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Front Garden make over – SW12
17th May:
We recently finished the front garden of a house in Balham, quite the transformation.
Things to do in the garden in March
21st Feb:
1. During this cold snap don’t forget to feed birds in the garden. There are not many berries left for the birds at this time of year and they will be laying eggs soon. The more birds the better as they help clear the garden of slugs and other garden pests.
2. Check and clean tools. This is one of those jobs that there is never time for. Now is a good time to make sure everything is washed, polished, cleaned and oiled.
3. Re pot or top dress shrubs and plants in pots and window boxes. This is the best time of year to do this, doing this before spring will give your plants and soil the nutrients for the following season and will give you a fabulous display later in the year. You can also now change your window plants from winter bedding plants to fresh spring option such as Primroses, Hellebores and Primulas.
4. Tidy herbaceous borders (prune of old stems of herbaceous plants).This is a job every gardener loves doing. It gives you so much satisfaction at the end of a day it‘s like spring cleanign the garden. Tidy plants by cutting them back and removing dead wood. Ideally mulch after and wait for spring.
5. Prune overgrown evergreens like Prunus laurocerasus (laurel), Acuba japonica (spotted laurel) Viburnum tinus Viburnum then feed with organic fertilizer and mulch with organic matter
Fertilizer=plant food
Manure =garden duvet
6. Manure borders. At this time of year your garden should be cleared of all winter leaves and tidied for spring. Once the garden is clear this is the best time to mulch your borders with fresh manure. Spring flowering bulbs will have a perfect clean and dark back drop so you be able to see them better.
Manure (composted leaves twigs and some beneficial fungi) acts like a ‘duvet’ for the ground. It helps to keep it warm and also stops those little weeds peeking through as soon as the first warmth of spring arrives. Later on in the year it can be dug in to the border which will improve the soil structure and make nutrients more accessible for the plants.
7. Apply organic fertilizers like seaweed meal, blood fish and bone and pelleted chicken manure. Applying organic fertilizers now allows it to break down and be easily accessible for hungry plants when the weather warms up and vegetation will come back to life again.
Looking for inspiration?
21st Feb:
A garden is a very important part of the house, as well as adding to the overall look and feel of your house it also adds considerable functional value as well. Often the garden is the most well taken care of place in your house, there is nothing as wonderful as relaxing in a beautiful garden, surrounded by your favourite plants and replete with comfortable outdoor furniture.
If you are thinking of doing your garden up its well worth your while coming in to the show room here at 419 New Kings Road as we have a vast range of samples out on display. You can plan your garden in every detail and see all the material samples available. In addition to the usual furniture and pots we also have wide selection of stone, paving, pebbles/cobbles, decking, batoning, trellising, fencing, paint and grass samples. To help you visualise your garden we also have a number of photo books of gardens we have created as well as gardens we have seen and admired to give you all the inspiration you need.
Please feel free to come in for a browse and chat.
New design and build process
21st Feb:
We have continued over the last few months to improve and fine tune our design and build service. We are really seeing the benefits that a thorough design process brings, both in terms of planning from our end and with regard to managing our client’s expectations. Experience is a wonderful thing and over the years we have learnt what information and questions are key in order for us to create the right design for each client. The clearer and more detailed the information at the beginning the more exceptional the garden will be at the end.
We can now provide a range of drawings from simple line drawings to 3 dimensional drawings which go a long way to helping our clients visualise the proposed garden and to see where their money is being spent. This visual aid is very useful in ironing out any issues prior to the build starting; one person’s mind’s eye picture can be very different from the next.
As a design AND build landscaping company we can overcome various issues that some garden designers and their separate contractors encounter. We are there at the inception of your dream garden so therefore understand the journey that had been taken and what your likes and dislikes are which means its quick and easy to deal with any issues.
With 50% of our design fee being waived if we build our designs too, we try to ensure the whole process from initial enquiry, through the design, planning and building stages, is as straight forward and pain free as possible. (And of course don’t forget our maintenance service too!).
Fusarium patch disease
22nd Nov:
Recently some of our clients have brought to our attention a problem that seems to be afflicting people’s lawns at the moment. We have been speaking to our turf supplier and the problem is Fusarium. Below is a link that they have sent to me that explains a bit about it. Although in the article it says there are no chemicals available to the amateur gardener, we do have a treatment that should help get rid of the problem. If anyone has any problems or questions please don’t hesitate to contact us here at Harrington Porter. <a href=”http://http://www.turfgrass.co.uk/index.php/knowledge_base/view_article_details/5/?c_id=1″>
Something to do this weekend – Serpentine Gallery Pavillion
6th Oct:
You have until the 18th October to visit this year’s Serpentine Gallery Pavilion. Step away from the hustle and bustle of London, a garden within a garden.
“The concept for this year’s Pavilion is the hortus conclusus, a contemplative room, a garden within a garden. One enters the building from the lawn and begins the transition into the central garden, a place abstracted from the world of noise and traffic and the smells of London – an interior space within which to sit, to walk, to observe the flowers.”
http://www.serpentinegallery.org/2011/04/serpentine_gallery_pavillion_2011_zumthor.html
Garden furniture sale
27th Sep:
All our garden furniture is currently on sale and must go as we are waiting for our new seasons stock to arrive.
If you have always wanted garden furniture now is the time to get it. Please call us or come into the showroom for more information.
