Posts Tagged ‘landscaping’

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Caring For Your Fish Pond Over The Summer Months

Monday, December 19th, 2011

The summer is the most pleasant season of the year to sit in the garden with your favourite ice-cold drink and watch your fish and the rest of your garden. It is the busiest period of the year for both your pond and your garden flowers and the birds and the bees are at their most lively too.

If you would like to keep on enjoying your garden and pond into the evening, you can arrange exterior lighting at strategic places to highlight the best bits. However, despite wanting to just relax in the warmth, there are still some chores that you will have to do to care for your fish pond during the summer.

The first thing you have to do is make sure that you fish are getting enough oxygen. The problem is that warm water holds less oxygen that cold water, so you have to take extra precautions in the summer. This is quite simply corrected by mechanical, automatic methods. There are three basic techniques of aerating fish pond water.

The most important technique is the use of a fish pond filter. Endeavor to have the water pumped several feet above the pond water level. The water is then passed through the filter and it should drop down a few steps back into the water. Every time the water falls, it will pick up more oxygen, which it will take back to the pond.

The second technique is also the most spectacular – the fountain. Most fountains have a couple of settings to allow different water patterns. All the patterns will oxygenate the water. A high, single jet of water will make the most noise when it falls back into the pond, while a pattern of say, ten less-powerful sprays will scarcely make any noise at all.

The third way of oxygenating the pond water is the ‘bubbler’. This unit sucks air from above the waterline and blows it out it below the water line – it is the type of aeration unit that indoor fish tanks use, but on a larger scale.

The use of these three methods in the summer will guarantee that your fish always have enough oxygen no matter how warm it gets.

The next consideration is feeding. Fishes’ metabolism increases during the summer. They also have to build up fat, because they will not eat much during the winter. You can ensure that your fish get loads of insects to eat by installing a light by the water side. You can either take a line off the pond pump or you could place a solar powered light there in stead.

The insects will be attracted to the light and fall into the water. The fish will soon learn about the insects. Insects are fishes’ natural food, so this is the best means to fatten them up without running the risk of putting too much food into the water which could rot and adversely affect the properties of the water. Lighting up your pond in the evening is also a great way of getting more pleasure from your pond.

This is the last chore that you have to carry out in order to care for your fish pond during the summer – keeping the water pristine. There will be a build up of algae which has to be cleared, but basically, you are now set to get pleasure from your pond for the summer months.

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on a number of subjects, but is at present concerned with visual comfort lighting. If you would like to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at Outdoor Wall Lamps.

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Who Are The Advantages Of Worm Farming?

Saturday, December 10th, 2011

Why on Earth would anyone like to ‘grow worms’ or have pets of worms? It is a decent question. After all, you cannot take them for a stroll and they will probably never recognize you, because they are blind. However, there are good reasons for establishing a worm farm.

Gardeners know that earthworms are useful for the soil. They also know that red worms will break down vegetable material in the compost heap. Anglers know that worms make good bait for freshwater fish and teachers will bear out the fact that children like to watch a small indoor worm farm.

Environmentalists will also tell you that the worm population is declining in some places because of the excessive use of pesticides and other pollutants such as acid rain.

Therefore, if you would like more than one or two worms to place in a glass case for children to look at, the best place to buy them is from a worm farm. And there is big money in it as well.

Naturally, I am talking about two kinds of worm farms here. There is the small worm farm glass box, like an ant farm, used for educational purposes in the realm of natural science and the large-scale, industrial farms meant to provide worms to industries and stores.

Who would spend money on a worm farm and why? Well, schools, parents and small zoos may do so for educational purposes. After all, it does not cost very much to feed worms with a couple of dead leaves and they are not aggressive. Health and safety is not an expression that relates to a table-top glass worm farm.

Industrial size worm farms do not have to be that big. You could have one in the back garden and Breed millions of worms to sell. You could sell them to gardeners who have poor soil; to fishing bait shops; to a zoo for food and to apartment-owners with window boxes.

Large zoos probably already have their own worm farms to feed to lizards, snakes, birds and some mammals, but they would be pleased to know where there is a back-up supply in case all their worms die for some reason or other.

Someone who breeds birds, reptiles or amphibians would also benefit from a small worm farm. It is such a lot easier and cheaper to ‘grow your own’ than have to buy them from a pet shop, which almost certainly also has its own worm farm.

