UK World Heritage

For people who love gardening, their patch of land is often their pride and joy. It is a place where they can escape and lose themselves in completing gardening tasks, which they will consider to be a labour of love.

Whatever the size and position of your plot, a bit of hard work and a lot of planning can work wonders to achieve a beautiful vista, to be viewed from the comfort of your living room or kitchen.

It does not matter if you live on a large country estate in Devon, a small terraced house in the north of England or one of the fabulous luxury villas on The Golden Mile in Marbella, if you have a real passion for gardening your plot will be your pride and joy. (more...)

Some people regard gardening as a chore, but others, rightly so, see it as a great form of relaxation. There is nothing better to wind down the day than an hour or two pruning or digging.

The trick is to try to empty your mind of all the things that have been on your thoughts during the day such as the mortgage calculations, the latest gossip at work or the International shipping services UK to France.

Just learn to relax and appreciate what the garden has to offer at any time of the year. In January or February the white crocuses and the yellow daffodils are starting to peek through. In March there is plenty of work to be done with planting and propagating, but this has to be seen as relaxation rather than work. You can hide away in the greenhouse and be alone from the noise of the day. (more...)

So we have just started to emerge from one of the worst recessions in living memory and now our largest airline is being subjected to frequent and disruptive strikes. What next for the state of UK flights ?

For anyone who has suffered due to these ongoing strikes, the politics of the whole situation is of no consequence to them whatsoever. These strikes are clearly inconveniencing people to a massive extent and as the CEO of the airline shows no signs of backing down, these disruptions look likely to continue.

Add to this the fact that we experienced immense problems in the airline industry as a result of the ash clouds that blew over from Iceland and we are left with an industry that really does make you want to cry. Clearly, it cannot go on like this and now it is imperative that the industry rolls up its sleeves to even survive these ordeals. (more...)

Millions of homeowners in the UK grow a vegetable garden in the backyard. Gardening has been a popular pastime in Britain since Roman times. Of course, at the start, their popularity was due to necessity. That is, people needed a supplemental source of food. But today, few people actually need to grow their own vegetables for survival. So, why do they do it?

The simplest explanation is that people in the UK actually enjoy it. Why else would gardening be one of the most popular weekend activities in the UK? After all, it isn't easy. Maintaining a garden, especially a vegetable garden, can be a lot of work. Take for example pest control. Dozens of common outdoor critters enjoy feasting on fresh veggies. Ground animals like rabbits, geese and deer can be the death of a garden if they are not kept at bay. The easiest way to protect your produce is to install a wire mesh fence about a foot and a half high. If you have a problem with deer, you may want to raise that up to around three feet.

But let us not forget the pests of the sky. No fence is going to keep them out. However, there are a few inexpensive options that gardeners have been using for decades. Shinny objects like mirrors and aluminium foil can distract and disorient birds. Don't worry, though, they won't cause them to crash. (more...)

The history of the garden in England can be traced all the way back to Roman times. The great conquerors brought with them advanced farming and irrigation techniques that allowed any homeowner with arable land to maintain a garden. The tradition continued long after the Roman Empire fell.

At the time, of course, vegetable and fruit gardens were grown because families needed the extra food. But today people have supermarkets and fruit stalls. Few people actually need the food they grow in garden. So, why do they keep them?

For most people, gardening is a rewarding and relaxing weekend activity. Getting down in the dirt and planting seeds or turning the soil helps them relieve stress and get some much needed outdoor exercise. Millions of UK residents also plant flower gardens for the decorative effect. They use teak garden furniture and other outdoor ornaments to draw attention to their gardens. (more...)

For years now, it seems as though the two big DIY chains have tended to dominate the gardening market. They offer very cheap products, in comparison with the local centres, and UK garden centers can really struggle to compete when a chain is within their vicinity.

So why would you want to choose a local garden centre when you can find everything you need much more cheaply in a one-shop, huge centre?

There are two good reasons why you may wish to shop at your local garden centre. Firstly, you would be supporting your own local economy. Of course, the big centres do employ a lot of staff but all profits will not eventually feed down into your local area. Supporting the local gardening centres will mean that you are doing your bit for the local community in which you live. (more...)

