Monthly Archives: September 2015

Winter Gardening Tips

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While you can, it’s a good idea to have a good clean up! Have a go at sorting out the garden; here are a few tips to do this winter. Try tiding the garden shed, make things easier to find, throw out anything you no longer need. Gather all the tools you have been using over the past few months, and give them a good clean, get rid of all the dirt and rust. You can use a mild detergent to disinfect your pots if needed.

Check your sheds, gates and fences for any rot or damage, you will want to sort that out before the snow and strong winds start! Now the grass has stopped growing so fast it’s a good idea to leave it alone and let it have a bit of breathing space. But don’t forget to dead head any autumn-flowering plants before the frost starts!

With all these dead leaves and cuttings, now is the perfect time to start a compost bin. If you already have one, try giving it a stir to help speed the process up a little. While you’re at it, put out some fat blocks and other food, this will help out the local wildlife. This will also mean that frogs, birds and hedgehogs will stay in your garden, by the spring they will repay the favour by keeping the typical pests at bay!

Visit our website for related products: www.taylorsgardenbuildings.co.uk

A New Season Has Begun Today

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Many of you may or may not be aware that Wednesday 23rd September is officially the first day of Autumn. Most people have their personal favourite time of the year, a lot of people prefer the warmer months of Summer while others prefer the colder snowy climates of Winter. I am very pleased to say that Autumn is my favourite, I love to see the gorgeous seasonal colours start to appear on the trees and love the weather which, although cooler now, is not as harsh and bitter cold as the Winter period which is looming on the horizon.

Taylors Garden BuildingsThe one and only down side to this season (in my opinion) is  the mess that is caused by the falling leaves, in my youth I used to love charging through the huge piles that gathered on the pavements and kicking them up as high as I possibly could. Obviously being a grown-up I can’t really do that nowadays (unless I am absolutely sure that no one is watching – then it is a free for all in my case!).

Unfortunately the falling leaves are non biased about where they land and you will undoubtedly come down one morning to find your perfectly manicured lawn awash with the pests!  Not only that, if you don’t get rid of them fairly soon your lawn will soon turn in to a mulch pit – not a pretty sight!

The Bosch Cordless Garden Leaf Blower

Garden Leaf Blower

Luckily we have a good selection of garden tools and machinery to help with this dilemma, we have several blowers on our site which can help to move the leaves in to a more manageable area to be scooped up and disposed of in an orderly fashion. All of our blowers are portable and handheld for easier control and are available in either electric or petrol versions.

Flymo Scirocco Electric Vacuum

Flymo Scirocco Electric Vacuum

A good alternative to the trusty blower is a vacuum, these suck the leaves up and collect them in to a bag for you. Many of these also mulch the leaves down ready to be composted which not only saves time but is also highly beneficial for your garden and helps you to prepare for next year when your garden will start to come alive again.

Petrol Pro Shredder

Petrol Pro Shredder

Other useful devices for this time of year are our shredders which can also help to dispose of garden rubbish by reducing it down in size and thereby making it easier to fit in to your garden waste wheelie bin.  We have electric and petrol models available with a good range of prices to suit all tastes and budgets.

Also of interest could be somewhere to store your equipment, we have many options for this ranging from smaller wooden garden storage units and sheds or similar models manufactured in metal or plastic.

Whether you are an avid gardener or not there is almost certainly going to be something that might be if interest to you.  These machines will definitely make your life easier by removing the back breaking aspect of garden maintenance or at the very least put you in to your partners good books for a while!

Thanks for reading!

Looking after our feathered friends!

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September 2015 is officially national chicken appreciation month!

The gang at Woodmeadow Garden Centre

A stroll by the pond!

Naturally the limelight this month has to go to our Luna and her chums who live at our garden centre in Northampton. If you have ever visited our show site you are bound to have seen them – they are down the bottom end of the shed display area next to the pond and bridge. Failing that you would almost certainly have heard them on a visit as we have a magnificent cockerel who lives with them who likes to make his presence known by crowing at regular intervals.

Luna has been with us for a few years now and has been a firm favourite with children who like to see her shiny feathers and feed her some grain.

Mrs Bo at Woodmeadow Garden Centre

Mrs Bo rules the roost at Woodmeadow not Luna! (Her words – not ours!)

In fact she almost puts Mrs Bo’s nose out of joint sometimes!

Hen house

This hen house is the perfect area for keeping your birds.

Luna and her friends are housed in luxury accomodation in a timber Hen House which includes a raised floor, single door and separate closing hen access door with ramp.We have a model available on the Taylors Garden Buildings website measuring 6×6 (including the run on the front).

Woodmeadow Garden Centre

Night time visitor!

The run on the front of the Hen House has galvanised mesh with lockable door to keep them safe inside at night time from any predators who like to visit and have a mooch around. Being surrounded by fields at Woodmeadow it is inevitable that we get the odd late visitor here and there and this hen run gives us confidence that our feathered beauties are safe and sound.

We have had this hen house for as long as we have run Woodmeadow Garden Centre (just over three years) and have had perfectly satisfactory use from it (Luna has certainly never complained – especially in the middle of Winter when she and her colleagues are all tucked away nice and warm in the early hours!).

We also have two more models available on the Taylors website which are manufactured by one of our most successful manufacturers – Rowlinson.

Rowlinson Small Chicken Coop

Rowlinson Small Chicken Coop

The smaller of the two models is designed to comfortably house 4 chickens. Featuring a two compartment nest box and internal perches as well as an easy access ramp. This coop carries the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) logo supporting the responsible management of the world’s forests. This indicates that any wood used is sourced from well managed forests. With a natural timber finish, this coop is pressure treated.

Chicken Coop

The compartments on both of our Rowlinson models  feature removable lids for easy egg collection. The coops have easy access with a slide opening door with hook supports as well as a rear door. For ease of cleaning the coops are fitted with a slide out floor.

Click here for more specifications on these models.

Rowlinson Large Chicken Coop

Rowlinson Large Chicken Coop

The larger of the two models has all the same features as its smaller counterpart but is designed to comfortably house 6 chickens.

We don’t just cater for chickens on Taylors website either – we also have housing available for  all types of smaller animals as we also have some kennels and catteries available too.

Come and take a look – don’t be chicken! (Sorry).

With thanks to Mr Adam Freeman for the inspiration to write this blog.