As the weather forecast today threatens plummeting temperatures down to -5C over the next week, pond owners in the UK should take precautions to protect fish and aquatic life. The NEW Affinity Ice Vent Pond Heater floats on the pond surface and is specifically designed to retain an ice-free zone.
The unique low wattage convection design saves on energy bills as it only requires minimal energy to function, unlike the more traditional pond heaters. The Ice Vent is suitable for Affinity Living Feature Pools and all ponds up to 5000 litres.
The Ice Vent allows for essential gaseous exchange to occur, allowing a pool to ‘breathe’ while ensuring that fish do not suffer from a build-up of poisonous gases and a lack of oxygen.
Warning: never smash a frozen pond or pour boiling hot water to melt the ice. If required, pour warm water in one location to create an opening. The Affinity Ice Vent is priced at £39.99 and available from all good aquatic retailers.
For more information on Interpet: www.interpet.co.uk
For more information on the Affinity Ice Vent www.affinitypools.co.uk/ice-vent-pond-heater
Friday 27 January 2012
Thursday 26 January 2012
Showcase your talents at BBC Gardeners’ World Live 2012
BBC Gardeners’ World Live 2012 (13 – 17 June, NEC, Birmingham) in association with the Royal Horticultural Society are searching for up-and-coming garden designers with a twist in two brand new competitions they announced today.
Career Changing Garden
This is an open competition for all designers who’ve taken the leap from one career into the exciting world of horticulture as a garden designer, with a prize giving you the chance to showcase your talents at the Show in Birmingham this June to tens of thousands of garden lovers.
Whatever your background, whether you’ve been an accountant, an air hostess or an auctioneer, if you’re now discovering the rewards of a second career in horticulture, we want to hear from you. We’d like to receive designs illustrating the journey from your previous profession to your new one as a garden designer – conceptual designs are welcome. A successful submission will attract funding of £6000 towards your garden at the Show and there are four places in this exciting competition – the perfect platform to introduce your new design skills to a huge audience.
Closing date for submissions is 2nd March 2012.
On Your Marks, Get Set, Garden!
This competition is open to both amateur designers and established designers. BBC Gardeners’ World Live and the Royal Horticultural Society are searching for gardeners with a keen eye or established designers who think they have what it takes to create a garden that’s a cut above the rest. What if you had the same set of materials as three other designers?
Could you use your sense of design innovation to push the boundaries and be the best? In this groundbreaking competition at BBC Gardeners’ World Live 2012, with multi-award-winning designer Andy Sturgeon at the helm, four designers will be tasked to stand out from the crowd, given a set of construction materials plus £3k for plants and production costs. This totals approximately £8k’s worth of funding per garden. So rise to the challenge and get your name on the BBC Gardeners’ World Live 2012 leader board in our On Your Marks, Get Set, Garden Competition.
Closing date for submissions is 30th March 2012.
Both competitions will also make you eligible to enter for a prestigious RHS medal to be judged at the Show.
How to apply Please email exhibitorapplication@rhs.org.uk for details with the competition name as your subject line.
Career Changing Garden
This is an open competition for all designers who’ve taken the leap from one career into the exciting world of horticulture as a garden designer, with a prize giving you the chance to showcase your talents at the Show in Birmingham this June to tens of thousands of garden lovers.
Whatever your background, whether you’ve been an accountant, an air hostess or an auctioneer, if you’re now discovering the rewards of a second career in horticulture, we want to hear from you. We’d like to receive designs illustrating the journey from your previous profession to your new one as a garden designer – conceptual designs are welcome. A successful submission will attract funding of £6000 towards your garden at the Show and there are four places in this exciting competition – the perfect platform to introduce your new design skills to a huge audience.
Closing date for submissions is 2nd March 2012.
On Your Marks, Get Set, Garden!
This competition is open to both amateur designers and established designers. BBC Gardeners’ World Live and the Royal Horticultural Society are searching for gardeners with a keen eye or established designers who think they have what it takes to create a garden that’s a cut above the rest. What if you had the same set of materials as three other designers?
Could you use your sense of design innovation to push the boundaries and be the best? In this groundbreaking competition at BBC Gardeners’ World Live 2012, with multi-award-winning designer Andy Sturgeon at the helm, four designers will be tasked to stand out from the crowd, given a set of construction materials plus £3k for plants and production costs. This totals approximately £8k’s worth of funding per garden. So rise to the challenge and get your name on the BBC Gardeners’ World Live 2012 leader board in our On Your Marks, Get Set, Garden Competition.
