FOR a Cwmbran man Ian Greening has an unusually deep, year-round tan.

But it wasn't acquired by lying on foreign beaches.

Outdoors in all weathers, Ian leads his I.G. Landscapes team on contracts throughout South Wales.

"You need to be mentally as well as physically strong in this business," he said.

"And you must have a very strong will to work because there's nowhere to hide."

It was his love of the great outdoors that drove him towards the landscape industry.

"I just couldn't see myself sitting in an office all day," he admitted.

After serving as a subcontractor for a number of leading landscape companies, Ian decided his future lay as a main contractor, and with his wife, Sadie's, support he established his own company, I.G. Landscapes.

That was in 1997 and the couple are now about to celebrate the sixth birthday of a business which employs ten people directly and draws on a network of subcontractors when extra help is required.

In 2001 Ian won the Gwent Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Some couples would be daunted by the potential stress involved in working together, but for Ian and Sadie it hasn't been a problem.

Sadie said: "I run the office while Ian spends most of his time on our clients' sites, so we never get under each other's feet."

The company has grown because in addition to finding new customers it tends to hang on to most of its old ones.

Ian said: "We get a lot of repeat business because people are looking for quality, reliability and solutions to problems.

"If you can provide those things then they will come back."

Much of I.G. Landscape's work is associated with the construction industry and particularly with new-build housing or commercial premises.

"We specialise in soft landscaping - it's being called 'decorative horticulture' these days," said Ian.

Ian and Sadie have a commercial manager joining them shortly, a landscaping consultant with over ten years' big-company experience.

His arrival will enable I.G. Landscapes to press on and continue its growth.

The Greenings also run a domestic gardening operation and they've experienced a steady increase in demand.

"You hear of so many horror stories of firms professing to be reliable and then disappearing half way through a job," said Sadie.

"We're often asked to quote for jobs which are half-finished."

"With us, people know where we are and that we'll always be here to resolve any issues - it gives them confidence."

Ian said: "Many firms only flourish in the summer - when everybody wants to be a gardener - and disappear with the first frost."

The company recently distinguished itself by taking first place in Torfaen council's recycling awards for service-sector companies.

The company recycles all its clippings using a wood chipper.

Instead of going to landfills the mulch that the chipper produces is put back on the land to act as a conditioner.

All the plastic plant pots the company uses are saved for a collection vehicle from a national garden nursery.

They're used for another generation of shrubs.

Even the white paper generated in Sadie's office is collected for recycling.

I.G. Landscapes has also recently attained level two of the Green Dragon Environmental Management Standard.

The company embarked on this five-level programme after attending its launch at Pontypool Civic Centre by invitation of Torfaen council.

The company is now working on its level three compliance.

Eventually the process could lead to I.G. Landscapes achieving the ISO 14001 standard.

No moves are planned away from the company's base at Cwmbran's Court Road industrial estate.

"This estate has been very successful for us," said Sadie.

" It's one of the best-established in Cwmbran and is full of good companies."

Contact Sadie on 01633 877947 for more details on the services provided by I.G. Landscapes.

Commercial and domestic information packs are available.