Collection

242 GARDEN DESIGN LONDON STONE | NATURAL STONE COLLECTION 2016
243
SHOW TIME
of my major competitors? See how
they work, how they communicate,
what kit they use. What can I learn
and improve on? And I do, every
single year.
I am blessed to have probably
the most complete skilled
workforce of any show contractor.
Many are long time served and
GARDEN DESIGN
amazingly skilful, not to mention
resourceful. They are paid well for
their precious time and we have
a laugh while we work. It is the
nature of the company that we
help others along the way too,
and it is not uncommon to see
Landform staff and kit in all parts
of the show ground. We all get a
kick out of helping others out of
a jam. Word gets out of a good
deed done. There are contractors
who would not help you, which
I personally find sad. Our show
presence helps attract new staff
and talent. Medal success helps
staff recruitment: people want to
work for successful companies.
For us, it’s all in the planning,
which takes months to perfect.
We plan everything; we control
timelines and deadlines, we have
plan B’s and plan C’s! We have
detailed works programmes; we
have labour planned and back-up
labour plans. We have detailed
meetings with our many suppliers.
We rehearse playing the ‘get out
of jail’ card, which often happens
when pushing the design envelope
with new concepts and materials
has gone horribly wrong. For me,
it’s a time to see how the team
and adapt. You see seasoned
players pulling this card out every
year as weather, lack of time and
other factors can play cruel games
with your precise planning. And
then it’s there; completed and
scrubbed up, like crossing the
finish line of a marathon. Having
completed four marathons, I can
confidently say that the feeling is
similar: exhausted, relieved and
yet happy. Medals aside, you are
judged by your peers. Failure is
just not an option. To not finish
would be commercial suicide; it’s
a public display, an annual audit,
delivered to perfection in a given
amount of time – in other words,
a perfect contract! Although the
build does not get the coverage as
much as the design process, we
make our own good image with
finished work, and we work the
stand. We network, we make new
friends and reacquaint with old
ones. The feeling of achievement
for you and your team is certainly
worth the pain. We celebrate our
success and start to plan the next
campaign.
The shows have been good to
me and through these theatrical
productions I have raised my
profile and that of my company.
Now judging others as a seasoned
RHS judge and gardens assessor,
I would urge all landscapers to
at least have a go and, if you do
it in the next decade, you might
be lucky and I might be around
to give you a few wise words of
encouragement.
Landform,
www.landformconsultants.co.uk
Noble Caledonia: Spirit of the Aegean
Category: World Gardens
Medal: Gold
Designed by: Esra Parr
Built by: John Wood Garden Design
Material: Filled Travertine
responds; how they overcome
video footage of the build-up and
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