Closing date for submissions is 30th March 2012.
Both competitions will also make you eligible to enter for a prestigious RHS medal to be judged at the Show.
How to apply Please email exhibitorapplication@rhs.org.uk for details with the competition name as your subject line.
Thursday 19 January 2012
That's Home and Household: New Chinese lanterns developed to extinguish fire ...
That's Home and Household: New Chinese lanterns developed to extinguish fire ...: In response to safety fears over the fire risks posed by Chinese lanterns, Sky Orbs the firm behind the first wire-free, 100% biodegrad...
That's Travel: Door2Tour.com reveals flower shows are blooming wh...
That's Travel: Door2Tour.com reveals flower shows are blooming wh...: Door2Tour.com, the website tour consolidator, has revealed that overall flower show sales ...
Sunday 15 January 2012
Allinson Inspires You To Grow Your Own
From Thomas Allinson - a very modern Victorian, "A man is what he eats" Thomas Allinson 1892.In the late 19th century Thomas Allinson sowed the seeds of healthy living and was a firm believer in the importance of fresh produce, prescribing the consumption of at least two salads per week. Inspired by his passion for vegetables and herbs, Allinson is now providing you with the tools to enjoy the simple pleasure of home-grown food, along with good wholemeal bread, with a grow-your-own Herb Garden kit.
Containing a selection of parsley, chives and basil seeds, the Herb Garden kit includes all you need to grow your own herb garden.
Parsley - no kitchen should be without a good supply of this multi-purpose herb. It can be used as a garnish and flavouring.
Basil - a versatile and widely used aromatic herb. Basil is an annual plant that is easy to grow from seed but is very sensitive to cold.
Chives - the smallest and most delicately flavoured member of the onion family, chives are a popular herb used in European cookery.
Continuing Thomas Allinson's philosophy for healthy eating why not incorporate these herbs into some of your everyday meals such as
POACHED SALMON AND WATERCRESS SANDWICH WITH BASIL MAYONNAISE
Delicious poached salmon served with watercress and mayonnaise flavoured with fresh basil leaves. Try using any of your favourite herbs: chives, tarragon, parsley or dill would all work well.
Preparation time: 5-10 minutes
Cooking time: None
Serves 1
Ingredients
2-3 large fresh basil leaves (or to taste)
Freshly ground black pepper
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 slices Allinson Wholemeal Batch bread
A large handful of watercress leaves, woody stalks removed
6-8 cucumber ribbons (see cook's tip)
85g (3oz) poached salmon, flaked
2-3 teaspoons of ready prepared mayonnaise (or use your own favourite recipe)
Method
Finely chop the basil leaves and stir into the mayonnaise. Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Chill until ready to use.
Spread a little basil mayonnaise over each slice of bread. Arrange the watercress, cucumber ribbons and flaked salmon over the top of one piece of bread and sandwich with the remaining piece. Press together gently and cut in half to serve.
Cook's tip:
Use a vegetable peeler to peel down the length of a whole cucumber to create the cucumber ribbons.
Tokens for Allinson's grow-your-own Herb Garden kits will be available from March to June 2012. Simply collect and send off six tokens from packs within the Allinson Bread range (plus a £2 contribution to cover postage and packaging) in order to obtain your complimentary Herb Garden kit. Alternatively you collect and send three tokens from packs along with a cheque for £5 which includes postage and packaging). For further information visit www.allinsonbread.com
Tuesday 10 January 2012
That's Home and Household: 15 year guarantee for Ronacrete resin paving syste...
That's Home and Household: 15 year guarantee for Ronacrete resin paving syste...: Ronacrete are pleased to announce that RonaDeck Resin Bound Surfacing is guaranteed for 15 years from the date it is installed b...
Sunday 8 January 2012
Shovel-Shop.co.uk Let Down & Overstocked Due to a Lack of Snow
Towards the end of November, Shovel-Shop stocked up on a large amount of snow shovels in preparation for the harsh weather that was predicted. Due to this overstocking, sales will most likely commence on their website... www.shovel-shop.co.uk
Shovel-Shop.co.uk is one of the largest online distributors of shovels and spades in the UK, selling thousands of products per year to new and existing customers. With a large variety of garden spades, snow shovels and various other types of shovels and digging equipment; they potentially offer a customer all that they could possibly want.
