by Mark Bailey | Feb 23, 2017 | GardenLife Magazine
With Christmas long gone and the temperatures gradually rising, it’s time to do some winter gardening and preparing for spring.
While it’s still not exactly peak gardening season – there’s still too high a risk of frosts at night to be sure the season of Growth has arrived – there’s still plenty of work you can do this winter to keep yourself occupied, prepare for the spring or just enjoy the great outdoors. So here are 7 ways in which you can satisfy your horticultural needs in the winter.
Tip 1 – lawn care in winter
Lawns are fundamental to a well-kept garden and there are plenty of lawn-related tasks for winter. Whilst grass seed shouldn’t generally be sown in the UK until late March, turfs are much more flexible.
Autumn is generally considered the ideal time to lay turf, but any time up until late winter or early spring should be good, as long as the soil is not too waterlogged or frosty. Beyond that, lack of rain can be a problem for very young turf.
If you are looking for more advice on investing in a new lawn or maintenance of your current one, there is some good articles covering winter gardening on the Lawn UK site, and there is good advice on laying and caring for turf on the RHS website.
Tip 2 – caring for soil in winter
The foundation and essential ingredient of every flowerbed or veg patch, soil will benefit greatly from some care during the winter months; removing weeds and unwanted shrubbery, and some forking and digging to desaturate it and avoid excessive compounding.
An essential part of winter gardening – and crucially preparing for spring – is to add compost, manure and wood ash to soil to improve fertility. Doing so will set you up with a plot fully prepared to grow whatever you please in time for spring (and it’s worth putting the effort in, as you will reap the rewards later in the year).
Do however avoid digging and hoeing soil when it is frozen as it damages the soil structure and degrades its overall health.
Tip 3 – plan in winter so you’re ready in spring
Although there are many ways in which you can continue gardening throughout the colder months, the fact remains that winter gardening is limited and sometimes dreary work. So if you don’t fancy stepping out in the cold, you can take the opportunity to get ahead by researching – such as ordering and browsing seed catalogues – and planning your garden so that come spring, you’ve got everything under control.
And if you’ve felt depressed at the bareness of your garden throughout the winter, then your planning could the future could include some winter-flowering bulbs and plants for next year.
There are plenty of online garden catalogues available if you want to start preparing for spring too.
Tip 4 – winter is the ideal time to plant and maintain fruit trees
Fruit trees – be they apple, pear, fig or plum – are a practical (and tasty!) addition to a garden and they can be planted anywhere between late autumn and March depending on the variety.
If however your new fruit trees are delivered bare root, do not plant them if it is freezing cold as it will damage the roots. It’s always best to wait until soil and roots thaw and warm up before planting or moving trees.
For existing fruit trees and bushes, it’s worthwhile doing some maintenance around this time of year. Stakes and ties to protect them from March winds should be checked; and oil-based winter washes will help to ensure they don’t become pest-infected.
Fruit bushes should be pruned back and some fertiliser or mulch around the base can be very helpful to ensure they are producing plentiful and ripe fruit come harvesting time.
Tip 5 – prepare the vegetable patch for spring
Many of us have good – and as yet unfulfilled – intentions about starting a good vegetable patch, and now is the time to take action.
Beans, carrots, cucumbers, lettuces, onions, tomatoes and many more veggies can be planted throughout February and March (look out for early varieties and don’t plant when the soil is still cold, or use a polytunnel to keep young seedlings warm).
The National Allotment Society suggest covering the ground with cloches or sheets of plastic to help warm up the soil. Rather than leaving raised beds bare in winter cover them with weed sheet to stop weeds and keep warmth in.
There’s another good blog post on winter vegetable gardening here, and there’s a predictably good selection of vegetable seeds on the Sutton Seeds website.
Tip 6 – planting flowers in winter?
The centrepiece of picture-book garden, loads of flowers can be planted in the winter months – sweet peas, antirrhinums and salvias, being good examples.
Generally safest when growing from seeds in early spring is to grow seedlings pots first, for planting out later on; only the bold or those in very warm parts of the UK will plant direct into the soil before late March.
