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  • Writer's pictureBridgette Macilwaine

Plant security and supporting Landscape Professionals

We had the pleasure of attending an event at Provender Nurseries to discuss wealth of information which included plant security, plant sourcing, high quality specifications, plant importing, supporting education, CPD’s and working across the industry.

Valuable discussions on the day with other Landscape Architects Robert Holden, Dilip Lakhani, and Grant Beerling, along with the Provender Nursery team Richard McKenna (Managing Director) and Stewart Tickner (Nursery Production & Biosecurity Manager).


Several topics were discussed at length, for which there will no doubt be further updates and iterations as the year progress with regards to industry standards, professional liabilities and supporting the education and landscape sector.


The information below highlights a summary of the discussions, with more to follow at a later date.


Professional and industry update:

Plant and tree importing regulations have been recently updated this year, purchased plants and trees can no longer be delivered directly to the required destination, with all imports being required to be inspected by DEFRA at BCP (Border Control Posts).

 

Border Control Posts (BCPs) for EU goods are purpose-built facilities to enable effective plant health checks to be performed by specially trained inspectors from DEFRA, providing the first line of control in maintaining UK biosecurity.



 Issues with handling:

The issue with this BPC from a Landscape Architects perspective, is the handling and full unloading of plants and trees, on and off transport lorries and ensuring the stock which has been purchased by the client arrives in good condition.


Provender have set up an inland CP (Control Point) on their nursery site, which was brilliant to have a look around while we were there. Constructing this approved Control Point allows imported plants and trees to be inspected on site with qualified nursery staff overseeing the purchases and handling. Provender is currently the first plant nursery amongst other food/animal product businesses who have set up a DEFRA approved inland CP.



The team also shared with us a few very interesting varieties of plants and trees and discussed the importance of traceability. As a designer and landscape architect purchasing plants, it's important to not the information of the plants from their plant passports and which gardens these are planted in, in case of any risk of disease outbreak and DEFRA may wish to locate specific plants which have been sold from varying nurseries.


Future events

We discussed the brilliant opportunity to offer the full day visit to Landscape Institute members to support continued professional development, offer an opportunity for networking, sharing of industry and professional challenges and including a full site walk


The main aim of the day was to support in understanding the requirements for Landscape Institute to host CPD events for the members, as well as being able to showcase the All Day Nursery Visit and 1 Hour lunch time CPDs which Provender Nurseries offer to Design Practices, Educational Establishments and Professional Bodies.


 

Thanks for reading, any questions, we would love to hear from you!


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