The tomato is the world's most popular fruit. Each year, one hundred and thirty million tonnes of them are shipped around the world. On a smaller scale, the tomato is also the most popular home garden fruit. Gardeners in the UK harvest baskets of tomatoes each season to use in sauces, salads and sandwiches.

There are many reasons why the tomato is the top garden plant. The most obvious is that tomatoes grown in the garden are much fresher and tastier that those you find at the supermarket. The tomato is also extremely easy to cultivate, which makes it a favourite for beginning gardeners.

As any new grower can tell you, weather is always the number one concern. A gardener can plant, water and fertilize his crops correctly, but he cannot control the weather. Because tomato crops can be grown indoors in Stackable Plant Pot Containers, there is less risk that they will succumb to the cold. A tomato plant can be kept inside for up to six weeks, or nearly half its growing time. (more...)

In a recent survey, gardening ranked as one of the most popular weekend activities for residents of the UK. Whether we are talking about fruits, vegetables, or flowers, the British have been tending gardens for over two thousand years.

The love of agriculture was instilled by the ancient Romans, who came to Britain in 55 BC. Because they were an advanced civilisation, the Romans were masters of modern farming and irrigation techniques. Before long, most families in England had established home gardens as a supplemental food source.

As you might expect, most homeowners do not need to grow gardens these days. After all, there is fresh produce available at the local market. But for some strange reason, millions of UK residents still keep home gardens. Why is this? According to the gardening guide most people tend gardens as a hobby. (more...)

I am the first to admit that I am not an expert at gardening. Granted, I quite enjoy it, and my borders do look passable when I put the effort it. But that it about as far as my talents stretch and when I need a professional job doing I call in the experts, despite the cost.

So, armed with appointment cards, I wait for my experts to arrive. Firstly the trees – after all an amateur gardener cannot be expected to cut trees, can they? Certainly not! So they come to prune, trim and make sure that the trees are tended for another year.

Then there are the hedges. OK, so I do the small ones myself, but I don't have the tools or the head for heights for the larger ones. So, the hedge man comes and accomplishes in three hours what I would do in three days. (more...)

So you have found Removals Brighton companies and are all set to make the big move overseas, and all you can think of is how the new tenants in your house will treat your garden, your labour of love. Many of us who love gardening spend hours showering love, care and attention on our beloved outdoor haven.

When it comes to moving house, it can be surprising to find that we will miss our lovely flowers and shrubs as much as, if not more than, the house. Wouldn't it be great if a garden could be moved and taken with you wherever you go? Sounds nice, but not only is that next to impossible, it is also not the point of gardening.

Unlike anything else in a house, a garden is actually raised rather than just created, bought or made and this is what makes it harder to leave a garden behind. One cannot help but wonder how the garden will be treated and whether it will be looked after well. (more...)

If you're new to gardening, and you've just succeeded in acquiring a piece of ground to cultivate, you may be feeling a little anxious at the prospect of beginning your horticultural project independently and from scratch.

To begin with, you will need to pick up a few simple, essential tools to help you with your undertaking. One of these is necessary for pretty much every basic process in the garden, and buying all three together shouldn't cost you more that a month's supply of dog food or a few new DVDs.

To start with, and most obviously, you need a shovel. A traditional, long handled version is best since it will allow you to shift greater volumes of earth, and also gives you the opportunity to use pressure from a foot while digging. Smaller, short handled spades – or trowels – are designed for small, fiddly jobs and need only be purchased later. (more...)

Once you have finally retired and are looking forward to spending much of your time in your own home, your mind may well come around to thinking about the current state of your garden. After all, you want an outside area where you can relax and unwind for a while, especially when the weather is perfect.

This may well demand a complete redesign of your garden; one that will be more easy-maintenance, yet welcoming and very comfortable. For such a demanding project, you may well think the cost is way beyond what you can afford, but this need not be the case.

You may choose to have work done on your garden over time, a little bit at a time; alternatively, there are plenty of ways of getting your hands on money more readily and equity release schemes are just one such plan that may be of assistance to you in this regard. (more...)