Popular plants for landscaping your garden

Posted on  December 21, 2022  in Landscaping

Which plants are popular for landscaping? Will they work well in my garden?

Here are some recommendations for well-liked plants that are generally simple to care for and will look fantastic in any size garden.

A popular garden plant that can thrive in a garden in Britain is lavender. Our milder temperature is an excellent fit for English lavender. Consider growing plants in pots that can be carried indoors for the winter or in containers with a shelter.

Hosta is a common plant in contemporary gardens. A very well-liked perennial and superb option for gardens located in crowded cities with poor air quality. Hostas are recommended as border plants to go together with vibrant flowers.

If you’re looking for a drought- and disease-resistant plant, the sedum plant is a fantastic option. Another popular option in contemporary gardens due to its remarkable tolerance for the majority of soil types.

Tips for Creating an All-Season Garden

Posted on  October 30, 2022  in Garden Ideas, Landscaping

The key to a good garden is to plan for all seasons, selecting plants that give lasting structure and value to the garden. 

Your garden will need to work visually from inside your home too, remembering that it is viewed all year round when you look out of the window. 

Foliage is the heart of the garden, emphasising and framing your seasonal planting. Holly, euonymus and hebes look good all year round.

Even if space is at a premium in your garden, trees can be the backbone of your garden. Choose one that is perfect for all seasons.

Perennials are non-woody plants, they can be evergreen offering interest for most seasons. 

As an addition to your plants, you could add lighting for impact. As well as being practical it extends the feeling of space. 

A focal sculpture, urn or statue might also make an appropriate focal point. 

Electric Vs Manual Awnings

Posted on  October 18, 2022  in Landscaping

Electric Awning Supplier, Electric Awning Installer

When you consider purchasing an awning for your home or business, you are going to be met with two operational mechanisms to choose between. These are electrically and manual. So let’s discuss, will a manual or electric awning be better for you? Focusing on ease of use, price point, installation time, and product quality.

Ease of Use

The first aspect we want to discuss is which awning is going to be the easiest to use. These awnings do have similar operating mechanisms, just one comes with a bit extra. They are both going to be easy to use, but if you struggle with strength, an electrically operated awning is going to be the most effective option for you. Due to these being powered by electricity, a simple push of a button will operate this awning with ease. So, if ease of use is the main option you want to consider, electrically operated awnings are going to be best for you.

Price Point

Another aspect you are going to want to consider is the price. Even though these awnings are similar, their price points differ massively. As you would expect, electric awnings do have a significantly higher price point. This is due to the additional benefits you are going to receive. It is also due to how the materials used to make it are more expensive than a manual alternative. If the price you are paying is something you need to consider highly, if you have a tight budget to stick to, a manually operated option is going to be more appealing to you.

Installation Time

You are also going to want to consider the time it is going to take to install the awning itself. Whilst the awnings themselves do not differ in how they are installed. One is going to take longer than the other to install. This being an electric awning, they do take longer to install. This is because you need to ensure they have an electricity supply, this is what will take extra time. If you need a quick fix, the better option is going to be a manual awning, but you should not completely discount electrically powered.

Visually Appealing

You may also be wondering about which options are going to be more visually appealing. Considering which option is going to bring the nicest visual impact to the community. With these awnings, they are both going to bring the same visual impact. The only difference is, it is going to be more likely for you to store your electric awning away as this is easier to operate. To have a nice visual impact on the community you should consider the colour of the awning itself rather than how it looked entirely.

Will They Truly Improve Your Home Or Business?

We also recommend that you consider whether even adding an awning is going to improve your home or business. They are going to create a covered area on the exterior of a building. Both options of awnings are going to bring this. It will come down to whether this is going to add anything to your business, or if it is just going to ruin the local community environment.

Product Quality

Finally, you are going to want to consider the product quality. This aspect is going to be very similar for both types of awnings. The quality highly depends on the materials you decide to have your awning made from. Of course, high-quality materials are going to have a higher price tag. But they can be worthwhile if you want your new awning to be longer lasting and hard wearing.

Which Type of Awning Should You Choose?

It now comes down to decision time, deciding what style of awning you should choose. For this, you want to highly consider what is going to be most worthwhile for your home or business. You want to think about which of the benefits are most desirable to you.

