Have you wondered what is ground heave? Ground Heave can have a long-term effect on any building work taking place, make sure you know how to remedy it.
What is Ground Heave?
Ground heave is the upward movement of soils which can occur at any stage of the building or development process. Ground heave is usually associated with clay soil which swells when wet. This then rises upwards – the effect is almost exactly the opposite of subsidence. Despite the actual ‘heave’ often being relatively small (less than 150mm), this can have a long-term effect on any building work taking place.
How do you know it is there?
Signs of ground heave can include vertical cracking to brickwork and windows (if the cracking is diagonal, this may be subsidence). It may also be evident through door frames warping so they are ‘not square’ and paths and patios lifting from their originally laid level.
What causes Ground Heave?
Ground heave is most commonly caused by the removal of established trees. As the roots die away and no longer draw water from the soil, the soil retains more water and will swell when wet. A soil analysis (to analyse the consistency of soil) or a tree survey (to identify the root protection areas of any established trees) can stop the problem developing before it begins.
Other causes of ground heave include soil being removed during excavation, a change in the level of the water table or broken drains. Nearby building works impacting ground drainage, extreme weather conditions or trapped water in the soil freezing and causing the soil to expand can also cause ground heave.
How can Ground Heave be Stopped?
As mentioned above, potential issues with ground heave can often be identified via a soil analysis or tree survey (including an arboricultural method statement if extensive building work is taking place). To stop ground heave, the root cause first needs to be identified and remedied. Once this has been done, depending on the severity of the heave, foundation work will need to take place – reaching down to sub soils that have not been affected by the heave. This can often be costly, as well as causing delays to projects. Advice should only be taken in consultation with a surveyor, who can fully assess the site in question.
Brackets (or bracket fungi) are fungi which appear on trees throughout spring, summer and autumn.
The dangers of fungal brackets:
The fungal bracket will have grown into the heartwood of the tree, which can cause severe weakening of the tree. If the tree has grown weak, it may topple at any time (and not necessarily just when the fungi is present).
How to identify fungal brackets:
The main identifier of bracket fungi is the large bracket body which will appear on the outside of the tree – these can be up to 60cm in diameter. By the time the bracket appears, there will usually have been significant decay inside the tree. A secondary identifier is falling branches, which shows that the heartwood has weakened. However, please be aware that many different factors may also cause the branches of a tree to fall.
What can be done about Bracket Fungi?
Unfortunately, once you have identified bracket fungi, there is often very little that can be done to save the tree. Chemical treatments will also have minimal impact. Bracket fungi enters the heartwood via any open wound or tear in the tree’s trunk – due to this, infestations of the fungi can spread quickly. Ash, beech and prunus trees are especially susceptible.
What to do if you think you have fungal brackets:
If you suspect that your tree has bracket fungi, we recommend that a tree survey is completed as soon as possible. This can help identify any weakness in the tree as well as ascertain whether the fungi present is bracket fungi or another fungi entirely. Regular tree surveys can also identify any wounds on trees, meaning that any susceptible trees are removed before the fungi can take hold.
Prohort Ltd provides comprehensive tree surveys to the BS5837-2012. Find out more about our tree survey service in our Services page.
Why Do You Need A Material And Construction Plan?
The risks of going out to tender.
Have you been wondering why do you need a material and construction plan? If you are overseeing a landscape development project and want to put the work out to tender, there are a number of risks that may present themselves.
A competitive tender exercise usually requires a judgement based on a balance between the quality of the application and the price. Each tender is scored based upon these two factors. As price is a large deciding factor for any company, this can force bidders to submit the lowest prices possible.
In order to achieve this, bidders may use low quality materials or take shortcuts in hard landscaping construction methods. The end result could also reflect this poor quality of working. This means that it might not meet the expectations of the tender or require corrective works to bring it up to a suitable standard.
Your tender documentation should always include specific details of the materials that should be used and the construction methods. If these are not present, any deviation from this can be blamed upon a poor Specification of Works. This is where a material and construction plan comes in.
