The History of Urban Drainage & the Need for Change
Sustainable surface water management is not just a modern innovation, there is evidence from antiquity that it was in use fairly extensively. Cultural and citizen knowledge were closely related to the design and planning of these early drainage systems, supplying the basis of what would become modern water management engineering. Water management was highly influenced […]
Festival of Ideas: Designing for Successful SuDS
SuDS, the acronym everyone is talking about. Smart planning for sustainable urban drainage system features, has largely become the new focus for successful designs. SuDS systems can work on practically any scale; from plot-level components like rainwater harvesting and green roofs, to very large schemes that include several SuDS systems working together. 2021’s key focus […]
Discussing the Basics of Root Management
Whilst tree roots can grow deep into the ground, most tree species that we plant in the UK streets are relatively shallow rooting (most of the roots within the top one metre) – depending on the geology. It is these rooting patterns that tend to cause long term problems with surrounding hard surfaces, but tree […]
The Barbican: Green Space in the Heart of London
Sited in the heart of the current City of London, the Barbican development represents a fascinating study on creating an urban town within a city. Construction commenced in 1965 to replace an area known as Cripplegate, which was almost totally destroyed during the Blitz, and it was decided to rebuild the 35 acre site as […]
The Case of Structural Soil & Sand vs Soil Cells
Have you ever grown a tree in rocks? Trees need appropriate amounts of nutrient-rich, moist, well-aerated, and uncompacted soil in order to mature in the urban environment. In addition to the nutrients that trees absorb from the soil through their root system. A method that has often been utilized to deal with compaction issues harming […]
Driving Toward a Greener Future with ArborCharge
One question that is on many minds is “what will our towns and cities look like in the future”? Well, nobody knows, but one thing is sure – it’s going to be different from what we have been used to. There seems to be little doubt that pedestrians and cyclists will have higher priority than […]
Health & Wellbeing: Access to Green Space during COVID-19
The current COVID-19 crisis has helped many of us re-evaluate our priorities; in particular, most of us have really valued our green and open spaces like never before. For the lucky ones of us, extra time spent in our gardens, or in nearby countryside has been enjoyable, especially with the periods of nice weather. But […]
The Role of Maintenance in Successful Urban Tree Planting
Unfortunately, the maintenance-free tree has yet to be discovered. However, the correct species choice and an intelligent inspection regime can reduce long term liabilities massively. In this blog we discuss the needs of trees, and what happens if maintenance is skimped on. Once planted, the first couple of years of support and care are critical […]
Utilizing SuDS/LID Tree Pits for Micoplastic Filtration
Pollutants from our urban runoff reaching our oceans is becoming a global problem. Even the most remote areas of the world are seeing washed up detritus – much travelling thousands of miles before being deposited on far away beaches. But what about the pollutants that don’t get washed up? Some of these elements break down […]
Continuing to Adapt to Change
Just 6 months in and 2020 seems to have been one of the most controversial in recent years, pandemic, recession, unrest now overshadow the deadly Australian wildfires at the start of the century. The three named storms “Ciara, Dennis and Jorge” that hurtled across the UK causing tragic flooding and crowning February as one of […]
Enabling Seamless Specification
Did you know GreenBlue Urban offers FREE Urban Tree Planting Design Services? At the start of any new project, planning correctly and including all pertinent parties is crucial to the success of any project. Including properly planned green spaces provide a wealth of benefits, long term tree canopy enables benefits not just for health but […]
Adapting to Change – Healthy Streets
In London and large cities like New York in North America, Nearly 80% public open space is comprised of streets and roads; thoroughfares that for over one hundred years have been dominated by motor vehicles. It wasn’t always so: early motor vehicles had to be preceded by a man with a red flag to ensure […]
What is an Urban Forest?
