Planning the Perfect Barbecue Garden

The sun is peeking out from the clouds and we’ve been lucky with the weather recently; with the World Cup and Wimbledon enticing us to gather our friends around and chill out in the sunshine, thoughts naturally turn to barbecues and eating al fresco.

If your lawn is crying out for some garden maintenance, and you’re embarrassed to invite the neighbours round because of  the weed colonies, you need to get cracking on beautifying it before the summer holidays arrive and the smell of burning sausages fills the air.

Roll up your sleeves and get stuck in; to start the operation, if you haven’t got round to it yet, clear away all of the mess from the spring (and winter). If you have a proliferation of mulchy leaves, get shot of them, and any other bits of mess that have landed on your lawn. Once you’ve tidied up, if you left the garden furniture out and it’s looking worse for wear, move it out of the way or at least into the garage/shed so that you have a blank canvas. You can tart the old furniture up later. Spend some time removing any extra garden furniture, garden tools, and weeds so you have a clear, clutter-free space to host your parties.

Is your garden the perfect design for a barbecue? Some shapes and sizes work better than others. You need enough room to host your guests (obviously) and space for a barbecue that’s big enough to feed everyone. Try a practice run; set a table up in the garden, and put the barbecue near the house, then imagine if you have enough room for people to sit down, mill around and (if inviting kids) play and run around. Experiment with the layout until you feel comfortable.

If you haven’t got one already, the next thing you need is a decent barbecue. You’re looking for something that’s easy to use (even with a beer in your spare hand) , will last you a while and of course, cooks food thoroughly. At this time of year there are plenty to choose from and you can get a great deal if you shop around.

You need decent garden furniture too; if you banished your tired looking deckchairs to the shed with their mould, invest in something a bit more durable. Plastic is always a good option because it’s hardy and lasts a while, or for a more sophisticated soiree you could look into investing in some wooden furniture. If you do go with wood, you’ll have to be more careful about looking after it than plastic, it will cost more and probably not last as long, but hey, it will look fabulous!

All you need to do once you’ve got that sorted is fire up the barby, crack open a beer and enjoy the smell of charcoal…

Driveways and the law

Just like everything else, when it comes to driveways there are rules and regulations you need to be aware of – mainly to do with planning.

Since 2008, if you want to cover your front garden with a hard surface, driveway or paving, and the area that needs covering is more than five square metres, you’ll need to get planning permission if you’re putting down traditional, impermeable materials which don’t control rainwater running off onto the roads.

You don’t need  planning permission  for less than five square metres, nor do you need it if the surface you’re putting down will permeable or porous, or  if  you use a traditional surface which directs rainwater to a lawn or border to drain naturally (or there is another drainage solution, like a soakaway added)

If you want to avoid planning permission, you could look at alternative options like;

·         Permeable paving
·         Porous asphalt
·         Sustainable drainage systems / rainwater harvesting systems
·         Combinations of gravel with a green, vegetated area
·         Traditional hard surfaces that incorporate run-off to your garden or lawn or a rain garden or soakaway

It’s fine to lay hard surfacing which lets water to soak into it along with concrete permeable paving or porous asphalt, but you will need to make sure they are laid on top of a sub-base which lets water pass through and be stored.

Other ideas include letting water run-off into your lawn or flower beds, or working it so that the run off is directed towards an area of your garden where it will collect, and either soak into the ground or flow to the drains.

Soakaways are another option; these pipe water into a gravel-filled trench or container and from there it soaks back into the ground. These are only suitable for properties which have larger front gardens, as they need more space than other options and legally they need to be a certain distance from your house or any other buildings.

For advice about driveways, what’s suitable for your property and how to make sure that your driveway conforms to all the relevant legislation, talk to an expert garden landscaper like John Lessels Landscaping.

Laying the Groundwork for the Borders to Edinburgh Link

It’s exciting times for the Borders to Edinburgh Rail Link, a project that John Lessels Landscaping has been keeping a very close eye on since we were involved in some of the ground works for this important project.
Last month, Network Rail announced that they were more or less halfway there, with 44 per cent of the line which will stretch between Edinburgh and Tweedbank, south of Galashiels, being finished, and that by the end of May they should have been at least halfway there.

It will be great to see the trains run for the first time in 46 years, in September 2015, as we’re too young to remember when the old Waverley line to Carlisle was still in use. The line should be in operation again by next summer, and following driver training and line testing will be open for rail users by September.
The rail link has been an absolutely massive project; construction started last year and so far over 850 members of staff have worked on it, clocking up 2.1 million hours. That’s not including independent contractors like ourselves. Rumour has it that there have been over 25,000 bacon rolls supplied to construction workers so far…we may or may not have partaken in a few ourselves!