At the end of November/start of December when extremely bad weather and possible snow was forecast, Shovel-Shop took the opportunity to stock up on snow shovelling equipment to provide to the customers if the weather was to take a turn for the worse. Although some customers took precautionary measures and purchased some snow shovels, there were still many left over after the weather failed to deliver the snowfall predicted.
Due to this, customers may be interested to know that sales will be likely in the coming months; which may be ideal as snow does tend to fall at random times throughout the winter/spring months.
Scott Morris, E-Commerce Manager at Shovel-Shop shared some comments on the overstocking: “With last Christmas providing the snowfall it did, we had the same worries that this Christmas would be no different. This coupled with harsh weather forecast; we did what most suppliers would do and ordered in a mass of snow shovels to be on the safe side.
"That way, if the weather did get bad, we could ensure a vast supply to our customers when they need us most and that’s our priority.” Scott then continued on to say; “Obviously this wasn’t the case, but, with the English weather, we can never be too sure when it will take a turn for the worse. It wouldn’t surprise me if we end up with snow in February or April and then we’ll still have the stock to sell; if not, there’s always next winter!”
Optimistic words from Scott suggest that the company would rather have excess stock than run out and leave its customers high and dry; a refreshing approach to business. Despite being one of the mildest Christmas periods in a while, the weather has lately changed rapidly to 100mph winds, to 0° Celsius; so who knows what’s in store for the next few months?
Tim Hodge, Web Admin said a couple of words to us: “We’re constantly updating the Shovel-Shop site and making sure the latest up to date products are available to our customers; so whilst we offer a comprehensive range of snow shovels, we also have every other area covered!”
The Shovel-Shop site is also hosted on the same platform that Toolbox use, making it extremely useable for the end user and very safe in regards to online purchasing; an awfully important feature that is required to make a successful online distributor nowadays.
Shovel-Shop is a sub-site of Toolbox, which is part of the Plumbworld Network. Plumbworld was an early pioneer of online trading, started by James and Anita Hickman in 1999 and was sold to the Grafton Group PLC in December 2006, Plumbworld now employs more than 50 people in its purpose built warehouse and offices and boasts an astonishing 50 websites selling everything from tools and barbecues to chainsaws and pillar drills. The business has a turnover in excess of £18 million and is growing at more than 20% year on year.
Shovel-Shop.co.uk is one of the largest online distributors of shovels and spades in the UK, selling thousands of products per year to new and existing customers. With a large variety of garden spades, snow shovels and various other types of shovels and digging equipment; they potentially offer a customer all that they could possibly want.
At the end of November/start of December when extremely bad weather and possible snow was forecast, Shovel-Shop took the opportunity to stock up on snow shovelling equipment to provide to the customers if the weather was to take a turn for the worse. Although some customers took precautionary measures and purchased some snow shovels, there were still many left over after the weather failed to deliver the snowfall predicted.
Due to this, customers may be interested to know that sales will be likely in the coming months; which may be ideal as snow does tend to fall at random times throughout the winter/spring months.
Scott Morris, E-Commerce Manager at Shovel-Shop shared some comments on the overstocking: “With last Christmas providing the snowfall it did, we had the same worries that this Christmas would be no different. This coupled with harsh weather forecast; we did what most suppliers would do and ordered in a mass of snow shovels to be on the safe side.
"That way, if the weather did get bad, we could ensure a vast supply to our customers when they need us most and that’s our priority.” Scott then continued on to say; “Obviously this wasn’t the case, but, with the English weather, we can never be too sure when it will take a turn for the worse. It wouldn’t surprise me if we end up with snow in February or April and then we’ll still have the stock to sell; if not, there’s always next winter!”
Optimistic words from Scott suggest that the company would rather have excess stock than run out and leave its customers high and dry; a refreshing approach to business. Despite being one of the mildest Christmas periods in a while, the weather has lately changed rapidly to 100mph winds, to 0° Celsius; so who knows what’s in store for the next few months?
Tim Hodge, Web Admin said a couple of words to us: “We’re constantly updating the Shovel-Shop site and making sure the latest up to date products are available to our customers; so whilst we offer a comprehensive range of snow shovels, we also have every other area covered!”
The Shovel-Shop site is also hosted on the same platform that Toolbox use, making it extremely useable for the end user and very safe in regards to online purchasing; an awfully important feature that is required to make a successful online distributor nowadays.
