Staycation - here to stay?

With the amazing weather that we’ve been experiencing over the last couple of months, combined with the aftermath of the much debated credit crunch, the ‘staycation’ seems set to … stay!.
So rather than rushing around cashing in your sterling for euros, making holiday cover arrangements for the pets – and buying all those last minute travel essentials, why not make better use of your time and money by investing in your outdoor space?

Think how much pleasure you and your family will get from a revamped garden – certainly more than the short and sweet two weeks enjoyment derived from on the average summer holiday. And don’t forget any improvements made in the garden will not only enhance your family’s ability to spend more time in the outdoor room, it will also add value to your property.

According to popular web site UpMyStreet.com, a well-kept garden is a valuable asset with 73% of UpMyStreet users preferring a property with a garden than one with a guest room and 8 out of 10 people saying they were willing to a pay a premium for a property with a garden (according to Halifax, buyers are willing to pay a £10,000 premium to secure a property with a garden).

And if you needed any further persuasion regarding the merits of putting your hard earned cash into your outdoor space rather than towards a trip overseas, think about the positive impact you will contributing to our natural environment, by - quite literally - going green!

Edible Gardens

Last year, a major food trends report commissioned by Sainsbury’s, predicted that in 2030, British families will spend less time eating out and more time at home cooking an increasing amount of garden grown vegetables. The report, produced by The Future Laboratory, forecasts that the trend of grow-your-own, which took off during the recession, will continue with far more than the current 15 million people likely to be planting vegetables and fruit on windowsills and gardens in the future.

And with the general public gaining inspiration from top chefs around the UK who have started their own kitchen gardens in order to secure the freshest possible produce the concept of a kitchen garden is destined to snowball.

However, the over-riding attraction of, and practical argument for, creating a dedicated kitchen garden within the outdoor room does not necessarily need to be at the expense of a visually pleasing, beautifully styled outside space. With a bit of careful planning, aesthetic appeal and designer good looks can happily sit alongside the undisputed functional benefits that a kitchen garden offers.
If you are thinking of introducing a touch of the Good Life to your outdoor room, here are a few suggestions to consider:

- sounds obvious but make sure that you site this part of the garden fairly close to the house to make access to the produce quickly and easy. This will also ensure the glorious scents associated with some of the plants will permeate into your indoor living accommodation

- don’t be under the impression that you need to have acres of space to create a kitchen garden. Even the smallest patio and window can house pots to grow herbs (purple sage offers a dramatic display of colour), edible flowers (eg nasturtiums, lavender and rose) and ornamental onions and garlic

- if time is in short supply, consider investing in the creation of some bespoke raised beds. Not only do they look great, their raised height makes light work of weeding and also negates the possibility of domestic pets straying into the family’s outdoor larder!

- if your garden contains a wall, fence or trellis, espalier trained fruit trees will create a dramatic design statement, whilst also delivering bountiful supplies of delicious fruit. In England, espalier training is usually done with apple and pear trees

- if you have areas of the garden which are uneven or where natural mounds occur forget about trying to level them out, instead look at creating a herb tump. These are raised graveled mounds (hoggins) which featured in 18th century garden design. They represent a beneficial way to grow sun-loving plants from the Mediterranean, providing good drainage.  Rosemary, fennel, lavender, chives and wild strawberries do particularly well in this type of environment

- the grow your own revolution can also be extended to rearing your own livestock. Whilst we don’t all necessarily want to entertain the idea of living with pigs and chickens, soaring numbers of people are taking up bee keeping as a hobby amidst concern over the decline of the honeybee. The British Bee Keepers Association has reported a 3.5 million jars of honey were produced by their members this summer and since 2007, the number of hives registered in Britain has doubled, to 80,000

Why not contact Lime Orchard for more advice on how to create the perfect kitchen garden?

Get High from Green Living

Why not transform that dull roof into something spectacular with a low maintenance living green roof that offers some really worthwhile environmental benefits? Now you can use your flat roof – or a roof with a slope of up to 45 degrees - to grow a fabulous range of sedum products or eco friendly wildflowers to create a dramatic roof top sensation.

With the increasing concern about the impact our development of the planet is having on the worldwide environment and the UK government calling for sustainable development, green roofs offer a number of benefits over more traditional forms of roofing, helping to meet sustainable development objectives:

Flooding floored
Following a heavy rainfall a green roof will initially retain more rain than a conventional roof. This minimises the initial heavy run-off, which can cause localised flooding and put pressure on the sewage system. The remaining water then drains off more slowly, allowing more rain to remain in the natural water cycle and less in the sewage system.

Ssh …
The soft layer of sedum blanket growing on a green will absorb sound, as opposed to hard conventional roofs which can reflect noise. The same layer improves the buildings sound insulation properties, reducing sound pollution within the building.

Thermal Insulation
The addition of a green roof layer to a property increases its thermal insulation properties, making it warmer in winter, cooler in summer and reducing those all important (and rising!) energy costs.

Home sweet  home
Green roofs can help compensate for the loss of green surfaces, sacrificed to building developments. This helps to provide an environment for the development of wildlife, especially bird, plant and insect life, increasing the biodiversity in our towns and cities.