You wouldn’t believe the amount of work that goes into reopening an old railway line. For example, it’s involved refurbishing 104 bridges, installing 16 miles of drainage, and moving 804,000 tonnes of earth. That’s an awful lot of digging. That’s not to mention the logistics involved in stabilising the old mines along the route, restoring the Lothianbridge viaduct and two tunnels, and re-routing a section of the Edinburgh City Bypass! We’re sure it will be worth it to have this important strategic railway line back in operation.

Interestingly, we’ve also heard that Alex Salmond has been hinting that it’s possible the Borders Railway could be re-opened all the way back to Carlisle. He was also keen on trying to bring high speed railways into Scotland, but we’ll believe that when we see it.

At John Lessels Landscaping we’re very proud to have been able to contribute in our own way to the project, and we’ll be watching in anticipation to see what happens next.

Top Tips for Gardens in June

We’re fast approaching the longest day of the year. The sun encourages us out into the garden but it’s only then as we’re sitting on our lovely patio with a Pimms in our hand that the warmth has tempted out lots of weeds – number one thing to do in this month will be battling the pests and keeping your garden looking tidy! Our advice is to do this little and often, rather than leaving it to do all in one go; the task will be much easier cut into smaller chunks. And your knees will thank you for it.

Another constant job for gardeners in early summer is dead heading. Your beautiful blooms will shrivel up and keel over as fast as the weeds sprout up to replace them, so keep on top of removing spent heads from pots, baskets and flower beds, and give them a good feed every now and again.

Depending on whether we get a ‘barbecue summer’ or simply a dismal, wet one, you’ll have to step up your watering routine, too. Give everything a good watering once or twice a week when it’s warm and dry, except for hanging baskets which really need water every day. If you have lots of trees and shrubs, and there are no hosepipe bans in place yet, leave a hose by the base of the plant for an hour or so, just on a trickle.

If you’re planting in June, just as at any other time of year, the most important thing is to water the plant in well, whether it’s a perennial, bedding plant or shrub. To do this properly, make sure that you give the root ball a really good soak in a bucket of water before you plant it – it’s ready when there are no more air bubbles popping to the surface.  Dig your hole, fill it to the top with water and let it drain, then put your plant in the hole. Once it’s in place, cover it with soil and then water it well again.

If you’re planning on spending time enjoying your garden, lounging on the patio and generally socialising outside, keep an eye on the moss that can grow on driveways and patios. Get rid of it along with any weeds as soon as you see them pop up, and hopefully you can stop them proliferating too much over the summer.

For more advice about garden landscaping, decking and more, speak to our experts at John Lessels Landscaping.

Top Five Weeding Tips

Image: Green Seedling In Hand by domdeen via FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Weeding – it’s never going to be anyone’s favourite job, is it? Some people claim to find it therapeutic, blitzing all those pesky weeds, but for most of us it’s a necessary evil if we want our garden to look presentable. The good news is that in just ten minutes a day you can get on top of your weed situation and make sure that your driveways, paths and gardens look pristine.

 1. Get mulching!

Mulching really makes a difference to the overall weed situation, simply because bare soil is like an open invitation for all the weeds in the garden to congregate and take root.  If you pre-empt the invasion by covering any bare soil with mulch, it stops them from seeding and growing. You can use pre-made shredded leaf and straw mulch, or make use of your own garden waste, but organic mulch is better than non-organic, especially for vegetable patches, herb gardens and fruit.

Mulching also has the benefit of enriching the soil with the nitrogen it needs for healthy growth.

2. Give it some air

Give the soil in your garden a good raking over, especially around the bases of plants, to aerate it. It’s recommended that you do this at least once a week, and to a depth of 3-5 inches. Collect any loose weeds up as you go. Don’t over-rake your soil though, because this can have the opposite effect, embedding weeds into the soil as you go

3. Just 10 minutes a day!

You really don’t have to spend hours and hours in the garden, it’s just a matter of keeping on top of the little jobs so that they don’t turn into one big one. If you make a deal with yourself to get outside and do a bit of weeding every day, just for ten minutes, you’ll be able to stop roots of weeds from bedding in and growing too much. Even if you’re just outside enjoying a spot of spring sunshine, you can weed here and there and get rid of them as they appear.