Shovel-Shop is a sub-site of Toolbox, which is part of the Plumbworld Network. Plumbworld was an early pioneer of online trading, started by James and Anita Hickman in 1999 and was sold to the Grafton Group PLC in December 2006, Plumbworld now employs more than 50 people in its purpose built warehouse and offices and boasts an astonishing 50 websites selling everything from tools and barbecues to chainsaws and pillar drills. The business has a turnover in excess of £18 million and is growing at more than 20% year on year.
Gardening the hobby to make you fitter
Want to lose weight? Have more fun? Get more creative? Improve body and mind? Achieve it all by taking up gardening, this year.
Gardening is the multi-tasker of all New Year’s Resolutions. It enables you to exercise, lose weight, tone up, create something beautiful, lower blood pressure and lift spirits, all at once. And ‘gardening’ can cover many activities, from growing your own vegetables and flowers to building a pond or treehouse. For a list of 24 online gardening courses to give you inspiration, go to the MyGardenSchool website.
All MyGardenSchool courses begin on the first Saturday of every month.
Calorie Burning.
Gardening is the perfect way for you to achieve your recommended 30 minutes of exercise per day, and according to the University of Virginia, gardening rates favourably alongside other moderate to strenuous forms of exercise, like walking and bicycling.
Gardening works all the major muscle groups: legs, buttocks, arms, shoulders, neck, back and abdomen. There can be a great deal of stretching involved with gardening, like reaching for weeds or tall branches, bending to plant and extending a rake. Lifting bags of mulch, pushing wheelbarrows and shovelling all provide resistance training similar to weight lifting, but there is minimal jarring and stress on the body, unlike aerobics or jogging.
This, together with regularity and diversity of movements means that gardening can burn calories, tone your body and build strength, while improving the health of bones and joints. The benefits of being physically active, in terms of reduced risk of developing major chronic diseases, such as coronary heart disease, strokes and type two diabetes, are also well documented.
Uplifting Spirits.
Even just looking at a garden can give you a positive boost. The evidence is so compelling that there is now even a term for it – horticultural therapy – and it is being used in a variety of ways. For example, major cities such as Chicago are using gardening or horticultural therapists to help plan parks and botanical gardens, and to treat hospital patients, who are invited to join in the weeding, pruning, cultivating and harvesting. Other world cities, such as New York, are using it to calm prisoners and prepare them for their release.
Dr Roger Ulrich, a leading researcher on the effects of environment on behaviour from Texas A&M University, said: “If researchers had proposed 20 years ago that gardens and gardening could improve medical outcomes they would have been met with derision and scepticism.
“We now have studies showing that psychological and environmental factors can affect psychological systems and health status.”
A number of experiments have led scientists to reach their conclusions. In one, reported in the Journal of Environment Psychology, researchers took 112 young, stressed-out adults and split them into two groups. The first sat in a room with a view of trees and then strolled through a garden. The other sat in a windowless room and then walked in an urban environment. The group that relaxed in the garden showed decreases in blood pressure and a positive change in feelings. Researcher Dr Terry Hartig, from the University of California in Irvine, said: “Some of the changes could be measured within minutes.”
If you’re not sure where to start, or simply want to hone your horticultural skills, they’d love to see you in the classrooms at MyGardenSchool where you’ll learn about gardening and horticulture with other like-minded people from all over the world. All their tutors are outstanding in their field (and gardens!), being accomplished gardeners and acclaimed gardening writers.
For example, they have multi-gold medal winner at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Andy McIndoe with courses in bulbs, shrubs and trees; Stephanie Donaldson, author and Gardens Editor of Country Living magazine with a course on organic gardening; leading garden designer and author, Hilary Thomas with a courses in planting design; photographer and author Sue Bishop with a course on flower photography; and John Brookes, prolific author who is often described as the world's most influential garden designer, with a course on garden and landscape design. But that’s not all. Take a look at their online gardening course pages to see their other tutors.
All MyGardenSchool courses cost £120, last four weeks and begin on the first Saturday of every month. The beauty of the course being online is that students learn at their own pace, and in the comfort of their own home. Each course includes step by step video tutorials, downloadable course notes, and the facility to chat with tutors and fellow classmates online, in a ‘virtual classroom’. The classroom may be ‘virtual’ but the camaraderie is real, and the technology is very intuitive and easy to use.
