The Association of Professional Landscapers (APL) are looking to promote the good name of landscape gardeners after a clean sweep at the recent Chelsea Flower Show.

Every single member of the APL who entered the prestigious and iconic show last week came away with coveted medals, including three golds and the Best in Show, Urban Garden award.

With some 76% of garden owners believing it’s important for their garden to look good, professional assistance is in demand, but a number of gardeners have learned the hard way that not all landscape gardeners are qualified to do the job.

APL say their exceptional record at Chelsea is testament to the extremely high standards required of and adhered to by all APL members and are urging those gardeners who lack green fingers to call a quality assured member of the APL to get their garden in perfect shape for summer.

For the first time, garden owners can view behind the scenes footage of the rigorous inspection process all APL members undergo each year to ensure APL Customer Charter criteria are being met. The ‘APL Inspection Video’, created by SweetPotatoPictures can be found on the APL website, www.landscaper.org.uk and shows independent inspector Neville Stein carrying out an assessment of a Holland Landscapes project in Essex.

Stein, along with other independent assessors visit members each year while they are working on a landscape project to evaluate everything from paperwork to technical processes – including assessing everything from the quality of hard and soft landscaping and technical competencies through to insurance policies and risk assessments. Over and above these stringent inspections, the APL is also the only landscaping scheme operator of TrustMark, a Government-endorsed initiative promoting professional trades people to consumers.

Stein said: “The whole process is extremely thorough. We scrutinise the fundamental elements of landscaping such as examining the health of plants, checking if trees have been planted correctly and even ensure that all correspondence between the landscaper and client is clear and detailed. I am confident that every customer who deals with an APL certified landscaper will receive the highest quality landscaping in Britain.”

Mark Gregory, Chairman of the APL and Gold Medal Winner at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show added: “ Rogue Traders get lots of publicity which proves a big problem for the landscape trade. Luckily, we’re able to reassure customers that as an APL member, we’ve been thoroughly vetted by independent inspectors.

“I would encourage anyone out there who has been freshly inspired by Chelsea, to get creative in their gardens and contact their local APL landscape contractor in the knowledge that they will be dealing with true professionals.”