Tip 7 – winter gardening involves looking after buildings too
The UK winter can be harsh and, even if your pergolas, garden buildings and greenhouses are weatherproofed, the past few months may have taken its toll on them.
You might not be inclined to get involved in winter gardening, but as the season draws to a halt, it’s the perfect time to make sure there’s no damp, insulation problems or leakages in any garden structures, particularly wooden ones, and repair/prepare in time for peak growing season. It’s also a good time to do some tidying of tools, garden equipment, and all the junk that’s colonised your summer house or garden workroom since last summer.
If you’re looking for more detailed advice, this blog has some good ideas.
by Mark Bailey | Jan 18, 2017 | GardenLife Magazine, How to guide
This month we start a series of blogs on garden design for different shapes or sizes of garden, and we begin with a British classic: the long narrow garden.
One person’s problem is another person’s opportunity, and so it is with gardens. Some people complain about having a plot that’s nothing but a boring corridor, others see a long, narrow garden as a chance to come up with a creative design.
We prefer the latter mindset. It’s become a bit clichéd to talk about ‘spaces’ and ‘rooms’ within a garden, but this works brilliantly with long thin gardens. And their narrowness makes them easier to manage – less daunting than a huge, wide space. So here are some creative tips to get the most out of a long narrow garden design.
Break up your long narrow garden into different rooms
First things first: the essential with a long narrow garden is to break up the space. What you don’t want to do is look straight down to the end. Great in a 100 metres track, less so in creative garden design.
Instead, use shapes, plants and structures to create screens. Plants, pergolas, trellises, decking, paving and paths – these can all turn a thin corridor into a series of different areas. There are good tips on this and some sample plans on the Ideal Home website.
Many garden designers prefer these screens to be partial rather than full – letting you catch glimpses of what’s beyond, rather than completely blocking off the section behind them.
Plan different garden zones for varied uses
How many rooms depends on the length of the garden and on your lifestyle. A good blog describes dividing a long thin garden into three areas – an area by the house for a quick cup of coffee; a sunken garden; and a screened eating area at the far end with table and chairs.
Clearly, this is not the only possible combination, but it’s helpful as a conceptual starting point. Other possible ‘rooms’ could be: children’s play area; vegetable patch; barbecue or hot tub area; or shaded area with bench. Where these rooms go – closer to the house or at the far end – depends on your own preferences.
When designing different spaces, it’s advisable to sketch and make a scale plan beforehand to ensure everything (including buildings and other features) will fit properly. The excellent garden design guide on the Garden Power Tools website has good advice on doing this.
Furnish each room within your garden
Having thought about a series of rooms, you need to furnish them. Plants, of course, will be critical in this, but garden buildings and furniture will also help.
So far we’ve mentioned pergolas, trellises and benches. How about going one step further and integrating a gazebo, summer house or workroom into your design?
One common objection to traditional long narrow gardens is that the far end sits unused and unloved. Turning the end into a destination, with a hot tub and gazebo, barbecue area, garden office or extra dining area can transform the way you use your garden.
Planning permission and long narrow gardens
The general situation with planning permission in the UK is that a garden building within 2 metres of your boundary should be no taller than 2.5m at its highest point. Otherwise, you need planning permission.
Therefore, for owners of long narrow gardens, the low-admin solution is to have a garden building that meets the 2.5m rule. GardenLife sell a variety of sub-2.5m buildings suitable for a compact space, including traditional summer houses, contemporary workrooms, storage sheds, playhouses and gazebos.
Design-wise, a rectangular garden building that takes up the whole width of a narrow garden may painfully emphasise the narrowness. So be creative.
For example, a corner cabin can maximise the space available as well as look more interesting than a square-on building. And a modern summer room with tall windows will draw the eyes upwards and distract from the garden’s lack of breadth.
Or a gazebo can add interest and weather-cover without blocking the view.
