Quality over Compromise
One of the primary risks of applying value engineering to landscape elements is that it overlooks the long-term implications. Not all landscape products are created equal. Cheaper materials may initially save on budget, but they often come with hidden costs in maintenance, durability, and user satisfaction. Inferior plant choices, low-quality paving, and insufficient drainage solutions […]
How Much Do Soil Cells Cost?
It can be frustrating for landscape architects and designers not knowing the approximate cost of soil cells before specifying the system. This can lead to designs exceeding budget constraints, potentially resulting in value engineering later in the project. While the importance of proper tree planting techniques is widely recognized, balancing this with client budgets remains […]
Ballpark Pricing: How Much Do Soil Cells Cost?
It can be frustrating for landscape architects and designers not knowing the approximate cost of soil cells before specifying the system. This can lead to designs exceeding budget constraints, potentially resulting in value engineering later in the project. While the importance of proper tree planting techniques is widely recognized, balancing this with client budgets remains […]
Reducing the Risk – Successful tree establishment, every time!
Over the past 30 years, urban tree mortality levels have fallen dramatically, and GreenBlue Urban is proud to have been involved in this transformation. But the levels are still too high – in some places almost half the trees planted in hard surfaces fail to reach their first birthday, and far too many do not […]
Greener Towns and Cities: Highlights from Natural England
Natural England’s recent webinar focused on the growing importance of green infrastructure (GI) in urban areas, highlighting new tools and policies to integrate nature into urban planning. Here’s a summary of the insights shared by leading experts. Alan Law, Chief Officer for Strategy, Natural England Alan Law discussed the government’s focus on balancing economic growth, […]
Open Planting Areas for Urban Trees: Not What They Seem?
While soil cells are most often installed under pavement when there’s a lack of green space, we’ve lately seen an uptick in projects specifying soil cells under grassy areas as well. Leading to the question, are there advantages to using soil cells under open planting areas? Historically speaking, open planting areas have been regarded as […]
Are We Providing Mature Street Trees for Future Generations?
The canopy cover of many cities across the US and around the world is made up of large, mature trees. In the US, most of these trees were planted in the late 1800s to early 1900s, making them well over 100 years old. Thankfully, our grandparents and great grandparents understood the value of trees and […]
Greening Our School Infrastructure
The School Rebuilding Programme in 2021 was a government initiative pledging £1bn to rebuild schools. Over 500 schools will benefit from a rebuild or refresh to improve classroom capacities with additional guidance from local authorities to support in and out of the classroom. The mission for education: for 90% of pupils to achieve the expected […]
Maximizing Your Return on Investment in Urban Trees
Money doesn’t grow on trees. Or at least, it doesn’t grow on trees that are planted haphazardly and die in the first year. Trees are well-known for providing many amazing economic and social benefits in urban areas. However, when planted without proper knowledge of best practices, the costs can far outweigh the benefits they provide. […]
Comprehensive Testing of RootSpace Airform®, Enhancing our Urban Infrastructure
As part of GreenBlue Urban’s commitment to continually improve products and solutions, we recently commissioned Lucideon, an independent material testing and analysis laboratory, to investigate the structural properties of the RootSpace Airform® soil cell system. For testing, Lucideon was supplied with RootSpace Airform® soil cell components assembled into various module sizes, as outlined in Table […]