Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year

We’d like to take this opportunity to wish you a zingy Merry Christmas and a Refreshingly Happy New Year from all the team at Lime Orchard.

www.limeorchard.co.uk

What's Hot for 2011

Well the current year is not even over but pundits are already out there making their predictions regarding the anticipated top garden related trends for 2011. 

The Garden Media Group (GMG) has identified a new umbrella theme titled ‘Gardening with a Purpose.’ Analysts are saying this ‘purpose’ may vary – involving anything from growing fruit trees and vegetables to feed the family, to maintaining garden planters and flowerbeds in communal public spaces But the overall trend will be that gardening will have some “greater” function over and above creating aesthetically pleasing outdoor spaces.The last 12 months has seen a sharp increase in the number of people with gardens in their back or front yards and an even larger increase in the amount of community gardens or allotments established, so all the signs are there that growing food for the table is already on the increase.
 

Market research specialist Mintel, backs this prediction up saying that modern city dwellers are exhibiting a growing love of gardening and a need for nature.

With fresh, organic produce still economically out of reach for the masses, the general public is finding alternative means to bring healthy home. In the US, 26% of internet users purchased vegetable seeds in the past year, 19% bought vegetable/flower garden fertilizer and 27% like to grow vegetables at home. While in the UK, 1 in 5 consumers now grow their own fruit & vegetables and the UK Allotment waiting list has grown 20% in 2010.

Another suggested gardening trend for 2011 is the arrival of ‘vertical gardens’ (illustrated here) which relates to the growing popularity of climbing plants, especially in outdoor rooms which have space limitations. These plants can be used tactically to provide privacy, screen eyesores, and draw the eye upward to create the illusion of space.

Lime Orchard will keep you posted on any new trends as and when we hear about them!

Win £200 of Bahco professional garden tools

NEW YEAR, NEW GARDEN
If you’re looking to refresh your outside room for 2011, it pays to bring in the professionals.  Using a specialist one stop garden transformation company like Lime Orchard, provides you with access to award winning designers and skilled landscapers, whose experience and expertise will help you exploit your garden’s full potential, on time and on budget.
Working with Lime Orchard is the ultimate stress free approach to achieving the garden of your dreams.  Just leave it to us to translate your outdoor living aspirations into a stylish and practical reality, with minimum hassle and maximum satisfaction!  

Whatever the project, whether it’s a garden that just requires an image boost or a major revamp of an outdoor living zone, Lime Orchard recognises the importance of having access to the very best tools for the job in hand.  That is why the company chooses Bahco – the professional’s choice of ergonomically designed, quality garden ‘tools of the trade’.
 

Lime Orchard has teamed up with Bahco and the Newark Advertiser to give you the chance to win their very own set of professional Bahco garden tools this Christmas, worth £200,  

to enter complete the coupon in today's Advertiser (16 Dec 2010) or request an entry form from the Newark Advertiser's offices. 

Entries must be received by 23 December 2010, no purchase nessary, full terms and conditions  avaliable on request






For more information visit www.limeorchard.co.uk or tel 0845 539 1467.  For further details on Bahco visit www.bahco.com or telephone 01709 731 731.

Get Garden Fit!

Most of us feel like we’ve put in a good day’s work, after gardening for hours on end. But can gardening really be considered as good exercise? According to the University of Virginia, gardening rates up there with other moderate to strenuous forms of exercise, like walking and bicycling. Naturally, this will all depend on what gardening task you are doing and for how long. Like any other form of exercise, you have to be active for at least 30 minutes to see a direct benefit. Although you may not always realize it, while enjoying yourself in the garden, you are also working all the major muscle groups: legs, buttocks, arms, shoulders, neck, back and abdomen. Gardening tasks that use these muscles build strength and burn calories.

Besides the exertion involved, gardening has other pluses that make it a good means of exercise and calorie burning. 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 shoveling all provide resistance training similar to weight lifting, which leads to healthier bones and joints. Yet while doing all this, there is minimal jarring and stress on the body, unlike aerobics or jogging.

And if you want to shed some pounds to prepare for the potential feasting frenzy that is Christmas, take note of the following research from Iowa State University, which shows how some of the more strenuous gardening tasks can really burn calories.

• Digging Holes - Men: 197 calories, Women: 150 calories
• Planting - Men: 177 calories, Women: 135 calories
• Weeding - Men: 157 calories, Women: 156 calories

In addition, further research shows that gardening for just 30 minutes daily will help:

• Increase flexibility
• Strengthen joints
• Decrease blood pressure and cholesterol levels
• Lower your risk for diabetes
• Slow osteoporosis

So if you are planning to tuck into mountains of mince pies and tones of turkey , - you know exactly what to do if you want to avoid starting 2011 with an uncomfortably tight waistband!!

Join the Revolution!

And we are not talking the Grow Your Own revolution this time! According to Smarta – ‘the ultimate advice and networking resource for anyone starting and running a small business’ – ‘the chicest, most bang-on trend for office space this season is …the humble garden shed”.

Shedworking is fast becoming a national phenomenon with many home workers choosing to locate their business premises in the garden. So if one of your new year resolutions is to start your own business, or even to try and maintain your current role but working from home, consider the following benefits of a garden office:

• free from the disruption and distraction of the traditional office, working from a dedicated garden office you are likely to be more productive and focussed
• cutting out the daily commute means that you get to spend more time actually working and less time wasting precious hours sitting in traffic or on a crowded train
• no more costly train fares or petrol expenses – AND a reduced food bill as eating from home is far cheaper than buying lunch from your local sandwich bar
• opportunity for parents to embrace flexible working patterns – the time you save on travelling to and from work can be put to better use doing the school run / attending children’s school events
• psychologically you are likely to perform better without the stress associated with travelling to and from work, and the natural garden landscape provides a comforting environment and an enhanced sense of work / life balance
• a good garden studio can add up to 5% to the value of your property, and works well as a selling point in competitive markets

Why not contact Lime Orchard to discuss how a home office can be blended into our garden landscape? .