Mind the edges, climbers are better than hedges
With a traditional long narrow garden, it’s hard not to miss the edges! If you have beautiful stone garden walls or perfect borders, then lucky you. The rest of us may need to hide an ugly fence which a glance to the left or right can’t help revealing.
Trellises with climbing plants (parallel to the edge) can usefully disguise a fence, as can a narrow border. On the other hand, seating and benches next to a fence can draw attention to it.
If you do use plants to screen a fence, be sure to choose ones that will grow upwards, rather than outwards (making the garden narrower). Also keep edges neat and trimmed back.
Gardens are not just for summer
When planning your design and planting, imagine what the garden will look like throughout the year. For example, how will your screens of plants look if they have no foliage in winter?
Good tips for a four-seasons approach to planting in a long narrow garden can be found in a detailed, but useful, article on House Beautiful. A simple rule of thumb is to mix deciduous and evergreen plants throughout the design for your garden. Even in the bleakest of winters you can then still enjoy some greenery.
Plants are not just an afterthought
One problem with garden design approaches based around ‘rooms’ and ‘spaces’ is that they sometimes forget about the plants and purely focus on textures and space. Decking, paving, gravel, paths, walls, ponds, trellis, pergolas and garden buildings can all enhance a long narrow garden, but without some creative planting it will look lifeless.
With long thin gardens especially, plan your plants from the outset – thinking about size and the shade they create (and need) as well as what might grow well in your garden. If you’re new to choosing plants (and making them thrive), this Garden Power Tools post will tell you all you need to know.
by Mark Bailey | Dec 21, 2016 | GardenLife Magazine, How to guide
How to heat a garden room – the best options and their pros and cons
With winter well and truly underway, ‘tis the season to be keeping your timber garden room snug and warm. Ideally, your shed or workroom will already be well insulated and draft proof – think dense timber walls, double-glazed windows, and quality flooring and roofing.
In addition, you can employ a variety of heating solutions to cope with any temperature the British weather can throw at you. So, to help stay warm and toasty this winter, here are 5 ways you can heat a garden office and transform it into a cold-proof refuge.
Using a wood-burning stove to heat a garden room
A very traditional form of heating, wood stoves offer both Nordic charm and excellent heating practicality, though they do need cleaning (emptying the ash pan and an occasional wipe of the glass in the door). All that’s required is some room to store logs, plus firelighters and kindling to provide ample heating for a medium-sized garden room.
Wood burners can cost from £500 to £2,000 and are available in rustic or more contemporary styles.
£100 should buy enough seasoned wood to last a stove the full winter, or you could make your waste paper into eco-friendly logs or briquettes using a log maker. These can cost less than £25 and are available from a number of online stores.
The downsides of wood burners include: the amount of space they take up; safety considerations (you’ll need a hearth and fireproof lining between the stove and timber walls); limited controllability in terms of heat output; and installation costs. If you do go for a stove, installation by a HETAS registered professional is advised.
When you consider the overall cost of the hardware and installation, a wood burning stove definitely isn’t the most cost effective way to heat a garden room. However, there’s nothing quite like sitting in a timber garden office in winter with a real fire flickering in the corner and the smell of wood smoke in the air.
Buying an electric stove to heat a garden office
If you want the look of a wood-burner without the need to store fuel and install a chimney, there is the option of an electric stove. These can be turned on and off instantly, need no cleaning, and there is no work involved in lighting them or maintaining the heat.
This is obviously labour-saving, but may not appeal if you like the ritual of lighting the stove or prefer the aesthetic of a ‘real’ wood-burner with ‘real’ wood. A browse on the Stovax website will give you a good idea of the range of designs and prices available.
Heating a garden room with an Oil-filled electric radiator
These are generally free-standing radiators which you plug into a socket to heat up the oil. They are very portable, require no installation, and are available in a wide range of sizes and styles. You can also buy wall-mounted models if you want a fixed source of heat, and it is also possible to buy models with thermostats and timers.
More versatile than a stove, they are also very cheap to buy, starting from about £25 and available at DIY stores. When it comes to heating a garden office you also save on the installation costs of a stove.
