News

The preformed plastic ponds have been selling great this year, available in 3 sizes, the smallest (£30) being not much bigger than a Belfast sink, the medium (£48) the size of a small bath and the large (£78) the size of a fireside rug (All prices include delivery). However, with a calculator you can work out the approx surface they would make if all those sold this year were placed together. It's surprising just how big the area is, in fact its probably not far off being equivalent to this large wildlife pond above!

I know plenty of the customers were intending on creating a mini wetland in their garden, with native British aquatic plants, such as Marsh Marigold, so its great to think that a surface area of freshwater as big as that above has been created this year, just by customers of gardenis.co.uk. All will be providing habitats for insects, frogs, toads, and a place for garden birds to access water, across GB & Northern Ireland. And the great news is that every week the total surface area just keeps on growing. If the ponds keep selling as well as they have been, at this rate we'll eventually create a surface area as big as LAKE WINDERMERE! ;0)

You can help restore Britain's pond numbers  by ordering one here;

https://gardenis.co.uk/products/preformed-pond-3-sizes

As well as the preformed plastic ponds, we sell larger pond liner and underlay wildlife ponds. Available here;

https://gardenis.co.uk/products/wildlife-pond-kit

A nice article featuring our preformed ponds. Available in 3 sizes. They are perfect for making a small wildlife garden pond, quickly and easily. The article has tips about where to position your pond, and British native aquatic plants that can be added. Did you know the number of ponds have halved in the UK in the last century?! The good news is loads of gardeners are adding them to their gardens, which will all help to restore habitats for frogs, dragonflies, newts etc.

The article

http://www.gardenandgreen.co.uk/garden-wildlife-pond/4594627513

Product page

https://gardenis.co.uk/products/preformed-pond-3-sizes

The last blog post was about how reservoirs were low and rainfall was low in May. Well, this is Britain afterall, so it's no surprise to say its been torrential rain the last few days in June. This of course means anyone with a water butt, will have plenty saved in their barrels, from the downpours. I had to check to see when the heatwave began last year, and it was later than I thought. According to the wiki page about the 2018 heatwave, it began on the 22nd June. So, all is not lost yet for a hot, sunny summer, but I wouldn't bet on it, could just as easily be a soggy mess, like previous years. One things for certain though, having a water butt installed will ensure you have some free rainwater to use if there is dry periods, and the clever thing with the water butts is that with the diverter kits they don't overflow. Once the water butts are full the water then just continues down the drainpipe into the drain.

All sizes of water butt for sale can be found here -

https://gardenis.co.uk/collections/grow-your-own

After last summers heatwave it was predicted that there could be a hosepipe ban in summer of 2019, if it was also dry. Despite the summer of 2018 being a scorcher there was no hosepipe bans as the reservoirs were at good levels due to high rainfall the previous spring and winter. As you can see from below, the current river flows are being described as below normal or lower for this time of year by the Environment Agency.

"Weekly bulletin: Wednesday 22 toTuesday 28 May 2019 Summary: It has been another dry week in southern and central England but a wetter week in northern England.River flows remain below normal or lower for the time of year at the majority of indicator sites."

The Met Office has reported that May's rainfall was only 45% of the average.United Utilitie, that supply water in North West England, has said current reservoir levels are slightly lower than normal.

It will depend on rainfall in the coming weeks and how warm it is, as to whether or not there will be hosepipe bans. A water butt is a great idea to preserve water for your garden and allotment. They can collect rainfall from drainpipes from house roofs, shed roofs and greenhouse roofs. Various size options are available from 100 litres to 1050 litres. All include drainpipe diverter kits plus GB delivery and can be ordered here, in the

Grow Your Own section.

A disaster for the environment. They will all end up in landfill sites and will remain their for centuries, whereas real plants when finished can be put on a compost heap and will turn into fresh, clean nutrituous soil. Plus real plants can help wildlife, and provide beautiful scents.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-6981947/As-plastic-plants-realistic-heres-lazy-gardeners-guide-faking-it.html

Brrrr.. well not quite, as it hasn't been too cold so far, but as this video from last winter shows, things can get rather nippy. If you have a fireplace or wood burning stove and need a new log store, we sell two sizes, small and large. The small is perfect for a cottage and the large, ideal for a large home.Both can be ordered in the garden storage & tidy category.

Compost bins are always popular in the Autumn months, due to gardeners being confronted with loads of garden waste matter from dead plants, fallen leaves etc. Rather than throw it all away they decide to buy a composter, and make their own nutrient rich soil, which can be used in planters, raised beds, hanging baskets etc. 

Gardenis.co.uk sell both wooden and recycled plastic composters, in the 'Grow Your Own' section. The most popular is the 330 litre plastic composter, in either green or black, and available with or without a base. This composter is made from recycled plastic, from items such as old car bumpers, wheelie bins, and kerbside recyled household waste, such as drinks bottles. So it's a great use of used plastic, that otherwise might end up in a landfill site.

There is a few important tips to consider when making compost, to ensure the compost process works as quickly and cleanly as possible.

1. Don't add any kitchen waste, other than fruit and veg scraps. So NO meat, bones, cheese, yoghurt, fish, pet food, etc.

2. Your compost bin requires both green and brown waste. So as well as green waste such as grass clippings, and dead plants, you need to add things such as - sawdust, cardboard, straw etc. This will help create a good soil, and prevent the contents from getting overly mushy. Ensure the bin has a mixed content, rather than one type of material.

3. A good location for your composter, is an area of light shade. So the composter gets some warmth, but will not dry out.

4. If possible use a shredder to break down twigs, before adding to the compost bin, so they will decompose faster.