Clearance, site landscaping and grounds maintenance
Project Overview
Situated to the north east of historic Exeter, the village of Pinhoe has a long history dating back over 1,000 years to the days of the famous Battle of Pinhoe between the Saxons and Vikings. Redrow’s housing development site ‘Saxon Brook’ is positioned close to what is believed to be the location of this battle.
Our involvement with the project started in February 2016 at the site clearance stage. To facilitate the infrastructure of the site a number of trees and hedgerows had to be removed. We then installed the public open space landscape and plot landscaping for newly built houses. Initially only contracted on Phase 1, we have since been involved in all aspects of the landscape installation, recently starting working on phase 4. As areas of public open space were completed, we were asked to carry out the grounds maintenance as well, which over the years has evolved into a large ongoing contract.
A rocky start
As the very first site landscaping works started, TBL wasn’t in the picture. Unfortunately, we weren’t successful in our initial quotation for the main works as it was originally awarded to another company. Luckily for Bengers, after 6 months of demanding landscaping, the other company was unable to produce the quality of work demanded by Redrow and the high capacity needed to meet the deadlines of a busy site. The costs of wasted time, and damage to the customer experience by conducting remedials, started to surge quickly. Tony Benger Landscaping was then asked to step in in early 2017 and quickly made its mark as the site started to improve aesthetically.
Eco-friendly green zones
Saxon Brook had a clear demand for a very knowledgeable landscaping team as there is a clear ecological determination to deliver eco-friendly zones throughout the public open space, with a particular bias towards the conservation of bees. The Bumblebee Conservation Trust played a large part in the specification of the wildflower mixes surrounding the large natural pond. The design provides strong and valuable habitat to bees and other pollinating species.
In addition to this, many of the trees we have planted in Phase 1 of the development are tied using natural hessian material. This was completed to reduce the amount of rubber and plastic used and to help fit in the with the eco friendly nature of the landscaping. Our older members of staff were really thrilled about it, having cut their teeth using hessian to tie trees they were more than happy to be teaching the younger generation of landscapers about tree planting without plastic.
Problem solving
One of the more unique challenges of the site landscaping was the requirement to plant trees on the small island in the centre of the large attenuation pond. This became more of an issue when we received the specification for these trees; 14-16 cm girth root balls normally weighting around 50-80kg. These can be a little cumbersome to move around at the best of times but getting them onto an island was something new. None of our customers’ requirements are ever a problem to Tony Benger Landscaping, on the contrary - we are skilled problem solvers taking pride in our work and the solutions we deliver, taking organisational burdens off our clients. The logistics of the tree planting was solved by using a small rowing boat to transport the trees one by one over to the island. During 30 years of landscaping experience, we can truly say this was a very unique and quite enjoyable challenge that will be remembered.
Saxon Brook has a prominent feature of many large and sweeping areas of Public Open Space, the majority of which was specified as either grass seed or bee friendly wildflower mix seed. In contrast to smaller landscaping firms, Tony Benger Landscaping thrives on large seeding projects of this nature. Therefore, Saxon Brook was the perfect project to really show off how quick and effective the transformation of large areas can be using our newest kit of ride-on seeders and small tractors for soil preparation works.
Public Open Space (POS) Maintenance
To maximise the benefits of the eco-friendly zones, provided by the special wildflower mix, the grass has to be cut at specific times of the year. The aim is to provide continuity of some standing flower and grass habitat throughout much of the season whilst also providing winter forage and warm cut grass habitats for the winter, so perfect timing is essential. Managing the nutrient content of wildflower areas, and therefore the competitive grass growth, is vital. Tony Benger Landscaping is well equipped and experienced at assessing the environmental needs and phasing the works to ecological management plans. On a regular basis, we liaise with ecologists and other environmental professionals as well as regularly undertaking training.
In terms of open space at Saxon Brook, our teams were able to effectively maintain this estate to the highest of standards. Large sprawling sites can often present challenges to smaller grounds maintenance teams, but not to TBL Our dedicated landscapers are experienced at maintaining large sites with lots of different areas each with their own individual requirements. To encourage ownership feeling, our maintenance works are distributed into weekly rounds for particular team leaders that get to really know their sites over time and go the extra mile paying attention to detail. An area-specific approach is a skill that our teams have gained through their long industry experience; it is now like a second nature.
Redrow Homes Managing Director Lee Hawker visited Saxon Brook Phase 3&4 in October 2020 and emailed TBL to share his appreciation: ‘I thought the landscaping looked excellent throughout. Pass on my thanks to the site team working on that job.’
Wonder if your housing development could benefit from working together with Bengers? Call us on 01404 831844 and select the Commercial Option. We will attentively listen to your commercial landscaping needs and take care of everything for you.