10 Free Gardening Products
May 23, 2008
One of the pleasurable spin-offs in organic gardening is finding alternative ways of coming up with the same, if not better, end result…..
Household throwaways can be valuable to the alternate enthusiast. Here are ten recyclable ideas to make gardening a little less hard on the pocket!
1. Hedge clippings: Instead of burning or direct composting, beg, borrow or even buy, if the quantity justifies the price, an electric garden muncher.
Branches up to an inch in diameter are posted into a slot and the machine munches them up into small chips. Spread these chips thickly around shrubs or fruit trees to help keep moisture in, and control the temperature of the soil.
2. Food Waste: All food waste must be composted. Composting is becoming quite an art form, and special composting bins can be bought, or very simply made.
There are many different theories and each gardener will find his or her preferred way. Keeping the compost fairly warm is the overall key to a good result. Or, if you’re in no hurry, simply keep adding to a heap, and dig out the bottom when required. Sieve before using and the compost will be ready for planting small plants and even seeds.
Planning Permission Tips UK - Trees and How They Can Affect Development when Applying for Planning
May 22, 2008
Like most folk, I believe that more can be achieved in life by open & transparent negotiation - laying ones cards on the table for a reciprocal arrangement & courtesy. Unfortunately, like most things in life, there will be times when one side will try & gain the advantage at the detriment of the other party using this method. Nothing is more relevant to this fact in Planning issues than TREES on or near a site that you want to develop or extend.
I had an historic situation where a prime site ripe for an infill plot had a bank of protected trees on its rear boundary. In the middle of the garden was one sole Walnut tree of mature height that was not protected. Research at the Planning Offices revealed that it was only protected by a very obscure & old Planning Condition back in the sixties for the original estate that required all mature trees on the site to be retained (non were specifically identified).
Planning Permission Tips UK - Off Road Car Parking - What Value - Do You Need to Apply for Planning
May 21, 2008
Isn’t it a shame that for most folk, taking a holiday means moving en-mass with millions of other people also doing the same thing! Long journeys, loads of bodies at airports & long traffic queues in humid conditions - why do we do it?
Strange thing is, - do we ever notice any easier parking provision in our towns & cities while all these people are travelling away from home to these holiday locations? I haven’t.
For a great many of us (myself included), street parking outside ones own home is getting to be a bit of a luxury these days. Those properties with well designed highway access & off road parking have a definite added value element to their homes that will be of even greater value as the years proceed.
Therefore, any property without the facility for off road car parking may be seriously less desirable in 5 years time for example. There is also a ’sustainability’ element that conflicts with this desire for people to park their 4 wheel ‘designer badge’ off the road. I guarantee you will not see many late model Merc’s BMW’s or other german machinery parked in the gutter these days. Many Planners would have you believe that we are unable to sustain this level of car dependency but even if petrol went up to £10 a gallon, most people would rather starve than not put juice in the car to get us around - it’s a freedom thing!
Planning Permission UK - Tactics if Appealing to the DOE for a Planning Refusal
May 20, 2008
Tactics of Appealing to the DOE - There will be times in any Design Agents career when a clients scheme will be refused Planning Permission. Fortunately, our experience is now at a point when we can normally forecast these schemes & steer the client away from that design solution. Clients that wish to pursue these contentious schemes are at least forewarned of the likely outcome so that we can formulate a ‘plan of attack’ for the next phase of the extension or development. Many clients seem to want to drive head first to the Appeal route directly after refusal - IN MOST CASES THIS IS NOT A WISE DECISION & IT CAN AFFECT THE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT VIABILITY OF YOUR SITE.
Now many of us ‘Agents’ have varying views on this mainly because many Agents specialise in appeal work & it amounts for a large proportion of their fees - these agents would have you appeal ing at the drop of a hat. I can only speak from my own experiences & DOE appeal results. It should always be remembered that the national average on appeal success is still only around 30%. In other words the odds of winning are always against you to begin with.
Gardening - Natural Science NOT Rocket Science
May 19, 2008
Don’t force yourself out of the most profitable hobby in the universe because you think it’s too hard to learn …It isn’t!
Gardening is fast becoming the world’s number one hobby, and with all the latest ‘alternative’ information we have to hand, gardening as a natural science is fun to learn about and rewarding in the extreme…
Produce your own fruit and veg - cut the shopping trips.
Keep it organic!- be nice to the planet, and your body.
Stay fit and healthy with exercise and fresh air.
Spend quality family time in the outdoors.
Turbo boost your creative spirit
And if that isn’t enough to be going on with, learn about plant-kind in all it’s glory. From trees through to fungi, there are millions of plants to research, grow and eat- no chance of getting bored!
First you have to take your first step.
Start gardening, be a gardener, enjoy your garden.