In terms of running costs, they will set you back around 20p an hour on a standard electricity meter – cheaper than a fan heater or radiant electric bar fire. After they have been switched off, oil filled electric radiators also retain their heat for some time (unlike fans or electric stoves, which lose their heat straight away).
Those are the pros; the downsides include: you may require more than one radiator if you want to heat a large garden room, especially since average heat output is lower than stoves and fan heaters. Additionally, they can take a while to warm up.
How to heat a garden room with an electric fan heater
Hugely portable, quick to buy and simple to operate, these are the easy choice for those who don’t want the hassle of having a stove installed, or just want occasional heat. You plug them in and you’re good to go, with instant heat. They can cost as little as £10 upfront.
However, this convenience comes at a price – they are more expensive to run than oil-filled radiators, setting you back nearly 30p an hour, which can build up over a full winter. Also, given their size, you may need several of these if you need to heat a large garden room or office. And though you can buy different sizes and designs, you’ll probably struggle to find one that will win you credibility points for style.
Heating a garden room with a portable gas heater
Again, these rarely make people’s wish lists of covetable design items, but traditionally they are a popular way to heat garden rooms and offices because you don’t need a power source. They’re portable, have no installation costs, have high heat output, and the heat is easily controlled.
All great attractions, but they are generally bulkier than electric heaters (because of the gas cylinder); and there are a couple of safety precautions. One is that you’ll need to ensure that the garden room is well ventilated when the fire is on (so that fumes and condensation doesn’t build up). Secondly you need to watch out for carbon monoxide leaks – buying a battery operated CO2 detector will solve this issue.
The most unusual way to heat a garden room
If you are planning to buy a garden room and are researching ways to heat it and want something truly novel, you could consider a Scandinavian style barbecue hut! GardenLife make and sell a small BBQ hut and a large hexagonal barbecue hut that can be purchased with an optional central grill and smoke extraction hood.
The design of these timber cooking huts was heavily influenced by traditional Swedish architecture and allows space for seating around a central stove. GardenLife sell the be barbecue grills, fixings and fittings with the huts. If you’re after a different look and a novel way to heat your garden room, this could be the option for you! You could entertain friends on even the coldest of winter days, stay warm around the fire, and even cook your dinner on the grill!
In summary; the pros and cons involved in heating a garden room or office
Wood burning stove
Pros: Choice of traditional styles, sustainable fuel, relatively low running costs, traditional atmosphere
Cons: Purchase and installation cost, space occupied can be large, limited heating controls, cleaning required, storage space for fuel required, ongoing maintenance costs, ventilation and CO2 detector required
Electric stove
Pros: Instant heat, thermostatic control, no maintenance costs, no fuel storage required
Cons: Medium to high running costs, requires mains electricity, limited traditional designs available, no heat retention when turned off
Oil-filled electric radiator
Pros: Low to medium running costs, wall mountable, thermostatic control, no cleaning, no maintenance costs, no fuel storage required, retains some heat when turned off
Cons: Lower and slower heat output than stoves, requires mains electricity, no traditional designs available, may require two or more units
Electric fan heaters
Pros: Highly portable,compact, cheapest to buy
Cons: High running costs, requires mains electricity, limited heat output compared to stoves, no traditional styles available, no heat retention when turned off, may require two or more units
Gas heaters
Pros: Low running costs, no mains supply needed, instant heat, heating control, no maintenance costs
Cons: Bulky design, limited traditional designs, ventilation and CO2 detector required
BBQ hut with grill
Pros: Beautiful traditional Scandinavian design, heating and cooking area combined, sustainable fuel, relatively low running costs
Cons: Purchase and installation cost, no heating controls, regular cleaning required, storage space for fuel required, ongoing maintenance costs, ventilation and CO2 detector required
All in all, there’s a great range of choice of solutions for surviving the bleak midwinter, although it’s fair to say that every solution has its downsides as well as its attractions. If you want a more detailed comparison of running costs, the Centre for Sustainable Energy has useful information.
