Tag: plant hire in London

Summer is the ideal season to complete a garden landscaping project, whether you have a modest plot or several acres on your hands. The term landscaping might bring to mind digging lakes and building terraces in the grounds of a stately home. However, it can simply mean making improvements to a regular garden to help you enjoy it at its best.

With the right tools and some forethought about what you want to achieve, it’s perfectly possible to change an uninspiring outdoor space into an attractive area that can be enjoyed for many years to come. Here are some tips to help you plan the perfect landscaping project.

Set out the big picture

You don’t have to stick to every detail in your plan, but it is important to set out a list of what you want to include in your garden, and have an idea about the layout. You might wish to employ the services of a professional garden designer, or have a go yourself.

If the garden is steeply sloped, you could decide to build steps or terrace to create level areas. This will make it much easier to install socialising spaces such as patios, and make the land easier to maintain and mow, and less prone to flooding or puddling on the lowest portion of garden.

Decide on the hardscaping

Consider which hardscaping features to include, such as patio or decking areas, walls and fences, steps and walkways, water features, and gazebos, sheds, and other structures. Sketch out on paper, or using a computer aided design programme, where you want to install the features.

This might be influenced by the position of the sun at various times of day, so that your patio is in the premium hotspot, for example. Take into account the effect that hardscaping will have on drainage, and make sure that you put extra measures in place to offset loss of vegetation.

The hardscaping of a garden can balance out and complement the vegetation of a garden. Some designers aim for a 50/50 split with hardscaping and greenery, but there are really no fixed rules. However, a garden with no stone, wood, gravel, or brick features at all can lack coherence, and feel incomplete. It will also be a huge chore to maintain!

Hardscaping is not just practical: there is such a wide range of materials available, that it can be used to create elements of design and decoration. Even traditional concrete slabs can now be bought in super smooth textures for a contemporary look, or pre-weathered, stamped, or stained to add interest and soften the harshness of plain concrete.

Natural stones are a more expensive option, but they will last a lifetime, and perfectly set off the planting. Again, they are available in a variety of finishes, from rustic and ridged textures, to a more polished and formal look. The general advice is the get the best you can afford, as in the long run, cheaper products can be false economy.

Get the planting right

Planting up a garden well means selecting plants that will survive and thrive in the local climate, soil type, and aspect of your garden. Of course, there is also a decorative aspect to planting, but simply choosing them for visual effect may lead to a lot of wasted time and money.

Include as many native species of trees, shrubs, and flowers, as you can, to encourage wildlife to your garden. Cultivated varieties rarely contain enough pollen to attract bees and other insects, which impacts on the biodiversity of the area.

Once you have worked out the technical aspects of which plants will grow best and where, consider the visual impact of the planting. Create vibrant colour contrasts in beds and borders, and think about adding variety with the texture, height, and size of each plant relative to the others.

Create different zones

It is important to think about the overall harmony of the garden, so that each zone leads to another without any abrupt contrasts. Patios or decking can be contrasted with taller planting and bright colours, and linked with natural stepping stones to lawned areas or water features.

It is becoming increasingly common to leave a section of the garden unstructured and unmown for much of the year, to encourage the growth of wildflowers, and attract birds, insects, and small mammals. Other eco-friendly measures, such as avoiding the use of fertilisers and pesticides, and using locally sourced materials, are now widely practiced.

If you are looking for plant hire in London, please talk to us today.

The name JCB is synonymous with plant equipment such as backhoe loaders, telescopic handlers, mini excavators and site dumpers, as well as larger tracked and wheeled vehicles. But where did the famous brand come from, and how did it develop its stock to include the essentials of any modern-day building site?

It all began in a small Uttoxeter garage in 1945, where the company’s founder, Joseph Cyril Bamford, built a tipping trailer with a £1 welding set. When someone bought it for £45 at the local market, the JCB empire that spans multiple continents was launched! Despite the huge expansion, it still remains a family run business today.

In 1953, the company designed one of the world’s first backhoe loaders. This is a vehicle based on an agricultural tractor, with a two-part hydraulic articulated arm and digging bucket attached to the rear end, and a shovel or bucket fitted at the front. It is usually a smaller vehicle that is widely used in urban engineering and construction projects.

The versatility of the backhoe loader means that it is one of the most popular construction site vehicles, used by both commercial building and engineering companies, and private landowners for small to medium sized projects.

They can be used to carry building materials, as well as for digging and excavation works. Other purposes include breaking asphalt, paving, and grappling, and as a power source for other equipment. They are most commonly referred to as simply a “JCB” in the UK, although of course, other manufacturers, such as Bobcat and Caterpillar Inc., also produce versions.