Farmers who keep chickens would also benefit from a worm farm, because the chickens can be fed on organically fed worms and a ready supply would stop the chickens from wandering far from home, which means a better harvest of eggs for the farmer.

Once you can see the benefits of worm farming, you can lift your horizon from the modest earthworm and think about cultivating unusual worms like the red ones in the compost container or the ones that foreign birds and reptiles like. The more specialist you get, the more you can charge.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on many topics, but is currently concerned with how to get rid of pests. If you would like to know more, visit our website at Bugs Infestation.

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Fighting Garden Insects

Saturday, December 3rd, 2011

If you have a lovely garden of flowers or / and vegetables, you can be sure that you will not be the sole one appreciating it.

However, the vast majority of the others will be unwelcome. Pests are bound to be eying up your plants with evil intentions as far as you are concerned.

If you prize your flowers and vegetables you will have to do something to cope with them. How earnestly you take this quest is naturally up to you, but a garden will soon get overrun if you do nothing at all.

There are in essence two methods of dealing with backyard pests: there are things that you can use, so-called mechanical ways and spray killers such as pesticide and fungicide. These two ways offer an infinite variation of combinations to deal with garden insects.

A good example of a mechanical course of action of protection is the covered frame. A covered frame is a five sided box with no bottom. You stand it over your plants particularly whilst they are young. The top of the box can be perspex, glass or fly screen.

The plastic, perspex or glass top is useful for protecting the plant from frost too as bugs, whereas the fly screen will let the elements in but protect the plant from insects and birds. They might be thought of as winter and summer protection respectively.

A cheaper way of protecting young plants from perhaps cut-worm, is to cut the top and bottom off a drinks container and then cut the body into three rings. Place a ring around a plant and push it at least an inch into the ground, leaving an inch or two showing. Leave the cut edges ragged and rough to ward off slugs, snails and cut-worms from scrambling over it.

If that is too much trouble, you could use plastic bottle rings or cardboard treated with oil – perhaps WD40 – which will ward off pests too as the above and stop it getting ruined by rain. . If you want to spray your fruit, you will need a spray-gun. You can either buy one with a compressor or you can pump it up yourself. The latter are much cheaper, do a decent job and supply more exercise.

The chemicals used in these sprays is fairly corrosive, so buy a spray tank that will resist this. Aluminium, stainless steel or brass are the best, but you ought to take advice depending on the chemicals used.

Cheaper models will rust away fairly quickly. Make certain you may buy extension rods for spraying into trees if you want to.

Slugs and snails are not keen on travelling over rough surfaces, so you should save all your egg shells, crush them into a coarse grit and lay them in a ring surrounding your plants.

The weather will break them down, but they contain nutrients that are good for the garden anyway.

If you have an ants nest exactly where you do not need one, wait until the spring or early summer and lay a piece of slate or tile on top of the entrance to the nest. Put an upturned flowerpot on top of this and cover the hole in the bottom of it.

After a couple of dry days, the ants will have brought a few hundred eggs up onto the slate. You can eat these – Thais say they are an aphrodisiac – or you can feed them to your fish. After a few weeks of this the ants will be discouraged and will move their nest somewhere else.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on several subjects, but is currently concerned with bed bug covers for mattresses. If you would like to know more, go over to our website at Bugs Infestation.

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How You Could Landscape Your Garden In The Texas Style

Wednesday, July 6th, 2011

Most people just let their garden mature naturally in that they do not select a particular style. This is all right, but it can become a hodge-podge, if not looked after. Some people, however, consciously choose to landscape their garden according to a certain style or a theme. Some of these themes are very sophisticated and others are quite simple.

One of the many themes to pick from is the Texas Style. We all know that everything in Texas is done on a large scale, so you would be forgiven for thinking that landscaping in the Texas Style would necessitate a huge garden.

It is perhaps easier to carry out your landscaping in the Texas Style in a bigger garden, but it just depends how you go about it.

The first things to remember are that Texas is very hot and so the terrain closely resembles wilderness. Plants and shrubs are thin on the ground, so to speak. Landscaping in the Texas Style is what you could call minimalist gardening.

You will have to make use of every square inch of your property, if you only have a small plot and the climate will have to be fairly warm in the daytime although it is good if it gets cold at night. This will allow you to grow many of the plants that thrive or at least grow in Texas. One good thing about Texan flowers is that when they do blossom, they really do show a lot of colour.

