Category Archives: Gardening

Ten Things You Need to Consider About Garden Waste

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A garden can be somewhere to relax in; to let the children play; to have parties and barbecues in the summer; to potter about it, and to just ‘enjoy’. However, gardens never ‘stand still’ – especially in the growing season. Plants keep growing – or dying. Either way, they need to be cut back from time to time. Changes need to be made regularly if the garden isn’t to become overcrowded and a place to be dreaded rather than enjoyed.

When you want to get rid of the waste you’re going to generate from your garden, you need to:

  1. Consider the environment. Old fashioned bonfires help to pollute the environment, so getting rid of your garden waste that way isn’t a good idea – except, maybe, on 5th November but that’s a special case.
  2. Separate the waste into ‘green’, garden and ‘other’ waste. ‘Green waste’ approximates to ‘compostable’ waste; garden waste includes tree trunks, roots and branches and ‘other’ waste means such things as old garden furniture, plant pots, bricks and plastic bags. If your waste is separated into these categories it’s easier and quicker to be collected – and it tends to be cheaper to dispose of green waste than other forms of garden waste. In addition, reduce the waste’s ‘bulk’ as much as possible because waste removal firms charge customers according to how much space the waste takes up in their vehicle. It’ll also help the collectors if you can place the waste as close as possible to where it’s going to be loaded onto the collectors’ vehicle. That could save time and trouble – and, therefore, money.
  3. Decide on the most environmentally friendly and cost-effective way to get rid of your waste. This could mean…
  4. Compost the waste in your own garden. You’ll need a big garden and a sizable composting area – and you can’t compost every bit of garden rubbish. For example, tree roots and branches don’t compost unless you use special equipment to crush them to sawdust.
  5. Use your ‘green bin’. This works well for modest amounts of garden waste – but the bin is only emptied every fortnight. You might have more waste than your bin can cope with – and collection times may be inconvenient, depending on when the waste is generated.
  6. Take the waste to your local refuse and recycling depot. This will involve ‘bagging up’ the waste and then transporting it – maybe via several trips – to the depot. This could be tiring and time consuming.
  7. Get a ‘Man and Van’ to collect the waste. This can be convenient and relatively cheap – and it can save you a lot of time and trouble. But you must…
  8. Make sure the person collecting the waste is reputable – because you wouldn’t want that person to fly tip your waste. Moreover, if the rubbish can be traced back to you, you’ll be liable to pay the penalty. Ask to see the person’s public liability insurance certificate and Environment Agency licence to carry waste. Ask for the person’s waste carrier licence number – and check it on the Environment Agency’s website.
  9. Hire a skip or a mini-skip. If you get a skip, order the largest skip you feel able to fill with waste – since larger skips cost less per cubic yard than smaller ones.
  10. Make sure your property can cope with a skip safely and legally. You can get advice, guidance and practical help on skip hire, as well as a ‘man and van’ service, from Waste King on 0800 141 2778 and 01442 210034.

7 Ideas to Keep Gardening Fun and Simple

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Should you be reading this article it’s very likely you’re interested in looking for a good deal concerning something associated with gardening. That’s great! But in all of our getting and purchasing it is frequently useful to maintain a balance by way of helping to keep matters simple. Even basic. Pleasure is the goal and within gardening, just like a number of other issues in our lives, continuing to keep things simple and easy keeps it fun. Thus the following7 ideas to keep your gardening simple:

1. Make certain you make sufficient time to simply appreciate the garden. Don’t always feel the need to be really working in it. Simply be there, linger and observe. One particular area expert gardener we know, when it comes to his own yard, states, “I work hard right until Father’s Day. From then on it’s more or less sit-and-enjoy up until fall.”

2. Related to #1, locate and acquire a low-cost garage-sale chair. Spend some time to actually sit in your garden. Regardless if it’s only a container garden or something similarly small, take a seat close to it and observe. Marvel. You’re enjoying God’s gift called life.

3. Don’t use dollars that you can’t afford. An important life precept nonetheless so true. Nothing can easily rob the happiness out of a passion as neglecting significant financial responsibilities in its pursuit.

4. Make a spot you keep your gardening gear together with supplies. It could be as small as a designated drawer within a cabinet. After that let yourself be in the habit of returning all your equipment to that particular spot after each and every usage. You ought to spend time gardening, instead of reassembling ones own tools.

5. When possible invite the involvement of your youngster. Whether it is your youngster, your grandchild – what ever the situation. Your enjoyment will likely be increased in the delight of your youngster when you assist them to find the toad that’s adopted residence inside your garden. Or perhaps attempting to count the many gradations of green within but a single container garden.

6. Learn to relish other gardens yet don’t strive to end up being them. Joy and simplicity usually are lost whenever we make an effort to match up to everything “they do”. Be happy for them. Enjoy whatever they have. However undertake what you would like with regards to the funds and time that you have.

7. Don’t over buy from the seed catalogs and / or garden centers. Begin small, more compact than you think. If at some point you would like to make improvements to the garden, wonderful! That passion indicates you actually haven’t overdone it. Plenty of people start off big and decide that gardening isn’t their cup of tea because of all the work involved. Gardening can be, at times,difficult work. Nonetheless it ought to be joyful work. If instead it’s become a burden, perhaps it is due to the fact the garden or your expectations have become too big.

Garden Arches Add Mystery to the Garden

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Garden arches give added structure, space and mystery to any garden. Putting an arch to your front door will add some elegance and have a welcoming effect on your visitors. The properly placed arch can add mystery by not allowing the visitors eye to see the entire space beyond.

When considering adding an arch to your yard it is important to know how much support the plant you will be growing on it requires. Some vines can require more than others the wisteria plant as an example requires steel strength support. You do not want to have your arch blow over in the wind in full bloom and have to cut it down.

When you have a small yard arches can give you the added space you need to grow a focal point for the eye and break up the smallest plot into different garden rooms. If you have a large yard it can break it up into manageable sizes and hide things that you don’t want your visitors to see.

There are many styles of garden arches available on the market today. Some people prefer to build it for themselves to get that unique look for their landscape plans. Either way you will enjoy the beauty of an arch in your garden and wonder how you ever lived without one.

Once you have selected your garden arch or built one you will need to place it in your yard. This step is very important, because you will want it to last your lifetime. You will need to dig a hole deep enough that the base is below freeze line. You don’t want to have the arch heaving when the soil temperature changes.

If you have a wooden garden arch you will want the main post to be oversized. The post will rot in the ground and you will have to replace it if your post is not sized large enough. Once you have the arch post holes dug you will want to use a level and make sure that all the posts are level. I would refill the hole at the bottom with some gravel to encourage the water to move away from the post and assist with the leveling process. Fill it to the top with soil, plant your vine and let the beautiful focal point grow.

You will find that garden arches will create a feeling of harmony in your garden and are well worth the effort. The hard work of the placement of the arch will last for many years. Create some mystery in your garden and have fun.