A Day in the Life…Foreman Ed

In 2015 we are running a series of “A Day in the Life…” blogs about various members of our wonderful Landform Team.

We are starting this series with one of our foreman – Ed. Ed has been working with Landform for just over a year. Even though he’s one of the newer members of the company, he has been working in landscaping for over 12 years. Ed has a level 3 in Landscape Construction from Merrist Wood.

Ed is currently working on a small courtyard garden in Central London, designed by landscape architect Robert Myers.

So what is a typical day like for Ed?…

Like most of our onsite team, the day starts early for Ed. Starting in Surrey, Ed has to drive for an hour or so to get into London. He aims to get to his site for around 7am, so there is time for a quick brew, with his teammate Joel, before cracking on at 7.30! Ed and Joel have known each other for 24 years! Before Ed started at Landform, he was self employed and had his own company, working with Joel. So when Ed made the move to Landform, Joel came too! These two must be good friends or long suffering! Joel was best man at Ed’s wedding!

The thing about his job that Ed loves the most is that each job is different and he enjoys seeing his work develop with the seasons. Working in the sun is also a big bonus (although like everyone who works on site, he agrees you have to take the rough with smooth -it’s much less pleasant when you’re knee deep in mud and it’s blowing a gale! One thing is for certain, Ed prefers being outside to being in an office. The big bonus to coming to work with Landform is the chance to work at the flower shows: Chelsea and Hampton Court. He likes the opportunity to work on a high profile, high detailed job, even if it is only temporary. The camaraderie between the team on the shows helps ease the intensive, long hours, making it a highlight of the year.

Any landscaping job in Central London has its challenges, and Ed’s current job is no exception, and not just because of traffic and parking! Access to the garden for all materials is through a 6ft high garage. Ed has had to plan all the site logistics carefully as the garden is the only place to store materials as well, so Ed and Joel are continually moving materials around, getting rid of as much waste as possible and keeping the site as organised as it can be.

The garden is for a young family, so the scheme has been designed with a toddler in mind! Whilst having attractive small trees, like Pleached Hornbeams, an Acer, Olive and Ginko, the garden has a child friendly water feature, lighting and a concealed sandpit.

Here are some before and during photos, plus impressions of the proposed garden:

 

At the end of the day, Ed sometimes goes back to the Landform yard, either to swap tools, or take back some waste from site. Otherwise, the Landform Office will help Ed arrange deliveries and get equipment & materials out to him on site directly.

When the day is done, if Ed has any energy left(!) he might go to the gym. It’s a good way to unwind before starting all over again the next day.