One of the types of plant that you are certain to have success with is the cactus. There are many types of cactus, so you should not have too much trouble finding several kinds that will grow in your garden in order to create a Texan dry climate look, as long as it does not rain every other day where you reside.

Cacti yield spectacular flowers when they bloom, but they have big thorns, so if you have young children, the Texas Style garden may not be for you for a few years yet.

Once you have your plants sorted out, you can begin looking for accessories. You can pick up ideas from the old cowboy films and from magazines, but a few recommendations are: a chow wagon style barbecue area with a canvas hood; some broken wagon wheels; a well, functioning or not (it could even be a fish pond that looks like a well); boulders and wooden fence posts.

Boulders are usually overlooked by gardeners but there are some fascinating stones, boulders and rocks in all sorts of shapes and colours. Boulders with fossils in them are great conversation starters. Smaller rocks can be used to create a rock garden and this will increase the range of plant life that you can grow in your Texas Style garden. You will be able to plant succulents, small cacti and other small plants that often grow in this harsh environment.

Lighting should be low and subtle so that you can see the stars at night. You could even have a camp fire with log seating or you can accomplish this look by using low powered solar lighting. Solar powered lighting will also save you from having to have an electrician wire up your garden.

When you have finished landscaping in the Texas Style, do not forget to get pleasure from it by eating outside as often as you can. Barbecues, steaks and Texmex food are the order of the day.

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on quite a few topics, but is now concerned with outdoor accent lighting. If you would like to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at Outdoor Wall Lamps.

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Keeping Cats Out Of The Garden

Friday, July 1st, 2011

It is very difficult to keep cats out of your garden, but do not give up, it can be managed. Cat owners may not understand why gardeners want to prevent cats gaining access to their gardens, but there are justifiable reasons, it is not always that gardeners hate cats. Cats are ferocious hunters and can also be very destructive.

For example, my next door neighbour had a cat, but felt lonely when her daughter moved away, so she permitted the cat to to have young. Now she has six cats. But cats are not like dogs. My dog stays in my garden not upsetting anyone apart from by barking if a stranger walks past the gate However, that is his job and he is not only telling me but the neighbours as well. These six cats do not stay in their own garden though, so we have all acquired six cats whether we want them or not.

The first issue I noticed was that birds stopped coming to pick my dog’s bowl clean in the afternoon. Then I saw a cat killing a lizard, a beautiful nine inch adult and then I remembered not seeing many lizards recently. There is one lizard, the Tokay, that they have totally wiped out – I used to listen to them calling at night, but no longer.

Cats also dig up flowers when they defecate and use furniture as scratching boards, so I do not want these destructive animals in my garden. But how do you keep cats out of your garden?

Walls are rarely protection against cats, but cats will often prowl along the bottom of walls and if they come across a gap, they will possibly go in out of inquisitiveness, so repair all low-level gaps in your fences. There is not much you can do about the top of your wall other than putting broken glass or electrified wiring up there, but that is not a good idea.

Some dogs are good at keeping cats away, but not all. My dog got a vicious and completely unexpected swipe of claws across his nose one day. He used to run after them when they were kittens, but now they have grown up, he only growls to tell me a cat is on the property. I cannot blame him.

In Australia, many gardeners reckon that transparent bottles full of water confuse cats, so they stay away, but in my experience, only Australian cats react in that way.

A row of prickly bushes or flowers along the base of a wall where cats regularly come in helps. At the bottom of high walls too, where the cat cannot see them until he is on top of the wall. I often see cats mewing (in frustration, I hope) on the top of one of my walls. The only way down is to go back.

If you still cannot keep cats out, then you will need to train them not to come in. This is easiest accomplished by using a few methods. If cats are using your flower pots are conveniences, try smearing the pots with pepper, lavender, lemon, mustard, or tobacco. Or you could leave a mothball in each pot. Some of these will have the desired result for you, others will not.

Then there are industrial repellents, but I do not want to resort to them. However, if you have a big garden and a big problem, it might be the only way. There are also high frequency sound emitters. Humans cannot hear them, but almost all animals can, so I think that that is deplorable as well.

At night, motion-activated external lighting is a great shock to cats. Cats have very sensitive night vision so a sudden flash from a floodlamp really puts them off a garden.

