« August 2008 | Main | October 2008 »
The Harlequin Dining Set from www.oceansint.com
NEW FOR 2009
The leisure furniture market is moving away from hardwood and metal furniture ranges to synthetic resin weave on an aluminium frame. These are fully water resistant, colourfast, stretch resistant and have mould inhibitors to prevent mould and mildew.Leave them out all year round just bringing the cushions in in bad weather.
A great idea for a bench from Yanko Design.
'Don’t you love the days following a rainstorm? The streets seem to gleam, the air is cleaner, and people are generally in a better mood to finally see the sun again. The only thing that sucks are all those wet benches and chairs. Fortunately clever designers (the Korean design gang) came up with a simple solution. The slats on these benches can rotate to the dry side by cranking the handle.'
Found this Retro garden heater on the interesting site www.retrotogo.com
These stunning heaters are sold by B&Q for around the £200 mark. www.diy.com
...........it features a large concave parasol for increased efficiency, 13kW double wall heater with variable control, tilt and flame failure safety devices and wheels to move it around.
http://www.retrotogo.com/2006/05/memphis_retro_g.html
Not sure how ecofriendly they are though - but thats another story!
Physalis alkekengi Franchetii 'The Chinese Lantern'
The creamy white flowers of summer have now turned into spectacular red-orange paper lanterns.
Great for Autumn colour in containers and also the 'lanterns' can be cut and dried for use in dried flower arrangements.
www.crocus.com £4.99
The Birdball Peanut Feeder from GreenBlue £35 inc p&p
|
'The peanut feeder provides garden birds with a reliable source of food.
Its simple and stylish design offers safe, year-round feeding for birds.
Specifically designed to allow small birds such as tits, sparrows,
nuthatchers, finches and woodpeckers to feed yet deter larger birds
and squirrels with its gravity-fed feeding slot, glossy surface and
unique flexi perch™ system.'
|
My neighbour whose yard is the same size as mine, 5m x 5m, has cleared all the hard landscaping and planting away, levelled the ground to a gentle slope and is now turfing it all.
At first I was horrified, though they are not gardeners, the shrubs and grasses in the borders were interesting and growing well, so why rip them out to replace them with a lawn. But now I've thought again, if you believe in minimalism in garden design then having just grass is the ultimate minimalism. It gives a pure plane of texture and colour, is pretty easy to look after and is environmentally friendly if you don't use chemical fertilizers, what else could you ask for.
Perhaps everything isn't all cut and dry when we look at style and lifestyle in relation to smaller gardens and that we should all look at design in different ways.
Great cup for stylish evenings in the yard!
This ceramic alternative looks just like the standard, take-away cups found at coffee shops and in rubbish bins world-wide, however DCI's ingenious alternative is 100% reusable and eco-friendly. Its double-walled design and silicone lid also helps keeps your drink hot whilst autumn winds blow.
Another great item seen at the Autumn fair this week. Great Napkin Holders from Paperproducts Design.
Available in a range of colours and black, these melamine holders are designed to take a pack of standard size paper napkins. They also produce a wide range of funky napkins.
When growing herbs we sometimes become obsessed with removing the flowers to encourage bigger and better foliage for culinary use. But sometimes we can compromise.
These purple basil growing in a pot on the patio have been flowering for several weeks now and are superb. The lilac purple flowers contrast so well against the deep purple green foliage. I haven't noticed that the foliage is any less pungent.
So perhaps it is worthwhile allowing some of our herbs to go to flower at the end of the summer.
The 'yardz best in show' at the Autumn Fair NEC this week was the Fatboy Original. I think is best for Fatboy to explain whats different about it.
