Transformation from old to new

Gibbons Gardening can help you achieving your desires by transforming your garden. Often it can be difficult coming up with the ideas on how to improve your garden layout, but with our professional landscape design, fulfilling the most from your budget, whether it is a place to grow your plants, a children’s play area or simply a refurbishment or an update, Gibbons Gardening will find a solution.

Careful planning and attention to detail, ensures you maximize the potential of your space and a garden design can be something you don’t have to worry about.

If you are thinking of making alterations in the garden it doesn’t have to be on a big scale. Easy changes can be made to an established garden making a radical difference. Moving plants around and planting some new ones can create something eye catching. Maybe its a few pots or containers and hanging baskets you are after for the patio. A garden is about plants… in our mind the more plants the better the impact!

With some Gibbons Gardening vision you can transform your entrance to impress everyone. For example, this contract was recently taken over from the existing gardening contractors, and the entrance to this fantastic property looked drab and uninviting, so with some thought of colour schemes to suit the garden and some care, the entrance has been transformed to warm and inviting – see the difference.

 

It’s all about working with what you have and we have the design eye to turn your ideas into reality.

At Gibbons Gardening we are not all about new designs – maintenance is also a vital part of a design scheme. Finding which way the garden faces is the first concept we look at. Which parts are sunny and which are shady? Where does the sunrise and set? What is the ph of the soil? We need to know in order to decide which plants will thrive there.  How can we improve what is already established, plant, fixture or fitting?

All these factors are considered before committing the ideas to reality. Why not call us today to see what changes we can make

New Device to help Hedge Cutting

It’s that hedge cutting time of year again you should be looking for that end of year trim to clean up and prepare for winter. How many miles of hedge cutting have we done over the years? Answers on a postcard, but believe me its many!

A well cut hedge is visually rewarding but extremely hard work. The frequency that we need to trim your hedge depends on the type of hedge. Fast-growing species such as privet and some conifers, Leyland and Lawson cypress, for example, can receive necessary upright trimming two or three times in the spring / summer in a dense, formal effect.

Most conifers can be pruned in the spring / summer. This is also suitable for slow-growing evergreens such as holly and yew. More vigorous evergreens, such as field benefit from a trim in late spring. Summer Greens species are cut usually twice a year, first in winter while dormant again in midsummer.

All hedges need cutting a least once a year and some more frequently than others.  We all know a well maintained hedge gives definition and boundary to a garden but if left unchecked soon looses the shape and can look unsightly, so a good cut keeps your hedge under control and you will be pleased with your investment.

Many hedge plants will form very large trees or shrubs if they are not cut regularly. As a rule, they will react to the trimming of their vertical growth through the production of side shoots. Sometimes it is necessary to trim branches to bushy sideways growth, although the amount is also necessary vocation. It’s all part of the process of creating a well-formed and effective protection. Gibbons Gardening knows what we are talking about!

At Gibbons Gardening pride ourselves in our professionalism where safety is always a key factor.  We have just recently invested in a new innovation produced by Elephant Trunk to save the stress of arm and shoulder strain so we can cut your hedges all day long!!!

This device actually takes we weight of the cutter, thus allowing the operator to have more control, less fatigue and adds safety as you don’t have to strain against gravity.

Graham trying the Elephant Trunk

Over producing Fruit Trees

Careful Pruning of fruit trees increases the harvest

We are getting lots of calls from worried customers who have issues with their fruit trees being over-loaded with fruit – so much so that limbs are breaking off.

This year seems to have produced an abundance of fruit on most trees, mostly due to the early sunshine in June which produced bumper amounts of blossom, and the dry warm summer. This weather also produced and almost epidemic hatch of insects to pollinate this blossom.

This really highlights the problem of fruit trees which have not been pruned properly in the past. Unfortunately, there is not a lot which can be done at this time of the year – only to pick the fruit as soon it becomes ripe to minimise the risk of further damage, then get us in to prune your fruit trees over the late autumn and winter.

A well pruned fruit tree will actually produce more fruit of better quality in subsequent years. We have recently visited several properties where the only possible solution will be to cut down and remove some really lovely trees which have literally split in two – all the pruning in the world will not bring these back.

Fruit tree pruning is one of Gibbons Ground Maintenance’s specialities so why not call or drop an email to us so we can get your fruit trees under control and producing for many years to come.

Planning your landscaping project

Moving large trees is not easy

So you are thinking about landscaping your garden.

With programs like Ground Force, who transform a disaster area into a work of art in 2 days, inspiring people to attempt landscaping projects, it is worth mentioning that there are quite a few things to consider before taking such a step.

