The Best Garden Shows To Visit This Spring And Summer

March 24, 2015 By

gardenshow

Spring is the beginning of gardening season, and thus it is also the beginning of the season for gardening shows. A perfect place to learn some tricks of the trade and take some inspiration from other gardeners, gardening shows make for a wonderful day out if you are passionate about the outdoors. However, when there are so many taking place around the United Kingdom, deciding which to prioritise can be difficult. Here are four of the ones we love the most:

Harrogate Spring Flower Show

April 23rd to April 26th

One of the most popular independent gardening events in the United Kingdom as ranked by Which readers, the Harrogate Spring Flower Show has plenty for garden lovers to enjoy. There are forums for people to discuss gardening with Q&A sessions at the Dig It Garden Theatre, there are cookery demonstrations throughout the event for those who looking to discover great new recipes, and new to 2015 are a series of How-To demonstrations for creating the perfect garden. Tickets range from £13.50 to £18.00 depending on the day of entry and whether or not you choose to book in advance.

Garden Show Ireland

8th May to 10th May

Part of the appeal of the Garden Show Ireland is its incredible location. It’s situated at the 400 year old gardens of Northern Ireland’s impressive Antrim Castle. However, there is still plenty of content for garden enthusiasts at the show, especially for families as there is an opportunity for kids to go foraging, try the climbing walls and enjoy a bean bag cinema. It is the perfect garden show from all the family. Tickets are £10 for adults and children get in free.

RHS Chelsea Flower Show

19th May to 23rd May

Created by a charity called RHS, the Chelsea Flower Show is perhaps the most iconic of all the garden shows in the United Kingdom. It has been around since 1804. Because of this, the Chelsea Flower Show is the most expensive you will attend. Tickets can cost between £24 and £69. But it’s worth the cost as talent both young and old will be attendance and hundreds of exhibitions are planned for the event.

BBC Gardener’s World Live

June 11th to June 14th

Coming to the NEC arena in Birmingham this summer is the BBC’s Gardeners’ World show live. There will be plenty to enjoy from show gardens on display for inspiration to a floral marquee with plants to buy from the Royal Horticultural Society. There will also be experts on hand giving talks throughout the day about everything from gardening to homecare, such as Anne Swithinbank, Carol Klein, Jim Buttress, Mary Berry and much more. Tickets cost £22.50.

Filed Under: Other

5 Must-Have Landscaping Ideas for 2015

February 12, 2015 By

indoor-outdoor-living-space2015 and spring is rapidly on its way. Don’t let your garden just sit there – ramp up its appeal with one of these five must-have landscaping ideas.

1. Indoor/Outdoor Flow

Boost the living space of your home by breaking down the barriers between the outdoor and indoor. Widen doorways; consider replacing the back wall of your home with floor-to-ceiling windows and French doors (or even a transparent wall).

Choose a polished tile for the patio or decking that continues nicely from your kitchen tile, or go for a paving that aligns nicely with your indoor floor design. Opening up this space to become more ‘living-friendly’ will help you feel that you have more living space for when friends come over or those hot summer days.

columnar-trees-garden

 

2. Columnar Trees

Columnar trees can look beautiful as an alternative garden wall and give a neater, almost regal feel to your garden. Fastigiate Hornbeams are likely to work best, along with Cypress tress; European Green Beeches or Japanese Holly ‘Sky Pencil’ trees (anything that will grow upwards, not outwards).

Shape your trees with regular pruning, to either become dense hedges; trim topiaries or to grow flat against an existing wall. This look can look stunning with paired with freshly mowed grass or some good AstroTurf.

3. French Drains

Rather than try to hide the drainage and irrigation in your garden, why not turn it into a beautiful decoration piece or focal point?

French drains can look pretty and sophisticated when installed parallel to another edge in your garden (such as a wall or the edge of decking/a lawn). They run much like a border on a carpet and are perfect for conservatories (or other indoor-outdoor area), for a sleek and elegant addition.

4. Rock Gardens

Add a touch of the wild to your garden with an impressive rock garden. Whether you’re choosing to replace the lawn with pebbles (overlaid with some decking) or just want to confine the feature to a specific part of your garden, rock gardens are low-maintenance and bring distinct variety to your landscape.

Rock gardens can also be implemented in individual flower beds or planters. They are in season all year round and there are countless different rock/stone styles to choose from. Talk to a professional landscaping company in Liverpool to learn what variations will suit your garden’s existing design and shape best.

rock-garden-feature

5. Fire Features (or Fire ‘Pit’)

A sure way to get friends flocking to your garden this spring/summer is with a stunning fireplace feature. Often situated in the center of one’s patio or lawn, a fire pit makes your garden a true gathering place – ideal for those long, hot, barmy summer nights.