The best disincentive is water. You can get motion-activated sprinklers, which are brilliant at keeping cats out of your garden, but I like to sit in my office or in the garden with a powerful water pistol and squirt them by hand. The lizards have not come back yet, but nor do the cats quite so frequently either.

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on quite a few subjects, but is at present involved with visual comfort lighting. If you would like to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at Outdoor Wall Lamps.

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How To Control Termites

Monday, June 27th, 2011

Termites tend to be most prevalent in the warmer countries more than the cooler ones, but if where you live is infected by timber-eating termites, regulating them should be towards the top of your priorities, particularly if you are a home-owner or a farmer. Of the 4,000 species of termite, about 400 of them pose a serious threat to wood buildings and crops.

Ants and ant-eaters are the termites natural predators, but this does not help man to manage them, so we have resorted to chemicals. Most of the chemicals used to manage termites are fairly safe to humans, their pets and their livestock, although it does no harm to exercise a little caution when spreading them around.

The first thing you ought to do if you would like to banish termites from your home, is comprehend a little about them. They like to eat a plank of timber beginning at the end-grain and tunneling up inside it, so before you next redecorate your house, saturate all timber in preservative and termite poison particularly the end-grain. Then repaint, stain or varnish everything as normal.

If you make it a problem or unappetizing for them, termites are likely to go for easier plunder. Likewise, if you have walkways, crawling spaces or air ducts, spray them with termiticide. If you have wet areas near to the house remedy the cause of the damp, because termites are partial to damp soil.

Clear up any clutter from around the base of your house such as old leaves and weeds, because that holds moisture too. If you have a stack of garden refuse, burn it; if you have a compost heap, turn it over regularly and inspect for termites (and carpenter ants).

In a termite colony, it is only the female workers that go out and scavenge. They then take this back to the colony an give it to the nymphs, the soldiers and the king and queen. If you poison that food source, all those insects will perish and the nymphs in the unhatched eggs will starve to death.

Most termiticides act on two levels, there is the poison to get eaten, but there is also an element to the poison that kills on contact, although it might take some time.

If a termite rubs up against this contact poison, it will go home sooner or later where it will groom and get groomed by its fellows, which passes the contact poison all over the colony very quickly.

It can take a week or more for say 90% of the colony to be wiped out, but it could take a further month or so for the remaining 10% to die, because they might be procuring their food from a different source.

However, sooner or later they will start taking the dead bodies of their dropped comrades outside and when they do that, they will get a brushing of contact poison as well.

Once this occurs their days are numbered even if the poison is a little bit older and a little bit less potent. The trick is not to give up too early and keep checking for a re-infestation, because if they came one time, they could come back again.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many topics, but is at present involved with pictures of termites. If you are interested in this or if you are wondering: What Does A Termite Look Like?. just go to our web site now for some more details.

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Eliminating Garden Pests

Monday, June 27th, 2011

Gardening would be a lot simpler without interference from garden pests. The majority of garden pests are small, but they sure are a big hassle. The the majority of widespread garden pests are insects, of course and it is a curious thing that these insects are apt to prosper in conditions that are not quite correct for flowers. Most garden pests do not actually live on the plants themselves, they live in rotting rubbish nearby or in sodden soil and go to the plant to feed. Some insects live in the roots if the soil is too wet.

So, one of the first things to do is to try to lessen the number of destructive insects in your garden. You can go a long way down this route by clearing away any old decaying rubbish and decayed wood. Make certain that your soil is well drained and keep cats out of your garden by squirting them with a water pistol until they get the idea. Cats discourage birds and many birds eat insects.

You should also support insects and other animals that feed on garden pests. Ants can be a nuisance, but they do feed on a lot of insects. Ladybirds do too and so do spiders. Larger animals such as frogs, toads and lizards eat loads of insects, so a small open-ended garden pond could be created to breed frogs and toads. Lizards will come on their own, if the conditions are right.

It is worth taking active steps to encourage the right sort of garden animals. Never use powerful insecticides on your garden as you will destroy all the insects that are on your side as well and the spray may poison the earthworms that are helping to aerate and dry out your soil.

A small pond will encourage birds, frogs and toads, but frogs and toads also like a nice rock to shelter under during the day. Place a couple of rocks the size of a loaf of bread around your garden in the shadow of trees or bushes. Set up a bird table. Birds that feed on bread and nuts do not usually eat insects, but some do. However, the sight of other birds in your garden may encourage insectivores to come in and have a look.

