yardz

GRASS OR DECKING.......OR BOTH?

On sunny days it can be difficult to decide whether to relax on the deck or stretchch out on the lawn. You can now do both with this very clever product from www.sunnyaspects.co.uk.

GrasseDeck is a simple idea -
take a deck board, make a recess in the surface, get the strongest exterior quality water curing glue and bond a strip of sports quality artificial grass into it.


The result is a board which can be cut easily with a saw for making any kind of deck shape. It comes in various lengths, including 3.6, 3, and 2.4 metres. The deckboards can be screwed down to sub-frames in the conventional way.

 

They also supply Grassescreen and Grassefencemade to order for those who want to be enclosed with soft green hedging but do not want the hassle of cutting it!

Grassedeck, I notice, is also stocked by B&Q in their outdoor living catalogue. 

SHACKUP A NEW LOOK AT SHEDS

 

Wayne and Gerardine Hemmingway have designed affordable homes for the last 8 years and have now turned their attention to the British institution of the shed. Trading as www.shackup.co.uk they have produced sheds that are both stylish and fun. they are available in various sizes including a bike shed called 'bikeinabox'.

 

SALAD DAYS WITH HUMAX BAGS

 

Yardz discovered Humax growing bags last spring. They are small grow bags that contain an organic compost that is suitable for specific vegetables. There are a selection of bags including potato, tomato and pepper, strawberry, leek and onion, cucumber and salads.

Each bag is designed to grow one crop up to harvest. You simply open the bag, plant your veg and water. Nothing else to do until harvest except water as required. Nothing could be simpler.

Perfect for the smaller garden, balcony or roof garden they are well worth searching out. About £4.99 a bag.

www.humax.co.uk

A TOUCH OF LIME

   

Heucheras are wonderful groundcover and container plants. Most of the older varieties are either green or burgundy but breeders have in the last decade presented us with an amazing range of bright colours from yellow through peach to almost black.

One of the best though is Heuchera Key Lime Pie. It forms mounds of lime greenfoliage that curls up at the edges.If planted in full sun a silver marbling appears on the leaves and attractive pinky red flowers are produced in early summer.

To bring out this bright lime foliage try planting with burgundy foliage companion plants such as Berberis Bagatelle,Berberis Hellmonds Pillar or one of the dark leaved phormiums such as Phormium tenax 'All Black'.

Other lime coloured heucheras include Heuchera 'Lime Rickey' and Heuchera 'Citronelle'.

www.westcountrylupins.co.uk

MANUAL FOR A GREEN YARD

 

Plot, Pots or Growbags by Steve Ott, Emma rawlings & Roxanne Warwick is a great manual for growing your own fruit and veg.

 Although it includes a lot of information relating to growing fruit and veg in traditional beds the main wow factor is that it gives clear information on how to grow a full range of veg in pots and growbags and also veg that aren't suitable.

The layout is excellentwith suggested best varieties, which composts to use, but best of all, it gives an indication of the size of container required to grow your veg and get a reasonable crop.

The book is published by Foulsham at £9.99 and is available in bookshops and some garden centres. It is also available at a reduced price direct from www.growveggies.net