Stylish gardens shouldn’t cost the Earth…….
Our award winning environmental policy: At OutsideSpaces we care about the environment. We care about the local environment and larger world issues. We also believe that to get the best out of our gardens we often need a little help. Ideally this help will be in a natural form, helping nature help itself. By providing the right conditions and the right natural balance in a garden, nature very often takes care of itself. In fact watching nature at work is one of the many joys of a well-designed garden. So we try to recycle as much as possible, but not at the expense of good design. We will pass as much green waste as possible through our shredder and either put it in your own composting device or use it as a mulch on your own garden. We recycle on site as much as possible. This also reduces the cost of waste management. The stuff we can’t recycle is sent to a dedicated recycling centre. We even ensure our office waste is recycled! We are currently recycling between 85%-95% of all waste! This dedication has won us a ‘National Recycling Stars Gold Award’ 2 years running!
All new products used in your garden will be sourced locally when able, all timber comes from approved sustainable sources and all plants are sourced from well managed stocks. We try to use as few concrete and cement products as possible. We try not to add anything to your garden that is not there already or does not occur naturally with the right conditions. We try to re-use existing planting by either moving it to a suitable position, trimming and re-shaping, reinvigorating or dividing when ever possible. Soil improvement can be implemented by burying the old turf, new patios can be supported on hardcore from old patios and brick features.
Climate change means we have to look at the way we use our gardens in a different way. OutsideSpaces stay ahead of current trends and environmental issues and are able to incorporate new ideas into any design. From planting combinations that create an individual microclimate to rain and wastewater harvesting. By creating the natural balance in every garden we are sure we are safeguarding our environment and replacing some of the resources that have been striped away by intensive, modern house building.
By creating the natural balance in every garden we are sure we are safeguarding our environment and replacing some of the resources that have been striped away by intensive, modern housebuilding.
We think this is a 'realistic' environmetal policy - easily achieved and inexpensive.
A curious problem was posed to us a short while ago - a lady commented that her garden decking was infested with spiders. She didn't know why or where they came from or what to do about it. Although spiders have many benefits in a garden it's not nice when your patio looks like a scene from a weird horror movie! We did not visit this garden but the solution was obvious to us. Normally when one species in nature becomes to dominant it is usually due to an inbalance in the food chain. So in this case the absence of spiders natural preditors resulted in the spiders having a massive party in a garden where they felt safe. Apparently a complete lack of any planting had robbed the space of its natural eco-system which allowed the spiders to run freely. The solution? A varied range of plants to increase bio-diversity and eventually attracting birds back to dine on the growing spiders! This stuff actually works - it has done for millions of years.