Your ‘Outdoor Room’…..
Now is the time to really appreciate your garden. If it isn’t ‘up to scratch’ then ask us to come to visit and create vision within a realistic budget. With our know-how and 17yrs of experience our multi-talented team can; Create/extend/redesign Patios. Make-over your garden or upgrade with raised beds and built in irrigation systems. Install soft mood enhancing Garden Lighting and Water Features and fit ultra efficient Patio heaters (see supplier website Primrose London for ideas and supplies). We also now make your home more enjoyable by supplying and fitting full flyscreen units . These are a sealed unit with retractable pull-down screens so the breeze and cool night air comes in …but the Bugs/Wasps stay OUT! Making your garden a place of calm and solace with low maintenance (membrane and cotstone shingle) irrigated (timer weeping-irrigation system) with soft lighting and low running cost Patio heaters ~ is a lot easier than you think. Gardening need not be a chore if the correct forward planning and design is used. Enjoy summer. Enjoy your garden. Enjoy …The Other...
Read MoreHome & Garden – Autumn/Winter
Thankfully we had a very good summer …warm and just enough rain. TheGarden and Outdoors was the place to be. As my company name (The Other Room) suggests, your garden should ideally be just that, another room to your home. To fully appreciate it, ideally you should lavish as much forethought on its function and use in order to create the optimum space. In doing this is will be somewhere you look forward to using as the weather warms up and longer days keep us inclined to be outside more and more. This year in particular, it was so warm that outside entertaining hardly needed scheduling and even breakfast ‘al fresco’ was easily a regular event. If you haven’t, as yet, created the ideal ‘chillax‘ zone , then maybe it is worth thinking about. Planning now,in time for next year, means you can look forward to the summer with a whole new fervour. Patio area, Pergolas, Japanese Garden, Canopy area, LED lighting, Water features, Koi Pools, built in Patio heaters, and large planters with Olive trees and LED starlights …It can be yours. Even if you don’t have Patio Doors/Bi-Fold doors you can still make your garden feel like an extension of your living space. Call me to visit your garden and home and have a brief chat about these possibilities . Meanwhile …In the Garden In the garden, if you have space, create a shuttered area where you can store leaves/dead weeds and unused veg (cauliflower/cabbage leaves carrot tops etc ). This waste, turned occasionally can create a medium to add to your garden to greatly improve the tilth and nutrient status. It really is great stuff …and free! Give roses a good hard prune of all leggy stems and sucker growth. (a sloping cut just above the leaf bud). It is an ideal time to add some well rotted manure (ask your local Farmer/Riding Stables) .Heel in well after to prevent wind rock. Keep Alpines clear of fallen wet leaves and debris to stop them rotting and top up shingle mulch. Infill any hedge gaps with young Hedge Whips and increase ground cover with more low growing semi dwarf shrubs. I recommend calling Merton Hall Nursery at Cottenham for a selection of very very inexpensive, good quality plants. Well worth the trip for an order between you and friends/neighbours. Now is a good time to plant trees .Be sure to check height /spread and how invasive it will be in situ. Be sure to Stake it properly with correct tree ties. On larger trees I recommend planting with a 5cm pipe alongside leading to below the roots. It ensures that in drought periods you can really get water to where it is needed. Divide and spread herbaceous plants or even swop with neighbours. If they have prospered well in your garden they will likely do well in neighbouring gardens. Planting these new divides should be on slightly drier days (to prevent root rot ), adding compost, heeling well in, and a watering in lightly. Keep on top of the persistent annual weeds. Particularly weeds in patios or and mortar joints. The moisture in them can accelerate frost damage. In extreme weather I would advise protecting with fleece more vulnerable plants and using bubble wrap on ceramic/clay planters (this will help the chill factor on the roots too). Give your mower deck/underside a good clean and a light wash over with a brush of oil. This will keep rust at bay. On non frost days, give walls, steps and patio a good scrub with Patio Cleaner being careful...
Read MoreGARDEN NOTES – Autumn 2013
Now is the time to take a hard and fast look at your garden. Can Shrubs be moved to a better location? Can some of the crowded herbaceous plants be halved and used in other parts? Are the heights correct (tiered planting ) or are some of the lower plants being smother by taller ones.? Is shade causing stunted growth in some plants? Is there enough Winter colour in the garden ? These are all things which should be addressed in late Autumn. Is it time to build a raised vegetable patch for home grown fresh produce and a nearby soft fruit cage? We can come in and makeover your garden to allow it to perform most effectively for you. Trees and hedges need to be cut back hard now to open up the garden ready for spring. This helps to prevent moss on Patios, Sheds, lawns and even your Roof. Don’t dead-head old variety Rosa Rugosa roses as the hips make a nice display. Don’t cut back Dogwood (Cornus) until the spring. Now is a great time to put in Patios or raised beds or even resin non slip E-Decking. For further ideas we can come in for a brief advisory, free of...
Read MoreMove… or makeover?
In this time of recession we need to evaluate the best way of spending the funds we have available to improve ,or even completely overhaul our homes. Moving and re-mortgaging is a lot of stress and relocating is additional hassle and inconvenience when, just maybe , the home you already have could be in actual fact, what you really seek. Vision is what we at ‘The Other Room’ have, and maybe can accommodate what you really need. Firstly we will ask you to make a checklist of what you seek to accommodate the needs and ideal for you and your family. The list will be the what you Need and what is Desirable. From here we can give you an idea of what can be achieved either with /without Planning Permission. In my experience of past clients ,all too often they are living in an ideal property to accommodate their requirements ,but don’t necessarily have the ‘vision’ to see it. Things so easily overlooked like adding a contained porch on the front/side/rear of your house .This then allows you to possibly eliminate the hallway in your house to open up your living space . Another is to merge your dining room into a large kitchen/diner creating a great family/social space . This can even include the Garden. This is Your living space and how you make best use of it is how it ‘performs’ for you and your family. Multi-tiered beds for space restricted areas , Irrigation and drought tolerant plants for busy lifestyles Low maintenance and high performance .for the less ‘green fingered’ Espalier fruit growing where space is a premium Good ,colourful mulching /gravels for weed free gardens Themes such as Japanese for peace ,solace and minimalist landscapes Water, in ponds, features and even containers to connect with the outdoors So many facets that can really make use of you own space/garden We have numerous Clients in the local area who continue to use our services for painting /repairs/maintenance and Gardening Services, ..Recommendations that one can’t buy ! If you are considering any of the above we can even show you around some of our Clients previous projects (by appointment only ) Please do not hesitate to contact me to arrange a free overview or advisory...
Read MoreOverdue Decent Summer – Summer 2010
So far, we have had a long overdue decent summer. However, many peoples lawns have been much more seriously affected than others. Good management for lawn care and correct planting of tolerant border plants, plus a good underlying mulch, will ensure a splendid display through the whole season. We can quote you for autumn to hollowtine, loam, roll and topdress your lawn which will reap dividends .All my clients have had compacted lawns that have never had ‘TLC’. One treatment will last for many years. After all, we are all happy to cleanout and decorate the rooms of our home and effectively our garden is another living /recreation space. To give clients gardens a different dimension we have put in tiered or terraced gardens. The creates a focal point. Planting a careful structure of shrubs throughout the scheme and then seasonal bedding/bulb pockets in between. This is easy to auto-irrigate and kept mulched, will remain weed...
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