We complete our biggest ever installation

(well, for as long as anyone can remember!)

Stewarts Office Plants are just putting the finishing touches to a 133-planter installation in Winchester, which is by far the largest we have completed in the seven years I have worked here!

The client involved had an interior designer on their staff who did much of the design work (my role was to tell her she couldn't have all the plants she liked) and chose some really funky colours, like the RAL 4006 Traffic Purple pot below:

Pretty much everyone had a hand in this install, which when completed next week will have taken seven van trips just to ferry all the plants to site. All while wearing hard hats and yellow jackets in this really hot humid weather, phew!

Hanging baskets: don't delay! Actually, do delay...

Amongst our services is the supply of locally-grown hanging baskets and now's the time to get your order in for delivery at the end of May.

Our prices start at £28.50 + VAT which includes delivery, installation, and (if required) collection at the end of the season. As our baskets are made to order, you can specify the plants and colours in the baskets. We can also install brackets, irrigation systems and even look after them for you.

A note of caution however: I've already had clients asking why they can't have their summer baskets now. This morning's unexpected frost is a reminder as to why the tender plants that are used in summer baskets should not be used outside until mid-May at the earliest.

Meet the team!

Because some of us work part-time, and others only come in on certain days, it's very rare all Stewarts Office Plants' staff get together, but we did yesterday:

What a remarkably good looking bunch... except the tall bald guy at the back... me!

We now go further to look after your plants!

We have decided to expand our coverage area somewhat, particularly to the east. Until now we have looked after plants in an area bounded by Exeter, Salisbury, Basingstoke, Guildford and Chichester, though our core area is Poole, Bournemouth, Southampton, Winchester and Portsmouth. We are now prepared to go as far as Newbury, Reading, Gatwick and Brighton - if anyone wants us to!

(Acknowledgements to Google Maps)

Once again, this is a fuzzy line - if you're just outside our area, we can bend the rules if you are contemplating a large number of plants; just get in touch!

Some random facts about Stewarts Office Plants

Just a few interesting (?) facts about Stewarts Office Plants before we break for Christmas:

- We have about 390 maintenance customers, stretching from Exeter to Chichester and Weybridge (see our coverage map) but mainly in Dorset and Hampshire, who had 67 Christmas Trees between them

- In total we look after almost 6,000 plants for those customers!

- Our ten vans do approximately 110,000 miles a year in total.

- The nine operational staff have 120 years' experience between us (I worked it out as 116, six months ago) .

- We can supply plant pots in approximately three hundred colours, in fact I have only used about fifty of those in my time here!

There you go. Merry Christmas, everybody!

Praise for our Christmas Trees

As Rebecca said below, we've now delivered all 67 Christmas Trees to our clients, plus a few swags, Poinsettas and Christmas-themed floral arrangements too.

This is a photo of our largest tree. Bear in mind that I'm the 6'6" chap in the middle; the tree is about 22 feet high! Now there's just the small matter of getting them all back, in three vans, in three working days. Luckily, most are more modestly sized!

Meanwhile, here's some of the emailed comments we've had about our trees this year:

“Can I say that we are delighted with the tree once again. It has been beautifully decorated and is a great shape.”
A Winchester client
“Lots of favourable comments received regarding the trees and decorations, so your teams are up to their usual high standard.”
A Bournemouth client
“We are delighted with it, it looks perfect and is just the right size and everyone, including visitors/customers etc. has commented on it.”
A Portsmouth client

“The tree looks really lovely!”

A Southampton client

"Very fine indeed."

A Bournemouth client

The office plant team

The interior office plant team have now completed the delivery and installation of the decorated Christmas trees to your offices and receptions. We will be back after Christmas to remove and tidy up all the needles that will probably be deposited on your floors.

We would like to wish you all a very happy Christmas and best wishes for 2009. Thank you for your continued support and custom in our quest for making the UK a better place by having indoor plants.

For 2009 we are aiming to send regular newsletters to tell our customers what we are up to and what is available out there so if you would like to be added to our database to recieve our newsletter please let us know. There are so many benefits for having plants in the work place and home and this is just one of the topics that will be included within our regular newsletters.