Guest Post – Kenton Rogers – Treeconomics Urban Forestry is a term which many of us will already be familiar with. But what do we actually mean when we talk about the urban forest? Understanding the definitions involved is important because people have different interpretations of what constitutes the urban forest. Do we mean the […]
Happy Healthy Communities
In our smaller communities Trees are more than just shade and protection, they are jungle gyms for children, a place for children to play and build tree houses. Trees provide beauty, a quintessential past time for many as walking down tree lined streets. The full range of benefits that urban trees bring to humanity is […]
Say Hello to Green Blue Gardens
Now you can simply order your preferred GBU landscaping products from a NEW ONLINE STORE! GreenBlue Urban (UK) Ltd are delighted to announce the launch of their E-Commerce platform:- Green Blue Gardens. Recent events have provided a perfect opportunity to improve our customer online experience. The new platform has enabled access to the most popular everyday […]
Effective Pollutant Mitigation of Stormwater Run-Off Using ArborFlow
The ArborFlow SuDS Tree Pit system was developed as part of an integrated surface water management system to extend the use of the proven GreenBlue Urban tree pit system to attenuate stormwater run-off from a car park area, and to monitor the ability of the soil cell system to mitigate pollution levels; comparing inflow and […]
Urban Collaboration – How we work with you!
When we look back at these times of uncertainty, there will be some contributing factor’s apart from “Social Distancing” that have in fact bought us closer together. The underlying health and wellbeing for all, the appreciation of qualified professionals and “key” skilled workers not only those that are helping to save lives but for those […]
Discussing Tree Planting Mediums & Canopy Volume
Trees have evolved over millennia to grow in a wide variety of soil conditions. In fact, trees grow on every continent on earth except Antarctica, from the scorching African cities shaded by palms to the freezing Arctic circle with the birch, larch and willow trees that grow as far as the tree line allows. Life […]
Why Integrate Trees?
It is noticeable that the most successful developments have a green infrastructure at the core of the design; whether residential, commercial or retail, designers have long known that the provision of planting and trees can hugely enhance the built environment. However, too often the landscape element is designed and installed last, and planting is fitted in […]
Enabling you to Build Green Cities
With everyday life very much behind closed doors with the instruction of homebound living, construction on building sites is currently still operating albeit there is an underlying concern for how long? The safety for all is paramount and no doubt precautions are being taken however the need for the completion of projects is down to […]
How to Design for Biodiversity
It was a pleasure again to visit Palestra – the illustrious venue of TfL and Urban Design London. The seminar was led by Samantha Davenport of the Greater London Authority, detailing the importance of Urban Greening for the capital in order to achieve Biodiversity Net Gain. Her presentation detailed the fact that London is in […]
Adapting to Change through Green & Blue
With the increased pressure of flooding and heightened concern for Climate Change we are all having to rethink the importance and design of green infrastructure into our urban environment. With the new Environment Bill and the 8th Edition of Sewers for adoption, many disciplines are looking for advice as to how to comply – we […]
Supporting Myerscough, Arbor Day & Future Flora
Many thanks to Dr Duncan Slater for a very enjoyable Arbor Day at Myerscough College and for the privilege of being able to provide a presentation on the successful GreenBlue urban planting schemes over the years. Speakers included Paul Nolan of Mersey Forest, Glyn Levis of Trees for Cities, Sharon Durdant-Hollamby of Institute of Chartered […]
Introducing HydroPlanter™ – The Ultimate Rain Garden Solution
GreenBlue Urban are excited to announce the launch of a new modular bioretention raingarden system, the HydroPlanter™ The latest product can be retrofitted into highways schemes and on new developments of any size. Rain Gardens are used to enhance the capacity of the surface water piped drainage network by capturing and storing rainfall, allowing it […]
Finally…The Environment Bill
Here at GreenBlue Urban we applaud the Governments Environmental Bill; taking responsibility of our country for future generations is vital if they are to inherit England’s green and pleasant land. The inclusion of biodiversity net gain legislation will make a huge impact on the lives of those who live play and work in new developments […]
