Hard choices

摘要

Paving, decking and sleepers are in demand for hard landscapes, but consumers wil always want a new approach. Have you noticed new housing estates are springing up all over the place? Nearly every town and village has some kind of development goingon -- and that has to be good news for landscapers. New estates mean opportunities for planting schemes on verges and roundabouts, design and construction of gardens around show homes, laying of drives and paths and turfing of front gardens. Later, as the estates become occupied, there will be more opportunities to create dream gardens for the new owners, who wish to match the original show home that so impressed them in the first place. Hard landscape features will, no doubt, continue to have a strongpresence in such schemes this year. But what kinds of features and what types of materials will be used? East Anglian firm Down to Earth Landscapes constructs gardens for some 24 to 26 show homes each year. Owner John Elkin admits that the budget is often the main criterion when it comes to cesigning and building such gardens, but the pressure to complete contracts means availability and delivery are also priorities in sourcing materials. For patios, Elkin has been using a lot of Bradstone textured buffor textured grey slabs with a red brick edging. Backing the patio with tuff highlights the colours. Decking remains popular. Product manager Fiona Bowyer at Shropshire-based Richard Burbidge decking systems, believes it's a market that will expand again