HOW IS IT JUNE ALREADY!? - Commercial Landscaping Bristol & Bath

June has been a bit of a wash out with the weather, lots of rain and not feeling as summery as it should but it’s not stopped us! We’ve still managed to complete our biggest project to date, Bear Walk at The Wild Place Project is finally complete and Elmtree are happy to announce that the last support post has been installed! Marcus Bird, our Contracts Director says:

“The performance of all these guys over the last 9 months has been nothing short of amazing. I have been in this industry for the last 33 years and l have never seen anything like it. These guys have inspired me. How can we ever follow this? Wind, Rain, freezing temperatures, they just kept going! Financial issues, who cares, just keep pushing forward! Truly inspiring. All these years of hard work wondering what it’s all for. This project has completed me. Thank you all so much.”

It’s been one of our biggest success stories and we are incredibly proud of our lads for every bit of hard work they put into the project.

This month we submitted our entry for the BALI awards, this year we have entered two projects, Bear Walk and Paintworks and we are very excited. The selection of images that we picked was particularly challenging. We tried to submit images that showed a range of views, including the underneath structure detail, top, and distance shots showing the scale of the walkway.

We are extremely happy to submit entries into the BALI Awards again this year. Winning a BALI National Landscape Award promises to change the way businesses are perceived, such is the kudos and respect these industry awards command.

Every construction and design project is visited personally by an adjudicator, and scrutinised so it’s very exciting and we hold a lot of hope in our entries. Acknowledging and rewarding professional excellence are the key objectives of the BALI National Landscape Awards which is something we strive to achieve in all our endeavours.

June is also the month that many youngsters leave school and college which has given us the opportunity to advertise for apprentices in our Ground Maintenance division.

Although horticulture contributes around £6bn a year to the UK economy, a career in horticulture is barely mentioned by most careers teams in schools. There is, as a result, a skills shortage in Britain. Many people who work in horticulture found themselves there by accident. But we a passionate about times changing and for careers such as horticulture to be recognised as valuable contributions to the UK economy.Our apprenticeship scheme provides a perfect way to earn a wage while gaining vital work experience and a nationally recognised qualification. We already have one young man starting with us soon but if you are interested then we are still looking at applications so please get in touch with us.

In other June related news, June 21 was the longest day of the year, and the extra light and warmth encourages the garden to put on an exuberant burst of growth. But this extra light and warmth also means weeds will sprout up from seemingly nowhere. Keep on top of them by hoeing regularly in dry conditions.

Cooler temperatures and the right amount of rain will keep the garden look great. Here’s our list of recommended activities to keep your garden well maintained.

Garden Beds

Remove weeds regularly. It’s easier to spend a few minutes each day removing small weeds than letting them overgrow your beds.

Mulch beds to reduce weeds, conserve water and provide a neat top-dress.

Water as needed, particularly anything recently planted.

Set supports for floppy plants, vines and vegetables.

Finish planting summer annual flowers for season-long colours.

Plant summer bulbs such as cannas, gladiolas and dahlias.

Plant caladium and tuberous begonias in shady areas.

Consider adding a few container gardens, if you have areas that need a spot of colour.

Trees and Shrubs

Deadhead rhododendrons, azaleas and lilacs, once they’ve finished flowering.

Deadhead roses, as they finish blooming.

Fertilize roses after full bloom.

Prune any plants with dead, diseased, crossing or weak branches.

Prune hydrangea bushes, prune any dead branches protruding from new growth.

Prune your early spring-flowering shrubs to control their size.

Prune evergreens and evergreen hedges to control their size.

Lawn Care

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.

Now is also great time to plant some summer flowering bulbs like Gladiolus, Lilies, Calla Lilies, Cannas, Begonias, Freesia, Anemone, Ranunculus, Crocosmia or Dahlias.

Another thing to prolong your bloom is to remove any spent flowers. By doing this your plants should put out another flush of flowers for you and the pollinators to enjoy.

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.

Our message this month as we head into July: ‘Take time to enjoy the outdoors!’

Despite the recent weather, we are hopeful for a warmer, sunnier July. Particularly as we have our staff summer BBQ next weekend. Look out on our social media channels to see photos from the family fun day.