There are fundamentally two types of garden pests: the ones that actually feed on the plant and the ones that suck the sap out of it. Caterpillars can be picked off and destroyed of or you can spray the leaves that are being eaten with a poison for the caterpillars to feed on. Many of the sap-suckers can be seen easily, others cannot. A solution of washing-up liquid and water such as you use to wash dishes will kill the majority of of these including greenfly (aphids).

Slugs and snails do a lot of harm, but some birds including chickens and thrushes find them a delicacy. Chickens can be helpful allies in a garden, but they can be destructive too with all their scratching. Otherwise, you can reduce the population of slugs and snails by killing their eggs.

They are apt to lay their eggs in decomposing leaves or rotting compost, but not in compost heaps which are normally too hot for them, so a good clean up will eradicate a lot of the next generation.

You can kill the adults by placing a few low containers of beer by your plants. The slugs will drink the beer and drown. It is extremely efficient. Slug pellets should kill the t-totallers off. Taking these actions will greatly reduce the number of garden pests attacking your plants.

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on a number of subjects, but is now involved with exterior wall lighting. If you would like to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at Outdoor Wall Lamps.

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The Beauty Of Moroccan Decor

Sunday, June 26th, 2011

Moroccan furniture is usually solid timber and stylish. Morocco is an ex-French colony, but it is very close to Spain as well. In fact, two small parts of Morocco, Melilla and Ceuta are still under Spanish control.

This means that Moroccan furnishings and decor has Berba, Arabic, French and Spanish influences. These Mediterranean influences are obvious in traditional and modern Moroccan furniture.

If combined with Moroccan decor and colours, Moroccan furniture can transform your home. Walls are usually emulsioned plain white or cream and lightly decorated with old carpets or tapestries with one or two photos or paintings hanging among them.

Reds and browns are the principal colours. Meaningful writings from the Koran or other Arabic philosophers are frequently copied out in bold lettering and framed.

Moroccan accessories such as lamps, lanterns, mirrors, benches, vases, mosaic end tables, ottomans, rugs and ceramics can bring that remarkable local flavour to the decor, setting off the solid timber or padded cloth furniture.

Pillows and cushions feature large in Moroccan interior and garden decor, but they also use sofas and seats in the European manner. Morocco is well-known for its leather craft and leather is frequently used to cover chairs, sofas and footstools or poufes.

Loose rugs are important for sitting on and they are taken out and beaten each day to keep them clean as Morocco is a hot, sandy and dusty country if you travel a few miles inland from the coast. Camels are still used for transport in rural parts and camel hair is woven into rugs, blankets and wall coverings.

Moroccans like tiles and mosaics and Arabic style tiles are quite distinctive if you would like to use them in your bathroom and kitchen. If you would like to dine in Moroccan style, they usually eat at a very low round table with the primary dish in the centre from which everyone helps themselves, although in a family, some members will feed others as well.

Following tradition and hygiene, you may only touch food with your right hand, although everyone will have washed both hands before coming to the table. Bread, rice and couscous feature highly in Moroccan food as does potatoes, carrots, lamb and chicken.Water is served during the meal and tea and coffee afterwards frequently with very sweet cakes sprinkled with icing sugar and syrup.

People take it easy at home wearing long, loose-fitting garments and lounge on benches or on rugs on the floor surrounded by cushions. In the evening, lighting will be low offered by low wattage bulbs concealed behind red and brown stained glass or cloth. Candles, scented or not also feature a great deal in living rooms and bedrooms unless someone wants a stronger light to read by.

Candles in wall sconces are common ways to highlight extraordinary parts and illuminate corridors and some doorways. Frequently these sconces do not hold candles, but hold aromatic oil with a floating wick which is cheaper to leave burning between the hours or twilight and bed time.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on a number of topics, but is now involved with outdoor dining tables. If you want to know more, just visit our website at Solid Oak Dining Tables.

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How To Buy Garden Furniture On Line

Saturday, June 18th, 2011

Buying garden furniture on line is not the perfect solution as it both solves and presents some problems if it is used indiscriminately. For example, if you find it difficult to get around the shops and garden centres, the Internet will allow you to visit hundreds of places to contrast styles and prices, but you will not have had sight of your furniture and it might be expensive to return it.

Therefore there are a couple of items to watch out for if you want to buy garden furniture on line. Some of these tips will apply to other goods too particularly weighty items.

