SuDS Slowing the Flow.
Stormwater management is close to the heart of GreenBlue Urban. This month has seen us assess the best-practice methods, products and case studies within our industry, conclusively finishing with our ‘Festival of Ideas, Guest Panel Webinar’. Combining the Blue with the Green was famously the deciding factor on our company name change back in 2013, […]
GBU Canada RootSpace Litigation Announcement (28 May 2021).
GreenBlue Urban UK (then Greenleaf) pioneered the world’s first recycled plastic, load-bearing soil cell for urban tree planting called RootCell. After it was launched to the market in 2001, RootCell’s popularity grew at an unprecedented pace. Customers lauded the development as an excellent solution to solve the problem caused by tree roots damaging the urban […]
Why the Water Industry is Better Together
Guest Blog:- Faye Gennard – World of Water Water is our most precious resource and it may come as no surprise that when we search for life, what we are actually searching for is water. No living organism can live without it, but, as any water professional will tell you, humans can’t live with it […]
Are there Post Planting Constraints?
Many potential tree-planting schemes are cancelled because of misunderstandings over the long term requirements of trees. Concerns over local authority adoption, potential commuted sums and maintenance issues can lead to trees being viewed as liabilities rather than the incredible assets that they truly are. Let’s take these issues apart, as a better understanding of these […]
Trees in the Urban Realm – Legacy or Liability
As soon as tree planting is proposed in our congested urban areas, the full plethora of challenges quickly become obvious. When planning urban tree planting, an understanding of the constraints that urban areas present are critical if long term canopy cover is going to be possible. Our most recent webinar challenged the urban planting myths […]
Myth busting Trees & Utilities
In a recent blog, we discussed how to overcome the constraints that we come up against when planning urban tree planting and discussed the solutions that GreenBlue Urban offer to overcome these above and below ground issues. One question that gets asked regularly is whether utilities can be accommodated within a GreenBlue Urban RootSpace soil […]
Right Tree, Right Place
One of the best known arboricultural statements is Right tree, Right place – often used to explain the species choice or planting site for new trees. Unfortunately, this phrase has become a bit hackneyed and is really too simplistic for useful application in urban planting schemes, where there are so many factors involved. Alan Simson, […]
Urban Tree Planting Constraints
As soon as tree planting is proposed in our congested urban areas, the full plethora of challenges quickly become obvious. With over 30 years of experience in getting trees established in what can be very hostile conditions for what are essentially forest plants, GreenBlue Urban have unrivalled experience in every scenario. When planning urban tree […]
Our Climate is Changing, are we?
In celebration of Earth Day – 22nd April, GreenBlue are proud to endorse our team as industry educators, covering all disciplines on 5 of the dedicated long term focus areas Earth Day signifies: • Climate Action • Science and Education • People and Communities • Conservation and Restoration • Plastic and Pollution Our mission statement illustrates […]
Changing the Landscape of Flood Resilience
Giving Natural Flood Management Development a Boost Through Innovation Support Guest Blog: Hiatt Jackson, Technology Research Manager, Flood Innovation Centre At the Flood Innovation Centre, we are huge fans of Sustainable Drainage and the kind of innovative work done in the field by organisations like GreenBlue Urban. Lately, we have also begun to take a […]
What is an Urban Forest Master Plan?
Guest Post – Keith Sacre – Treeconomics Following on from our recent blog from Kenton Roger’s What is an Urban Forest, Keith discusses our current theme Master planning & Strategy to implement canopy cover for the long term. Urban trees are now widely recognised as essential urban infrastructure. The benefits that trees provide to people […]
Introducing StreetPark – Beautiful & Functional Furniture Collection
Over the years, GreenBlue Urban have widely echoed the numerous worldwide studies on the importance of having trees in retail areas; proving that the presence of healthy mature trees positively influences shopping behaviour. These studies showed that customers are willing to pay 9 to 12% more for goods and services in a shopping area with […]
Introducing ArborAdvance – Guaranteeing Long Term Planting Success
Is it all about “Right Tree, Right Place?” Or do we need to add “For the Right Reasons & In the Right Way”? In recent weeks GreenBlue has been excited to see recent developments within our planning system; particularly with the soon-to-be revised version of NPPF Planning policy which is seeking to include street trees […]
Are there enough “Green” Planners?
