The FINANCIAL — Over the last couple of months Tbilisi City Hall – Municipal Department of Ecology and Planting has attained 450,000 square metres of green area/recreation zone and by the end of 2010 the figure will total up to 500,000 square metres. In accordance with the plan’s conception, the green programme envisages 150,000 square metres of trees and other plants’ preservation for this year too.
Today Tbilisi has a 42% recreation zone excluding green areas amid dwelling places. Tbilisi City Green Service looks after 2,853,229 square metres.
“The activities we accomplish are aimed at maintenance and adjoining more and more green areas to our beautiful capital city. Particular attention is given to irrigation, the cutting of grass and everyday maintenance,” said Giorgi Korkashvili, head of the Tbilisi City Hall – Municipal Department of Ecology and Planting.
“Currently 1,252 personnel are employed for the reconstruction works on gardens, including the administration of 189 units and 1,063 units of labour and engineering personnel,” says Korkashvili.
“Since Tbilisi city hall declared a tender on making areas of recreation greener, 34 companies were selected to run all the preservation works at the gardens and other green areas. Among them the Dutch Design Garden, Green Service, Green City, Artex and others,” said Korkashvili.
In addition to the above mentioned activities, Tbilisi City Hall – Municipal Department of Ecology and Planting carries out Tbilisi gardens’ irrigation systems as well as other complementary reconstruction works.
Apart from Tbilisi City Hall’s efforts to augment the green areas in Tbilisi, the garden/landscape design business is becoming trendier among Georgian businessmen and households. As well as Georgian companies, foreign ones are also arriving on the scene.
Euro-Ezo is one of the largest companies offering services of the gardening business, beginning with flowers, to landscape design and even wall climbing designs.
“Flowers and other plant seeds at Euro-Ezo are imported from Germany, Holland, Italy and the UK, and are getting planted in Batumi and Gori from where ready-made products are sold in stores. W also have internet orders from our clients,” said Levan Chanukvadze, Executive Director at Euro-Ezo.
“The prices are different depending on what types of flowers/garden designs are provided. Rose prices depend on the colour, smell, climbing or not and the endurance of climate conditions, therefore range from 55-200 GEL,” said Chanukvadze.
“The original price of the products double mainly due to the transportation costs and 20-50% value added afterwards, although we always try to bring to the Georgian market such products that will be blossoming for more than a week especially on perennial plants,” Chanukvadze stated.
We employ 12 people for garden services and others for delivery and design.
“To equip gardens with all the necessary plants and irrigating systems prices range from 20-190 USD per square metre depending on the type/height/taste of the plants. If a client wants us to take care of the garden on a monthly/weekly basis then he pays 150-500 GEL depending on the territory,” said Chanukvadze.
“Planning a garden design ranges from 150-1,500 GEL which includes computer designing etc. Our clients range from households to organizations/banks/state institutions. Thus a single branch of a Bank may cost from 500-7,000 GEL depending on whether it’s a head office or ordinary branch. After finishing the design process for an organization we then take care of them free of charge for one month. For example looking after 10 plants for 3 weeks costs 10 GEL,” Chanukvadze told The FINANCIAL.
“On a monthly basis we have 2-5 orders from our clients for garden design,” said Chanukvadze.
“Cutting grass costs 0.60 GEL per square metre. Fertilizers are needed 3 times per year in order for grass not to change its colour. The machinery for cutting grass costs from 140-350 GEL with us,” said Chanukvadze.
The clients of our service are state, private, non-governmental organizations. In addition we also have orders from ordinary families who want to design their garden as well as the interior of their home with pleasing plant and flower decorations.
Hereby the execution of works is divided in three parts, specifically the following:
• Designing – taking photos of a territory, composing a general plan and drafts, conducting geodetic researches, agrochemical analyzes of the ground, etc.
• Works for planting of greenery and organizing public services and amenities (which includes all the work from bringing the soil (ground) to finishing with the incrustation and swimming pools).
• Care of the completed garden (this process is divided in to two parts).
Guaranteed care, which we are responsible for according to the guarantee, and post guaranteed care, which depends on a client’s decision to have an ongoing agreement with the company.
Therefore, we are able to conduct the full package of works for construction of your garden and equipping it with plants, design materials and other accessories from world leading companies.
In terms of a Landscape Project (barbecue, fountain, summer-house, sculpture, etc), we determine an insulation project which helps us to locate (choose a place for) the plants which prefer shadow or sun and the lawn. Afterwards, the general plan of the territory and several outlines should be made, agreed with the customer, and if they are happy the agreement will be drawn up about the completion of the project.
Except for the large scale firms of garden design there are other relatively smaller in size green businesses and the type of service they provide is limited.
One of them being flower salon Oasis, on Pekini avenue which provides ready-made flowers and other decorations for their clients which are mainly foreigners and those families financially solvent who want to create a positive aura around them.
“When clients come to Oasis we help them choose the right plants/flowers/other decorations for their interior and exterior design. The prices aren’t so high compared to other shops and start from 5-200 GEL. However people mostly buy things in the 5-50 GEL range except for special orders for tall plants like palm trees which are the most expensive, for example the Hovea – 1,80 metres long and costing 400-500 GEL,” said Natela Tsertsvadze, Director of Oasis.
“Oasis was the first Dutch flower salon to be established in the country 15 years ago and since then has been trying to improve and multi-direct our services. We mainly sell flowers and plants but also other wall decorations and any type of natural/non-natural decorations for our clients,” said Tsertsvadze.
“The demand increases mainly in winter and spring, accordingly we also have artificial flowers and decorations which cost almost half the price of the natural ones, demand for which is pretty high too,” said Tsertsvadze.
35 year old Lili has just designed her home’s garden with a range of flowers and other garden plants.
As Lili told The FINANCIAL, all the design was done according to her own taste with all the necessary materials bought at Oasis relatively cheaply compared to other salons.
“I’ve also bought some artificial decorations from Oasis that cost half of the original price of the natural flowers. My flat which in a so called Italian Yard had about 10 square metres of bumpy surface which looked unattractive so I decided to transform it into a modern stylish garden. I bought some of the flowers and other decorations directly from the flower shop, and the remaining ones I grew from seeds that I planted myself. In less than a month I had a stunning garden which overall cost me 400-500 GEL with all the necessary materials acquired,” said Lili.