Starting from scratch? Let your imagination run wild. Stand in the centre (-ish) of your garden and imagine..close your eyes if you like.
Planning Permission Tips UK - Pre-application Enquiries to the Council - Is the Delay Worthwhile?
May 19, 2008
The holiday season is now in full swing & for about the next 6 weeks we tend to see a noticeable downturn in the level of new enquiries which I think is pretty much typical amongst most services. This, for us, is a time when we normally attend to the updating & improvement of our internal administration, so the forecasted lull over the coming weeks will be put to good use. The strange thing is that your Local Planning Departments tend to cite the opposite & correspondence suddenly goes unanswered or the Case Officer dealing with your application is off yet again on another 3 week jaunt.
So, is it worth contacting the Planning Department for an Officers opinion on your scheme prior to submitting a formal application when their response times are getting seriously worse as each year passes? Well like all things it depends on a lot of variables.
From simple observations & anecdotal evidence, I would say that the ordinary householder has a distinct response time advantage over professional Agents in this respect when writing or contacting the Council. I can only assume that the ‘general public’ are easier to deal with & satisfy than ‘Professional Agents’ who often require a far higher level of detail & concise opinion from the Case Officer rather than the wooly explanations they usually offer simply quoting policy reference numbers that you should be adhering to.
Planning Permission Tips UK - Loft Conversions in UK Properties - Do They Add Value?
May 18, 2008
We get a great many requests to view the potential of Loft conversions. This type of extension has remained fairly popular since I first started designing property & is perhaps even more in demand now than ever before - especially in dense urban areas where the alternative choices for that fourth bedroom are somewhat limited.
Now, the popular press would have you believe that they do not add value or have limited appeal. However, that blanket broad brush, slightly disrespectful opinion does not ring true for most of our clients. So what is going on? As always, the devil is in the detail - the detail in this respect is mainly focussed on two primary areas:
1. DESIGN and 2. DESIGN.
It’s just like the location, location location slogan for house values & desirability. Fortunately, the planners have got to grips with a lot of loft conversions these days & they now have a great more control of schemes that a few years ago could have been built under Permitted Development. This means that they have encompassed ‘good design guides’ in an attempt to stamp out the ugly full width box dormer that turned a beautiful victorian semi into a something that looks like a car sized packing crate trying to escape from a neighbours roof.
House Plans ? Research Is Key
May 17, 2008
When you think about building your new home consider your needs and your lifestyle. If you are newlyweds your choices will be different from a couple who is ready to retire and is looking for a smaller home. The lot may affect the type of house and its placement.
If your lifestyle is such that you plan to entertain frequently, you might want to consider including a formal dining and living area that is separated from the family’s living area. If you just plan on having a couple of friends over for a dinner and conversation, then you might want to eliminate the formal dining area and create a simple dining area that can be used by your family and your guests.
Is your lot large enough to allow you to build your house and still be able to expand in the future? Will you need an extra room for guests or extra living space for aging parents or future additions to your family? It is imperative that you keep all of these possible concerns as you choose your lot and your house plan.
Growing Great Asparagus
May 16, 2008
I went out to feed the birds this morning - the temperature was comfortably above freezing, and a downy woodpecker was telegraphing his territorial rights on the nearest utility pole. I realized it was time to feed the asparagus.
If you love fresh, succulent spears of asparagus but rankle at the price you pay for them (and the quality you get) at the grocery store, consider growing your own. Unlike most vegetables, asparagus is a perennial plant - one planting will return year after year, and a well-tended bed can produce an abundant crop for 25 years or more. Asparagus is an investment, and like most investments, requires some specific steps in order to reap rewards.
DIRT IS EVERYTHING
Asparagus needs soil which is rich in organic matter and drains easily. If your soil is like mine - clay that is as unworkable as Play-Doh - you’ll need to incorporate goodies such as leaf mold, aged manures and compost the season before you plant. Asparagus also likes full sun, so be sure that your plot gets a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight during the growing season.
BUY GOOD STOCK
House Plans ? Where To Start
May 15, 2008
You have found the perfect lot on which to build your new home. Now you have an abundance of decisions to make. Where will the house sit on the lot? You will have to decide this based on the total square footage of the house. What kind of features are you hoping to have. These are the things to consider, storage, a laundry room, a home office, a bathroom downstairs, a full bath upstairs, and a family room.
Consider the future? Are you just starting out and planning a family? Do you need a guestroom for visitors? Flexible house plans are probably the best option for you. You don’t want your house to end being too big in the future. If it starts getting small, make sure you allow for expansion if necessary, and make sure it is according to your local zoning laws.
How does the house plan you have chosen fit on the lot? If the lot is deep and narrow you don’t want a shallow and wide house plan. Where will you place the house so that you get the maximum exposure to sunlight in the morning and in the evening? Make sure the windows are where they are supposed to be.
