AUGUST BLOG

August has seen all of our new build sites progressing at a rapid pace. House builds are going well on our client sites and the ground maintenance teams have been actively working to keep show homes and communal areas on all our sites looking tidy and fresh.

Ground Maintenance teams have also been keeping busy, winning a considerable amount of new work in different types of sites from Industrial and Commercial to New Build and large private estates. The last two weeks of August have shown considerable rainfall, so grass and weeds were growing much quicker.

Our website is continuing to be updated, the social responsibility section was the latest page to be completed this month. Have a look over the new content and images if you haven’t already; https://www.elmtreegarden.co.uk/social-responsibility/

We have also been busy at Strawberry Gardens, a new care home in Yatton, throughout August. Strawberry Gardens provides much needed accommodation for local people over the age of 55. The development offers 60 two-bedroom apartments for affordable rent and shared ownership. Strawberry Gardens has been designed to promote independent living in a community setting, with a care team on-site 24/7 to deliver planned care packages if needed. We are excited to be able to now send our photographer to the site and get some images to show you all. Keep a lookout on our social media pages for further updates of the project and across our website too. For more information on the Carehome follow the link.

As August draws to a close we anticipate a much cooler month ahead and the start of late summer turns into Autumn. Throughout September we will see the rich autumn colours developing. Already there is a distinct chill in the air. One of the things we love most about Autumn is the crisp mornings and low sun and making the most of the warmth while we can!

While there’s not as much to do in the garden at this time of the year, fruit and vegetable patches will be developed and crops will be ripening now ready to harvest. Apples and pears in a particular flourish at this time.

Top Tips for September:

• Start cleaning autumn debris to prevent pest and diseases over winter
• Plant spring flowering bulbs
• Harvest the last of the courgettes and potatoes
• Plant out spring cabbages and sow winter lettuce
• Plant bulbs for colour at Christmas
• Dead head roses
• Rake lawn, aerate and apply autumn fertiliser
• Sow new lawns
• Reduce watering

Tips for sowing and planting outdoors during the month ahead:

• Sow a variety of winter lettuces in shallow drills and cover with clothes. Seeds will germinate quickly, when the seedlings are large enough to handle, thin them out to about 6 inches apart. Harvest from January onwards.
• Plant garlic: Autumn is the traditional time for planting garlic and it need a good period of cold weather to grow well too. To get good quality crops buy bulbs that are specially cultivated for planting. Plant in a sunny spot in well drained soil. Break each bulb into individual cloves and plant 3 inches apart. Ensure the tips of the cloves are just below soil level.
• Plant out autumn onion sets: The sooner these go in and get growing before winter sets in the better. Look for ‘Rader’ and ‘Swift’ varieties. Apply a general organic fertiliser to boost growth.

JULY UPDATE

July has been a fantastic month for us at Elmtree. We now only have 2 members of staff on Furlough out of 55, nearly back up to full strength. We have had work booked in on existing sites, as well as tendering for and winning new work. The outlook ahead is looking good and we are feeling confident that we will have a busy season in front of us.

The Ground Maintenance team is in full swing and as busy as ever. Stuart Hollingsworth, one of our managers has just come back from paternity leave as he and his partner Pippa have recently had a beautiful baby girl (a massive congratulations to you both!!). Dan Brown and John Leigh were working hard managing the ground maintenance side of things, with support from customer care manager Leigh Naden who is carrying out regular audits and site visits.

We have installed a one-way system for the lads to enable them to come safely in and out of the yard when loading the vans up in the morning and have also now taken delivery of our very own Elmtree branded face coverings for our team to wear.

This month we also completed a job at Juniper Homes in Lansdown, near Bath and planters at Fairfield school. Both sites are looking lovely and fresh.

Blackberry Hill Hospital, one of our sites for Vistry Partnerships was in the news this month. The new housing development will include 32 ‘flat-pack’ homes built by Modular housing company. The homes will form part of a wider regeneration project of the 21-acre site, which will include a total of 346 homes as well as retail and start-up business units, a community building and green spaces. Elmtree are delighted to be on board with this project delivering landscaping, whilst working with our client and other partners to help create an exciting new community within Bristol.

Click here for flat pack houses, bristol.

In other news: Some of you may know ‘Gaz’ Gary Atkinson who has worked at Elmtree for several years now as a fencing supervisor. He is well liked by all of the Clients he has come into contact with, whether it be Site Managers, Directors, and indeed other trades. He has a great sense of humour, infectious laugh and memorable Brummie accent

He has terminal cancer. His daughter very bravely had her beautiful golden locks shaved off to raise money for Bristol BRI Oncology Unit and to help towards a bucket list for Gaz.

