We meet Dave Trickett
As a new year starts maybe your plans for 2021 include a new driveway or landscaped garden? We catch up with Dave Trickett, the man behind Walton Landscapes to learn a little more about him and his business.
We met Dave back in our December 2019 edition but that was to talk about his charity work raising over £130k for local charities over the years after losing his young daughter to cancer inspired him to help those who might suffer in the future.
Today we focus on what he does, landscaping, and his business.
“I started working at mum and dad’s nursery at 64 Walton Road when I was about eight years old,” says Dave.
“This was home to dad’s nursery which he started outside of his day job in the local press. Dad retired early and the nursery became a full-time job for him, many will remember the nursery on Walton Road, always busy and stocked with the latest seasonal plants, Dad sold the land in later years, but I have many happy memories working and getting my hands dirty.”
Dave left school and started at Tapton Park’s nursery working for the council in the parks department. “It was a great place to start a full-time job, but they wanted me to move into a maintenance role which I wasn’t happy to do so I left and found a new part-time job working at Baslow.
“I started filling the additional hours with my own work and it wasn’t long before I needed to drop the job and work for myself full-time, that was 1977 and saw the start of over 40 years working for myself.”
In the early days, it was just Dave, working on landscaping and maintenance, taking on both small and large jobs, he remembers taking on a large job on Somersall Lane in his early days wondering if it was too much but completing the work with no problems and boosting his self-confidence along the way.
Dave has witnessed quite a lot of change in the area, when he set up on his own it coincided with a large boom in building as the Walton and surrounding estates were developed. His business grew and after pulling in additional people to help when needed, he eventually settled with ten staff but today is happy to be just himself and workmate Jacob.
I asked what the mainstay of his work was? “I do all aspects of landscaping, but it tends to be more the hard landscaping elements, patios, walls, driveways, all sorts of different driveways.
“We’ve recently done a few jobs using real stone cobbles, not laid on a hardcore base with sand but set on a fully mortared base. It’s a modern version of the traditional cobblestone, and once it’s down, it’s down! It’s more time-consuming but worth the final look, each block put down individually, no need to maintain it other than a quick jet wash every couple of years and it’s so hard-wearing.
“The materials we use really do look great now and the designs will easily stand the test of time.”
Dave can also, maintain your driveway once complete, ensuring things are cleaned and sealed ensures your driveway stays looking great for years to come.
Walton Landscapes will offer a complete service, discussing your needs, understanding what you want, and putting together a design and solution that will work for you. They can draw up plans and love nothing more than taking care of the end-to-end job to include any necessary turfing and planting that’s needed.
“People are wanting completely maintenance-free gardens,” explains Dave, “driveways and paving, borders covered with mesh, planted and graveled so there isn’t any need to turn the soil. Many people don’t have any spare time and simply want things to look great all year round.”
Has the last year seen any changes in people’s requirements for outdoor space? “Not really,” answers Dave. “The drive for outdoor living and extending the living space into the garden started five or six years ago, we’ve seen more wanting to do the same this year, but many were lucky enough to have established an area that worked for them and were able to spend time outdoors this summer enjoying their gardens.”
Dave was keen to add that he prefers to use small, local, independent suppliers and has built up some strong relationships in the area. One thing he added, which I loved to hear, was “I’ve been trading for over 40 years and in that time have advertised occasionally, but I can honestly say that I’ve never had a response as good as that I’ve seen advertising with S40 Local, every time the advert goes out, I’m out quoting and love the fact that it’s all local work for the great costumers on my doorstep.”
And I didn’t even prompt him for that, thanks Dave!
If you’re looking for a new driveway or some landscaping work give Dave a call, he did add that “I might not be the cheapest, but you can be sure of an excellent job and we will not disappoint.”
T: 07800 575220 or 012465 233811
www.waltonlandscapes.weebly.com
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