MyGardenSchool Ltd is a unique global online horticultural classroom. Whether you want to grow organic veg, create enviable flower borders, nurture that perfect lawn, or simply give a good home to an egg laying chicken – MyGardenSchool offers a high quality range of gardening courses taught by some of the world’s top tutors and delivered right to your green fingertips. For more information, please go to www.my-garden-school.com.
Gardening is the multi-tasker of all New Year’s Resolutions. It enables you to exercise, lose weight, tone up, create something beautiful, lower blood pressure and lift spirits, all at once. And ‘gardening’ can cover many activities, from growing your own vegetables and flowers to building a pond or treehouse. For a list of 24 online gardening courses to give you inspiration, go to the MyGardenSchool website.
All MyGardenSchool courses begin on the first Saturday of every month.
Calorie Burning.Gardening is the perfect way for you to achieve your recommended 30 minutes of exercise per day, and according to the University of Virginia, gardening rates favourably alongside other moderate to strenuous forms of exercise, like walking and bicycling.
Gardening works all the major muscle groups: legs, buttocks, arms, shoulders, neck, back and abdomen. There can be a great deal of stretching involved with gardening, like reaching for weeds or tall branches, bending to plant and extending a rake. Lifting bags of mulch, pushing wheelbarrows and shovelling all provide resistance training similar to weight lifting, but there is minimal jarring and stress on the body, unlike aerobics or jogging.
This, together with regularity and diversity of movements means that gardening can burn calories, tone your body and build strength, while improving the health of bones and joints. The benefits of being physically active, in terms of reduced risk of developing major chronic diseases, such as coronary heart disease, strokes and type two diabetes, are also well documented.
Uplifting Spirits.
Even just looking at a garden can give you a positive boost. The evidence is so compelling that there is now even a term for it – horticultural therapy – and it is being used in a variety of ways. For example, major cities such as Chicago are using gardening or horticultural therapists to help plan parks and botanical gardens, and to treat hospital patients, who are invited to join in the weeding, pruning, cultivating and harvesting. Other world cities, such as New York, are using it to calm prisoners and prepare them for their release.
Dr Roger Ulrich, a leading researcher on the effects of environment on behaviour from Texas A&M University, said: “If researchers had proposed 20 years ago that gardens and gardening could improve medical outcomes they would have been met with derision and scepticism.
“We now have studies showing that psychological and environmental factors can affect psychological systems and health status.”
A number of experiments have led scientists to reach their conclusions. In one, reported in the Journal of Environment Psychology, researchers took 112 young, stressed-out adults and split them into two groups. The first sat in a room with a view of trees and then strolled through a garden. The other sat in a windowless room and then walked in an urban environment. The group that relaxed in the garden showed decreases in blood pressure and a positive change in feelings. Researcher Dr Terry Hartig, from the University of California in Irvine, said: “Some of the changes could be measured within minutes.”
If you’re not sure where to start, or simply want to hone your horticultural skills, they’d love to see you in the classrooms at MyGardenSchool where you’ll learn about gardening and horticulture with other like-minded people from all over the world. All their tutors are outstanding in their field (and gardens!), being accomplished gardeners and acclaimed gardening writers.
For example, they have multi-gold medal winner at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Andy McIndoe with courses in bulbs, shrubs and trees; Stephanie Donaldson, author and Gardens Editor of Country Living magazine with a course on organic gardening; leading garden designer and author, Hilary Thomas with a courses in planting design; photographer and author Sue Bishop with a course on flower photography; and John Brookes, prolific author who is often described as the world's most influential garden designer, with a course on garden and landscape design. But that’s not all. Take a look at their online gardening course pages to see their other tutors.
All MyGardenSchool courses cost £120, last four weeks and begin on the first Saturday of every month. The beauty of the course being online is that students learn at their own pace, and in the comfort of their own home. Each course includes step by step video tutorials, downloadable course notes, and the facility to chat with tutors and fellow classmates online, in a ‘virtual classroom’. The classroom may be ‘virtual’ but the camaraderie is real, and the technology is very intuitive and easy to use.
MyGardenSchool Ltd is a unique global online horticultural classroom. Whether you want to grow organic veg, create enviable flower borders, nurture that perfect lawn, or simply give a good home to an egg laying chicken – MyGardenSchool offers a high quality range of gardening courses taught by some of the world’s top tutors and delivered right to your green fingertips. For more information, please go to www.my-garden-school.com.
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