Annaliza’s ponytail will also be donated to The Little Princess Trust to be made into wigs for children with cancer. We know that are many good fundraising causes at the moment but if you have any spare change then Annaliza, Konnie, Gaz and all of us at Elmtree would really appreciate it. There is still time to donate.

Click here for just giving

What about the next month? As always read our top tips for the August Garden:

August is traditionally a hot month and one of the main priorities is to make sure that the garden can cope with the summer heat. August also is traditionally the holiday month but with the restrictions in place due to Covid-19 the garden may well be the destination of choice this year. With this in mind here are some of our tips to keep you enjoy your gardens all month long.

Things to do:

• Continue deadheading and pruning activities.
• Feed and water all plants that need it regularly, avoiding the heat of the day watering early morning and at night when it is cooler
• Make sure that the birds have enough water too!
• Collect ripening seeds from plants that you wish to keep
• Water vegetables and fruits more frequently
• Prop up heavy laden fruit tree branches
• Last chance to plant wintering flowers such as colchicums
• Get ahead by planting spring bulbs
• Check plants every day so that you can pick when the fruits are at their best
• Don’t forget to be vigilant for pests and diseases
• Trim hedges, potentially their final trim towards the end of the month as they will not grow much after this.
• Continue to mow the lawn regularly
• Make a sowing of parsley to last throughout the winter
• Sow some salad crops – this is the last month for sowing salad crops outdoors, its worth a try although some might not mature. Crops such as lettuce, radish, salad onions and spinach will produce some fresh salad materials ready for early Autumn.

BACK TO WORK

Work has really picked up for us this month and we now have most of the Elmtree team back in work. It seems as time goes by that the Building Industry is gaining confidence and we are trying new ways of getting more people back on site. We even have some of our landscaping team working across the Grounds Maintenance department to assist during this busy period. We are of course taking all the extra precautions necessary to ensure safety including PPE, fogging vehicles and a maximum of 2 people per vehicle.

So what have we been busy with!? We have been planting lots of summer bedding on various client sales areas and replacing mangers and hanging baskets ensuring that the sites look vibrant. The grounds maintenance team are out every day ensuring all sites are well looked after, grass freshly cut and hedges and pruned to keep sites looking smart.

The sales area of a site we are working on at Blackberry Hill has also been upgraded and refreshed. We have selected a few photos for you to view here but keep your eyes peeled on our Facebook page to see the finished project.

images credits to Jack Fleming

As most of you will know, giving back is so important to us at Elmtree and as part of our social responsibility, we try to do what we can to help. We were able to join forces with a team of amazing partners and donated a selection of materials for the creation of a wellbeing garden for the University Hospitals Bristol – BRI. Staff and patients from dementia, stroke, cardiac and ICU wards will now be able to enjoy this tranquil garden, with peaceful and restorative views of nature around the winding path which is now wheelchair accessible.

Not only that but it is an exciting time for us at the moment with more work planned at BRI Hospital. We can’t reveal all just yet but watch out for further updates on our Facebook page.

The Wild Place Project reopened its doors on 19th June and they have introduced timed tickets and a strictly limited number of tickets each day to ensure the safety of all. Remember if you want to visit it is now essential to pre-book including Annual Pass Holders.

This month we also ran a competition for a bit of fun and for our way to show a bit of kindness by challenging our Facebook audience to “Beat The Boss” for a chance to receive a donation of up to £250 to a charity of their choice! The skipping challenged was lots of fun and we had a fantastic response with great entries. Thank you to all that took part. We were pleased to announce Lestyn our winner who managed a staggering 430 skips and a donation of £250 was made to MS Trust Charity on his behalf. If you don’t already, follow us on Facebook so you can take part in future competitions and see our regular updates. We have plenty more exciting things planned over the course of July and by following us on Facebook you will be the first to see all of our updates.

You can view the winner’s video in the comments here

As we end June and move into July here are our top tips for the month ahead.

July Top Tips for your garden:

The July garden will be looking great by now (in theory!) and the garden should reach its peak for the year during this month. Earlier sowed plants and vegetables will be flourishing. Although there is always plenty to be doing in the garden be sure to enjoy the long summer evenings.

Things to do:

Plant autumn flowering bulbs.

