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Emerging research indicates that a 10% increase in urban tree cover would completely neutralise the impact of global warming on UK cities. This simple correlation is signalling a new strategic focus to ensure that, wherever possible all large trees will be conserved and planning and design measures will be in place to increase the success rate of growing big trees with big canopies. It is estimated that up to 20% of the UK’s tree canopy has been lost over the past 30 years. Add to this the high rate of failure of newly planted trees and the industry now has to look towards more efficient tree planting techniques and maintenance to ensure the successful re-establishment of Britain’s tree canopy. The most common factors contributing to the failure of newly planted trees is lack of adequate soil volume, and poor-quality soil due to heavy compaction and grading. Below: M3 trench studied over a 25 year period. Year 12 Year 16 Year 25 A solution that has been developed in the United States by DeepRoot Partners is the use of Silva Cells below pavements and roads in developed areas. The pre-engineered modular system uses columns and beams to create a post and beam structure that supports a deck. The space within the system is available for low compacted, absorbent soil, rainwater treatment and tree roots. Made from an ultra high-strength compound of polypropylene and glass, the Silva Cell modular system can contain unlimited amounts of soil beneath hardscapes while supporting traffic loads. The healthy soil housed within the Silva Cell facilitates the growth of larger trees and simultaneously treats stormwater on-site, reducing the pollution, flooding and erosion associated with ordinary rainfall events. Since its introduction the pioneering DeepRoot Silva Cell system has become globally recognised as a solution for sustainable urban development, bringing the environmental utility of the forest to the city. The Silva Cell is the first product in the DeepRoot range to be supplied through Geosynthetics Ltd in the UK. “ This is an exciting opportunity for both Geosynthetics and DeepRoot. DeepRoot Silva Cell is a major success in the USA and Canada and we anticipate that our Tree Professionals and Landscape Architects will be encouraged by the huge benefits associated with the system.” Roy Partington, Divisional Manager, Geosynthetics Ltd Download Brochure

    2008 marks the third year running that Geosynthetics have sponsored the BALI World Landscape Skills Competition. The aim of Skills Challenge is to raise standards in vocational education and training by encouraging students and apprentices to strive for excellence and benchmark themselves against the best in the country. Organised by the British Association of Landscape Industries ' BALI' on behalf of UK Skills, the final took place at the Institute of Groundsmanship’s exhibition, SALTEX, held at Windsor Racecourse in September. Four teams of two from Chichester College, Craven College, Moulton College and Otley College battled it out to create identical 7m x 7m gardens, demonstrating the range of skills required of today’s landscapers. 15,000 + visitors attend this major annual event and many took time to watch the competition and cheer on the teams. Lord Michael Heseltine CH, also visited the competition and took time to talk to the Competition’s Technical Director, Peter Killen, and Project Manager Angela Radley. A keen horticulturist himself, Lord Heseltine was extremely interested to see the young landscapers working well under pressure and producing very creditable work. The young people involved, aged between 17 and 25, had all competed with their teams in qualifying heats, which began in May this year. The teams in the IOG SALTEX final battled hard over four days to each build a technically challenging garden, designed by multi Chelsea Gold Medal winning designer Andy Sturgeon of Andy Sturgeon Garden Design. Andy’s design for the advanced competition final had a North American/Canadian feel with a small decked area constructed around a planted tree and partially over a formal pool. In addition to turfing and soft planting, competitors had to construct bespoke fencing and an unusual seat faced with cobbles. The success of the WorldSkills UK Landscape Gardening competition final each year is the result of stringent judging by a panel of acknowledged experts in their field. This year the judging panel comprised multi award-winning garden designer and landscape contractor, and recent TV personality, Mark Gregory, Managing Director of Landform Consultants Ltd; Mitch Westwood of Westwood Solutions, landscaping expert for the BBC Rogue Traders programme; and Nigel Ellis, industry expert and lecturer at Plumpton College who has been involved with the WorldSkills competition for five years. WorldSkills judge Bjorn Gudmundson came across from Sweden to assist with the judging. Commenting on the winning teams’ performances, Competition Technical Director Peter Killen said: “ Andy Sturgeon’s design was very challenging, especially for the younger members of the teams. It was a privilege to witness the grit, determination and level of competence of these young landscapers. With two gold winning teams this year, we have an even bigger pool of talent from which to select the team for next year’s WorldSkills competition in Canada.” The winning teams were presented with their awards by Jonathan Swift, Chairman of main sponsors Lantra Awards, and BALI National Chairman, John Gillan. The full results are as follows: Joint 1st Place (Gold) – Chichester College (David Kelly and Matthew Smith – Tutor Mark Howard), and Otley College (Simon and William Gadd – Tutor Ken Higginbotham) 3rd Place (Bronze) – Craven College (Luke Denby and Andrew Brier – Tutor Michael Myers) Runners Up – Moulton College (Joe Postlethwaite and Tom Moore – Tutor Tim Walker)

Knowsley Business Park is situated on the outskirts of picturesque Knowsley Village, Merseyside and is home to a number of blue chip companies including CPD. CPD PLC needed to provide further car parking for the exclusive use of the employees and visitors of the businesses park. The land identified for this, adjacent to the business park is surrounded by well established mature trees of many different species. Providing new parking and access areas around these trees could have caused severe damage to the tree root structure, resulting in possible loss of the trees. Recognising that trees provide a number of important functions including: temperature control, environmental aesthetics, the retention of airborne contamination, provide habitat for wildlife and regulates stormwater run off. The protection of our existing tree stock is a vital element of environmental protection of our towns and cities. The main design requirements from the design team was to provide a system that helped to dissipate vehicular loadings from over compacting the sub soil and to provide a fully sustainable drainage system that dealt with stormwater at source. Geosynthetics solved this problem by proposing the use of a combination of our landscaping products. The Cellweb Tree Root Protection System; infilled with a clean angular stone, was used to provide a stable platform and reduce the compaction of the sub soils from loadings applied by the car park traffic. The Cellweb system is a no dig solution and is simply installed over the Fibertex F4M Geotextile which is placed over existing top soil. The clean stone infill and side wall perforations of the Cellweb promote vertical and lateral drainage and aeration to the tree roots. The surfacing needed to be a fully porous system, to remove the surface water runoff immediately, reducing flood risk and also the need for expensive sub surface drainage systems. The client CPD Plc selected TurfPave recycled plastic paving system as the preferred solution. TurPave is a plastic grid type unit that can be filled with either grass or gravel to provide an attractive alternative to hard landscaping and surfacing products. The TurfPave was laid over the Cellweb and infilled with a decorative gravel. This provided an aesthetically pleasing finish to the car park and more importantly a fully porous paving system that allows stormwater to drain through the system immediately. Providing much needed nutrients to the surrounding trees. The total area amounted to approx 2700m² and was installed very efficiently, with limited plant and machinery required to carry out the installation. Once again Geosynthetics were able to offer a solution tailored to the clients needs that was environmentally friendly, robust, attractive and cost effective. For more information on any of Geosynthetics products and services contact 01455 617139 or email sales@geosyn.co.uk