Protect your project quality.
A material and construction plan specifies the recommended material and construction method for each area of hard landscaping. Also known as a hard landscaping specification, the aim of a material and construction plan is to ensure a high quality result.
To achieve this high quality result, a material and construction plan will include detailed descriptions of construction methods. It will also include technical drawings of recommended construction methods. Which are particularly useful in complicated landscape projects. This allows the tenderers to refer to these specifications when bidding. It also provides you with a level of protection, ensuring that quality is met and giving you a specification to compare the completed work against.
ProHort Ltd provides detailed material and construction plans for landscape development projects throughout the UK. We can help to ensure that your project runs as smoothly as possible and help you to achieve that high quality result.
Check out more about our material and construction plans on our Services page.
You may have had a soil test to identify what you need to do to make your plants thrive. Alternatively, you may have had one as a requirement of a planning application. Whatever your reason, the resulting report can be complicated and confusing. So, what does a soil test tell you?
Basically, a soil test measures the health and the fertility of the soil. To do this, it measures the pH level of the soil and the nutrients.
What does the pH of the soil tell you?
The pH of the soil indicates its acidity. Using this, you can identify whether you need to increase or decrease the soil’s acidity in accordance with the type of plants you want to plant. Usually, plants like middle ranged acidity – somewhere between 6.0 to 7.0. Alternatively, some plants like the acidity to be a bit higher.
Depending upon the plants you are planting and the existing acidity of the soil, you can take different actions. To increase the acidity of the soil you can add lime, or to decrease the soil you can add sulphur. Your soil test results will make recommendations to help you to decide which action is best to take.
What do the nutrient levels tell you?
The three most important nutrients for plants are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Whereas nitrogen is very difficult to measure by soil testing, there are other approaches that can be taken. A soil test will identify how much organic matter is present in your soil. Organic matter contains nitrogen and is, therefore, considered to have the potential to release nitrogen into the soil. Soil tests will incorporate the level of organic matter present in the soil into their score against nitrogen.
Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plants growth, helping photosynthesis and improving the plants overall vigor. Having a phosphorus deficiency will result in the plant experiencing stunted growth. Once a phosphorus deficiency has taken hold, the plants can become a dark blue-green colour or purple colour. At this point it will be difficult to save the plant. To increase phosphorus levels within your soil you can scatter bone meal into your soil.
Similar to phosphorus, potassium also helps with photosynthesis but is associated with the movement of water and nutrients within the plant. A potassium deficiency can result in brown scorching and curling of leaves, as well as stunted growth. Instead of applying bone meal in this case, kelp meal will help with potassium deficiency.
In addition to nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, a soil test will also test for calcium and magnesium. Both of these are also important nutrients for a plant and not having enough of these nutrients can be detrimental to the growth of a plant. Again, lime can be used to increase the calcium levels in your soil and dolomitic limestone will help increase the levels of magnesium.
Finally, a soil test will also test for lead in your soil, indicating whether it is potentially harmful. You may find that older homes (the type that have lead paint) or old factory sites are more likely to have high lead levels in the soil. There have been a range of theories regarding the treatment of lead within soil, the most recent of which is to treat the soil with phosphate, organic matter and limestone.
Contact Us Today
ProHort Ltd provide a comprehensive soil test and analysis service, whether it is for farmland or construction works. Check out our soil test service page for more information.
Have you been wondering why do you need a material and construction plan? If you are overseeing a landscape development project and want to put the work out to tender, there are a number of risks that may present themselves.
A material and construction plan specifies the recommended material and construction method for each area of hard landscaping. Also known as a hard landscaping specification, the aim of a material and construction plan is to ensure a high quality result.
Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plants growth, helping photosynthesis and improving the plants overall vigor. Having a phosphorus deficiency will result in the plant experiencing stunted growth. Once a phosphorus deficiency has taken hold, the plants can become a dark blue-green colour or purple colour. At this point it will be difficult to save the plant. To increase phosphorus levels within your soil you can scatter bone meal into your soil.