GreenBlue were delighted to see a DEFRA announcement dated 12th March for a government-led funding scheme: The Local Authority Treescapes Fund – designed to increase new tree planting and natural regeneration in locations outside woodlands, helping our great nation-build back greener following the pandemic. A total of £2.7 million has been released from the central […]
Driving Resilient Green Infrastructure Policy Forward
GreenBlue is overjoyed when councils present a resilient GI Policy / Strategy; even more so when we see the inclusion of “blue” too, but how do these policies reinforce resilient planning/designing of our towns and cities. What is green and blue infrastructure? Green and blue infrastructure is the combination of green space and stormwater […]
Discussing Carbon Storage Potential
In June 2019, parliament passed a legislation requiring the government to reduce the UK’s net emissions of greenhouse gases by 100%, relative to the 1990 levels by 2050. By doing so it will allow the UK to become a ‘net zero’ emitter. Trees have a positive role to play and are an important contributor when […]
Stormwater Made Simple
Stormwater is, in essence, just what is sounds like: water from a storm. Any precipitation that falls from the sky, including rain, hail, and snow, is considered stormwater. In the UK we refer to SUDS – Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (CIRIA – 2000). Updated to Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS). Methods to manage surface water that […]
Further Modelling Guidance Tools
With the recent success of last year’s publication detailing the methods of Sustainable Drainage System modelling design using MicroDrainage, GreenBlue are pleased to launch a further publication detailing how to use the Causeway software for the same purpose. Again, we would like to thank the team at McCloy Consulting for their technical expertise and guidance […]
Looking after SuDS, Is Legislation Enough?
On paper, the idea of sustainable drainage (SuDS) has so much going for it for developers. It helps meet the challenges of increasing levels of stormwater runoff in an attractive, environmentally friendly way. It also allows developers to optimise land use and create environments that people want to live and work in. So, what’s holding […]
Not all Super Heroes wear Capes. (Some wear Leaves).
Trees are the heroes of our landscape. A bold claim you think? Possibly. But look at the list of benefits they bring to our lives: ecology, beauty, cooling, shade, Oxygen, removing pollutants from the air, providing homes and food for wildlife and conkers! Let’s face it, who doesn’t have a favourite tree? For National Tree […]
Introducing 9 Trees
9 Trees, as a concept, was formed in 2018 by Michael Cunningham, an experienced habitat and business manager. He was joined by Michelle Kent, in 2019, an experienced countryside and habitat manager. They are now joined by an amazing team of volunteers! The vision of 9 Trees is to tackle climate change by creating new […]
Urban Gardens Assisting in our Canopy Growth
A report in the BBC at the weekend indicated that urban tree canopy cover is surprisingly consistently higher in urban areas than in rural ones. In fact, the areas in the UK with the highest percentage of land covered by trees are all in the South of England, Midlands and in South Wales, including some […]
Who is responsible for Maintaining our Public Trees?
During times of economic crisis, budgets for local authority landscape maintenance have always been under threat. Viewed as a “nice to have” rather than a critical necessity, many local councils facing funding cuts year on year have had to reduce maintenance to testing to minimise future liability claims – but little or no money for […]
Are you Celebrating Clean Air Day?
Back in June 2019, communities came together to ensure Clean Air Day was a huge success. Over 600 events were organised by schools, universities, volunteer groups, businesses, families and friends; thousands of people stood up and spoke out to educate and build awareness on the damaging effects air pollution is having on our health. With […]
Celebrating Southwark’s Urban Forest Assets
A recent inventory of the trees in the London Borough of Southwark as managed by the tree officers has revealed an estimated economic value of the urban forest at an outstanding £165 million. Tree officers are often recognised as ‘custodians of the urban forest’, managing the public tree estate for the common good. The study, […]