Whether you simply use it for generating heat and light, or prefer to use it to toast marshmallows and make every night feel like camping(!), a fire feature can be the perfect addition to make those barbecues and summer get-togethers last longer.

garden-fire-feature

Filed Under: Landscaping

Why Artificial Grass is Actually a Great Idea

July 3, 2014 By

I always said I’d hate to be a lawnmower salesman and I continue to stand by those words today. Particularly now when Lawnmower ownership is dropping rapidly thanks largely to a boom in people getting artificial grass fitted in their gardens to save time and money on labour costs.

In Liverpool Artificial Grass NW are leading the surge in the installation of artificial grass. Elderly couples who struggle to maintain their lawn, busy families with no time to give to the garden and landlords who don’t want to be paying for someone to maintain the garden, everyone seems to be investing in artificial grass.

Twenty years ago I would never have considered doing it to my own lawn, you could spot artificial grass from a mile away. However now artificial grass is indistinguishable from the real stuff. Only the lack of bare patches, muddy puddles and brown grass during summer may give guests an indication of the true nature of your lawn.

A few examples below from Artificial Grass NW show just how realistic it can now look. Some of them even have lawnmower stripes on them!

 astro turf Artificial Grass Liverpool

Filed Under: Landscaping

Join in with the fun

July 3, 2014 By

Here at Landscaping Cafe, we would like you to get involved with the website.

Are you a landscaper, and have just completed the best landscaping project ever ?

Have you created the best pond in your career?

We want you to share it with us, and the rest of the internet. Please get in touch with us if you would like to share your best landscaping creations with the world !

Filed Under: Other

How Landscaping has become popular in Liverpool

July 9, 2013 By

Over the last few years, the city of Liverpool has seen a massive transformation, not just across its city centre or key attractions and world heritage sites, but also across a large number of its popular homes.

Although there has been a lot of property extending, renovation and transformation, nothing comes close to the boom in landscaping design that the city is going through.

Since the transformation of baron industrial land in the city’s southern district, JL Landscapes Liverpool have been at the forefront of this boom and are constantly asked for more unique, custom styles in terms of landscape design and installment. UK’s leading garden locations – The International Garden Festival, it seems as though Liverpool residents are looking to replicate this horticultural experience across their own gardens and lawns.

 

Filed Under: Landscaping

The different styles of Paving that are popular today

May 31, 2013 By

How many times have you stepped out recently, maybe in your front garden or back garden and seen how tired your current paving looks?

If you fall into this bracket then you will be forgiven in thinking that as summer approaches, you want to do something about it.

Well, in this article we will be discussing some of the different paving styles that are popular with home owners across the country.

Block Paving:

Block Paving has always been a firm favourite because although it adds a lot of cosmetic appeal to a property, it is also usually made from solid sandstone which means that it will last a very long time and will be able to withstand heavy erosion from the harsh weather seasons.

Another positive for using Block Paving is that it has a lot of variations in design, colours and of course, when it comes to specific patterns, you really can create any design you want.

Pattern Imprinted Concrete:

Pattern Imprinted Concrete is the other form of paving which is really coming into vogue these last few years.

Pattern Imprinted Concrete is abit like Block Paving however the blocks are more smaller which usually means you have more flexibility in design.

The one thing that really stands out when you use Pattern Imprinted Concrete is that you tend to get a better finish as you can get much more tidier cuts and sealings.

So there you go, the above two styles are the ones that everyone seems to be going for these days so if you feel you need to upgrade your paving, its worth looking into them further.

 

JL Landscapes are one of Liverpool’s premier Landscaping Contractors and specialise in installing Paving across Liverpool.

Filed Under: Paving

Why a Hog Roast is a great way to show off a new garden

May 31, 2013 By

The summer season is close and you have just completed a huge amount of Landscaping work on your garden.

You have battled through all the mud, rain and dirt. You have dealt with all the problems that come with major landcaping work. You have paid the final amount to the landscaping contractor and now you can finally enjoy the fruits of your investment.

After a few days of relaxing in the sun on your new perfectly installed turf, admiring your new flowers, trees and fencing, you now decide it is time to show off your new garden to your friends, family and neighbours but are unsure as to what you want to do.

You maybe thinking about having something similar to a ‘house warming’ party, or you could just opt for the standard BBQ however after all the investment you have made, you feel that you want that something a bit more special.

Well, as a possible answer to your problem, have you ever thought about hiring the services of a profesisonal Hog Roast?

Hog Roasts are fast becoming the new party choice simply because they are a great way to serve food to a vast amount of people but also, it enables you to bring in something more unique.

