Most of my clients love Indian Sandstone, with its rich varied colours, textures and ability to age gracefully. Historically in the UK we enjoyed York stone, also a sandstone, until it became too expensive for most people. Over the years I have become interested in where the sandstone we use comes from and how it is produced.
Sandstone can be found across the globe in places where there once was high sand accumulation like riverbeds, deserts and coastal areas. There are many variations in colours from reds and yellows to golden browns as well as it being highly durable making it an attractive stone to use for landscaping.
What I found in my research, helped by a University of Sussex under grad research project, is that sandstone sourced locally may have a relatively small environmental impact, but sources from further afield, such as India, are problematic due to weaker regulation on environmental protection and workers’ rights. To a large extent, both people and the environment are negatively affected by the sandstone manufacturing process from its extraction in quarries to its shipping and transportation. There are some third-party certifiers that are meant to ensure the stone was sourced in an environmentally conscious way, however, due to complex production processes, its often hard to track and guarantee which sandstone was sourced sustainably.
Child labour – child labour is a significant problem with the mining industry in India, with dangerous working condition and pay as little as 10 Rupee’s a day (10p). It is predicted that in the sandstone mining sector Bundi, in the district of Rajasthan, of 100,000 quarry workers roughly 15,000- 20,000 are children.

Indebtedness – often mine owners will extend loans to their workers, creating dependency and binding the workers to the mines as they struggle to pay debts. Loans are usually impossible to pay back with annual rates of over 200% so it is common for loan obligations to be passed down the generations.
Health problems can be severe due to poor working conditions, the nature of sandstone mining and the lack of Personal Protective Equipment, with more than 11 million people living in India have been exposed to silicosis causing dust. Also, a huge proportion of the workforce are from the Dalit class, people that used to be called the Untouchables in India’s not too distant past. A poverty and status trap very difficult to transcend.
Environmental
Habitat destruction – Mining is extremely damaging to local environment as habitats can be destroyed, from clearing of the land and use of heavy machinery. This destruction of the existing environment reduces the biodiversity of the area.
Air pollution – due to the nature of sandstone production, dust is a significant byproduct of quarrying and cutting processes. It can lead to air pollution which can severely affect the surrounding area, such as dust being deposited on agricultural land affecting soil fertility as well as causing plants to asphyxiate due to oxygen deprivation.
Water contamination – Large volumes of water are used for cutting sandstone, and due to limited water resources in India’s arid areas, often groundwater reserves are used creating an even higher demand. In rainy season large amounts of run off will transport water containing suspended soils, industrial chemicals and other waste products into the surrounding area. Contaminated water can affect animal, plant and human health.
Transportation of sandstone is a major contributor to sandstone’s unsustainability, with around 2.1 million shipments of sandstone per year being exported from India.
Rehabilitation – Indian mining laws require holders of prospecting licences or mining leases to undertake phased restoration, reclamation, and rehabilitation of affected lands before concluding mining operations. However, little to no active rehabilitation of the environment ever occurs after a mine is closed.
What to Do?
What I have found is that as a garden designer, to keep being able to recommend Indian sandstone, the best thing to do is to buy from a reputable company that abides by ethical and environmental standards and insist that your landscapers buy from these companies eg Marshalls StoneShipper Partnership, plus whether the company is a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative.
Practically, when sourcing sandstone to use in garden design we can also look to using reclaimed and locally quarried stone where possible. Also think about other options to paving- reclaimed brick, local shingle or local slate.

March:

Apart from being busy in the vegetable patch this month you can:
Give shrubs like Cornus And Salix a hard prune back- look on the RHS website to see how ruthless you can be!
If the water starts warming up you can start feeding fish.
If you haven’t finished pruning your roses now is the very last time to do them before they come into leaf.
Lastly, look up summer flowering bulbs and tuber plants such as Dahlias. They can be planted now. Other summer bulbs can be ordered now.
A last clear up of the garden if you haven’t done this last month

Where to visit in March

High Beeches Gardens, Sussex
This is a 25 Acre garden which is a botanical treasure trove that includes historic magnolias.
Laid out by the Loder family, but inspired by Victorian horticulturist William Robinson’s wild garden style, is it really worth going to when all the plants are coming into leaf.
It is open every day except Wednesday, 1pm-5pm. 01444 400589.
And don’t forget the Tulip fair at Arundle Castle mentioned last month