Don't Overlook the First and Last Thing People See in Your Garden!

First impressions are hard to undo when it comes to people walking up to your front door. If you have buy that is in disrepair or looks shoddy, it is saying more about you than the humble fence. Thankfully, it’s not hard to make your fencing say good things about you than bad things, as long as you pay attention to it before the guests arrive.

How to Make a Beautiful Impression

Your choice of fencing can set the tone of the house. It can be as decorative or utilitarian as your heart desires. Wrought iron fencing brings some old world charm to your house facade while picket fencing is an American favorite. Install a high privacy fence, to make it useful as well as beautiful. There are ways to modify fencing that is already installed. Keep it looking its best so that it can put on its best face, no matter who comes to your door. For example:

Keep It In Good Shape - Inspect your fence regularly and replace loose boards or broken hinges. Animals can damage your fence and it may need some repair every now and then. Bad weather can also wear down the paint on it making it look almost shredded in places. You can sand flaking paint off, give it a new coat of paint, and make repairs when needed to keep it in top shape.

Go for a Custom Paint Job - Add a pop of colour to your fence by painting a mural on it. If you don’t want giant poppies painted on your fence, you can still opt for a bold color choice like blue or steel gray, instead of the usual white. There are numerous stains that can also bring out the best in different wood fences.

Landscaping - Inspect the trees and bushes that are planted around your fence so that they don’t interfere with walking through a gate or end up obscuring the view over the fence. Keep all your landscaping tidy by adding fence elements, like arbors or trellises, to keep your landscaping under control while adding beauty to your fence design.

Fencing doesn't have to be ornate to be beautiful. A white, picket, fence is a simple option that many households dream about before they even make a home purchase. Fences create good neighbours by delineating borders and keeping people out of your yard, when you don't want them there. It’s also quite an inexpsive way to make your yard beautiful – check out the pricing at Buy Fencing Direct for example.

They are utilitarian and can also be a central part of your curb appeal. It doesn't matter what your tastes are like, there is a fencing style out there to suit your lifestyle that can reflect your personality too.

Summertime garden checklist: How to keep on top of general maintenance

With summer underway and hot temperatures making their presence felt across the UK, your gardens could probably do with a bit of TLC. Here we provide the ultimate summer garden checklist to help you keep on top of general maintenance come rain or shine.

Flowers

·         Always be vigilant and look out for pesky pests such as aphids and slugs. Pesticides aren’t your only option for this, so research natural deterrents and make your garden beautiful and pest-free.

·         As plants such as roses continue to bloom, prune and feed them to encourage new blooms into late summer. Shrubs may also need a boost so give them a good feed to promote growth towards the end of the season. Find out what kind of soil you have and then adapt your feed to supplement it with the nutrients it needs.

·         Opt for potted plants if you find tending a whole garden of foliage too strenuous. This is even possible in retirement homes such as those offered by McCarthy and Stone  where landscaped gardens are a common feature.

Greenhouses

·         Wash and clean the glass, both inside and out, to keep your greenhouse looking great no matter what the weather.

·         Store planting materials under benches and tables within greenhouses to stop them from cluttering up the house and to ensure you always have access to the tools you need. Make sure any sharp edges on tools are covered are stored in a way that won’t present a risk of accident.

·         Grow young plants or vegetables in your greenhouse to ensure you have plenty of colourful things to look at whatever the weather does to your outside garden.

Vegetable and fruit

·         Grow a variety of fruit and vegetables to provide yourself with fresh produce throughout the year. You can freeze excess produce you’ve grown to defrost and use later or turn into jams, chutneys and other sauces if you prefer.

·         Prune vines in August to keep fruit ripening throughout the season and to prepare your plants for the autumn and winter. If you’re not sure exactly when to prune certain plants then this checklist from The Daily Telegraph can help.

General tips

·         Water your plants regularly, choosing cooler parts of the day (such as early morning and night-time) to do it.

·         Re-sow bare patches of lawn with new seed or turf and tidy up the edges with sheers. Placing edging stones can help keep your lawn under control in the long term and giving the whole thing a quick feed of nutrients and water will keep it green and luscious.

