Ancient and Veteran Trees
As well as providing unique and irreplaceable habitats ancient and veteran trees can pose significant constraints, when it comes to potential site development, and consequently should be identified at the earliest possible opportunity. The assessment process for Ancient and Veteran trees needs to acknowledge their unique key characteristics such as:…
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Don’t Believe the Lies About Climate Change
Lies - you ask? What lies? That Climate Change exists? No...that is not a lie, it most certainly does exist, and the science is as clear as it was for the need for a vaccine for the pandemic. There is no doubt it is happening and faster than we are…
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Get Wild about Play Design
Natural Play & Wild Play - play area schemes not only look better, enhance play value & inspire imagination, but they cost £30K less to build than traditional "Local Equipped Areas of Play." If, that is, they're designed to accord with Play England’s/ Scotland's national guidance “Design for Play” (2008),…
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Value Innovation
'Value Innovation' means better, faster & lower cost designs: Is your consultant value innovating? I believed I was a commercially aware Landscape Architect; after 30 years working for top house builders, but ‘you don’t know what you don’t know!’ Establishing OASIS Ltd - a Landscape Management co. (2010) means, I…
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April Chill Greta’s Bain
Is the April Chill Greta's Bain? It would be easy to think the contrast of this year's Pacific Oceanic La Nina induced April Chill would be a sign that global warming wasn't such a threat as Greta is making us believe, but you'd be wrong: very wrong, though the late…
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Beware the Equinox Siberian Tiger
Beware the equinox Siberian Tiger - it bites! I've kept a little quiet on the weather - it's been too benign. However, signs are gathering & near enough in range to share a wary warning with you. After a brief cold snap on Tuesday next week, it warms up, spring…
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Lock-Down Routines & Rituals: Desk to 45 Challenge:
With studies showing that inactivity is the new "smoking" when it comes to health & well-being, getting stuck under your desk has become a big issue & loss of fitness a real-life risk. You are undoubtedly 35% more efficient than last year for not doing all that crazy-horses driving about…
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Biodiversity net gains
One really important difference that James Blake Associates has as a team, in the eyes of our clients, is our multi-disciplinary services (Arb, Eco, Landscape and legacy), but it’s not just the multi-disc that’s the key point of difference – (several other firms have that too) but the spirit in…
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Wet back gardens
1. Causation Diagnosis: there are several causes: and often the worst cases are a product of several of these causes coinciding. These are (inter alia) a) former road ways insufficiently broken out (common with old mental hospital or MOD sites); b) old haul roads; c) old materials/ build access routes…
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