So next time you are looking for a way to show off your new garden and impress your friends, family and neighbours, you could do a lot worse than higher in a professional Hog Roast catering company.

Filed Under: Other

Why a Tree Surgeon should always use a Scissor Lift

May 28, 2013 By

When people think about Landscaping, its fair to say that dealing with problem trees (especially the bigger ones) is usually last on peoples minds.

They will often look to tackle the obvious things such as lawns, plants, fences, patio and decking before tress even come into their minds.

Fortunately, there are professional companies who specialise in just this, dealing with problematic trees and they are called ‘tree sugeons’.

If you do have a problematic tree that you want dealing with, maybe as a one-off job or as part of a bigger landscaping project, then it is always advisable to hire a tree surgeon instead of attempting to deal with it yourself to avoid serious injury (or even death).

So, you have recognised that you have a tree which needs attention, you have contacted a few local tree surgeons and identified the best company for you. The question is then, how do you know they are operating in a safe way?

The key to answering this question is the use of a Scissor Lift. By using a Scissor Lift, a tree surgeon dramatically improves safety for them and everyone else in the local vicinity as it allows the tree surgeon to work higher in a more controlled way.

A Scissor Lift basically acts as a raisable working platform that lifts the tree surgeon to the specific height they need to work at, maybe to cut some big branches or to cut sections at strategic locations to help the tree fall in a specific  direction.

So there you have it, if you do hire a tree surgeon, make sure they have access to a Scissor Lift so that safety is always at the forefront of the work they do.

Author Bio:

Carl Smith is the Brand Manager for Kimberly Access Group Ltd, One of the UK’s leading Scissor Lift Hire companies.

Filed Under: Other

What to look for in a new Driveway

April 16, 2013 By

When it comes to creating your dream driveway, it is always best to do some pre-planning beforehand as this will identify any issues which you may not have thought about initially.

A new driveway should be wide enough to accomodate easy parking, should be strong enough to cope with even the most heaviest of trucks whilst being weatherproof to withstand the most harshest of seasons.

In terms of materials used, again, it is always advisable to do your homework on different suppliers to get a better understanding of the different types of materials and the associated costs. Another good idea is to speak to a driveway specialist as they will usually have great contacts and will usually be able to source the same materials but at a reduced cost.

Once you have pre-planned your driveway and identified the type of materials you would like to use, now you need to select a driveway specialist that will create your dream driveway for you.

When selecting a driveway specialist, first and foremost you want to see their portfolio of previous driveway projects that they have completed. Most driveway specialists will have a website which you can consult, however, most will have a folder with all their previous jobs in with breakdowns of materials used and completion timescales.

Once you have established a driveway specialist with a good track-record, next you want to establish if they can source the exact same materials you have identified but at a reduced cost. If they can, great, if not, do not worry as they will usually be able to source more standard materials (such as grout, hardcore etc) at reduced costs.

Finally, once you have found a driveway specialist with a great track record and good supplier contacts, you now need to discuss the project timeframe. First you need to establish how long the job will take to complete from start to finish (so you can make other arrangements with car parking etc). Once you have established this, next you need to establish if any external equipment is needed such as skips, diggers etc and if they can cost that into the job.

Once this has all been completed, it will usually be a case of signing a form and exchanging a deposit. You can then inform any neighbours that building work will be commencing for a period of time.

This articl was supplied by Moss Landscaping Cheshire who specialise in Driveways Cheshire & Surrounding Areas.

Filed Under: Driveways

What is the key skill needed for professional Block Paving

April 10, 2013 By

A lot of people may be wondering what Block Paving really is because what it means to one person is usually different to another person.

Block Paving is thought by some to be ‘paving flags’ whilst others consider it paving using special ‘bricks’ or blocks.

In reality though, it is a combination of both.

One thing is for sure though, no matter where you are, you can be pretty much assured that an example of Block Paving will not be far away.

Most city streets are a paved with a form of Block Paving whilst the majority of home driveways and paving is also completed using Block Paving. This is especially true when it comes to larger cities for example Block Paving Liverpool has some great examples that date back to the 19th century.

So, with Block Paving proving to be a key component in home and civil construction, what is the ‘key’ to good Block Paving.

The ‘key’ as some consider is utilising the most highest of quality materials you can find with the view that the better the materials, the better the completed project whilst other consider the ‘key’ to be expert craftsmanship i.e. neat cutting of the block so the finish project is as neat and symmetrical as possible.

In reality it is both these views plus a few more, however, one thing is for sure and that is professional Block Paving can really add value to any property it is installed in so if you are thinking about installing some new Block Paving at your property, whoever you decide to use, make sure they can provide examples of their previous work and the materials used.

 

Filed Under: Paving
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