Dacorum Borough Council – Mini Case Study

Dacorum Borough Council (the local authority for Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Tring, and villages) became accredited with us five years ago.

Following a trial of our turf (and impressed with the results of turf versus seed), the Council originally took nearly 500m² of Wildflower Turf Landscape 34 in 2015.

Several years later the Council ordered a further 700m² of Wildflower Turf Native Enriched for a restoration project in the centre of Hemel Hempstead. Jellicoe Water Gardens (named after Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe, one of the greatest 20th-century landscape architects) were opened in 1962 but fifty years after their completion, the Water Gardens were showing their age.

Following desilting of the River Gade and extensive restoration, the Gardens reopened in 2017 funded by a £2.4 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Big Lottery Fund and topped up by an investment of more than £1 million from Dacorum Borough Council. The restoration reinstated Jellicoe’s original design and added new features making the Gardens once again an outstanding public space. Within the Gardens a built mound was covered with Wildflower Turf Native Enriched and underlaid with bee-friendly bulbs to introduce a new level of biodiversity to the Gardens and create additional aesthetic impact.

Dacorum Borough Council has been thrilled with both the impact created by, and the longevity of, Wildflower Turf. Since 2015 the Council has also sent additional staff members to us to complete their Accreditation Training and we look forward to supporting Dacorum Borough Council in their future landscaping endeavours.