In the 1960s, JCB launched its first crawler excavator. This is a tracked earthmoving machine, that can be used for digging and loading, and is capable of supporting a variety of attachments. The tank-like rotating tracks mean that it is better at tackling steep or uneven terrain than a wheeled vehicle, and it is more stable.

Crawler excavators are available to hire or buy in a range of sizes, from mini, weighing around 1.5 tonnes, to heavy duty 8 tonne machines. Which size you need depends on how manoeuvrable you need the equipment to be. They all have in common a hydraulic two-part articulated arm, with a digging bucket and a rotating cab.

They are typically used for digging trenches, landscape grading, demolition, mining, and any heavy-duty work such as earth moving and the lifting and moving of large objects. They are often used on hilly sites, as they are more stable than a wheeled plant machine. Attachment can be used for breaking up rocks and concrete, and for shaking and sorting material.

In 1977, JCB launched one of its most popular machines, the telescopic handler. This is a multipurpose lifting and moving machine, often called a ‘telehandler’. They are a staple construction site tool, and are also commonly used in factories, warehouses, recycling plants, and farms.

A telehandler can be used for similar functions to a forklift truck, and it has an extendable boom that can be used to lift objects to and from heights, much like a small-scale crane. They are most often used for lifting, moving, and placing heavy loads, although they can be adapted to digging and earthworks, and are even used as snowploughs!

In the 1990s, JCB launched its famous 165 robot skid steer loader, which they claim is the world’s safest. These are usually a four-wheeled vehicle, that can be adapted to a wide range of demolition and clearing work.  Its main advantage is that it is light and compact, and can be used with a wide range of attachments.

The skid steer can have a bucket attachment for lifting and carrying. It can also be fitted with a ripper, tiller, or a trencher for excavation work. Furthermore, it can be used as a cement mixer, and for stump grinding and wood chipping. Various digging attachments mean that it is invaluable for both construction and agricultural sites.

Although JCB manufacture skid steers, the machine is most synonymous with the Bobcat brand, and people will often refer to them simply as ‘Bobcats.’ Because the machine is so versatile, it is often the most cost-effective choice for anyone looking for plant hire in London.

This one machine can carry out many of the tasks that larger and less fuel-efficient machinery is used for. It can be used on rough terrain, and it won’t damage the surface of more fragile terrain as much as a heavier plant machine. It can also be used indoors in many cases, such as in agricultural buildings, and warehouses.

Demand for skilled tradespeople in the UK is soaring, leading to an average weekly pay of over £1,000 in some areas. Construction News reports that self-employed construction workers in London, the South East, and the East Midlands are enjoying the biggest weekly wage increases.

Meanwhile, across the whole of the UK, average weekly earnings have hit an all-time high of £959. The figures were supplied by payroll service provider Hudson Contract.

Managing director Ian Anfield told the publication: “It has been a mild start to the year and demand on sites remains high for skilled tradespeople. We have had a busy month for entering new contracts and we are seeing anecdotal evidence of more Europeans returning to the UK labour market.”

He added: “While there are still huge issues around inflation, fuel and materials, which can only be made worse by the war in Ukraine, the construction industry is still running at full capacity. There is still huge pent-up demand for housing in the UK and there is still a shortage of skilled workers. Our clients are flat-out, with full order books.”

Building UK reports that all trades across London are taking in an average of £1,000 per week, and plumbers and electricians are earning over £1,100 per week on average. Demolition and wrecking services are also in high demand at the moment, with the average weekly pay rising by 8.1% to £938 a week.

The North-east has seen wage inflation of 15.1% during February, while Yorkshire and Humber also saw a big increase of 14.7%. Only Wales has suffered a decrease in average weekly earnings, down by 5.1% in February.

Vacancies in the construction sector remain high, as the demand for skilled workers continues to outstrip supply. New Civil Engineer reports that a combination of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic have impacted the recruitment process. Trades such as construction, engineering, and IT are affected the most, with 70% of employers struggling to fill vacancies.

The construction and engineering industries have been facing recruitment issues that date back before the pandemic, which can be attributed to an aging workforce. The active jobseeker’s market means that employees are able to easily switch jobs, which is further disrupting the development and training of staff.

Companies are being urged to tackle the problem by focusing on regular training and motivation techniques, to encourage staff retention. The engineering sector is keen to tackle the skills gap caused by increased digitisation, and is also making an effort to attract more women into the workforce.

Construction and engineering are careers that lend themselves to lifelong learning and development, as there are always plenty of new technical skills to learn. Soft skills, such as teamwork and building a positive company culture, are also being given a higher priority.

Employers are being encouraged to offer more flexibility of working hours and location, to acknowledge the challenging working conditions that the industry can sometimes present.

Dr Hilary Leevers, CEO of Engineering UK, told Prospects: ‘Ensuring that we have enough people with the right skills and experience is about bringing a greater number and greater diversity of young people into engineering.’