• Prune evergreens and evergreen hedges to control their size.
• Prune hydrangea bushes, prune any dead branches protruding from new growth.
• Prune any plants with dead, diseased, crossing or weak branches.
• Deadhead roses, as they finish blooming, fertilize roses after full bloom.
• Finish planting summer annual flowers for season-long colours. Consider adding a few container gardens, if you have areas that need a spot of colour.
• Set supports for floppy plants, vines and vegetables.
• Water as needed, particularly new and young plants.
• Mulch beds to reduce weeds, conserve water and provide a neat top-dress.
• Ensure birds have water in dry and hot spells.
• Remove weeds regularly. It’s easier to spend a few minutes each day removing small weeds than letting them overgrow your beds.

• Mow the lawn regularly and keep blades at a height of 2 ½” to 3 inches. To keep a lawn growing actively, it needs about one inch of water per week. Use a rain gauge to measure accurately. We often get asked how often should I cut my grass? Ideally, weekly is best. If you only cut fortnightly, it can allow some weed and coarser grasses to grow through. Weekly keeps the lawn finer and more free of weeds.
• It is not too late to direct sow some flowers like poppies, zinnias, marigolds, cosmos, sunflowers, or nasturtium. They all grow very fast and you will be enjoying flowers this summer.
• Harvest any home grown produce and use in delicious home cooked meals.

THE RETURN TO WORK

May was the month when we really started to return to work with all of our sites now open. There are lots of additional safety measures in place and we have created Risk Assessments to ensure staff are safe on site. We are all maintaining Social Distancing at work and are driving separate vehicles where possible. If we have to share a vehicle masks are worn at all times. Our team have also been reminded not to sit in a vehicle together during Lunch Break! Either they sit outside if it’s good weather maintaining 2m distancing or have their lunch at staggered times. We have also invested in a fogging machine, which fills the vehicle with disinfecting fog, this kills off any bacteria still left in the vehicles. We are following Government and BALI guidance on ensuring the workplace is safe for our staff.

Our Grounds Maintenance department are busy as ever and we even have the Landscaping division helping with grass cutting to help with the sudden influx of work.

We are currently pricing lots of different types of work and we are confident of having a busy summer and Autumn ahead. House sales seem to be going well on our Housebuilding client sites so at the moment the fallout from Lockdown is minimal, although time will tell. Build progress is slower, although fortunately with landscaping it is quite easy to maintain social distancing.

We are extremely excited to be back at work and looking forward to Elmtree continuing to deliver quality landscaping, maintenance and fencing with the best employees we have ever worked with.

As we move into June things really start to hit their peak. Boarders are looking perfect and summer vegetables and soft fruits are at their best.  Summer certainly feels like it’s here. We have had some fantastic sun and some brilliant weather to enjoy. It is the time of year where you can really enjoy being outside and seeing the fruits of your labour in your gardens.

Quick Summary of things to do in June:

• Weeding and deadheading
• Cut back and tidy perennials
• Water new and young plants often
• Take cuttings from pinks
• Plant out summer bedding plants
• Mow the lawn and trim edges regularly
• Keep fruit and veg well watered during the dry spell
• Plant any new plants before the summer really heats up
• Hoe bordered regularly to keep down weeds

Harvest lettuce, radish and other salads and early potatoes.

If you have planted any trees, shrubs or perennials in your garden this Spring, you should water it minimum twice a week to ensure the roots have sufficient water for growth and photosynthesis. If you fancy refreshing yourself on how plants grow (remember school science lessons?) have a look here https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zvrrd2p/articles/zn4sv9q

Deadheading, both annuals and perennials, is always worthwhile as the removal of spent flowers from the plant prolongs the flowering season. Plants produce flowers as part of their reproductive process from the flowers come to seed. Once the seed is set the cycle is complete and generally, a plant will reduce and eventually stop flowering. To keep plants flowering for as long as possible nip off the spent flowers.

June is planting time. Keep sowing and planting each fortnight until late in the season depending on the vegetable. Seed packets will give a guide for last planting dates but always adjust dates by your garden aspect. The South has a longer growing season than the North of England. Some veg grows more quickly and can be sown again late in the season, such as radish and lettuces others, for example, squash needs the whole season to come to fruit and are usually sown at the beginning of the year.

Don’t forget to keep an eye out for any Japanese Knotweed in your gardens. It’s fairly easily identifiable by the heart-shaped leaves and hollow stems, but if you’re not sure you can send us a photo and we will let you know if it looks like Knotweed!!

APRIL – ONE WE WON’T FORGET

April 2020 will certainly be one we don’t forget. It started out with congratulations and success for our most experienced landscape supervisor and plantsman, Graham Robbins.

