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Decking
4th Oct:
Decking and what are your options.
There are three main types of decking one can have in your garden. We frequently get asked which is the best choice to go for and especially which one requires the least maintenance.
Below are some brief explanations for each of the three main types of decking and hopefully if you are thinking of getting some decking done in the near future this will help with your decision.
Firstly you have softwood and hardwood decking. Basically softwood comes from faster growing trees and is therefore easier to farm, whereas hardwood comes from slower growing trees which are common in rainforests. These are also now ‘farmed’, which means that when a tree is cut down they are replaced by a newly planted one. The terms hard and soft have nothing to do with physical hardness of the wood, but hardwood does include some natural properties that softwood doesn’t have such as high fire rating, natural oils, and a natural resistance to insects, fungus, acids and alkalis, which ultimately will mean less maintenance needed for a hardwood deck. In theory both softwood and hardwood decking should be cleaned and oiled once a year.
The other option is composite decking. This is a relatively new product and is a combination of wood, plastic and PVC. It is good for anyone looking for a very low maintenance deck but will not look as good as the real thing. Also it has a longer guarantee and can last for up to 25 years.
Then there are the different widths of the boards (approx 4 inch or 6 inch) and the option of having smooth boards, small grooves and large grooves.
If anyone would like to know more about the options available and approximate costings of the three different types available please don’t hesitate to contact us here at Harrington Porter. Also have a look on our website as we have recently added some photos of some gardens we have recently done and some of them include decking.
A Working-day in the Life of an HP Landscaper.
4th Aug:
Summer time sees our landscaping teams working to capacity across gardens in our area of London. The last couple of days have been typical of this time of year, seeing the appearance of both the Factor 20 and the company issue water-proofs. Our Great British Summer. The job ahead in this particular two days is to be mainly heavy ground working with a little skilled and precise installation work. A prior ground or soil survey has revealed the presence of clay. A lot of clay.
As part of a five-strong team I arrive on site before 8 am where the client offers us the great British motivator, a round of teas, relieved to find out they are all white-with-ones.
We glove up and set out the days tools, dust sheets, barrows and boards. Already hot, sleeves are rolled up, sun cream slapped on faces and deep breaths taken as today’s task is the excavation of a metre deep hole and the erection of 12 posts within to install a fabulous trampoline as part of a children’s play area. Did I mention that the hole is to be made through clay? Luckily we are able to call on two extra members of our team to come and do some leg work lugging hundreds of bags of clay and rubble out the front to the skip, returning to the garden with over 300 20kg bags of sand from the five ton drop made that morning. That’s when the teas really come into their own. Some of the boys progress to white-with-twos.
10 am arrives fast, and the 15 minute break results in a rapid stiffening of muscles so it’s back to the digging and the carrying. This makes room for the first of the 12 posts on which the trampoline will be set. It feels good to see the idea coming to life, for both us and the client whose delightful children are taking full advantage of the weather and the holiday to splash about excitedly in the paddling pool and offer us bites of their half eaten dripping lollies, one dressed as a mermaid and the other as a cowboy.
By the end of the day, the sand is shifted and levelled in the play area, the hole is completed and eight posts are erected.
The next day arrives and the British summer gifts us another warm day; with a side of heavy and constant rain. You’ll see from the pictures that the hole is doing it’s job of draining away rainwater – just wish the raincoats were doing as good a job – and the lads remain committed to meeting the deadline.
As soon as the shed is erected we have somewhere to huddle together and eat our soggie sarnies, sup our restorative brews and discuss the best way to lay the artificial turf on a bed of layered safety-foam which we are using to cover the entire children’s play area. I’ve never seen a shed go up in such record time! It turns out that the conditions do not lend themselves to laying the grass and foam as it doesn’t give the product (nomow artificial turf) the best chance of a long and maintenance free life.
That being said, I’d have loved to show you pictures of the completed job, but this being Our Great British Summer, sometimes we just have to do the very best that mother nature allows us to.
Inside Out
28th Jun:
Bespoke outdoor cushions – We have a skilled cushion maker who makes up weatherproof cushions in outdoor material to any size and thickness depending on your needs. The specialist fabric is able to withstand most weather conditions except heavy and prolonged rain. There is a wide range of materials to chose, from neutral creams and beige to stripes and patterns. Try scatter cushions in bright accent colours to add some drama to your garden or revive your existing outdoor seating with new covers.
BBQ & Outdoor Entertaining – though we are a huge fan of the traditional charcoal BBQ there are more and more options available to us these days. Firepits, pizza ovens, and built in BBQ’s create a focal point for entertaining and can also give the men a dedicated spot in the garden as well! To help with the manly job of cooking, why not include an outdoor fridge? We were asked to redevelop a garden on Walton Street and one of the specifications was to include an outdoor fridge. This can be the perfect place to store all your drinks for summer especially when the kitchen fridge is over flowing with salads, a place where wine and beer is the priority!
Garden design and build at Harrington porter
20th Jan:
It has been another long but enjoyable year for the Harrington Porter landscaping team. We have built several really exciting garden projects and in advance of an update of our portfolio, please see a selection of photos below. We have built a number of stylish, contemporary outdoor “rooms” with a common trend of artificial lawns, floating benches, uplighting, low maintenance planting and rendered planters. The design of these spaces has been considered with the increasingly popular concept of all year round outdoor entertaining in mind, with outdoor heaters, firepits, and lighting, meaning that it doesn’t have to be mid-summer to use your garden anymore.
