|
|
Archive for the ‘garden’ Category
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
 Upside down hanging planter I caught a snatch of an upside down hanging tomato planter rather like this one being demonstrated on Gardener’s World last Friday evening. It’s an unusal way of planting tomatoes – not least as they hang upside down – but if you’ve got limited space outside or only have a balcony, then it’s a novel way of growing tomatoes. Alternatively, you could use it for herbs or strawberries.
The planter is cleverly designed so that, once the plants and soil are in the bottom of the planter, the water can be simply added at the top; there’s even a funnel build into the top that allows you to easily water your plants.
I’m still deciding what to plant my tomatoes in this year – thinking of moving away from the usual growbag – so this is a definite option! The Topsy Turvy planter is available for only £9.99 from Safield.
Tags: homegrown, planter, Safield, tomato, topsy turvy, upside down
Posted in garden, garden accessories | 3 Comments »
Monday, April 19th, 2010
 Space saving plants If you’re short on space and don’t feel all that greenfingered, then here’s a solution that might work for you.
The Eggling is a great concept in easy plant growing that is suitable for all ages. It comes in a box and looks like an extra large egg, but when you crack the top of it with a spoon, you’ll discover soil and seeds planted below. All you need to do is get it watered and place the Eggling in a sunny spot on your windowsill.
We’ve grown several of the Eggling herbs before, but you can also get vegetable Egglings, such as red peppers, or fruits, such as the special wild strawberry. If edibles don’t do it for you, then there are lots of Eggling flowers to grow, or even a prickly cactus.
You don’t need fantastic gardening skills to make Egglings grow – other than watering, all the hard work is done for you – and you don’t need heaps of space either. They sit perfectly well on a windowsill and, as the herbs or vegetables grow, you can pick and use them as you please.
Egglings are available from various online retailers, including Heal’s, Amazon and Firebox.
Tags: Eggling, grow your own, herbs, plants, vegetables
Posted in garden, garden accessories | 2 Comments »
Friday, March 26th, 2010
 Stripy chair This colourful stripy directors chair is a great way of adding some colour into your seating. The chair is made from wood that is FSC, or certified as sustainable, and it’s been treated with oil so that you can successfully use it outside without the wood deteriorating.
The directors chair would be great for use in a conservatory, or outdoors when the weather improves and it folds down well for storage purposes.
The stripe chair is available from Sainsbury’s. The usual cost for one chair is £29.99, but if you buy a pair, you can currently take advantage of a special offer for two chairs for £40.
Tags: chair, directors chair, garden chair, outdoors chair, Sainsbury's
Posted in bargain buy, garden, garden accessories, garden furniture, seating | 2 Comments »
Monday, March 8th, 2010
 
Spring seems to be sprung at long last, bulbs are popping up in the garden and it’s time to give a thought to the birds.
We’ve been having a lot of interest in our bird box recently, with two blue tits spotted checking it out this week – we’re hopeful that they may consider nesting in it this year. If you want to do your bit for nesting birds, it’s not too late to get a bird box up in your garden.
This blue tit box from Dig Your Home is made from sturdy FSC-accredited wood and finished off with a nice copper roof. As well as attracting blue tits, it’s perfect for other small birds, including coal tits. It’s only £12, with no postage charge, from Dig Your Home.
They have various other bird boxes availabe too, including ones specially designed for great tits and wrens.
In addition, if you spend over £20, you can get 10% off by using the promotional code “DYHMD2010″. The discount offer is available on all orders until 14/3/10.
Tags: bird, bird box, bird boxes, box, Dig Your Home, garden, nesting
Posted in garden, garden accessories, special offer | No Comments »
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
 Get ready for spring
Now’s the time to start thinking about spring bulbs and, if you’ve got limited space, or want a splash of colour to look out on from your window, then a windowbox is the ideal solution.
This willow planter set is perfect and makes gardening easy, as it comes with a planting bag and stylish willow panels, that easily fit around the bag to create the windowbox effect.
When your plants have flowered, and you no longer want the box in situ, the panels fold down for easy storage.
The willow planter set is sold by The Urban Garden and is currently priced at £8.99.