April marked Grahams 25^th work Anniversary at Elmtree. We were unable to celebrate in the way we wanted with a bbq/meal so instead we dug out some old photos of Graham over the years and we thanked him on our social media pages. Don’t worry when it’s safe to do so we will be all getting together and marking the occasion ensuring that we can show Graham just how proud and privileged we are to have him on board with us at Elmtree.

There is a lot of uncertainly for everyone at the moment, however as a business we would like to assure you that surrounding the recent outbreak of Covid-19 our priority continues to be the well-being of our customers and employees, and we are committed to ensuring that our front line customer service operates in the safest way for us all. We would like to reassure customers that we are taking all necessary steps to follow the guidance given by the government and the world health organisation at this time.

We had a small number of staff returning to work.  Life at work will be a lot different for the foreseeable future. Social distancing will of course be a priority and we will continue to update our procedures as more information becomes available from the government.

During this time we have also been working on our webcopy. Ensuring that our web content is up to date and having a slight redesign. This is a project we are continuing to work on over the coming months but new content will be uploaded as and when its ready so keep checking back to see what you think.

We have been thinking a lot about our social responsibility as a company and it really does stem from the top at Elmtree. Managing Director Paul Lynch has registered as a NHS volunteer during the pandemic, ensuring his neighbourhood had extra support especially for those who were venerable. He’s enjoyed doing jobs for people that need it, such as shopping and collecting medication

We have also been keen to support local charities. A fundraiser appeal has been launched supporting Bristol Zoo Gardens, Wild Place Project and their conservation projects across the world.  As a charity they rely on the support and income from visitors to continue the valuable conservation works at home and overseas and now more than ever they need your support. Bristol Zoological Society are asking for donations to ensure they continue to thrive when they re-open. You can make donations to the Bristol Zoological Society Appeal by going to https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fund/covid19appeal. As you may be aware from previous works, we have links with Bristol Zoo Gardens and Wild Place Project so it was important to us to support this appeal.

As for the month ahead: Typically, May’s warmer weather makes gardening a lot easier and gardens are starting to look their best full of bright spring flowers and trees in full leaf. Although as I type this and look out my window all I can currently see is rain clouds!! We have been lucky with lovely sunny weather during the last few weeks and it’s easy to forget that April showers are to be expected! At least for a few more days!

While the weather ‘should’ really be warming up now, the nights can still be cold so you still watch out for late frosts by protecting tender plants.

MAD MARCH

FED UP OF THE WEATHER THIS FEBRUARY?

SEASONAL GROUND STAFF – ELMTREE GARDEN CONTRACTORS

Seasonal Ground Staff – Elmtree Garden Contractors

Supreme Winners at the ProLandscaper Business Awards 2019 & Multi BALI award winners Elmtree Garden Contractors are looking to appoint a number of seasonal grounds maintenance operatives and supervisors to join us covering sites throughout the south-west delivering exceptional service to our clients.

Experience in grounds maintenance including grass cutting and maintenance, weed control, hedge maintenance, hard surface cleaning and pruning is essential for operatives. A minimum of 3 years of experience & drivers license essential for supervisory roles.

We will provide full training and uniform. Guaranteed hours plus overtime on a fixed-term contract with competitive hourly rates.

Please email CVs to Sian.bannister@elmtreegarden.co.uk. The deadline for applications for this post is the 7th February with interviews expected to take place in February.

END OF MONTH BLOG – OCTOBER

We find ourselves at the end of another month, we can hardly believe there’s only two months left of the year! This month has flown by and we are really seeing the seasons changing. As autumn turns to winter, we can see the nights drawing in and urge to keep warm and cosy becomes greater, however there is still plenty to do in the garden and outside.

This month has been full of fantastic autumn colours, we have had a fantastic display of beautiful trees and lots of photo opportunities to highlight the stunning landscapes around us. With half term it’s been the perfect opportunity to get out and about and really take in the fresh autumn air.

So, let’s have a recap of the month; We started the month of October excited to have been awarded a new site, Cross Trees Park, in Shrivenham for Legal and General Homes. This is a fantastic contract and we are extremely excited to be working in partnership with Legal & General Homes, enabling sustainable communities in a carefully landscaped setting whilst ensuring the development integrates with the surrounding green areas.

On World Mental Health Day, we raised awareness with a video on our Facebook page from Manging Director Paul Lynch. We wanted to remind you that looking after your mental health is just as important as your physical health.