Sources:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/howtogrow/10968708/Gardening-calendar-prune-vines-and-sow-swiss-chard.html

http://www.gardenersworld.com/what-to-do-now/week29/flowers-checklist/       

Are Garden Offices Great For You?

This is quite an interesting question. Since you are here, reading these lines, it is obvious that you are thinking about the possibility of buying or building garden offices. We are faced with various different options that are available on the internet. You can now buy something that is perfect according to the wishes you may have. However, although this is the case, will garden offices be suitable for the needs you have at the moment?

In order to answer this question, you need to basically take a quick look at the various options that are available for you. It is important that you think about the work that you do on a daily basis. That will have the highest impact on the work that is to be done. Stay focused on your routine. Is it possible to do work while at home? If so, will you be comfortable working in a garden office or you just need a shed? This is a really simple question that you can ask yourself.

No matter what you may believe at the moment, the truth is that the garden offices can be great for you. There are so many options that are currently available and it is practically impossible not to find something that is truly appropriate. You just need to be patient enough. Take a look at manufacturers and sellers like GardenSpaces.co.uk and you will notice that you can find something that is appropriate, based on the needs you have at the moment.

The only problem is that you have to choose based on the needs you have right now. In most situations people will just consider the first garden office that they find and that looks appealing. If the price is suitable based on the budget of the buyer, the sale is usually made. Do not hurry this choice process. It can lead towards making such a mistake.

Our recommendation is to simply take a look at all the garden offices that are available. Some are more suited for some professionals. As a simple example that you can easily consider, in the event that you are a freelancer that works with computers, you will need a suitable power supply network built inside the office. Make sure that you can accommodate all the furniture you need in order to do your job. That will help you out the most.

The good news is that there are many different manufacturers available on the market. The bad news is that some of them are not going to bring in the high quality you are surely after. With this in mind, try to learn all that you can about the manufacturer. See if the clients that were serviced in the past are happy with what they received. Whenever you notice many complaints that are written about a considered manufacturer, you need to stay away. There is a pretty good chance that problems would appear in your case too. Simply compare the deals and try to find something that is truly appropriate. You will definitely appreciate the choice that you make if it is based on as much research as possible. 

Tips for installing a pond

Water features have become quite popular with homeowners who want to have a fabulous outdoor area and can be applied to both small and larger gardens.

If you’re thinking of adding a water feature to your garden, have you thought about installing it yourself? With flexible liners and prefabricated pools often preferred to concrete, it’s much easier to do than you might expect.

The tips in this article should provide you with everything you need to get started on your water garden.

Budget

Before you get carried away designing an extravagant water feature, it’s a good idea to take a good hard look at your budget. If you’re reading this article, the chances are that you’ve opted for the DIY method, which will save on labour, but there are still more costs to consider.

It’s important to plan ahead as this will prevent you from overspending.

Types of pond

There are two main types of pond that can be easily installed by you: flexible liner and prefabricated ponds. A flexible liner is the cheapest option, but it does require a little extra work as you will have to stake out the area. This extra work can be a blessing to some, as it means that custom designs are a possibility.

On the other hand prefabricated ponds are simple and even easier to install as the shape is predefined. As they’re made from heavy duty polyethylene, they can withstand hot and freezing temperatures.

Size

The size of your pond will largely depend on your budget, the size of your garden and what you want to achieve with it. A small pond (less than 2000 litres) offers you a way to enjoy small water plants, while a medium pond (2000 – 5000 litres) could have a small pump and some goldfish.

If you want to go bigger than that you will need to be committed to maintain the pound regularly. Large ponds are considered those between 5000 and 10,000 litres, while anything above that is extra-large. Remember, the bigger you go, the more investment required – both money and time.

Location

This is a particularly important consideration, as you’ll need to consider sunlight and rain, especially if you plan to have aquatic plants or trees.

Ideally, the location of your pond should be somewhere that gets sunlight for at least half of the day, but also isn’t an area that stays wet. You will also want to choose a spot that is visible from the house too so that you can enjoy your new garden masterpiece.