Kebony - there's a new wood in town

Whilst at the timber merchants yesterday I was introduced to a new type timber, or rather an old type of timber but a new way of treating it, Kebony decking....

In a nutshell Kebony decking it is a softwood treated with liquid from bio-waste which makes it stronger and a very stable timber comparable to hardwood. It contains no chemicals and requires no further treatment. Usual deck maintenance is all thats required. Kebony decking starts of a golden brown colour which will grey as with hardwoods in our climate unless treated. 

The sting in the tail is Kebony is slightly more expensive than hardwood decking (already high and rising), this we hope to drop in price as it becomes more popular as we think it is very good alternative to hardwood decking and much more enviromentally friendly as it is european softwood  and not tropical hardwoods (balau, ipe, massaranduba etc) 

As well as decking Kebony is also available in slats for bespoke trellis work and cladding. 

for more information on Kebony and its products click here

nb: if your intention is to let your deck timber grey naturally then look carefully at the grain of the wood, Kebony or hardwood, as this is what will shine through. For me the more interesting the grain the more attractive the deck will look when it silvers.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sit and watch chicks hatching from your living room (or anywhere in the world)

Springwatch gained a huge audience this year with their 24/7 coverage of different breeds of  chicks hatching in different nest box boxes , it was pretty amazing to see . You can easily have this too, watch your own nest boxes whenever and wherever you want with a bird box camera, you can even watch streaming on the internet from wherever you are.  Handykam stock lots of different kits and their site is full of useful information helping you to choose the right system. 

I will be putting a system into a garden design I am building and will update with you how this goes in the Spring. 

Rains chains - do away with the ugly drain pipe

Install a rain chain instead of a drainpipe.

What I love about garden design is there is always an attractive  solution to almost everything you come up against. Rain hits the roof of your house or garden building , gets channelled into a gutter and then down an ugly black down pipe to be whisked away. There is an alternative to this ugly pipe, enter the "rain chain"

There are 2 styles of rain chain available. One is a simple arrangement of interlocking chains which the water runs down and a cup style. The chain style is more suited to garden buildings as they tend to splash more where as the cup style acts just like a normal down pipe would without much splash or spill. 

Rain Chain Styles  

Simple chain style in copper

  

Rain chain cup style 

 

Rain chains are simple to install and should come with all the necessary fixtures and fittings. 

Green roofs - how much do they weigh?

If you are embarking on a "green roof project" then these are the guide lines on the typical weight once installed. 

There are two types of green roof which allow for the growing of different types of plants. The most popular is a green roof system called "extensive". This is the lightest of the both with a load of 70 - 170 kg per square meter once planted. The big variation in load is due to substrate depth ( substrate is the growing medium, what the plant roots will grow in) An extensive green roof is also suitable for projects around the garden such as planting your shed / garage roof and storage units. 

An intensive green roof has a deeper substrate, allowing for a greater range of plants to grow and the load per square meter is between 290 and kg on the existing roof structure.

If you are embarking on an extension or new garden design then give a green roof some consideration, what is better to look at, a grey asphalt roof or an attractive planted Sedum green roof? 

Bike safety in your front garden

Front garden design has  changed over the past few years. With countless recycling bags for this, boxes for that and the dreaded wheelie bins the front garden space has to become a more  functional area rather than a showcase of plants. 

A front garden design can still look great with these additional storage considerations to be taken into account, just careful design and planning.

When I am talking with clients about re-designing the front and back gardens what  always comes up in the brief is how much storage is needed in the back garden for bicycles. In a typical London garden this can be up to 10% of the space available in the back garden, just for bicycles which seems a great loss of prized rear garden space when there are alternatives. 

 

Think about putting your bikes in the front garden! A bespoke unit can be built, even with a planted green roof , very attractive) with a "concreted in" bike stand. The bikes would be as safe as putting them in your garden (I have had a bike stolen from mine) and no more dragging wet and muddy bikes through the house every time you want to use it. 

There are many different types of secure bike stands available, (yes the picture shown is a bike stand) which can be either concreted in or surface mounted onto existing concrete base or patio slabs.

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Designing roof gardens

There are many more factors to take into account when designing a roof garden or terrace. The most important one being what load can the existing roof take and access for materials.

This is an interesting product that allows for decking to be installed quickly and lifting it off the existing roof space to allow for drainage, cables etc. This product is also available for the installation of stone / concrete tiles.

 

For more info decking roof supports

Once again, load (weight) is an extremely important factor when embarking on a roof garden design, a structural engineer should always be consulted. 

Sail shades

With this fantastic weather you might be finding you need to create some shade in your garden. If time, money or both is an issue then sun shades provide a quick, cost effective solution. Available in many colours, sizes and style these can be either free standing, over the lawn for example or attached to an existing structure. We can help source & install the right one for you. UV resistant and some shower proof they can be a perfect solution in your garden design.