When it comes to outdoor landscaping and breathing new life into the outside spaces of your clients, it’s safe to say many of the tasks are seasonal. After all, gardens can often stay uninhabited during the winter months, with much of the garden not requiring much maintenance.
There are also other landscaping jobs that you can carry out to help your clients get one step ahead for the upcoming season, such as laying the right type of paving now that will serve them well through summer and stay in good condition through the winter. In particular, for those properties or areas of the country that are prone to flooding, having the right paving could make all the difference. Brett Landscaping explains more.
Protecting properties from flooding
Localised water pooling can be a serious problems for both residential and commercial properties. What’s more, as more people want to create more off-road parking, outdoor water management is an important consideration for the built environment. In 2015, it was estimated that 25% of homes in the UK had paving or gravel, instead of a front garden.
Architects and landscapers alike need to consider a sustainable approach to paving that takes into account both water management and design, in order to mitigate the demand on surface water drains. During a storm, driveways could have around 450 litres of water running off it every 15 minutes, which can quickly become a problem.
To tackle this, the government is pressing for greater uptake of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS), which encourage architects and designers to attenuate and filter surface water in new ways. One such way of achieving this is through the use of permeable paving.
Permeable paving allows the paved area to capture rainfall at the source and allowing it to be absorbed into the land below, leaving only around 5% as surface water.
Advantages of permeable paving
Permeable paving offers a number of advantages to installers, designed with SuDS legislation and system longevity in mind. Some styles are available with up to 20 years of low maintenance service, with many different designs and finishes to suit your client’s project.
More and more homes are being designed in areas of increased risk of localised water pooling, making it more important to be aware of products that can help to mitigate the impact. Architects that are complying with the Code for Sustainable Homes can gain credit for ensuring there is no runoff from the first 5mm of rain, and additional credit if the overall risk of flooding is reduced.
Bringing together style and function
For any upcoming projects you may have between now and the onset of winter, consider speaking to clients about the design benefits of permeable paving and the difference it could make. There are more paving styles emerging, making it easy for you to help your clients find the right design to suit their property.
By installing permeable paving now, you could reduce the risk of flooding when the winter weather finally arrives.