grass or plants
source plants grown or transported in media containing peat
use newly-extracted stone or stone sourced from overseas
We never:
use synthetic fertiliser
use synthetic pesticides
Supporting wider change
We also lend our support and experience to campaigns and consultations to reduce the horticultural industry’s impact on the planet.
We would love to hear from contractors and suppliers interested in working with us to improve our collective environmental impact.
We know with efforts like these across our industry, we can reduce and eventually reverse the amount of waste and environmental harm our industry can cause.
