Things to remember to do...

It's a busy time of year for landscape professionals, moving from late summer into autumn, so I thought I'd give you a quick reminder of a few things that you can take care of for your customer to ensure that their gardens look their best.

1. Drain down the irrigation system before the winter; the plants don't need the water. For tap-based systems, switch off the water supply, remove the controller, shake out the water and take it inside and let the water out of the filter unit.
2. Check garden lighting over properly; inspect cables and fittings for damage, check the lamps still work, check the switch still operates the lights and if it runs on a dusk sensor or timer, adjust this to suit the winter hours.
3. Consider whether the garden lighting system needs to be overhauled or added to, as the garden has evolved and developed over the years.
4. If your client hasn't got lighting then now is the time to install it so that they can look out onto their garden during the long winter months. They get a professional lighting systems and you do a bit more business with them, a win-win
5. Check pond pumps, clean out the filters and replace UV lamps if necessary.
6. Invest in an Oase PondoVac (or get each of you clients to) and you can remove the sludge and debris from the bottom of the pond.
7. Fit a pond cover net over water features for the next couple of months or until the leaves have fallen. That way, your clients water feature won't become clogged with leaves.

By being proactive and not waiting until something has gone wrong, these easy fixes help your client, save them money and help your business at the same time.

The world of lighting is changing

Halogen vs. LED, the choice is yours...

You may have noticed but over the last few years, garden lighting has changed beyond all recognition. Why? Because there is a new kid on the block – LED lighting.

Halogen lamps have been used in garden lighting for a number of years and they replaced, to a large extent, the old-fashioned mains voltage lighting such as the PAR38. It's true that there are other lamps around such as compact fluorescent and cold cathode but for this article, I’m focusing on the most important lamps in our industry, the ones that do the lions share of the work.

Anyone who has used halogen lamps will know that although it is a predictable light source, it is by no means perfect. For example, halogen lamps produce a tremendous amount of heat (so the light fittings can become very hot to touch), the lamp life is not great and running halogen lamps uses a lot of energy – just try multiplying the number of fittings in a garden by the wattage of the lamps and you’ll begin to understand the running costs.

More recently though, LED has come onto the market and it’s arrival seemed to counter all the issues of the halogen lamp ie LED lamps generate little heat, they have a very long lamp life and use a fraction of the energy to run. LED also has other benefits such as colour; any colour in the rainbow, which can either be held on a tone of your choice or, can colour change imperceptibly throughout the whole spectrum.

So, LED is the answer, yes?

Well not quite, until now there have been two problems with LED:

1.   As a new technology, manufacturers have been developing their own ranges of LED fittings, in isolation, which has led to confusion and product incompatibility issues between different manufacturers and sometimes even between ranges from the same manufacturer! The reason that this has occurred is that LED fittings must be correctly matched to the right driver (the electrical device that regulates the power to the fittings) for them to work and because the manufacturers had been doing their own thing, it had got to the stage where no one really knew which drivers would work with which fittings.At last though, this issue has now been resolved and by using the Standard Power LED driver or the High Power LED driver you can, to a large extent, mix and match your fittings without the risks of incompatibility.

2.     The other issue that has dogged LED lighting is that of understanding the light output of an LED lamp compared to that of the more familiar halogen fitting and it is this issue that has often discouraged Designers and Landscapers from taking the plunge and moving from halogen to LED. For example, when confronted with a 1w, 3w or even a 9w LED how might it compare with a 20w, 35w or 50w halogen, can I be certain of the light output and am I sure enough to recommend it to my client?

 Well to help you on your way, you can see the Landscapeplus.com lighting comparison images which will help you compare and contrast the different lamps that are available and give you a real sense of the light output you might expect.

So at long last, LED lighting, which everyone thinks of as simple and straightforward, is now just that, simple and straightforward. 

Trip the light fantastic

As we wave goodbye to what has been, in weather terms, an awful summer, we can begin to look forward to the autumn.

This summer has hit our industry particularly hard, what with the endless rain in early summer, the hosepipe ban, the effects of the Olympics in London and to some extent the gloomy European economics. 