Firstly, not taking anything away from Alan Titchmarsh and the guys at Ground Force, it will take an enormous amount of planning, time, disruption and effort to get a garden landscaped. At Gibbons Gardening, we make sure you know the disruption that will happen and the potential mess – it is after all a major construction job.

Then of course there is the design.

What are you looking to achieve from this major work? It is vital to have a vision at the planning stage. At Gibbons Gardening, we really take time to discuss your objectives and goals, take a full brief and then commit effort to designing the effect you are looking to achieve. We will also offer advise on the concept as we have seen many different ideas over the years.

After this, we move into the planning stage. This is where Gibbons Gardening are highly skilled. Getting plant and machinery into the appropriate place and the right time is an art form in itself – more like a precision military manoeuvre than a landscaping project. If there are any major works or pieces of the overall design, like sculptures, features, pools and ponds etc, these need to be planned and delivered at the right time in the most appropriate manner, then positioned with extreme care – all taken in our stride as we have done this type of work many times before.

Buying mature trees that instantly change the perspective of the grounds can be problematic as trees are notoriously difficult to manoeuvre and are extremely fragile and also very heavy; however we do this very regularly and have lots of experience in this field.

 Also, choosing plants and shrubs that will provide the coverage and effect you are looking for is vital to the whole project. Making sure the plants cover the area, but not go wild and swamp the effect is very important. Consideration must be given to the ongoing maintenance of the area and making sure the colour scheme matches the idea.

The ultimate goal is to create you a very special, unique garden that you will enjoy for many years to come.

So whilst Alan and the team do a great job, don’t leave your landscaping project to chance – call in the experts and get the job done right from the start – after all you are living with this creation for years to come – call Gibbons Gardening now for a consultation.

Health and Safety is paramount

Using Risk Assesments is a major benefit

In this job, you have to get involved in all sorts of different things and have to have loads of skills. We are great believers in self development, training and safety (all important when you are constantly using power tools and heavy plant).

One of the most dangerous tools we use regularly is the chainsaw. For us, the use of chainsaws is restricted to those who are fully trained and competent. With increasing Health and Safety legislation and insurance companies looking to not pay out if there is an accident, it is important to get proper training – especially when using tools like chainsaws.

We have always had a very healthy respect for tools that can maim or kill you – chainsaws are not very forgiving and every accident is a nasty one. We always use Personal Protective Equipment (referred to as PPE) but it’s amazing how many people don’t.

When using dangerous equipment or entering into dangerous tasks we always do a risk assessment to ensure both the user’s safety and anybody else’s safety (or property) is not in question. It not worth taking that short cut – EVER!

This all probably sounds a little over kill, but we believe that if we identify and look for the possible issues via a risk assessment, we look at the project with different eyes, and so the risks are removed. Also, in the unlikely event of an accident, everybody is positioned to respond to the event correctly.

It still amazes me the number of so called professional Grounds Maintenance firms who do not follow the same procedures. For the time it takes to do and the benefits it brings to both us and the client, it makes no sense not to do it.

Whilst the cost to the business is high for ongoing training, the benefits to the staff and our clients is well worth it, both in terms of up skilling and personal development and of course staff morale.

Being Identified on site is vital

Graham Gibbons of Gibbons Ground Maintenance displaying the New Uniform

With the kind of work we do, it is important the businesses we provide service for know who we are when we are on site. There  really is loads of reasons for this, security, health and safety requirements, peace of mind for the business you are working for etc etc – but we think it is important for the image of our company and the image of the companies we work for.

We promote a real team ethos within the staff and pride in what they do – this reflects in the attitude towards the job, the care taken when working and pride in a job well done – this is fundamental to our ongoing success.

We have just upgraded our uniforms to make sure there is no question when we are on site – these range from polo shirts and fleeces to day-glo hi-vis smocks when working in potentially hazardous environments like roadsides or car parks etc.

The guys love the new gear – its easy to keep clean and hard wearing – also gives them a real sense of pride to be part of the Gibbons Ground Maintenance Team.

No mistaking Gibbons Ground Maintenance Staff on your site wearing this

There’s only one way to get rid of a mole….

 

Mole control is essential

…..according to Jasper Carrott anyway!

Suprisingly, Moles are very active during this time of year and so the sight of large mounds of earth are common place in most gardens – especially lawns.

Moles are really fascinating. Not much is really known about them but they are certainly on the increase and they cause a huge amount of damage to both agricultural land and gardens. Moles are solitary creatures and protect their territory viciously against all comers – even their own off-spring once the mother has evicted them. They can travel up to 300mts in a single day and are pretty much constantly on the move, hunting for earthworks, leather jackets and just about anything else they can find.

This is where the conflict arises. With such activity, they have to push the tunnel earth up somewhere. The biggest problems occur where there are lots of worms – you guessed it - a well cared for, fed and watered lawn!