Beyond buying, installation and costs, other criteria for your choice heating appliance for a garden room should include:
- how much space you have
- whether you want occasional or ongoing heating, and freestanding or permanent solutions
- safety issues, for example ventilation and whether you work with flammable materials such as sawdust (in which case you won’t want an exposed heating element)
Enjoy the winter!
by Mark Bailey | Nov 2, 2016 | GardenLife Magazine, How to guide
For novice or semi-committed gardeners, planting bulbs can be the ideal form of gardening. You do some gentle digging, plant the bulbs, ignore them for a few months, and then wake up in spring to a bank of daffodils, tulips, alliums or other bulbs of your choice. If only all gardening could be like this.
In addition, bulbs come in a vast range of varieties, colours and sizes, and it’s worth exploring beyond the obvious ones like daffodils, crocuses, snowdrops and tulips. Bulbs also offer great flexibility in terms of where and when you plant them.
When to plant bulbs
A rough rule of thumb is that you plant spring-flowering bulbs in autumn, and autumn-flowering bulbs in spring. The best time to plant spring crocuses, snowdrops and daffodils is generally September and October, however, November is the ideal time to plant tulips, which like to be planted when the soil is colder (plant them earlier, and they are vulnerable to a fungal disease called tulip fire).
If you really want a new crop of daffodils next year, and have left the planting late, some guides to bulb-planting say you may be able to get away with doing it in November, especially if you live in the warmer parts of the UK.
Where to plant bulbs
Popular bulbs such as daffodils and tulips can be grown in a variety of places and for a variety of purposes:
- To fills gaps in borders.
- Around the outside of a summer house.
- In formal (or random) displays in flowerbeds, which can then be succeeded by displays of annuals later in the summer. Conventional wisdom is that the larger showier tulips look better planted in formal arrangements, but this is a matter of opinion.
- Around the base of a tree – this looks more natural with smaller bulbs such as snowdrops, crocuses, dwarf daffodils, and winter aconites
- En masse on a grassy bank – think Wordsworthian daffodils.
- In containers, either using a single variety or a mixture. The Crocus website has good ideas for container planting, including how to make a ‘bulb lasagne’ of tulips, hyacinths and crocuses, planting them in layers so that they flower throughout spring.
How to plant bulbs
The cardinal rule with bulbs is to plant them the right way up! This will generally mean with the sharper end pointing upwards.
The usual advice is to plant them at three times the depth of the bulb, and two widths apart. The RHS has a nice video about planting bulbs, and you can use the following guide to help work out the best planting depth for your chosen bulb.
If you want more encyclopedic information about the what, where and when of planting bulbs, and what to do after they’ve flowered, you can’t go wrong with RHS advice.
What conditions do bulbs prefer?
The general answer is that bulbs like sun (full or partial) and good drainage. However, there are also bulbs that will grow well in shade.
If you are growing bulb in containers, you will generally need to plant them in a pot with a drainage hole at the bottom, which you can cover with broken pottery to prevent the drainage becoming excessive.
How to protect bulbs from pests
The biggest threat to your bulbs could well be squirrels, which dig them up and perhaps eat them (depending on the type of plant). In a more rural area badgers may well dig up everything that you plant, leaving your lawn or beds full of empty holes. The bulbs are particularly vulnerable when newly-planted since the soil is likely to be loose. Covering the soil with chicken wire, and leaving it there until the first shoots appear should protect them.
Inspirational ideas for planting bulbs
There are wonderful spring bulb displays all over the UK, from the snowdrop CCC at Cambo to the Tulip Festival at Pashley Manor Gardens, on the Sussex-Kent border, in April-May each year, with a display of around 100 varieties. Gardeners at the Eden Project, in Cornwall, planted around 30,000 bulbs in the winter of 2015 (although this might not be feasible in your average back garden)!
Even if you don’t plan to compete with Pashley and the Eden Project, you may get some good ideas for formal or informal bulb settings, either from visiting in person or looking at pictures.
