Smart Thinking from Lime Orchard

Nottinghamshire residents will soon be seeing a lot more of Lime Orchard!  Always keen to demonstrate a refreshing new approach to business, we have invested in a customised Smart car sporting the funky bright Lime Orchard logo and will be operating from our head office, near Southwell.  The car, which we unveiled at the Flintham & District Ploughing Match – Agricultural & Horticultural Show (pictured below) and later at the Southwell Ploughing Match & Show in September, is a great example of innovative and highly memorable ambient advertising.

In addition to showcasing the new Smart car, we also exhibited at both shows, with our small but perfectly formed award winning BBC Gardeners’ World Live Show show garden (which won an RHS Commendation - the highest accolade achievable in its category).

Property owners in the region will have to keep their eyes peeled for the Lime Orchard Smart car on the road – a Chelsea Flower Show standard of garden design could be about to arrive in your street!

Gardens that Heal

This year’s RHS Show Tatton Park showcased a number of ‘therapeutic gardens’ - gardens which have been specifically designed to confer a therapeutic effect on the garden owner for whom it has been created.  Elisabeth Daly’s ‘Embracing Tranquility’ garden promoted healing and restoration. The design and colour scheme was calming yet rich and vibrant. A closer look revealed that every plant possessed some sort of healing power. If you want to improve the healing properties of your garden, we’ve taken a look at the top 10 medicinal plants for your outdoor space (according to the Alternative Medicine Zone web site):

1. Aloe Vera
This plant boasts 101 uses including offering effective treatment for minor burns, cuts, eczema and for reducing inflammation. The bottom stalk of aloe vera provides  a soothing balm which can be directly applied to the skin.  Aloe vera can also be taken internally as an aloe vera juice to treat digestive problems, ulcerative colitis, chronic constipation and poor appetite.

2. Great Burdock
This stunning plant with its purple and green thorny flowers, is also known as Edible Burdock or Lappa Burdock and is used as a root vegetable. Referred to in traditional medicine, the Great Burdock is used as a blood purifying agent, a diuretic and a diaphoretic. Other uses for this medicinal plant include boils, rashes, bruises, burns, acne, ringworm and bites.

3. Pot Marigold
Pot Marigold can help heal bites, stings, sprains, sore eyes, wounds and even varicose veins. When taken internally, this medicinal plant can be used to treat chronic infections and fever.

4. Chamomile
Chamomile can help treat more than 100 separate ailments and conditions including the common cold, digestive problems, diarrhea, eczema, gastrointestinal conditions,  toothache, earache, shoulder pain and basic wounds.

5. Echinacea
The legendary healing powers of the Echinacea plant make it a handy medicinal plant to include in the garden.  It has a wide array of uses, including the treatment of sores, burns, wounds, allergy relief, insect bites, stings and snakebites. It also has the ability to help relieve allergies by strengthening the immune system.

6.  Great Yellow Gentian
This medicinal plant is actually a bitter herb which is used in traditional medicine, and its main function includes the treatment of digestive problems. It also aids the relief of exhaustion from chronic diseases, by stimulating the gall bladder and liver while at the same time strengthening the body.

7. Tea Tree
Renown for its healing properties, tea tree oil comes from the leaves and twigs of the tea tree plant. It has a great many uses, including the treatment of acne,  athlete’s foot, warts, insect bites, cold sores, minor burns, thrush and chronic fatigue syndrome.

8. Peppermint
The remedial properties of Peppermint have been well documented.  Naturally rich in vitamins A and C and manganese, it helps reduce a number of symptoms including irritable bowel syndrome, upset stomachs, fevers, flatulence and spastic colon.

9. Ginseng
Ginseng is hugely popular in eastern countries but is being increasingly recognized in the UK for its ability to promote general health (instead of just being useful for a particular type of ailment.) It’s the root of the ginseng which is particularly useful in relaxing the nervous system. It also helps reduce cholesterol levels, improve your immune system and stamina, and helps treat lack of appetite and sleep disorders.

10. Sage
Sage is a great salve for insect bites, skin infections, gum infections and mouth infections. It can also help with indigestion, flatulence, depression and even menopausal problems.

Courting Kerb Appeal

September often marks a window of opportunity in the property market, capitalizing on the period when the mayhem of summer is over and the chaos of Christmas still looms in the future.  If you are thinking of putting your house on the market, remember the importance of ‘kerb appeal’ if you want your property to attract potential buyers. 

Initial impressions really do matter so if the first feature that catches a prospective purchaser’s eye is an unkempt front garden, scruffy path and battered gate – there is a good chance they may just drive on!  Property Ladder TV presenter Sarah Beeny advises "Imagine if the garden was over run with brambles and there was rubbish blocking the pathway. First impressions count for a lot. A bad appearance can do a lot of damage." It doesn't take a great deal of effort to change this though, Sarah suggests

 "However small the space is, add some greenery. You don't need a big garden to plant a creeper, and houses look beautiful with plants trailing up them. And you can easily make window boxes yourself. Just paint a plastic planter and plant it with some draping ivy. Landscaped beds with colourful planting and box hedges set off the front of a house; or for smaller spaces, such as either side of the front door, think about investing in some planters with box topiary.” 

Why not talk to a member of our design team to find out how you can enhance your property’s kerb appeal!