It looks like this is going to be a proper winter, the like of which we haven’t seen for the past few years. Thanks to modern materials and admixtures construction has been able to carry on virtually uninterrupted for the winters of 2006/7 and 2007/8, but the extreme cold weather in January 2009 froze the ground and then the snowfall has meant that site work was impossible for a couple of weeks. Fortunately we’d completed the last ‘active’ planting job of the year when it was still relatively mild in mid December and don’t have anyother scheduled until mid March, so our clients’ investment in their new plants has been protected.
We’ve had a couple of enquiries this year from people who have realised that the stationary housing market means that this is a great time to be thinking about adding ‘kerb appeal’ to a property by revising the front and back gardens. People who wait for the housing market to spring back into life before revising their gardens will be left with the choice of either spending a fortune on large mature specimen plants, or else having a freshly planted garden that looks a bit ‘gappy’. Dealing with the gardens now means that they will (probably) have the 2009 growing season to mature before the house goes onto the market, giving time for the garden to become a bit more established without any extra cost.
The practice is still busy – we’ve recently been instructed to start work on the second phase of a 1/3 acre private garden in Weybridge, we’re finishing the construction and planting of a front garden in Farnborough, tendering for a front & back garden scheme in Sandhurst, getting ready for planting at a 3/4 acre garden (in 5 acre grounds) in Rowledge and starting work on the detailed design of a 2 acre private garden in Runfold. Our new fixed price consultancy service has been attracting some interest as well.