Bulb List- Autumn 2011
26th Sep:
At Harrington Porter we stock a fantastic range of bulbs, and now is the time to get busy. Cheap, plentiful and rewarding…
Planting now for 2012
23rd Sep:
It’s official. It’s true. Despite the occasional sunny and warm day that teases with the promise of a forlorn, late Summer: Autumn is here. But that’s great news! Autumn is, with the exception of Spring, my favourite time of year. And, as a gardener, it is one of the most exciting and promising times of year.
Despite the fact that the leaves are beginning to turn, and will soon shed their canopies’ load in myriad hues of colour, there is promise and hope in the air… For Autumn is the time when nurseries take a full re-stock of all their plants, and when some of the most fundamental plants and forms are available.
Most plants are bought in containers. They stay in these containers for a few months, or many years, depending on the type of plant, and its eventual use. Containers – or pots – are great, and thoroughly useful. But, better yet – better by far – is a bare-rooted plant, field-grown. This means that it has been gown in the soil, in the ground. It is lifted in early Autumn, which basically involves it being dug up, and shoved rather unceremoniously into some kind of cloth-wrap, into which it is quickly knotted in unfussy fashion, and then it is all set to go and get planted. These plants are fresh, healthy, vigorous and strong.
Bare-rooted stock includes hedging material, specimen plants – mainly trees – and Roses. Most other plants are also available as bare-rooted, such as popular shrubs. But the main staple basics are Roses, hedges, and trees.
The main advantage of buying any of these plants right now is, basically – they’re cheap. Super cheap. Hedging material can be bought at half the price, Roses at a third of the price, and trees about 20% cheaper. Price is not the only consideration – far from it. The most important factor to consider is timing. These plants are at their peak, and will have been grown in open ground for long enough to ensure vigour and reliability, and when planted at this favourable time of year – they are almost 100% guaranteed to ‘take’ readily and happily.
This is most important with specimen stock. Big, mature plants that are expensive and important – ‘feature plants’, if you will. Planting them now will give them the very best chances of taking, and then thriving. They have a month or two to put out fresh roots while the weather is still mild. Then they have a few months to chill out and go ‘dormant’. And then, when the best part of the year has arrived with Spring, they can burst into life, and awaken in their new environments.
Watering is a huge factor with newly-planted hedges and trees, as well as all other types of plants. Planting right now requires an initial soaking, and a few follow-up waterings over the next couple of months if we are blessed with warm and dry, sunny conditions. Other than that, they are totally undemanding.
Also, bulbs are readily available in abundance. Now is the time to get busy! So cheap, so plentiful, and so rewarding. Invest heavily, and be carefree – 20 of this, and 40 of that is for shrubs and herbaceous… with bulbs – think 100s… seriously. 100 Allium ‘purple Sensation will set you back about £75.00…. that’s less that £1.00 per plant… when a small Lavender bush will cost about £6.00…. and don’t even get me started on Daffodils, Snowdrops and the like… Spend £200.00, and you will have a boisterous display of such spectacular glory and proportions that you will want to go bulb-crazy the following year! If you would like to order any bulbs or are interested in any alternative bulbs give us a call.
So, Roses are fresh, trees and ‘big things’ can be planted without worry, hedges are fresh and strong and cheap, bulbs are plentiful and there-to-be-feasted-on, and lawns are ready for the re-laying.
Get busy. For now is the time to be bold and daring… fill your garden with bulbs, refresh those tired, old Roses, plant up that hedge, get that specimen tree into the ground that you have always wanted, or lay the perfect lawn, and then – sit back, and wait for the ensuing pleasure and reward.
Or – better yet – let us get busy, and get your garden ready for next year’s glory and enjoyment!
Autumn maintenance
23rd Sep:
Now is a very important time in the garden, a small amount of hard work now can really make all the difference to your garden next spring/summer. Here at Harrington Porter we are now starting to get the gardens ready for the winter months which will soon be upon us. Below are a few helpful tips for what to do in the garden over the next few months, in order to get everything ready.
- Tidy up your garden. Especially after our fairly wet summer, it is very important to make sure that garden hygiene is top of your list.
- At some time in October if you have an irrigation system, it will be time to take in your timer and put it away for the winter.
- Remove any plant debris and diseased leaves form flower beds. Dig up any annuals, cut back any perennials and give the whole garden a really good weed.
- Lawn care. If you want a great lawn next spring, then over the next couple of months is when you will need to put in the preparation. Start to cut the grass less and don’t cut it as low as you do in the summer. Scarify your lawn, which means raking out the dead grass and moss that has built up over the summer. This will mean that your lawn will not look its best for a while, but trust us it will look a lot better next year. Also give your lawn a good feed with a potassium rich autumn feed.
- Now there is no longer a need for the outdoor furniture, start to think about storing it away for the winter. If you don’t have a shed to store it in, it is a good idea to cover it with a waterproof sheet. Always allow air to circulate around the furniture otherwise it will become damp and then stay damp for the whole winter, which won’t be good when you uncover it in spring!
- If you have a compost heap turn it before winter, so it has time to break down and rot before next spring.
- Now is a good time of year to plant spring bulbs and any new perennials for next year. There is still time for new plants to establish themselves and late autumn / winter is a good time of year to move any shrubs or small trees.
- If you have a pond or water feature, cover with a net to stop debris / leaves falling into the water.
