Over the last few months, we have made some changes to our head office where we have been working closely with KELBEC CIVILS LIMITED. The car park has now been renovated for wider use by office staff and visitors. See the completed project from start to finish, below:

At the start of this year John, Byron, James and Andy were all promoted to Senior Foreman!

Between them all they have so far served a combined total of 68 years!

We would like to say a huge thank you and congratulations for all their continuous hard work and wish you all the best of luck in your new role.

This year, the annual Whiting Challenge was to complete the Brecon Military route within a 10-hour time period.

Starting with a 10-mile cycle from the Castle Hotel in Brecon to Pont ar Daf, the team then swapped their bikes for walking boots to take on a 15-mile hike over 5 peaks: Corn Du, Pen y Fan, Cribyn, Fan y Big and Tor y Foel, descending at Llangynidr. The final leg saw the team back on their bikes to complete a further 10-mile cycle back to Brecon.

The Challenge had a variety of intensities ranging from steep inclines to difficult terrain, however Whiting managed to complete the challenge within the time frame and ended the day with a well-deserved beer and burger.

On the 20th and 21st April, Whiting Landscape teamed up with SSG Contracts at Acorns Children’s Hospice’ in Worcester to renovate their Japanese Gardens of Reflection.

The team installed a variety of new trees and low-level planting, re-arranged cobble features, introduced fresh barked shrub beds, and installed new paved walkways. We aimed to reuse existing materials where possible and introduced several seating areas to reinstate the area and revive the environment.

We hope these renovated gardens provide a comforting environment for parents and children during times of need and reflection.

Tom King at Burcott Lane Nurseries generously donated the following planting for the project:

  • Ligustrum Multi pom pom
  • Magnolia soulangana
  • Acer viridis
  • Acer Blood good
  • Ceanothus Italian skies
  • Bergenia cordifolia
  • Lavender
  • Rosamary
  • Fargesia bamboo
  • Phyllostacys nigra & Aurea
  • Cornus midwinterfire
  • Cornus kousa

The works took place over a couple of days, and we had the usual April showers to contend with! Despite this, we were able to complete the works within the time scale.

Louise Hollinshead who is Facilities Manager for the Hospice commented – “Worcester Hospice Special Bedroom Garden has now been completed and is looking amazing, despite the biblical amount of rain! Special thanks to SSG, and Whitings for all the hard work!”

Commercial Director, Matthew Murphy completed his first London Marathon last Sunday, raising an outstanding £4,065 for St Richards Hospice.

After months of intense training, when the day finally came, Matt showed great willing and determination, finishing the race in a superb time of 3:41:32. He was supported by his family on the day and everyone at home were cheering him on.

Well done Matt – A well-deserved rest is due!

Congratulations to Len Stokes on achieving an outstanding 25 years’ service at Whiting Landscape.

We thank you for your continued hard work, commitment, and dedicated service to the company.

Congratulations Len!

We recently visited a local infant School in Rednal, where we donated and planted 9 trees within the school grounds. 

The morning involved Pupils and Teachers coming together to help in planting the variety of trees, which included: Oak, Elm, Ash, Willow, Hazel, Holly, Hawthorn and Sycamore.

Each tree has been allocated to a year group and the children in each class will be responsible for looking after them, learning about how trees are key components of any ecosystem and being able to watch them grow.

Our Health & Safety Manager Lindsey Robinson concluded the morning by presenting a small show and tell to highlight to the pupils the importance and value of trees and the meaning of each tree.

Lindsey who conducted the day said “It was a pleasure to help Rednal Hill Infants School install the trees to help the children further their understanding of where their class names originate. All of the children were enthusiastic and had a great time!” 

The winter months allow our maintenance teams the opportunity to get on top of pruning and planting works across our sites whilst also bringing into action our winter gritting teams. When the cold weather arrives, our focus turns to keeping the sites and users safe. Our winter maintenance programmes give full peace of mind and assurance throughout even the most treacherous periods of weather. With forecasts monitored from the start of October up until the end of March, our teams are primed and ready to jump into action as soon as forecasts indicate the first cold night!

We are out gritting throughout the nights and early mornings to ensure that a good bed of salt is down prior to the start of the day. The process of salt melting ice is not instant and it takes time for the salt to work its way to the bottom of the ice or snow to melt it. Vehicular traffic helps activate the salt by bedding it in to the bottom of the ice and snow. Once the salt is down in contact with ice or snow, the melting process begins, with the ice turning into a brine spreading outwards from the source of the salt and working under any ice that has formed. This causes any remaining ice and snow to float on top of the brine, meaning it is easier for traffic to break down remaining ice into slush. If you see slushing occurring then you know that the salt is taking effect!

Whilst our gritting teams primary concern is ensuring the sites are covered with sufficient salt, we operate with the condition of the landscaping in mind. It is not well known that salt can cause significant damage to shrubs and grass by removing water from the stock, causing it to fail. We spread salt at an industry standard of 25g per m2 to ensure full coverage but operate with care that salt is not being cast into shrub beds and verges, reducing the volume of stock that fails over winter months.

Whiting are available 24/7 throughout the course of the winter to cover any sites nationwide, regardless of size or location.

Bees are essential for the health of people and the planet, they are perfectly adapted to pollinate – helping plants grow, breed, and produce food.

Having beehives slows the decline in bee population.

Bees produce honey which is good because:

  • It can be used as an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial agent in medicines.
  • It can be used orally to treat coughs and colds.
  • It can topically treat burns and promote wound healing.

Bees also produce wax, which is good for:

  • Balms and salves
  • Candles
  • Wood polish / sealant
  • Leather shoe polish
  • Soap

At our head office, we currently have two hives but are looking into a creative new type of hive that can be installed.

We met with our local beekeeper about how the bees produce, work, reproduce and how a queen is chosen. We chatted about the process of the brood and the eggs and that 95% of the hive are females as they do all the work. We also learnt that the male dies once he has fulfilled his duty with the Queen, and that over 2000 eggs can be produced daily!