Category Archive

Infant and junior schools throughout the UK are being invited to design a garden to mark the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen.The only stipulations are that the centrepiece of the garden must depict the St Edward’s Crown, which was used to crown The Queen at her Coronation on 2 June 1953, and there must be sufficient space at … Read More

The wealth of technical, scientific, regulatory and storage/handling information on soils that British Sugar TOPSOIL has developed and made freely available via its website has now been ordered and consolidated under the new TOPSOIL Academy tab. And to celebrate the launch of this comprehensive learning resource, TOPSOIL will award a training bursary of £500 to one successful applicant working in … Read More

GoLandscape, The British Association of Landscape Industries’ careers initiative and The School Gardening Success Plan have come together to form the #GoSchoolSuccess campaign. The campaign will aim to bring horticulture and gardening education to primary schools all over the UK and promote horticulture and landscaping as a career to a younger generation, early on in their gardening adventure. Over the … Read More

We continue to hear from our BALI Chalk Fund student of the year nominees and as to why they are joining the industry and what they love about it. This time we hear from a design perspective with nominee Ingrid and her Tutor Humaira, from KLC So how did you get into horticulture/design/landscaping? Ingrid: “The first garden I designed was … Read More

Winning a Gold medal, RHS Young Designer of the Year and Best Constructed Show Garden, Freddie Strickland has swept the board at RHS Tatton Show this year with the support of Provender Nurseries for his first ever show garden ‘On Tropic’.  Working closely together, Provender Nurseries supplied many of the main feature and backbone plants for ‘On Tropic’.  The garden … Read More

The BALI Chalk Fund student of the year competition is a great way to showcase and celebrate the very best in rising talent coming into the industry. This year it’s been a challenge in many ways, but there have still been some great entries, let’s hear from some of those students and their tutors as to why they love what … Read More

Moving on from our previous blog on plant knowledge and expanding our look at landscaping skills, next we have what is often referred to as hard landscaping, hardscape, or landscape construction. What we are referring to is the ‘hard’ or ‘non-living’ materials in a landscape project, as well as being hard work! This usually consists of surfaces and structures, and … Read More

Continuing our look at industry apprenticeships, we now turn to the world of hard landscaping and hear from Travis, as to why he chose this industry and what he enjoys about it. Who are you and what is your job? My name is Travis, and I have just successfully completed my Level 2 Landscape Operative Apprenticeship. Part of my job … Read More

Lets catch up with Alyce and find out why she enjoys her apprenticeship so much. Who are you and what is your job? “I am a Landscape Apprentice currently working for Grosvenor’s Landscape Management team. I’m currently studying a Level 3 Horticulture Supervisor apprenticeship at Capel Manor after completing the Level 2 from 2017.  We manage and maintain private and … Read More

Towards the end of last year, the government announced plans to offer the opportunity for any adult, aged 19 and over, to achieve their first full level 3 qualification, which is equivalent to an advanced technical certificate, diploma, or A levels, through the National Skills Fund, as part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee. The main aim behind the funding scheme … Read More

The Chartered Institute of Horticulture are delighted to be able to announce the launch of the YHOY 2021 competition, with Round 1 being offered free and on-line to anyone below the age of 30 on September 30th 2021 working and/ or studying in horticulture in the UK and Ireland. Competitors will be able to register on to the secure website … Read More

Apprenticeships are a great way to earn and learn at the same time and there are plenty of apprenticeship opportunities in horticulture and landscaping. But don’t take our word for it, Ann tells us why she enjoys her Level 3 Apprenticeship. Who are you and what is your job? “I am a Level 3 Supervisor Apprentice, working for the City … Read More

In my previous blog, the Top five landscaping skills, we looked very generally at the skills landscapers have, and look for in their teams and the future employees they are recruiting. On the back of that I wanted to explore in more detail, some of the specific knowledge and skills that many landscapers have, which make them true professionals in … Read More

Have your say! It’s time to review the apprenticeship standards launched in 2017 and 2018 to ensure they are up to date and can meet the needs of our industries. To ensure we have the right workforce for the future, the Apprenticeship Trailblazer Group for the Arborist, Forest Operative and Landscape or Horticulture Operative and Horticulture or Landscape Supervisor apprenticeships is conducting a review … Read More

The landscape industry offers an incredible choice of career opportunities, but we often only think of the roles available in terms of the design, build and maintenance of green spaces and gardens. But remember, there are many businesses that support and supply the materials that are used to create these spaces, and they have their own career opportunities and are … Read More

The Kickstart Scheme is well underway along with a number of other government incentives, and could provide an opportunity for your business to recruit a new employee. In response to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government created the Kickstart Scheme, a £2 billion fund aimed at supporting business growth and creating hundreds of thousands of high-quality 6-month job … Read More

BALI members, Ground Control, the UK’s leading supplier of award-winning landscaping and maintenance services, is proud to announce its involvement in an industry-first scheme to help support apprentices with learning difficulties. Ground Control staff have already successfully supported, mentored and now employed the first graduate of the program, 20-year-old Wayne Gorman. Following close on his heels are two more pupils … Read More

Now in its 9th year the collaboration between Provender Nurseries and Capel Manor College continues to go from strength to strength despite COVID-19 restrictions.  Due to social distancing guidelines the judging this year was different to all previous years with the main proportion of the judging being undertaken by Sophie Guinness, Curriculum Leader in Horticulture and Melinda Hilliard, Lecturer in … Read More

Capel Manor college recently organised a horticulture industry speakers’ day, with experts that work in the London Parks. The aim of the day was to offer advice, support, and inspiration to those newly studying in the industry, Capel’s Level 3 horticulture supervisor apprentices. The apprentices shared with me some of the highlights of what they learnt from the day. This … Read More

The BALI Chalk Fund Student of the Year competition is a wonderful way of celebrating the up and coming talent that are training to join our industry. This year, Pershore student, Josh Reid fought off stiff competition to claim overall student of the year. The BALI Chalk Fund runs the competition every year, BALI Member Colleges are invited to nominate the … Read More