Tech

The Role of Environmental Design in Preventing Crime

administratorEducation, Environment, Infrastructure, Property Development and Commercial, Residential, Tech

Did you know that the design of outdoor spaces plays a significant role in the occurrence of crime? It’s actually a concept we’ve long employed in our work with local government and developers in creating new urban landscapes. It is guided by a set of principles based on extensive research from across the globe. It even has its own acronym – CPTED What is CPTED? Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, or CPTED, is exactly that: creating a space that feels safe, so that people can make use of it. Sometimes referred to as Designing Out Crime, it’s multidisciplinary and integrates […]

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The Best Way to Not to Kill Plants….

debbieGarden Design, Infrastructure, Property Development and Commercial, Residential, Tech

Did you know that there’s an Instagram hashtag used over 45,000 times? It’s #plantkiller and while some of the captions are hilarious, we think it’s time to dispel some myths about how ‘hard’ it is to keep plants alive and thriving. Let’s put that hashtag to bed with a little secret that’s not really much of a secret at all:  improve your soil, and your plants will thrive. Plants aren’t necessarily fickle or precocious. They put up a good fight and can thrive only to the extent to which their soil is healthy. Not unlike baking a gorgeous cake that’s […]

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Weeds and How To Tell If You Have One?

debbieEnvironment, Garden Design, Property Development and Commercial, Residential, Tech

For many gardeners and non-gardeners, the notion of weeds is that they are this very bad thing that grows too fast and makes the place look ugly. However, the issue of weeds is more complicated. They cause a lot of damage to our natural environment. They cost billions of dollars a year and have a large impact on our biodiversity. What is a weed? The definition of a weed is “a plant that grows very quickly where it is not wanted and covers or kills more desirable plants” Basically, it is a plant growing where you don’t want it to […]

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What do the Terms Cut and Fill Mean?

debbieGarden Design, Infrastructure, Property Development and Commercial, Residential, Tech

When talking to our clients we often use the terms cut and fill. These often come up when discussing how you might change the ground to create different types of spaces in a garden. Often they are terms that clients are unfamiliar with. So wanted to go into more detail today about what this meant. If you have a development or build on a slope, it is extremally helpful if you understand these two terms. And, how it affects your site. Today, we are going to break it down for you. So you can have a better understanding of what […]

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What is Better Organic or Inorganic Mulch?

debbieGarden Design, Residential, Tech

We often have discussions with clients about mulch. What options there are, costs, lifecycle. But today we thought we would just talk about what are the pros and cons of organic vs inorganic mulch to help you make a more informed decision when it comes time for you to choose. What is Mulch? Mulch is  “ a protective covering (as of sawdust, compost, or paper) spread or left on the ground to reduce evaporation, maintain even soil temperature, prevent erosion, control weeds, enrich the soil, or keep fruit (such as strawberries) clean” They supress weeds, prevent soil compaction and help […]

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What is Deep Planting and Why do we need it?

debbieProperty Development and Commercial, Tech

Deep planting is a common term used by councils in their planning schemes. They are areas that are required to be allocated in the design of the development. Their purpose is the planting areas of trees and shrubs amongst the buildings. In particular, they are meant to be positioned and sized so that you can plant large shade trees. Why do we need this? Deep planting areas specifically plan for large trees in an urban environment. The areas are to be designed to provide the tress with the space to grow into their mature form. Trees in urban areas are […]

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What to Think about When Building on a Sloping Block

debbieProperty Development and Commercial, Residential, Tech

When building on a sloping block, sometimes it doesn’t even have to be a very steep slope there are issues that come up in how your site will work and function. We have had several projects lately that we have discussed these same issues with our clients so we thought we would talk about them in this week’s blog post. These will hopefully help you if you are building on a slope. 1) Access You need to consider where a building is positioned on your site this is both vertically at what height the building is set at and also […]

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5 Of the Easiest Plants to Propagate by Water and How to Do It

debbieEnvironment, Garden Design, Residential, Tech

Propagation is a fantastic way to multiply your plants, without spending any money! Water propagation has to be one of the easiest ways to do this. Here, we will guide you through the steps to rooting your plants in water and we will give you 5 plants that you could use. What plants can you propagate? There are many plants you can propagate by water cuttings, these are 5 that we believe have the best results. Pothos or Devils Ivy – Epipremnum aureum Philodendrons Monsteras Arrowhead Plant – Syngonium podophyllum Wandering Jew – tradescantia pallida What do you need? You […]

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How to Stop your House Flooding – A Case Study

debbieResidential, Tech

This summer has seen an immense amount of rain falling along the coast of Eastern Australia. Flooding many houses and businesses affecting thousands of people and causing billions of dollars of damage. The impacts will be felt for a long time. We are now seeing more frequent and severe storms, flooding, and fire. With this in mind, we wanted to take a look at a case study this week about how flooding can affect properties and once it does the ways in which we can ensure future risks are minimised.   There are two main types of flooding riverine flooding […]

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Three Things to Think about when Building Around Trees

debbieEnvironment, Infrastructure, Nature Play, Property Development and Commercial, Residential, Tech

Mature trees have so many benefits we have talked about before including shade, habitat, and character to name a few. When you are building or renovating it is important to keep as many trees as possible. Today we are going to talk about three things you need to be aware of when building around trees. 1. Damaging the Trees Roots A tree’s roots are where they get all of the water and nutrients from. They have a network of roots that can extend way beyond the canopy of a tree and not only provide food but support for the healthy […]

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