Four decades of moving living landscapes across the world: theme parks, casino resorts, giga-projects, and the farms and nurseries behind them. Every photograph on this page is our own work, chosen image by image: real projects, real stock, real logistics. The stories behind them live in the Knowledge Archive.
Signature specimens
Character trees and palms grown, shaped and held ready for landmark projects.
Advanced trees in air pruning pots: bare deciduous rows face Magnolia grandiflora across the nursery avenueMagnolia grandiflora rows in air pruning pots along the nursery channelBrachychiton discolor, an unusual character tree, slung for liftingAdansonia digitata, the African baobab, in full leafAlbizia saman, the rain tree, with its umbrella crownRows of Azadirachta indica staked and readyBarringtonia acutangula, a multi-stem waterfront specimenA double-planted Borassus palm with its root ball wrappedA triple-trunk Borassus: decades of growing in a single liftPhoenix canariensis, freshly diamond-cut, in the palm rowsCassia nodosa carrying a clean standard crownDalbergia sissoo, Indian rosewood, at export gradeFicus microcarpa shaped as a broad standardA cloud-pruned Ficus Panda multi-head specimenThe Ficus Panda block: finished multi-head specimens by the dozenPlinia cauliflora, the jaboticaba, with sculptural smooth trunksPterocarpus macrocarpus carrying a full, balanced crownHeavily pruned Tabebuia argentea character trees shooting awayTerminalia catappa showing its layered pagoda habitWinter selection: a character pine dug and shaped in a north China nurseryA sculptural pine root-balled in a hand-woven jacket, ready to liftBambusa textilis clumps established in steel transport crates
Export and logistics in motion
Root balls rebuilt in soil-less media, crowns wrapped, cool chains held and out-of-gauge lifts craned aboard.
A character tree on the move, every branch head individually wrapped for the journeyThe same character tree established on site, its cloud pruned heads back in leafFeature rock and mature trees travel together: barge 507 heads for the projectShade-wrapped Bambusa textilis loaded on a barge for export from ChinaThe whole vessel: shade-wrapped Bambusa textilis lining the cargo deckOut of gauge: wrapped hero trees ride on top of the containerA strangler fig staked and prepared, its root ball rebuilt in soil-less mediaThe same fig craned into an open-top containerOut of gauge: the loaded container sheeted and ready to travelWashing the root ball of a Streblus asper character treeHero trees completed in soil-less media and raised on gravel moundsRaised root balls: air pruning and drainage before despatchVigorous new root development in the soil-less mediaA Plumeria root ball prepared for shipmentShrink-wrapping the root ball, crown wrapping to followStitching a biodegradable woven jacket around a pine root ballPhoenix canariensis, 7 m clear trunk, fronds tied for transportBrachychiton populneus root-balled in wire baskets, ready to moveRolling wrapped Delonix regia root balls into the containerDelonix regia packed in hessian for the voyageA Delonix regia consignment staged in the yardBare-rooting for biosecurity: washed clean, no soil travelsLabelled export cartons, biosecurity checked and quality assuredThe cool chain: a foil-wrapped pallet in the refrigerated truck
The craft: moving a mature tree
A field record from China, from first cut to final staking.
The root ball cut as a clean cylinder around the trunkMeasuring the finished ball against the 1:10 caliper ruleHessian goes on firstA wire mesh basket is formed around the ballThe mesh is tensioned wire by wire until the ball is rigidEasing the tree over for slingingAirborne: the ball swings clear on soft slingsLoaded upright for the roadReceiving beds: geotextile, gravel and planting soil stand readyUnloading by crane at the new siteSet down on a free-draining gravel bedAir-pruning container panels fitted around the ballPanels wired off: the tree now grows in its own containerGuyed, staked and establishing in its new avenueThe loader mounted tree spade lines up a mature tree at the Signature Trees farm, QueenslandOne lift, no root ball to wrap: the truck mounted spade carries a full grown tree at Signature TreesCraning a root-balled tree onto the flatbed at Signature Trees, QueenslandAn early start: moving a shaped specimen through the mist at Signature TreesWinter delivery: a root balled tree arrives by flatbed, ShanghaiStraight off the truck: the wrapped ball swings to its position
Theme parks, resorts and landmarks
Two Disney builds, Macau casino resorts and headline projects across China and the Gulf.
Container to crane in one move: Phoenix palms unloaded straight to the planting lineThe avenue takes shape: Phoenix canariensis staked in line along the approach roadThe finished effect: an established palm avenue in the resort landscapeBrachychiton bottle trees craned into place at Disneyland Hong Kong, September 2004Streblus asper in position inside Disneyland Hong KongA mature fig takes flight between the palms, 2004A netted ficus root ball slung for the Disney planting worksCutting the berm terraces: earthworks step down the alignmentBerm construction in motion: fill placed along the sheeted alignmentSheeted against erosion: a finished berm face and its drainage edgeGrassed and holding: a berm slope establishes above the worksThe Shendi soil production line: growing media blended at project scaleDicksonia antarctica tree ferns against Tomorrowland, Disneyland ShanghaiInstalling mature pines at the Huadu Centre, BeijingPinus tabuliformis wrapped in straw against the Beijing winterThe finished garden at Fairlake Villas, ShanghaiWynn Palace, Macau: resort landscape at the front of houseThe shade house behind the MGM Macau planting programA character pine root-balled in the field for Genesis, BeijingSculptural pines installed at the Genesis building, BeijingA mature ficus arrives for interior landscape work in DohaThe National Day flower basket over its chrysanthemum carpet on Tiananmen Square, from the Beijing Florascape programTerraces, waterfall and pavilions built in living plants for a Beijing National Day displayMassed bedding at the Bird's Nest: floral works for the Beijing 2008 Olympic GamesDeer, pagoda and city wall sculpted entirely in living plants, from the Beijing Florascape yearsA dragon rises from the chrysanthemum beds at a Beijing autumn flower festivalFlower towers over massed bedding for the National Day displays, BeijingA hillside planted as one flowing carpet of seasonal colourLiving sculpture: mosaiculture hands frame the expo pagoda
Innovation: breathing walls
Living wall systems developed and grown in-house, from production bench to finished interior.
A finished breathing wall in a commercial interiorThe production nursery growing panels for the walls