Dr Leevers added: ‘Engineering is a varied, stimulating and important career but we need to work harder than ever to ensure that it’s a career choice that’s accessible for the next generation of young people – not just for their own life chances but so we have a diverse and insightful workforce that enables the UK to thrive.’

Meanwhile, although wage inflation is good news for workers, soaring costs are continuing to have an impact on the construction sector. The materials shortage that was already a problem during 2021 has continued, especially for products such as steel, cement, and glass.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has further exacerbated the problem, as energy and fuel costs rise sharply. Construction News reports that the brunt of the impact is being felt by SMEs, who are locked into fixed-price contracts. This makes it difficult for them to absorb rising prices, as they are unable to pass them on to the customer.

The supply chains, which have still not fully recovered from the disruption caused by the pandemic, are being further impacted by the sanctions on Russia and the war in Ukraine. Prices for major commodities such as steel and cement have risen by as much as 10%, while the global supply of timber has also been severely disrupted.

If you are looking for plant hire in London, please talk to us today.

If ever there was a hotbed for plant hire in London, it is Canary Wharf. Ever since the 1980s the old Docklands area has been at the centre of extensive developments and these show no sign of stopping.

This has been proven yet again this week by the granting of planning permission for three new residential skyscrapers from Tower Hamlets Council, adding to the already Manhattanised cityscape. It will be built on the vacant plot at the eastern end of Canary Wharf, adjacent to Blackwall Basin Dock.

Devised by developer Urbanest and designed by architect Apt, the project will see three towers of 28, 36 and 48 storeys respectively being constructed at the site on Trafalgar Way. This will provide 672 beds for students at University College London, plus 80 flats for university key workers. It will be the tallest student accommodation development in northern Europe.

The buildings will also provide 41,000 sq ft of office space and a McDonalds Restaurant.

No contractor is in place yet, but work is still expected to begin during the first quarter of 2022, ensuring the area’s construction sector keeps on booming.

Among the notable features of the buildings will be a sky bridge connecting the two tallest towers around the tenth floor. It will also feature a number of exceptional sustainability elements, aiming for BREEAM Outstanding and Passivhaus certification. If this is successfully achieved, it will become the largest Passivhaus development in the whole of Europe.

The sustainability elements will also include local transport, with around 1,500 cycle spaces provided on the site. The plan includes enhanced integration of the public realm around the buildings with the local cycle network to provide better links with the local communities.

Urbanest director Anthony Mellalie was quoted by the East London Advertiser as saying: “This is an excellent location for students.”

He added: “It’s the largest sustainable student accommodation building globally and a massive undertaking to create the sort of place future generations want to live and work in.”

Of course, there is absolutely nothing new about tall buildings at Canary Wharf, which began with the original One Canada Square building in 1991, although it took on the “Canary Wharf” moniker on its own as the 770 ft tall edifice, at the time the tallest building in the UK, stood in spending isolation during the recession-hit early 1990s.

That changed in due course as the area gained a new status as a major financial centre, a location selected by HSBC for its world headquarters building, completed in 2002.  

All this was made possible by significant developments in transport to make the area more accessible for modern-day commuters from across the capital and beyond, compared with the dockers who lived and worked in the area in the past. 

As well as the Docklands Light Railway, which includes Canary Wharf station itself and adjacent stops at West India Quay, Heron Quays and South Quay, there is also the Canary Wharf station on the Jubilee line, part of an extension of this line into south and East London that was completed in 1999.

While the DLR links Canary Wharf to central London at Bank, the Jubilee Line provides connections to London Bridge, Waterloo and Stratford International stations, helping make access to Canary Wharf easier.

All this will be supplemented when Crossrail finally opens, with its own Canary Wharf Station, offering additional connections to Liverpool Street, Farringdon, Heathrow Airport and beyond London to Reading.

It is this transport connectivity that has enabled Canary Wharf to continue reaching skyward, as its original redevelopment as a centre of commercial activity in the 1990s and 2000s has been supplemented by a growing residential population. This latest development will continue that trend.

This is in line with the wider expectation that as London’s population soars past ten million in the years to come, it will be the east of the capital that takes up the bulk of the increase.

While some of that involves new suburban developments like the Barking Riverside project, Canary Wharf is clearly equipped to join other areas of high-density living in inner London as centres of continued growth.

There are still more Canary Wharf developments in the pipeline. North Quay, for example, is the Canary Wharf Group’s latest plan, with the scheme envisaging a 225 m (738 ft) tall tower at the site, as well as new green space and a bridge linking Canary Wharf with Poplar.

Past plans for this particular part of Canary Wharf have stalled in years past, but as more and more skyscrapers appear in the area, it will come as no surprise to see another major addition to the skyline in due course.