During October we updated our website to include a new section containing a portfolio case study of our work at Bear Walk. We also updated our blog as we wanted to highlight a fantastic project, we have been working on for Holly Hedge Animal Sanctuary and we added to our testimony page too after some feedback from one of our customers. If you haven’t already seen these changes have a browse of our website and see the updates for yourself.

We also purchased a ‘Motor Sherpa 940RC Ride On Mower’. A fantastic piece of equipment that is a huge benefits to our workforce, allowing us to cut grass on steeper slopes more safely and not having to work on steep banks with strimmer’s. Not only will this eliminate risk of injury, but it also reduces fatigue meaning more energy to carry out other tasks! Remember, if you have any steep banks that need cutting, we would be happy to provide a quotation or and discuss your requirements further.

As we roll into November, we see the leaves really dropping from the tress and the weather getting colder and wetter. The signs that winter is on its way. In November we begin to put the garden in order for winter. Clearing the last of the fallen leaves, planting tulips and composting the last remnants of summer from the borders. It is also a time to start afresh in the garden, review horticultural successes and failures, and plan for the next gardening year before our heads are filled with festive season.

Tender plants will need protecting from frost, gales and freezing rains so we suggest moving plants into the greenhouse, or into a sheltered spot, but if you can’t, it is worth wrapping plants or pots. Winter can be a tough time for birds in terms of water and food, so keep supplies well topped up.

Our Top Ten November Tips:

• Clear up fallen leaves
• Raise containers onto pot feet to prevent waterlogging
• Plant bulbs for spring display next year – tulips are our favourites! The ground should be cool enough but try to avoid planting after a heavy frost or in waterlogged areas of the garden.
• Plant out winter bedding
• Insulate outdoor containers from frost – bubble wrap works well!
• Prune roses to prevent wind-rock
• Put out bird food to encourage winter bird into the garden.
• Don’t forget about indoor plants; heating dries out the air in your home so keep house plants alive by misting them or placing the pots on a filled water tray to ensure adequate humidity and moisture.
• Clean your garden tools for winter storage as well as any empty pots that have been hanging around in the garden before storing them in the shed over winter.
• Pot up some prepared flowering bulbs for indoor colour and scent during the winter. Store the pots in a cool, dark place, until new growth emerges from the soil and then move them to a bright window. Hyacinths, amaryllis and narcissus are easy to grow.

HOLLY HEDGE ANIMAL SANCTUARY

Holly Hedge Animal Sanctuary, in Barrow Gurney is a local independent charity that rescues and rehomes unwanted, abandoned and often mistreated cats and dogs. First registered as a charity in 1982 it then opened its gates to animals in March 1992.

The aim and ethos at Holly Hedge is simple; to ‘Provide shelter from harm and the promise of a brighter future’ whist promoting responsible pet ownership.

Due to the growth of the Sanctuary there was a need for further car parking areas. Elmtree already had a good relationship with Holly Hedge as our Customer Care Manager, Leigh Naden has carried out works there previously (at no cost to help improve the grounds) so it seemed fitting that we were able to carry out the works needed to the car park.

The area that we worked on was originally part of a field behind a fence, made from stone. It was used as a temporary car park while construction works were being carried out. This meant that parking for visitors and staff became greatly reduced.

Elmtree we able to offer a solution whereby the temporary car park could be kept but returned to a green space. It was important that the area was grassed again, whilst still being able to drive vehicles on the car park without the risk of cars getting stuck! We carried out the works at cost as we did not want to make a profit on such a wonderful cause.

We levelled the surface, installed ground stabilisers, filled them with top soil and compacted them. We added general purpose grass seed allowing the area to germinate and grow. The plastic that can be seen allows the cars to have traction and to be able to drive on the area once the grass has grown.

This area will mean more space for volunteers and staff to park away from the main entrance and allow for visitors and people dropping off animals to be closer to the main entrance.

The feedback for this work has been fantastic with a few quotes:

“Looks great”

“Everyone very impressed with the job.”

“Everyone delighted. Thanks again.”

Holly Hedge currently receive no government funding and rely totally on the generosity of the public, business and volunteers. They are expanding the wild life conservation side so they can apply for government funding to look after more than just cats and dogs. The plan is to have a wild flower meadow for bees and butterflies, a pond for frogs and newts and they have already started on a bat folly.

We are currently in discussion about installing a culvert to a neighbouring field for expansion of the wildlife conservation project that is being developed. Holly hedge is a charity that we wholeheartedly support, and we will continue to work with on upcoming projects and maintenance.