Tags: garden, planter, The Urban Garden, willow, windowbox
Posted in garden, garden accessories | 1 Comment »
Friday, January 8th, 2010
 Keep an eye on the sun I love the idea of having a sundial in the garden (although perhaps not massively useful in the current weather) and this one looks like it’s been made from good quality slate.
But, looks can be deceiving…would you believe, it’s actually made from recycled vending machine coffee cups?
Yes, it’s true, this is what the end product of recycling vending machine cups can produce.
The impressive looking sundial can track the sun in your garden in a time honoured tradition and is frost-proof and durable.
The sundial is available from Cox and Cox, where’s it’s currently got £9 off in their sale.
Tags: Cox and ox, garden, recycle, recycled, sundial
Posted in garden, garden accessories, recycled | 3 Comments »
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010
Welcome to 2010 and Happy New Year from all at Fresh Design Blog!
As is traditonal at this time of year, we’re beginning to think about the things we’d like to do in our homes and gardens during 2010.
For example, our editor is planning to decorate the hall and stairs area of her home and create a new patio in the garden, for summer entertaining.
I (Sarah) am looking at decorating my bedroom this year and am currently debating some gorgeous bold wallpaper designs.
We’d love to hear what you’re planning to do to your homes and gardens this year. Don’t worry if you’re not doing anything major – anything from buying a new tablecloth or changing your home accessories, to planting tubs of pots for the garden can make a difference.
Please leave a comment and share your aims, resolutions and ideas for your home in 2010.
Tags: 2010, new year
Posted in garden, home accessories | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
 Decorative copper rain chain
We love the idea of this decorative copper rain chain to hang in the garden – and it’s been the perfect weather for it recently!
The tulip design chain measures nearly 2.5m in length, with lots of little tulip ‘heads’ for the rain to trickle down through. It’s also perfect for little birds to perch on for a quick sip of water.
As well as serving a purpose during wet weather, it would probably look quite attracive in the winter too, with icicles hanging from it.
The tulip rain chain is available from A Life Less Ordinary, where it’s currently in the sale for £90 (reduced from £135).
For the full package, they also have a matching copper effect splash bowl.
Tags: A Life Less Ordinary, bird bath, garden accessory, rain chain, rainchain
Posted in garden, garden accessories | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
 Elegant hyacinth vases
Many people grow hyacinth bulbs indoors at this time of year and, if you want to try the traditional method, then you’ll need glass vases to grow them in.
This set of three glass vases, available exclusively from Cox and Cox, are exactly the right size and shape for hyacinth bulbs. The bulb sits in the rounded part at the top and the roots grow down below it.
The three glass vases are in the fresh jewel-like colours of purple, green and clear and they’re all hand engraved. They’d look lovely on a windowsill, planted up with hyacinth bulbs, or simply used for decorative purposes.
The set of three vases is £16 from Cox and Cox.
Tags: bulb, cox and cox, flower, hyacinth, plant, vase
Posted in garden, garden accessories, vase | 4 Comments »
Monday, October 26th, 2009
Garden sculptures are a great way of adding extra interest into your garden. They’re great all year round, but carefully positioned sculptures can especially come into their own during the winter months, when other plants have died back for the winter, or lost their leaves.
These contemporary garden sculptures are designed by Viki Govan and Richard Warner of Iron Vein and offer an affordable way of adding art your garden. If you don’t have a garden, or prefer to use them inside, then they can easily be placed inside your home too.
The galvanised steel alium sculptures come in a set of three and look great in all weathers – dotted with raindrops, glistening with frost or catching the light of the sun.
In small, medium and large sizes, they look great grouped together, or you could dot them around your garden invididually. The set of three aliums is £95.
Iron Vein do lots of other gorgeous designs too, like the grass plant sculptures (pictured in the middle), which are available in either zinc coated or galvanised steel – the russet colour looks very autumnal – which are £49 each.
For more contemporary sculptures in all sorts of designs, have a browse of the IronVein website.
Tags: art, garden, garden accessories, Iron Vein, sculpture, sculptures
Posted in art, garden, garden accessories | 1 Comment »
|
|
|
|
|
| |