4. Don’t forget your pathways

 The annoying weeds that crop up in between the paving on your pathways and driveways won’t stay there – they’ll soon start appearing in your lawn and borders if you don’t take care of them, too.

5. Cover old crops 

Bare soil from old vegetable patch crops is another open invitation to weeds. They love an empty space! Prevent them by planting ‘cover crops’ to fill in the space while you’re waiting for your next crop of vegetables or fruits to start growing.

For more advice on gardens, contact a garden landscaping expert like John Lessels Landscaping.

Five Common Landscaping Fails

Image: www.geograph.org.uk

Sometimes, the gardens you lust over in the upmarket magazines can seem so doable; but landscaping a garden is fraught with pitfalls and things to think about before you start planting those gorgeous perennials you saw at the garden centre.

Here are a few words of advice from garden landscaping experts …

1. Choosing the wrong plants 

Don’t buy everything you like the look of; not everything will flourish in every type of soil, or in the particular part of the garden you have in mind for it.

Check the spot you want to fill with foliage first thing in the morning, at noon, and mid-afternoon, note down where the sun hits and take your notes with you to the garden centre. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice about what should go where. Check the soil too –if you’re not sure what type of soil you have (chalky, sandy, clay, silted, peaty, loamy) get some tips here:

2. Bad patio and pathway foundations

This is one area you probably will need professional advice, even if you intend to do the work yourself. Make sure that the base materials are right for the job, that the depth is right and that the materials used for the pathways have been properly chosen to withstand the amount of use they get.

3. Not matching the garden to the home

It doesn’t matter what you’ve seen in the gardening magazines, if the garden doesn’t match the property, it will look out of place. A charming Victorian cottage demands a country style garden with plenty of flower beds, while a newer property can embrace simple lines, and plants that complement the minimalist styles of newer homes.

4. Forgetting about the weather

Don’t ignore the fact that it can rain a LOT in Scotland, and the rest of the UK. Recent weather events will attest to the power of the British climate. The last thing you want is a flooded patio or waterlogged lawn. It’s not all bad though; rain is full of nutrients that can benefit your garden, so find a way to collect it up.  Water butts, drainage systems, or filter strips are all options, depending on the size of your garden.

5.  Not thinking ahead when planting trees.

Many people forget the capacity of trees to grow – fast growing trees can be a real problem if they get too tall (don’t mention the dreaded Leylandii) and it’s not just your sunlight that could be at risk from ill-thought out trees, some trees compete with other plants or even cause problems with the foundations of houses if they are built too close. You need to decide what the tree is for; just to look pretty, privacy, shade or anything else?

For expert advice, speak to the team at John Lessels Landscaping.

Garden trends to look out for in 2014

It’s almost Easter, so thoughts are turning to gardens and whether we’ll be able to enjoy them this summer! The weather forecasters are predicting a mega-hot summer (but don’t they say that every year?) and March was the warmest we’ve enjoyed for centuries, so will our gardens be getting much use this year? We do hope so!

Gadgets

There’s a heavy focus on lighting and gadgets this year, with technology providing many opportunities to accent garden landscapes in dramatic yet affordable ways, making even the most average patio or decking area look inviting, and creating socialising space.  Exciting developments include photovoltaic LED glass pavers (illuminated bricks that can be integrated into a path or patio) and new LED fixtures, devices and apps to give you control over your garden when the sun goes down.

On the not-so-good side, brightening up your garden with ‘quirky’ extras is another phase that gardens are going through, and it’s set to continue through the summer of 2014 with interesting adornments like penguin solar lights, the type of decoration you probably didn’t know you needed…

Plants

If you’re wondering what to plant to stay on-trend in your outdoor areas, it’s all about the Great War. Turning your garden into a floral tribute to the fallen is catching on as 2014 is dominated by the First World War centenary. For an average garden, Flanders Field poppies are big news, with national campaigns already under way encouraging gardeners to sow them.

In bedding plants, the humble Begonia is replacing the ubiquitous Busy Lizzie, mostly because Busy lizzies are being hit with downy mildew problems.

Super foods can make their place in any garden - sales of curly kale are up 32 per cent and so you can plant your own and be ahead of the super food, kale crisp eating crowd with your very own crop. Baby leaf versions of the trend veg are also quite popular.

Landscaping and maintenance

In practical terms, the emphasis this year is on simple, easy and low-maintenance. Gardens are for enjoying, not weeding, so sprinkle and go seed, fertiliser and compost products like Flower Magic and equivalents are selling well. If you’re looking for the ultimate way low-effort garden maintenance, contact John Lessels and we can do it all for you!