Going green in the garden can be done in a number of ways. You can consider using rubber mulch, not putting any chemicals down, but using natural means of looking after your garden and getting rid of pests.
When you think about it, any little contribution that you can do that helps the environment is great, as if everyone did their little bit for the environment, the world would be a better place, not just for us, but our children and our children’s children. Read the rest of this entry »
These days we are getting ever increasing amounts of warmer weather, this means children will want to play outside more and parents will want their children to be able to do this as safely as possible. Whether your kids have things to play on in their gardens or not, accidents will happen and we all know you cannot watch all of them, all of the time.
However we can make sure that the areas they have to play in are as safe as possible. This means checking things like swings, slides and other pieces of equipment on a yearly basis. If it can take your weight, then it is safe for your child, things that have chains on should be kept clean of rust and not have any open parts on the links or hooks. Checking all these things, every year can save your child from an experience, that could make a difference to how they play and even their confidence in later life. Read the rest of this entry »
If you only have a few pesky insects in your garden I would recommend that you let nature take its course, as many of these insects are a valuable food source to birds and the ‘right’ insects to have in your garden.
The first thing you can do is apply rubber mulch to your garden beds, rather than organic wooden mulches. Wooden mulch is a hotbed for insects, especially when it is damp, or nearing the time for replacement. On the same premise, make sure that any dead debris or leaves are removed on a regular basis from your garden, as these are favorite haunts for unwanted insects. Read the rest of this entry »
Landscaping your garden is somewhat subjective; one person’s paradise could be seen as another person’s unkempt allotment! But there are some landscaping faux pas you should avoid for the health and vitality of your garden.
Many households are guilty of overwatering, especially those people with timed sprinklers, set to go off night. You should always remember that grass needs time to dry, so the best time for sprinklers is early morning. If the grass blades are not allowed the time to dry out, fungal diseases are more likely to occur. Also trees need less water than grass (about an inch of water a week), so make sure that the sprinklers aren’t aimed at the trees. Read the rest of this entry »
Bugs and ants around the house are annoying, but even more so when they get in the house. This blog post will give you some natural solutions to get rid of those pesky bugs once and for all. We want to choose natural solutions, as inhalation of some chemical insecticides can be fatal, especially for small children and animals.
The first thing you should do in protecting your house from bug infestations is look around the exterior of your house, to see if there are any cracks, gaps, or entry points around windows, doors, pipes and drains. If there are any potential spots, make sure they are sealed. Read the rest of this entry »
I read an article recently, that was more to do with global warming, than it was about the environment. Now it occurs to me that governments around the world are not that interested in their own environment, but more interested in what they can get from the UN with regards to subsidies on environmental issues.
Now I would not say that I am a great follower of the political stage, but when things come up about the environment, I do sit up and take notice, and so should we all. The thing is, we are told a lot of rubbish, by the people in power (or the ones that pull their purse strings), that they are doing everything they can to protect our environment, when really they are looking at the best way to make more money for themselves. Read the rest of this entry »
Most of the bridle paths around the area where I live, are all covered with stones and gravel, which to be honest is some of the cheapest, dirtiest and sharpest type of material to be put anywhere. I’ve seen this material being used on building sites, to be put in the footings of a building and nothing else, because that is all it is good for. I am also sure this happens all around the world.
The other thing that is used on some of the bridle paths, is wooden mulch. This is thought to be good for the environment around it and for the horses that are using on it, but we should all know by now that wooden mulch can be expensive to use and needs a great deal of cleaning from a horses foot. Also it can cause fungal infections, not just in the horses foot, but also in the plants near where it is laid. Read the rest of this entry »
We all should know, that plastic bags are bad for our environment, yet we still use them everyday, people discard them without a thought, supermarkets and smaller shops are still dispensing them as if they are the only thing we can carry our shopping in and they don’t cost us any money.
The action of using environmentally friendly shopping bags, is more of a thing these days, but not everyone will use them or remember to take them to the store. Some shops have even done away with using the plastic bag altogether, although not enough shops even think about it. People in the past had to pay a penny for a plastic bag in most shops, but now we get them for free. Read the rest of this entry »
I finally convinced my neighbors that they should have rubber mulch in their garden, but did they tell me before they went out and bought some rubber mulch? No!
I only found out when they started complaining that they thought they would only need a couple of 28lb bags of rubber mulch to put around their three trees, numerous shrubs and cover their garden path.
If only they had come to me first. I could have told them that they would need about 10 bags to do everything they wanted to do and that they didn’t have to take my word for it either, as I could have given them access to a rubber mulch calculator at Rubberecycle, which would have alleviated the shock somewhat. Read the rest of this entry »
Looking around the town where I live the other day, I was surprised to see, or not see, as the case was, that there are very few places that actually sell rubber mulch and if they do sell it, they do not have enough in stock, to supply a sufficient amount.
This is only in shops in a small town though, when I started to look further from home, I found that the only places to find rubber mulch, were the larger garden centers. This was all well and good, but the prices where not at a competitive rate, they would not make any concessions for a large order and would not consider a discount of any sorts.