Specification Focus: Landscaping: from drought to flood

The market for soft landscape installation remains relatively quiet, particularly for the larger, well-established firms that have their own nurseries. There are few major projects coming through the tender stage and what there vis has largely been secured by the smaller firms with low overheads. There are also fewer framework agreements around, although this may change as the construction economic cycle progresses and the current crop of regeneration schemes are completed.

Hard landscaping projects are more prevalent with the continuing trend towards pedestrianisation of city centre streets and the preference for low maintenance open areas.

Hot topics

Six months ago, the main concern in the industry was the drought and how widespread hosepipe bans were going to affect the industry. The low level of rainfall over the last three years has, however, now been reversed with some areas receiving a month's average rainfall in 24 hours during February and record rainfall experienced last month. The expectation is that the reservoirs and aquifer levels are now such that we should be able to get through the summer season without the need for bowsers and special measures.

Sustainability and climate change

While the industry has recognised the contribution that could be made on this subject with the more extreme requirements of green roofs or reed beds for foul sewage treatment, we are now starting to see the real implementation of sustainable measures. Most landscaping schemes on sizeable projects are expected to accommodate the ubiquitous grey water recycling arrangements of ponds or underground tanks, while pumps or ponds for low temperature heat recovery measures are increasingly common.

One immediate and obvious reaction on this subject has been a trend to specify plant material with a greater tolerance to extended dry summers followed by wet winters. The Mediterranean garden will become a more common feature of soft planting displays of the future.

Lead times and delivery

Last year, the coldest March since 1987 brought the unexpected bonus that bare root material could be planted for four weeks longer than normal. However, this year the mild temperatures of February and March have introduced a high risk factor in continuing to plant bare-rooted shrubs, particularly in potentially water-logged ground.

Container-grown material eliminates some of the risk, although it does carry a financial premium. Continental plant material is still readily available, although probably not at the excessive discounts of a year ago as surplus stock in the depressed German and Dutch economies was cleared.

UPM Tilhill has planted over 400 standard trees, 13,000 feather trees and 135ha of grass seeding along a 30km stretch of the M6 Toll.

WRAP examines sustainable specification

With the sustainability agenda well embedded across much of the public sector, many local authorities are now seeking out contractors that can help them deliver on their sustainable procurement commitments. The maintenance and construction of highways represents a valuable opportunity to make a difference in 'green' terms, as almost every highways application can utilise recycled and secondary materials, thereby reducing demand for primary resources and diverting material from landfill.

A wide scope

Roads are 100% recyclable and there is a wide range of recycled materials available for use, which are of a standard that meets the requirements set out in the Specification for Highways Works. These include aggregates for the asphalt and unbound layers of road pavement structure, engineering fills, pipe bedding, block paving and drainage media. These materials have excellent quality and performance properties that are fully comparable to their virgin material equivalents.

The introduction of new processing techniques is also resulting in the increasing production of higher quality recycled aggregates which are suitable for use in a number of high-value applications, such as concrete and asphalt. Additionally, materials such as plastic, glass cullet, and rubber, can all be used in a number of carriageway and non-carriageway products, while recycled wood chip and compost are excellent options for associated landscaping.

Measurable benefits

The benefits of utilising recycled materials - both financial and environmental - are considerable. The use of recycled materials for highways maintenance is often cost neutral and in many cases can deliver significant cost savings - helping to avoid charges such as Landfill Tax, waste disposal costs, and Aggregates Levy payments.

The use of recycled materials also presents an opportunity for contractors to reduce the time needed for maintenance works, as the processes associated with recycled materials can often improve upon traditional methods. For example, in-situ recycling can reduce maintenance time by nearly 50%. In addition to this, when the recovered materials have been produced in situ or pre-stored and therefore available locally, significant savings can be made on the cost of transporting aggregates and even easing traffic congestion through reduced lorry movements.

In environmental terms, the substitution of virgin materials with recycled equivalents will help to divert waste from landfill and contribute to a decrease in energy consumption. The use of these materials will not only help contractors to meet public sector sustainability requirements, but will also deliver real business benefits.

Lanscaping Costs

• Labour costs for landscape works increased by just over 3.33% last year.
• Our database suggests that overall cost of landscape type projects have increased by 2.25% in the past 12 months. However, this figure has some interesting components, with the soft planting only showing an increase of 1%, while hard pavings have shown increases of 3.5%.
• Where transport fuel showed a 20% rise in 2005, it experienced 2.5% fall in 2006.
• Sand and gravel continue to show real falls in costs, with a further 3.3% reduction last year following a 15% fall in 2005.
• Blockwork showed a 3.4% increase in 2006 reversing a 2% reduction in 2005.
• Bitumen and similar materials have experienced increases of circa 10% due to the continued rise in oil prices.