The main issue though, is that because of the lack of nice sunny days, people simply haven't got out into their gardens and because of that sales have been lower for garden furniture, sun shades, plants etc.

However, in a weather sensitive and seasonal industry such as ours, we can reasonably expect a rubbish season once in a while so let's not dwell on it, let's instead look forward to what can be done to generate new business and finish the year on a high.

Autumn has always been the time to install garden lighting and it can be used in so many ways; to light an individual sculpture, to illuminate a pond or water feature, to silhouette architectural shapes, to build ambient light levels around a dining terrace or to create a dazzling night time landscape - the choices are endless.  

There are also many choices when it comes to what type of lighting to install; LED lighting, halogen lighting, aluminium, copper and stainless steel fittings, remote control, colour change LED, strip lighting etc - the list goes on.

Most importantly though when fitting a lighting system for a client, is to ensure every part of a lighting system is professional quality, durable and robust. Don't be tempted to buy cheap products because they will prove to be a false economy, they will fail and will damage your relationship with your customer.

At Landscapeplus, we source and test product that is suitable for a landscape professional to install in a garden. We ensure you can rely on every component including the switching, the cables, junction boxes, transformers and the light fittings. After all, there is no point in buying good quality light fittings if one of the components between the house and the light is inferior because it will fail (much sooner than you might imagine) and you will get called back by your frustrated customer.

That said, it doesn't mean you have to spend a fortune buying the most expensive light fittings, you can achieve fantastic effects with entry-level light fittings and then if you have a customer that wants to "go the extra mile" then you can offer them a range of lights to suit their budget.

So, why not have a chat with your customers and see if they would like lighting in their gardens, it's a fantastic opportunity to be creative and develop a new skill by lighting a garden imaginatively and spectacularly and it is certain that your customers will thank you afterwards.

Let's get trading

Recently we've all been enjoying the Olympics and getting a buzz out of the feelgood factor. That feelgood factor has, for a short period, taken our minds off the endlessly gloomy commentary dished out by the "I'm alright Jack" media.


The gloominess is not unfounded though it's just how its reported that I take issue with. After all we've all come through a difficult first half of 2012, what with recession, European worries, untrustworthy bankers, hosepipe ban, constant rain - need I go on. 


But the key to this is not the gloom and negatives, but is the fact that we are all still here and trading. So now is the time for everyone in the UK to do their bit and get the economy going. So lets all get out there and sell the vision of a new garden, encourage customers to buy, sell products to one another, build gardens, install irrigation systems, re-lay lawns, fit rainwater harvesting, try garden lighting, build a water feature etc. 


Now, more than ever, we need to help one another to re-build our economy because we certainly can't rely on the useless government or the greedy bankers to make it happen, they are just too busy looking after themselves.


I think we've all now realised that this recession is going to be long, tough and unpleasant but if everyone has a will and determination to make things better then they will get better, despite the government and the bankers. 


Nobody is going to solve the recession for us, we need to do it ourselves and the best way to do that is for everyone to get busy, designing, building, making, selling, repairing, exporting, maintaining and creating - that way we really can make a difference.

Why the hosepipe ban is a great opportunity for Landscapers

It won't have escaped your notice but, in a few days time, there is going to be a hosepipe ban in a number of regions around the UK, especially in the south-east.


Previously, a hosepipe ban would have been a disaster to anyone working in the landscape industry and during the last ban, in 2006, a lot of garden contractors and irrigation companies faced great hardship as a result of what was, pretty crude legislation at the time. Since then though, the legislation has been overhauled and the water companies have opened their eyes to the fact that professionally installed irrigation systems are the most efficient way to apply water to a garden, more efficient even than hand-watering.


So how can you "make hay while the sun shines?"

1. The reality is that in those ban regions, if anyone wants to water their garden (other than with a watering can), they have to use a proper irrigation system, controlled with a timer and fitted with a pressure reducer.*
2. And beyond that, the landscape industry including the HTA and BALI are still lobbying the government and the water companies to allow professional landscapers to use hosepipes to irrigate their customers gardens, as part of their usual works. Watch this space for any updates...

