House Maintenance
Patio’s ~ If you have broken slabs or crumbling pointing it is prudent to have the repair work done before frosts. Penetrating water and frost action will only further damage the slabs/pointing and even the base Chimneys ~ An area we tend to ignore. This takes the full brunt of all weather and is prone to damage. If it does break and fall the damage can be roof tiles, gutter or worse …a passer by. Get any pointing /cowling checked and repaired along with any loose tiles. Masonary ~ Render and exterior painting is a great way to protect your property. However a small hole can allow moisture in , where it will sit and start to damage bricks , especially the softer varieties.Damp decomposing bricks/masonary lead to rot and damp problems. We can check to see if any of the is ‘live‘, hack off the problem area, repatch and repaint. Soffits and Fascia’s ~ these often get overlooked but they protect the roof rafters so maintenance is really vital. For any Estimates on the items above please contact...
Read MoreBulbs – Autumn/Winter 2014
Be sure to plan ahead and buy from a good supplier .It really makes all the difference. It is important to look at heights too. The best time to plant is when you are removing Summer Bedding as you may find young corms from previous bulbs. At the same time as planting add a good compost mixed with a little silver sand to stop rot. Think of colour combinations such as plain orange pansies and Black Parrot tulips with purple or white Hyacinths. Plus violet Pansies and maroon violas with large double pink Angelique Tulips …and for contrast some dwarf conifers inbetween .Some primulas dotted around too for emerging nectar feeding insects. If planting in containers go for Frost Proof not Frost resistant. It just is so worth spending that bit extra for say Fibracotta (Terracotta mixed with Fibre glass ) to really know your pots will survive some of our bitter cold winters. Planting/Transplanting Take photos of your exiting garden in season. When it all dies back you then know where some flourished and where others didn’t. Location can be key in a successful garden, but also a good well drained well composted base too. New shrubs. Think carefully of the height and spread of the plant else it will smother its neighbours or regularly have to be chopped back ~ not good. Before planting soak root ball for 15min before digging in .be sure you have fully agitated the planting hole else water will sit in it and rot the roots. Blood Fish and Bone Compound added to the planting hole is always best. Keep dead heading your summer plants and they will perform well up to the first frosts .A few minutes well spent. Snails will be laying eggs to over winter. If you put damp slates or bricks or even planks in your flower beds they will lay them on there. Then simply transfer and scrape off to under a wild hedgerow. Great for hedgehogs and birds. Fruit Harvest. Pick fruit carefully to avoid bruising. For Plums /Damsons. If there are too many and Jam seems too time consuming this is what I do. Parboil cleaned stoned fruit in a very tiny amount of water (just cover bottom of pan). Allow to cool. then package up in portions in Freezer Bags. Then all through winter you have them to hand for Crumbles/Pies/Compotes ~ really is worthwhile. At the end of the season be sure to prune fruit trees and add Coddling Moth bands .Pruning is vital to ensure disease resistance and done correctly enhances crop yield immensely. Raspberries. Summer raspberries ~ remove only the shoots that fruited the previous year, along with suckers . Autumn Raspberries ~ cut back all shoots to just above ground...
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