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!

Back to School - Outside!

Recent research commissioned by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has revealed that children attending schools that encouraged gardening became more resilient, confident and lived healthier lives.  The study which involved 1300 teachers and 10 schools demonstrates the power of a school garden as an effective teaching tool (rather than viewing it merely as an extra curricular activity).

Researchers at the National Foundation for Educational Research found that teachers who used gardening as part of learning said it helped improve children’s readiness to learn.  The report also revealed that the outdoor classroom encouraged children to become more active in solving problems as well as boosting literacy and numeracy skills.  So if your child’s school doesn’t yet have a garden, perhaps it’s time to lobby for an outdoor classroom facility?

Style Counsel for the Garden

Having your own personal wardrobe or colour consultant - – even your own personal interiors consultant have all become part and parcel of day to day living for our generation.  Less familiar perhaps is the realisation that now you can apply that all important ‘professional styling expertise’ to your home’s exterior living space – the garden!

Speaking to a ‘garden stylist’ or garden designer will not only help to deliver the outdoor room of your dreams, it can also represent excellent value for money.  For most people, the definition of a garden designer is someone who creates a detailed plan complete with planting recommendations, which will result in a total garden make-over.  But whilst this is clearly a worthwhile investment, to many it is simply not an option, for a variety of reasons ranging from the overall cost of such a project, the imminent likelihood of a move or a feeling that you are merely improving a rented property for the landlord’s benefit. That said, the desire to spend time in a sleek and immaculately styled outdoor room dictates that even if you are not in the market for  a complete re-design of the garden, you may still a need access to some immediate measures which can enhance your enjoyment of  the unrivalled advantages of garden living.

A professional garden stylist can offer a fresh new perspective on your outdoor living zone, bringing a host of inspirational styling ideas all designed to offer designer kudos and most important of all - instant gratification! Delivering a splash of bold colour to a wall, adding a selection of super chic garden accessories, updating  your garden furniture, creating a strong focal point with a smart water feature – these are just some of the suggestions that can transform a dull outside space into an inviting outdoor haven!

For more details of Lime Orchard’s Garden Stylist services:

Call us on 0845 5391467 or visit www.limeorchard.co.uk

Star Sign Style...

Expert astrologer Russell Grant has used his unique powers to reveal what your garden says about you. The famous TV horoscoper has given his insight into what garden style is best suited to your individual star sign.

So for a full low down on the most harmonious choice of outdoor space according to your birth date read on …

Aries – You might put a lot of thought into the creation of your garden but you won’t want to feel committed to having to put constant and regular effort into looking after it

Taurus – You love nature and your garden is likely to be a wildlife haven, designed especially to attract a range of wildlife visitors

Gemini – Young at heart, the Gemini will have gnomes and leprechauns hiding behind bushes and animal statues in the most unexpected places

Cancer – There’s something homely and ancient about the Cancerian’s garden. It will feel as if it has been established for years, even if it was designed fairly recently

Leo – The Leo’s garden is likely to be full of colour and creativity. In the Spring, they will introduce new plants, enjoying the anticipation of what they might sprout into

Virgo – This is one of the earth signs and these people love nature but there is also a perfectionist side to their nature that suggests they prefer to see things tidy and in control

Libra – Libra loves beauty in all forms and there will be nothing ugly or overgrown here but there will be features that will provide year-round interest

Scorpio – The Scorpio loves perfection and that’s why there’s always something tidy and picture-perfect about their garden

Sagittarius – Just as the Sagittarian hates to be tamed or subdued, their gardens will be spacious and informal

Capricorn – There is likely to be a strong sense of traditional landscaping in the Capricorn’s garden

Aquarius – Rather than going for anything traditionalist or formal, Aquarius will delight in deconstructing old garden designs and ideas to experiment with new ones

Pisces – The Pisces garden will reflect their love of peace and tranquility. It will be a serene place where people will feel comfortable and at ease

Personally, we think you might be better off talking to the garden professionals to find out what type of garden is best suited to you and your family!

Holiday Friendly Gardens?

As the peak holidaying season approaches those with high maintenance gardens will be tearing their hair out trying to come up with (cost friendly) solutions that ensure their garden’s holiday care plans don’t rival the cost of a further couple of days spent in paradise!  Perhaps now is the time to consider putting in place a few low maintenance features which will alleviate some of the stress and strain of going away …

If you are unaffected by the hose-pipe bans coming in, an automated irrigation system is a god-send during the watering season. This makes light work of the endless chore of restoring moisture to baked soil; adding mulches to plant borders will do wonders to not only help retain moisture, but will also fend off unwanted weed growth minimizing the hours spent weeding - and some mulch materials can also serve as a dramatic style feature in their own right. 

Replacing some of the grassed areas with hard landscaping (paving / decking / aggregate finishes) will naturally reduce the man hours spent mowing and if you invest in mowing strips, you can make the weekly mow-a-thon even quicker!  If you are interested in down-sizing in terms of the labour of love required to maintain your outdoor room, why not speak to one of our Garden Designers to find out more about further low maintenance measures to incorporate in your outside space ….