Bulb sourcing
If you want the basics, your local supermarket or DIY will probably have multipacks of bulbs, with clear instructions. If you’re buying bulbs in person, look for firm bulbs, and avoid any that are soft, shriveled or have signs of mould.
If your bulb plans are more ambitious, there are various specialists with online shops. Large generalist garden websites such as Crocus.co.uk also have good selections. Specialists include:
- Glendoick has a wide choice of bulbs, and, being Scottish, some good advice about growing bulbs in colder northern climates.
- Peter Nyssen has a vast supply of different bulbs, and has some suggestions about popular bulbs for beginners or even children. The website is limited in terms of planting advice, but it has a nice tool for browsing and planting by colour.
- Bloms Bulbs also has a vast choice, and some good practical advice on growing tulips, daffodils and other bulbs.
Planting bulbs in spring
If you really feel you’ve left the bulb planting too late this autumn, your next option will be to get out into the garden in early spring, and plant some bulbs for next autumn. There’s a useful list of ideas for autumn/winter 2017 on the Thompson & Morgan site.
by Mark Bailey | Oct 18, 2016 | GardenLife Magazine, How to guide
New and traditional ways to preserve fruit and veg
Autumn is synonymous with harvest time, and if you have more than a couple of fruit trees, current bushes or a decent-sized vegetable patch, you’ll be vastly exceeding your five portions a day throughout September and October. When you grow your own fruit and veg you want to make the most of harvest time, but you may well have enough produce to last into the following year.
You’ll therefore need to find ways to store some of your garden produce to make it last. The ingredients for doing this will range from pickling spices to a garden shed, and techniques can involve simple crates, jam jars and even the odd new gadget too. Of the new and traditional ways to preserve fruit and veg the following five main options will help you deal with your surplus fruit and veg.
The best way to store fruit and veg
Before you start worrying about pickles and freezers, remember that some fruits and vegetables can be stored in your garden for several weeks – as long as you handle them right.
Top of the list for storing in your garden building – as long as it is dry and ventilated – is apples. It’s possible to buy traditional apple racks, but as they can be just a little pricey any carefully lined crates or shelves will do. Handle all fruit delicately to avoid bruising, and store it in a single layer without fruits touching each other. Make sure they are clean and dry too.
Pears can also be stored in your garden shed, though will need regular checks, as they can easily and quickly over-ripen.
Other good fruit and vegetables for storage include potatoes, carrots, beetroot, and of course onions and garlic. Many root vegetables, such as parsnips, swede and celeriac, are especially easy to store because they can simply be left in the ground until you need them.
There are good general tips for storing fruit and vegetables online and Grow Your Own magazine also has regular seasonal advice on storing garden produce. The mighty RHS website also has excellent detailed advice on storing fruit as well as separate advice about storing vegetables.
Try drying your own fruit and veg
Rather than storing your vegetables in a dry place, but how about going one step further and deliberately dry or even dehydrating the fruits of your garden labours?
Drying’s not going to work for everything – root veg, for instance, and we’re not convinced about the attractions of dried apple (it’s flavoursome, but a bit like chewing on rubber). However, if you grow herbs, chillies or beans, drying them is simple and practical.
The old-fashioned way is to suspend them on thread in a warm airing cupboard, which is practical for herbs and chillies. The modern version is to use a dehydrator, and this opens up the scope for dehydrating your own berries, cherries and currents too. If, however, you don’t want food dangling from cupboards or the expense of a new gadget, you can also dry chillies, slices of fruit and bunches of herbs by leaving them on a low heat (around 100°) in the oven all day.
Freezing food from your own garden
Captain Birdseye may be extremely proud that his peas go from field to freezer within a few hours but you can easily beat that at home. And if you have the space in your freezer to store the contents of your garden, you can keep produce in great shape for months. Freezing also keeps high levels of vitamin C in fruit and veg.
There are different requirements for freezing different fruits and vegetables – a few, such as raspberries, can be frozen as they are; but most need to be blanched (briefly immersed them in boiling water) before freezing; and others will only freeze well if cooked.
