Added value gardening

[Tim Lund]

I could have posted this in the Cafe on the #gardeningse26 thread, but since it's more about economics and making places look good, I think perhaps here.

Anyway - various times since I've lived here, and especially as we get more attractive places to eat and drink, I've wondered about the calculation business owners ought to make about spending money on gardening. Then, this last weekend I found myself talking to a professional gardener who was working on the garden of a pub as part of an investment programme before the summer season.

Here in Sydenham the Dolphin is the obvious example of gardening working to add value for a business



with the design work credited to Lee Stephenson and John O'Brien in Honor Oak - (no web site found)

But even without something this spectacular, there's still a lot which can be done, and whatever is done, someone will need to do the maintenance.

Trat Raff does well with just some planters in front



and the Golden Lion also benefits from some greenery.



There are a couple of other places I can think of which could benefit from some planting - what do other people think?

[stone-penge]

I think there is an interesting debate to be had on the social and environmental value green spaces both private and public bring to a community and the ways it's economic worth is recognised and supported.

[Tim Lund]

I think there is an interesting debate to be had on the social and environmental value green spaces both private and public bring to a community and the ways it's economic worth is recognised and supported.

I agree, but here I'm making the case for gardening also adding economic value for businesses in the private sector.

I sent a link to the OP to Michael Richards, owner of the Dolphin, and got back a lovely long reminiscence about his decision to invest in the Dolphin garden. I can't quite use it verbatim, but it included

as a business asset it has been remarkable

and finished

So the pitfalls for greenery? Cost, maintenance, weather and a short season. The pros are many but primarily pleasure and profit - when the sun shines.

On a slightly different tack, a friend of mine, whose husband is a landscape gardener, has recently moved in to Sydenham. He is employed by a largish firm of developers, and will be adding value, in the short run, by making the setting for new housing attractive, helping win planning permission, and getting the houses sold. In the long run, however, the value he adds will depend on a good garden maintenance regime. One of the ideas behind my #gardeningse26 thread was to encourage more interesting garden management than developers would select by default, what I call "mow & blow", with a limited range of car park shrubbery. I'm not sure how it is most likely to come about - I just want to get people to think about the issues and possibilities.

[stone-penge]

Developers interest in gardens and greenery lasts up until the ink dries on a purchase agreement in my experience.

[Tim Lund]

I guess I rather lost interest in my old house's garden once I'd sold it. What matters is that people and businesses responsible for green spaces know how to look after them.

[stone-penge]

What matters to a developer is maximising the £ per square foot out of a site. Green spaces are well down on the list of priorities and often are just an after thought for the sake of the glossy brochures.
Too much green space will create either high service charges for prospective purchasers or on larger developments additional resource and maintenance hungry space that is dumped onto local authorities and their ever shrinking budgets.
Obviously there is potential benefit for businesses to make their premises more attractive as per some of the examples shown, but they are freeholders or leaseholders of the premises with long term interests in the site unlike most developers.

[Tim Lund]

What matters to a developer is maximising the £ per square foot out of a site. Green spaces are well down on the list of priorities and often are just an after thought for the sake of the glossy brochures.
Too much green space will create either high service charges for prospective purchasers or on larger developments additional resource and maintenance hungry space that is dumped onto local authorities and their ever shrinking budgets.
Obviously there is potential benefit for businesses to make their premises more attractive as per some of the examples shown, but they are freeholders or leaseholders of the premises with long term interests in the site unlike most developers.

It's interesting to ask why this situation has arisen, which is what these threads were about

Nimbyism Explained

and

Natural Planning

[Tim Lund]

My landscape architect (not gardener) friend, working for a developer, got back to me on this with these links, which gives me an idea of what such professionals want to achieve.

Valuing London's urban forest - from the GLA

and this PDF

Green Infrastructure: An integrated approach to land use - from the Landscape Institute

Of course his company's finance director may be more focused on profits identifiable when the ink dries on the contract, but professionals do generally have some professional integrity; it's what makes most get up in the morning, and let them look themselves in the mirror.

However, I still think it leaves open the main question I had in the OP - however well planned the landscaping, who's going to do the maintenance?

[Tim Lund]

To see what the Dolphin garden was like before, here a couple of photos Michael sent me



and



It has to be worth making the effort.