So what next?

It is simple and quick to install new drip-line irrigation systems or convert existing systems to drip and Landscapeplus is here to provide you with products and guidance. You install the system and your customers' gardens thrive - happy days...

1. Use a "Plumb Your Garden Kit"** to fit a number of standpipes around your customers' gardens.
2. Use a "Control Pack (with pressure reducer)"** on each tap.
3. Install "Key Planting Kits"** to quickly and easily irrigate individual plants.
4. Or, run "Claber Dripper Tube Kits"** or "Techline In-Line Drip Pipe Kits"** to irrigate larger borders and beds.
5. Lastly, mulch over the whole lot to conserve water, to improve the aesthetics and to provide an extra service for your customers.

Every cloud[less sky] has a silver lining eh...

* Check with your individual water supplier

** The prices on the links are retail prices, trade discounts will apply on qualification

Don't listen...

All we hear on the TV and radio is gloom and doom. The BBC in particular seem to revel in amplifying the misery, presumably secure in their jobs, warm in their offices and comforted by their big fat expense accounts. If it's not fear of global depression, it's Euro implosion, UK recession, inflation, the environment or unemployment - I could go on...

Then, to cap it all, I woke up yesterday to the news that it was "blue Monday" the most depressing day of the year apparently. In fact it was so depressing that they re-named it "red Monday". I don't know why they think "Red Monday" is more depressing than "Blue Monday" but that was what they decided.


Surely, enough is enough.


Yes, there is not doubt that we are in a difficult economic position, probably the worst we will ever have to face. Yes, people are feeling the pinch and a lot of poor souls are losing their jobs and I have nothing but sympathy for their plight. But the best way to get the unemployed back into work and to help the economy recover is to encourage confidence and to get companies trading again. 

I can't do anything about the global economy or the problems in Europe, I can't do anything about inflation or fears of recession and I can't do much about unemployment and the environment. What I can affect though, is our business and our customers. If we focus on helping our customers grow their businesses then they will gain confidence and we know that confidence is contagious. 


If everyone believes that the economy will recover, then it will recover and conversely if everyone constantly listens to the BBC delighting in the misery then nothing will change.


You reap what you sow in life and I suggest that everyone limits their exposure to bad news and focuses on succeses, both small and large. Success breeds success and that's the only way we can improve things. 


But then what will the BBC have to report on?

New business

Over time things change, people change and business certainly changes.


I have noticed that in these current chastened, economic times and during the period of the recent recession business behaviour has certainly begun to change. 


People began to recognise, value and respect relationships much more. Gone is the brashness and ugly attitudes of the 1990s and the self-satisfied smugness of the first decade of this century and I for one, am delighted. But why might this the case? 


Perhaps it is a case of safety in numbers or perhaps it is the realisation that when times are hard, you need people around you, people you can trust. 

Call me old fashioned, but I have always tried to conduct business with a view to the long-term, even sometimes at the expense of short-term profit. I have always had the view that if you consistently try to run your business in a fair, honest and decent way then one should see the benefits over time. Anyone can screw someone over, sell them something they don't need or encourage them to over-stock but it takes courage and confidence to say "No, don't buy that, it's not what you need."


At Landscapeplus, we have always stuck to the same mantra: 

Best Trade Prices, Professional Product, Direct To You. 

It is the basis of the relationship with our customers. We constantly work, on their behalf, to provide them with the right product, at the right price, when they need it ie. we always try to do our best for our customers, so that they can do their best for their customers.

We are also finding that the relationships that we have developed over the years with our suppliers are bearing fruit and are mutually supportive. So much so that now, when everyone knows the value of a pound and is watching every penny, we can (with the support of our suppliers) offer fantastic deals to our customers. A good example of this is that we are currently running a special promotion of Firestone PondGard pond liner until the end of October. In addition to that we will also be hosting a series of FREE one-day Workshops around the country, for our customers to come and learn the skills of pond liner installation.  


In a difficult economy, it is all about looking after your customers and offering real value for money and to my mind, these opportunities would not occur without the trust and certainty of knowing and valuing not only your customers but your suppliers too.