And if you have a glut of cucumber, kale, lettuce or radishes, you’re probably better off looking at other methods of preserving them, or eating them immediately.
There are some good starter tips at for freezing home-grown produce online.
Preserving fruit and veg for all year use
Stories of people having chutney recipes handed down from their great-grandmother can be offputting, because it suggests there are secret skills involved in making jams, jellies, chutneys and pickles.
Not at all. It’s surprisingly quick and easy. Shops such as Lakeland are an easy source for the kit you’ll need, from jars to old-fashioned gingham lid covers. Preserving your own produce is also ideal for more delicate vegetables and soft fruit, berries and currents that can’t be left in the shed or dried in an airing cupboard.
The tips below will also be useful if you’re a preserves novice:
- Don’t make too much. There’s nothing more dispiriting than finding you still have 5 unopened jars of last year’s plum chutney when the next plum season has already arrived.
- Only use good fruit and vegetables. For all the talk about windfall chutney, you’re better to use unblemished produce if you want preserves to stay edible and safe.
- Follow instructions about sterilising jars, lids etc.
- A jam thermometer is invaluable for telling if your jam is cooked – much easier than old-fashioned solutions involving multiple chilled saucers and water.
Great sources of recipes include Perfect Preserves by Thane Prince – apparently dubbed the ‘queen of preserves’ by The Times newspaper – are available on the Waitrose website.
Different ways to preserve your fruit and veg
If you want to try an alternative to cold storing, drying, dehydrating, freezing and preserving your home grown fruit and veg, there are other options out there. If you want to get a bit more adventurous try the following:
- Quick pickle vegetables – slice and submerge vegetables in an acidic liquid such as vinegar, lemon juice, pomegranate juice, soy sauce or miso. It’s faster and less hassle than making a chutney, plus the taste will be completely different too.
- Ferment your own wine or vinegar – If you are really overburdened with a bumper crop of fruit or sweet vegetables you could make your own homemade wine or custom vinegar.
- Dry salt vegetables – packing freshly picked vegetables in dry salt not only preserves them, but it can intensify the flavour and improve the texture. Check out some simple techniques.
- Macerate fruits with alcohol – it couldn’t be easier. Too many berries, cherries or currents? Wash and dry them then drown them in your favourite alcoholic tipple. Vodka, rum and brandy work particularly well (the alcohol should be 80% proof) and you can also add dried spices and sugar to intensify sweetness.
- Smoking food – typically fish and meat is smoked to preserve it. Smoking vegetables doesn’t have the same effect, but if you’re going to the trouble of making a chutney or salt curing veg, you could consider smoking it first to add a different distinctive flavour.
With all these new and traditional ways to preserve fruit and veg, you should be able to make the most of your autumn harvest throughout the whole year.
by Mark Bailey | Sep 26, 2016 | GardenLife Magazine, How to guide
Some of the UK had 30+ degree temperatures this September, so you might think a post about garden shed maintenance advice is badly timed, but the first Christmas puddings also arrived on supermarket shelves this month. This, and the ever shortening days, is always a depressing signal that autumn is really upon us.
Whilst it may be fine to leave the Christmas food and present shopping until late December, protecting your garden shed from autumn and winter gales won’t wait that long.
The rain, wind and damp of a British autumn are the three great enemies of any timber garden building. If you want to get maximum enjoyment and longevity from a garden shed, summer house or garden office, you need to keep them at bay. Here’s our garden shed maintenance advice broken into 10 handy tips that you should consider this autumn.
Tip number 1: Ensure nothing is left touching the building
Cut back any trees and shrubs near your timber garden buildings, as they will prevent air flow, and make it harder for timber to dry out between rain showers. Even worse, overhanging branches can easily damage the roof felt or shingles in high winds. It might be tempting to leave garden furniture, tools or logs resting against the back wall of the building where they are out of sight, but you need to leave a clear gap to stop moisture building up.