Our armoury of treatments has been cut to basically two options – gassing or trapping. We used to be able to deal with moles very effectively and cheaply by the use of Strychnine laced worms which were placed in active runs – if applied following proven safety guidelines was far the most effective and safe way to control them. Today, we will either use Aluminium Sulphide gas tablets (a very strictly controlled substance that will only be supplied to fully trained professionals like us) or trapping using humane mole traps.

Now trapping is an art. Everybody has a go at it but most attempts are futile. We  have learnt over the years “the best” way to trap and the best traps to use, but there are many more factors which affect the success than you can imagine.  We get good results based on certain conditions and in many cases trap several moles in each trap (as one is caught, the constant search for food and territory from bordering moles is their downfall).

Gassing is very effective but again conditions must be perfect – everything from soil dampness to activate the gas down to depth of run etc will determine the success of each application.

We do have a fondness for these busy little creatures and do feel a little sad at having to wage war on them, after all we are destroying their habitat by building houses on every bit of land….but that’s progress!

Incidentally, going back to Jasper’s technique of shooting moles – it does work too! If you see a mole hill being produced and you have your trusty shotgun with you, shoot the mole hill as it’s moving and you will certainly kill the mole. The shock waves from the impact will kill it instantly – yes we have done this too before you ask!

Big Boys Toys

The absolute best part of our jobs is that we get to play on the best toys ever. This isn’t just me that thinks like this – ask any bloke – we love tractors, ride on mowers and best of all DIGGERS!

We use a whole variety of diggers from tiny 0.75 tonne ones which can go down a small gap at the side of a building no more that a metre wide to massive 7 tonne excavators that move absolutely tonnes of earth and rubble. Each one is different in operation and all have slightly different controls, but that is part of the challenge.

We do hire these machines from a variety of sources, but generally we only have them for a short period of time as they are highly efficient and getting things moved with them doesnt take much time at all.

Digger used to level area

We all take turns in using them, but I do the most – cant let the guys have all the good jobs now can I!

The picture shown is a small 1.5tonne machine on hire from A4 Hire in Hungerford, who also supply dumper trucks and a whole host of earth moving machines. This job involved moving and leveling an area in readiness to build a patio area.

Boxing Hares..whatever next!

Boxing Hares at the Watermill Theatre

Sometimes our clients just ask us to come up with something different and imaginative…so we do!

One of our regular maintenance clients, The Watermill Theatre in Newbury, have some amazing gardens and so wanted us to add a few features so when visitors come to walk around the grounds, they see things that reflect the nature of the operation.

So with this in mind, we have built a huge arm chair out of grass and earth – which people love to sit on 9its a nightmare to cut though!) and also we wanted something to draw attention so we created two six foot high boxing hares out of willow. As these living trees get bigger and grow thicker, they will become quite a spectacle.

We have done several other projects using willow and hazel, both being very flexible and allowing you to bend and twist them to suit.

One particular one is the “tunnel” where we have trained the hazel to actually create a shady tunnel about 100 meters long.

All these creative jobs makes the whole role more enjoyable and adds a unique feature to the grounds which always draw comment – we love to do them to see the reaction.

Hazel trained into an archway

The one hundred and first thing to do with Blu-Tac…

Ivy Fixed with Blu-Tac

If you have ever sat and wondered how many things you can do with Blu-Tac, firstly you need to get out more, but secondly here’s one I bet you didn’t think of.

We do get asked to do some weird and wonderful things for our clients, however this one did pose a few unique issues for us. Normally, we would be asked to remove Ivy from buildings as it does have a habit of taking over, however on this occasion, we were asked to put some on.

For a bit of background information, our client had some building work done and wished it to look in character with the rest of the buildings. The other buildings have  large amounts of Ivy which gives them character, so to have a brand new looking building without Ivy made it stand out like a sore thumb.

So what to do. Firstly, acquiring living Ivy that has at least 3 metre of growth is not the easiest thing to do. Then the problems get harder. How do you handle this type of beast? Well the truth is carefully!  As you can see, handling these plants is extremely difficult and it took the team a while to untangle and get to grips with it all.

How are we going to fix this?

Then comes the problem, how do you get this very flimsy plant to stand up and then how to attach it to the wall? I must admit, we did ponder this issue for some time but the “light bulb” moment came so I said “We could stick it up with Blu-Tac”.

After the guys stopped rolling around with laughter, I got some Blu-Tac out of the van and it worked perfectly!

We obviously had to fix climbing wires and retainers up afterwards, but without the Blu-Tac it would have been a nightmare.

I think you would agree that these simple ideas just make life interesting – I bet the original manufacturer’s would never have thought of this use – how about calling it Green-Tac!

Finally finished - Ivy stuck in place