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When a landscaper comes up with a beautiful project, the execution must respect that design. That is the philosophy of Gardens Van Strydonck. However, the larger and more artistic the design, the more measuring work that also requires. To streamline that essential step in the process and create more space for the real work, Tuinen Van Strydonck purchased a Leica Geosystems robotic total station from Lasertopo in mid-2020.
Since 1985 Tuinen Van Strydonck of Waasmunster has focused on the construction of private gardens in the highest segment of the market and all corners of the country. Initially Marc Van Strydonck did this alone, but in the meantime his wife, two daughters, one son-in-law and seven employees have joined his ranks. Together they are responsible for the complete translation from plan to realization, from planting to tiling and garden structures to lighting.
“Very occasionally we are responsible for the design ourselves,” says Astrid Van Strydonck, “but in most cases plans are supplied by a garden architect. These are sometimes real works of art, with all sorts of organic shapes, height differences, and so on.”
To translate the architect's plans appropriately to the garden in question, until recently Tuinen Van Strydonck primarily used classic laser equipment.
“They are perfect for plotting simple things, such as heights or a small rectangular terrace, but for complete plans it still requires a lot of manual work. Fortunately, Lasertopo, the supplier of our laser devices, knew a solution for that. During a demonstration at a large garden project in Brussels, they introduced us to the iCR70 total station from Leica Geosystems. A whole world opened up to us, because with this device you can project the architect's plans onto the site with a single click, so to speak. It was immediately clear how much time we could save this way.”
Meanwhile, Tuinen Van Strydonck has already experienced the benefits of the total station.
“In a recent project in the Ardennes, for example, the landscaper had envisioned large, organically shaped planting beds,” Astrid illustrates. “These all had to be edged with Corten steel, all together accounting for hundreds of running meters. Had we plotted this in the classic way, it would have quickly taken a week of work. With the iCR70, however, all we had to do was load the plans, select the relevant planting area and stake it out directly. In just one day, the job was done.”
Not only during, but also before and after the site phase, the total station is eagerly used.
“It is always possible for plan and execution to deviate somewhat from each other, for example because there are roots somewhere in the way. In the Ardennes, after planting, the most important dimensions and surfaces were therefore checked again with the total station. In this way, we were able to determine exactly how much grass actually had to be sown. This is essential for post-calculation, but also, for example, when additional work has to be done.”
“When we do the design ourselves, we use the iCR70 to map the original condition,” adds Astrid. “This not only gives us an extremely accurate basis, but also allows us to load the plan directly into our design software. That way we eliminate a lot of calculation and drawing work - and consequently potential errors. Let's just say that we use the device so much that we have recouped the investment in no time.”
That Tuinen Van Strydonck decided to call on Lasertopo again for the purchase of a total station is no accident.
“We have always found a reliable partner in Lasertopo and once again they actively thought along with us, both before and after the purchase. During the demo, it also became clear that Jochen, our contact person, knows the machine and its many functions inside out. If we have any questions or face a problem on site, we can always contact him or one of the other experienced Lasertopo surveyors. This way we really learn to use all the possibilities of the device.”
“Very convenient, by the way, is that Lasertopo itself keeps track of when the total station needs maintenance or calibration. For that, they contact us in good time and come and pick up and return the device themselves. This allows us to concentrate on the landscaping without any worries.”