Be wary of shipping charges because some companies will strive to hide the fact that they can be horrendous. If delivery charges are an extra, do not forget to add these fees on to the cost of the garden furniture before you evaluate prices. Some businesses will talk some drivel about an order processing fee in an effort to cover up their shipping fees. These businesses are being insincere and you ought to avoid them like the plague.

Try to turn off to the words ‘discount’ and ‘sale price’ until you have added up all the costs and you have compared this total with the total cost of a comparable device. Likewise, be very wary of comparisons between list price and sale price. Manufacturers frequently ‘recommend’ a high list price purposely so that the retailer can offer a discount. It is very common practice, but designed to deceive.

Beware of ‘price snobbery’. If you see two retailers selling exactly the same items of garden furniture but at widely different prices, do not be automatically convinced that the cheaper one must be inferior. Instead, look around the cheap web site for extra costs. Do not forget that most retailers buy from the same manufacturers.

Do not trust any firm that says that they will not be beaten on price because they are the cheapest on the Internet or that they will undercut anyone you can prove is cheaper. They have no proof that they are the cheapest and if you prove that they are not they will decrease their price only to you because you caught them in their lie. These people are liars.

Firms that make a big issue out of quick service are not really giving you anything. Every company likes a fast turn-around because they can bank the check earlier and the warranty finishes sooner too. You will find out how decent their service is if you have difficulties. Empty promises and blowing one;s own trumpet mean nothing. Self praise is no praise.

You can check up on the company’s customer service record by keying the firm’s name, city of business and the word ‘issues’ or ‘problems’ into Google. You will soon be able to judge for yourself whether you are dealing with a reputable firm or not. Purchasing garden furniture on line is the same as buying anything else expensive on line: it is up to the buyer to beware before parting with his money because it may be difficult to get it back if there is a problem.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a variety of topics, but is now involved with farmhouse dining tables. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Solid Oak Dining Tables.

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The Different Styles Of Garden Furniture

Tuesday, June 7th, 2011

If you want to buy some new garden furniture, the first thing to do is think about the styles of garden furniture that would suit your garden and your preferences. If you already have an idea of what you want, you are already half way there, otherwise you will have to do some investigation on the different styles of garden furniture

This research can be done on line very easily by typing ‘garden furniture’ into Google, but if you would prefer more depth on the furniture, you could get a couple of magazines on gardening and landscaping. If you rather a more hands-on approach, you can go around the home improvement stores and the garden centres.

In fact, you will have to go to the shops sooner or later anyway unless you intend buying on line too. I personally like to do some research on the Internet first and then use the knowledge that I gleaned from there to make informed decisions in the store. I do not really trust the photos. I want to see and touch the garden furniture and check the joints and finish.

Once you get to the garden centre, you will discover various styles of garden furniture including: farmhouse or rustic, contemporary or modern, resort or poolside and these can be made from hardwood, softwood, plastic or metal.

Hardwood is by far the most popular material for garden furniture and most people prefer the farmhouse style, although there are some fantastic modern styles too.

No matter which style you prefer or what it is manufactured of the number one best piece of advice is to get the best quality that you can afford. This is true of most items you can buy, but I think that it is especially true of garden furniture because it will have a very hard life. Just imagine it: snow, rain, heat; temperatures varying from -5c to + 35c and varying humidity.

Cheap plastic cannot erect with those circumstances. I used to buy cheap plastic and needed to replace it every eighteen months. Then I bought expensive plastic and I still have some of that but in essence it only lasted three years. I have seen metal garden furniture and it always rusts, even if it is plastic coated, enamelled or painted. Softwood lasts well, but it will rot after approximately five years even if it is quite well taken care of.

The only garden furniture that I have ever had or seen at friends’ houses that lasts and looks beautiful all that time is hardwood. There is a wide selection of hardwoods. There are native hardwoods like oak, cherry, walnut, maple and beech and foreign hardwoods like mahogany and teak. These hardwoods can also be stained to virtually any colour although most people prefer the natural look.

Hardwood garden furniture is simple to maintain as well: just rub it over with linseed oil once or twice a year. If you carry out this simple maintenance procedure the timber will not dry out and it will resist the elements for twenty years or more ensuring that you get maximum value for money from this, the finest of all the styles of garden furniture.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a range of subjects, but is now involved with farmhouse dining tables. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Solid Oak Dining Tables.

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