Tip number 2: Use the best garden shed timber treatment and preserver
All exposed wood should be treated with good quality wood preservative to prepare it for winter. Ideally, you will have done this when you first installed the building, but you also need to reapply regularly. GardenLife recommend Barrettine wood preserver to stop wood boring insects, rot and fungal infection, plus Barrettine log cabin oil to help form a watertight layer. Cuprinol also has a good range of wood preservatives and protectors, as well as some good advice on how to protect and revive a shed.
And if you want to makeover your garden shed more radically, there are excellent stains and paints for timber buildings available in the Sadolin and Sikkens ranges.
If chemical infused preservatives or solvent based treatments aren’t for you, we also covered some environmentally friendly options for wood stain in an earlier blog post.
Tip number 3: Check the roof of your shed
If you have loose shingles, felt or flashing, their chances of surviving high winds are dicey. Far better to make small repairs before the first gales of winter strike than to have to deal with far bigger emergency roof repairs and water damage post-storms. You can buy replacement felt and shingles at most large DIY chains, and if you want to re-roof a GardenLife building get in touch with us and we can quote for the appropriate amount of felt or shingles.
Tip number 4: Get out the oil can
Check that hinges, handles, locks and padlocks are moving freely, and give them a coat of oil to keep it that way. If you need to get oil inside locks or handles get a spray can of WD-40 with a straw – you can then spray right inside moving parts without having to take things apart. Also check that doors or windows open and shut easily; if they don’t, you’ll need to investigate further to check that frames haven’t swollen, warped or twisted. If you need to sand or plane a surface down to free a sticking door or window, remember to reapply wood preserver and treatment afterwards.
Tip number 5: Clear all gutters
If your shed or garden building has gutters, check they’re not blocked. Clear away all leaves and other blockages, and keep on doing this throughout the autumn. If gutters block, water may overflow down timber walls, causing damp problems. Should your garden building be located underneath a large tree, leaf build-up could be a persistent problem. In this instance you might want to consider adding a mesh leaf trap guard to the top of your downpipe. This will allow water to flow through, but will stop leaf litter blocking the downpipe.
If your building doesn’t have gutters, look out for problems with water building up on roofs or running down the walls. It may be that adding gutters could prevent the problem escalating into more serious water damage. If you don’t like the look of gutters you could consider rain chains as much more interesting solution instead.
Tip number 6: Get rid of some junk
Freeing up some space in your summerhouse or workshop won’t in itself prolong its life. But a good tidy-up and clear-out may help you spot damp, watermarks, mould, nests or other problems.
In particular, have a rigorous inspection of the interior next time it rains, searching for any new leaks or damp problems that need treatment.
Tip number 7: Look out for the windows
Internal timber window frames and sills can sometimes develop damp problems caused by condensation, especially outside the summer months. Applying a quick coat of clear wood treatment to internal sills and frames can head off these problems. If the sills or frames are already damp, you’ll need to dry them out first.
Tip number 8: Clean surrounding decking and paving
Throughout the autumn, clear away leaves from your decking, including from any gaps. They can cause discolouration and perhaps damp too. When damp and covered in algae decking and paving can be like an ice rink. A good clean with a fungicidal decking cleaner and reviver will help remove algae, moss and mould from decking and paving. You may also need to reapply decking stain or treatment once the timber has dried. There’s some good advice on the B&Q website.
Tip number 9: Check out your shed base
Grass and leaves around the foot of a timber building can reduce air flow around and under the building, and prevent wooden walls or foundation joists from fully drying out. This makes the building more vulnerable to problems with damp, even where you have pressure-treated timber.
Tip number 10: Hunt down your spirit level and try square
While you’re on a maintenance session, you may also want to ensure that walls, door frames and windows are still at 90 degrees to the ground. If not, you may be suffering problems with subsidence or damp. Your heart will sink at having to work out how to solve the problem, but better to do so now than when further damage has set in!
If you follow this garden shed maintenance advice early each autumn you should ensure that your shed or garden room remains in good condition and continues to provide you with many years of trouble free use (but if you do need a new one, we can always help!).