If the budget allows, we will always recommend electric awnings to our customers. They are the ones that are going to provide the most benefits. These are the ones that are easy to operate, so everyone will be able to use them no matter their strength or reach.

The decision does entirely come down to you. Take the time to consider what you want and need from your awning. Speak to local awning suppliers and ask questions to discover which is going to be right for you.

Landscaping tips for when you’re building a new home

Posted on  July 29, 2022  in Landscaping

There are benefits to landscaping while working on a brand new home. When you excavate your foundations, you can save the soil to create features in your garden. This could also save you disposal costs. This will work best if you plan any big features in advance, so you know what you need to save. It’s also thinking are you planning a pond/pool? This could be excavated at the same time as the build. It’s easier to get access to the rear of the property with machinery before the house is completed. You’ll also want to spend a few weeks getting to know what your site is like at different times of the day so that you can plan how you are going to use different areas of the garden. You might want a sunny spot in the daytime and an al fresco dining area enjoying the last of the day’s sun. 

Not everything can go on your Compost Heap!

Posted on  May 31, 2022  in Garden Ideas

Creating your own compost is a fantastic way to reduce waste, save money, and be self-sufficient. Still, not everyone knows what you can put in the compost bin and what should go out in general waste.  Here are a few don’ts when it comes to the compost heap.

Coal or charcoal ashes. These contain toxic materials that could harm your plants and wildlife; however, wood ashes are fine.

Walnuts. Surprisingly these also contain a chemical that could be harmful to other plants, and they do not break down as you would think.

Cat and Dog waste: This is due to its potential to carry dangerous diseases that can spread to humans.

Coloured paper: Some coloured paper contains toxic dyes.

Limes: Due to their pH, which is alkaline, composting them could kill the essential microorganisms in a compost ecosystem.

There is also a list of foods that are not recommended (other than those mentioned above) for composting. These include meat, onion peels, citrus peels, grease, bones, or dairy products. This is due to the amount of time they take to break down, or they can attract pests.

Winter Pot Advice

Posted on  February 22, 2022  in Garden Ideas

When creating a summer pot, you know they will grow means a few small plants can turn into a beautiful display. However, plants don’t grow in winter, So how do we get over this issue? Well, you need to buy more plants than you would in the summer and pack them in tightly.

Within a winter pot, you can plant a wide range of shrubs and perennials. Because they don’t grow, they’re unlikely to outgrow their container in one winter. You can always replant them outside when they start to grow and start your winter pot over again.

One thing to watch out for is plant pests. If you spot any pests in the compost, you must eliminate all the compost in the pot and replace it immediately to avoid your beautiful winter pot being destroyed.

As with summer pots, don’t have too many different colours in one pot or grouping, with expert gardeners recommending a maximum of three colours, with green being one of the colours.

Best indoor flowering bulbs

Posted on  August 28, 2021  in Garden Ideas

Bringing the beauty of spring into your home during the Autumn and Winter months can really brighten things up, but what are the best indoor flowering bulbs.

Paperwhite Ziva (Narcissus Tazetta) are a distinctive white flower that has a wonderful scent and are a popular indoor bulb. They do not tolerate frost hence why they cannot be planted outside in the UK winter. These flowers prefer a warm area and are best planted in Autumn for a festive bloom.

Autumn Crocuses are available in a few varieties and are suitable for indoor or outdoor planting during the autumn months. Typically producing 2 flowers per bulb you can be creative with how you plant them, whether it be in a small decorative pot or grouped together in a larger vase.

Amaryllis are large, impressive flowers and are easy to grow with minimal care and attention needed.  Plant these in the Autumn for a festive season bloom.  They normally take between 6-10 weeks to flower.  Plant multiple blubs in two-week intervals for a festive and new year continuous bloom.

Gravel Garden Alpines

Posted on  July 23, 2021  in Garden Ideas

Alpines are easy plants to grow and look great in any garden.  Ideal for filling up the gaps next to a gravel path or in a rockery garden, these plants come in a wide variety of shapes, colours and sizes.

Alpine plants are drought-resistant, meaning during dry spring and summer seasons, once the plant is established, it will still thrive.

When planting alpine plants, make sure to add grit to the soil and plant in a dry area with good drainage.  Once planted, water them well and ensure they get plenty of sunlight. 

Alpine plants are great for creating a focal point within your garden or planted along the top of a wall.

Alpine plants dislike soil that is constantly damp.  If you have planted the alpines in a container, move them to a dryer area during the winter to avoid the winter rainfall.

How to Speed Up Decomposition in Your Compost

Posted on  May 13, 2021  in Landscaping

The biggest issue with composting is that it can be a slow process, so many people are keen on knowing how to speed the decomposition up. There are a few tricks you can try to encourage the decomposition process so that you can more quickly benefit from some lovely fertile compost.

1. Think small- be sure to chop or shred items up into small pieces so that they can more easily decompose.

2. Moisture balancing- you want your compost pile to have a similar moisture content to that of a ‘wrung sponge’. In other words it does need a decent amount of moisture, but not too much.

3. Mix it up- you need a mixture of carbon rich (brown) and nitrogen rich (green) ingredients to speed up decomposition.

4. Keep it moving- every 3-5 days you should turn the compost heap over.

5. Microbes- by keeping up with the above tasks, you will develop good microbes that are the biggest key to decomposition.

These five tricks will help speed up the process of decomposition in your compost heap.

Tips for Growing Strawberries

Posted on  April 24, 2021  in Garden Ideas

If you are a strawberry lover then you are in heaven come summer when strawberries are at their best. One satisfying way to enjoy strawberries is growing your own!

Top Tips for Growing Strawberries

• Seed them early. The earlier you plant them (as long as they won’t encounter frost) the longer you will have delicious strawberries.
• Give them full Sun. these plants need lots of sun to keep them producing fruit well.
• Don’t crowd them. Strawberries need their space so plant them at 30cm deep and at least 40cm between each row.
• Do not over water. Strawberry plants need well drained soil and watering about 1in per week.
• Strawberries grow quite well in pots or raised beds.
• Fertilise when flowers appear.

These handy tips will help you with your yummy strawberry growing and hopefully ensure that you have plenty of berries for enjoying all summer. Good luck with your strawberry growing!

Bulbs can be grown in hanging baskets, borders and containers to give life to beautiful garden blooms. Planting bulbs in the right way is essential to giving them the best start in life. Bulbs should be fresh – they should feel firm and solid – and they should be planted in well-draining soil, with just the right amount of sunlight when the shoots come through.


Bulbs are planted by gardeners to grow flowers of many different varieties, from begonias and freesias, to crocuses and alliums. Garden bulbs that are planted in the right spot and given the best growing conditions will have the best chances of flourishing. If bulbs are healthy and fresh when planted, there’s no reason why they won’t grow into strong, healthy plants and flowers.


Looking after a lawn is essential to keep it fresh, green and healthy. It’s useful to establish a good system of lawn care, complete with scarifying, watering, spreading top dressing and sowing additional grass seeds if needed. Laying the right turf in the first place is a good first step to having a lawn that’s in excellent condition.


Bulbs can be grown in hanging baskets, borders and containers to give life to beautiful garden blooms. Planting bulbs in the right way is essential to giving them the best start in life. Bulbs should be fresh – they should feel firm and solid – and they should be planted in well-draining soil, with just the right amount of sunlight when the shoots come through.


Bulbs are planted by gardeners to grow flowers of many different varieties, from begonias and freesias, to crocuses and alliums. Garden bulbs that are planted in the right spot and given the best growing conditions will have the best chances of flourishing. If bulbs are healthy and fresh when planted, there’s no reason why they won’t grow into strong, healthy plants and flowers.


Looking after a lawn is essential to keep it fresh, green and healthy. It’s useful to establish a good system of lawn care, complete with scarifying, watering, spreading top dressing and sowing additional grass seeds if needed. Laying the right turf in the first place is a good first step to having a lawn that’s in excellent condition.


Many domestic gardens are underused. Although a garden adds value to a home, it’s not always easy to use it all year round, and homeowners aren’t always gardeners. Domestic gardens can be much improved with quality turf, or by growing different plants, flowers, shrubs and trees. Patio areas can be created using decking, with an awning as a beautiful covering.