EverLawn®, the brand from Artificial Grass (UK) Ltd, is pleased to announce the instant success of their ‘Affordable Landscape™’ product.

Answering the needs for large and small areas with a budget in place, the new product ‘Affordable Landscape™’ succeeds all expectations. Affordable Landscape is a quality, fibrillated yarn originally designed for Soccer but is now extensively used for leisure and landscape surfaces. The yarn is pre-slit during its making and matures to a fine yarn with everyday use.

Artificial grass installations are expected to increase in the coming years with America already warming to the benefits of this virtually maintenance free lawn  option. The initial purchase costs which have in the past put off some home owners, is eradicated due to products such as Affordable Landscape™.

With its multitude of uses such as maintenance free lawns for a holiday property or to create the wow factor on a roof terrace, artificial grass is the solution for  the modern day property owner, large or small.

The need to conserve water and energy is already extremely important but is almost definitely going to be an even stronger factor in the coming years. Artificial  grass eliminates the need for watering and energy and fuels are saved through the need not to have to mow.

So for more information on the appropriately named Affordable Landscape™ product, visit http://www.everlawn.co.uk.

Childs and Co is a design and make studio based in the historic market town of Kendal in the Lake District, Cumbria.

Specialising in functional solid wood furniture for the home, colourful and child friendly children’s furniture including toy storage products such as children’s toy chests and toy boxes. Our home furniture product range includes breadboards, wooden platters, pegboard and footstool products, tables and ottoman products. In addition to our stylish product range Childs and Co also commission and produce one off pieces tailored to your personal needs and taste.

Using predominantly local materials, Childs and Co furniture and products are renowned for their clean lines, durability and sustainability. In traditional or contemporary styles, Childs and Co furniture and accessories are designed for you and your home.

Choose from the existing product line or call for a bespoke solution, and be comfortable in the knowledge a Childs and Co piece will add a statement to your home.

How can we conserve energy at home and in our garden offices and other domestic buildings? There has been much talk about renewable energy and new technologies such as ground source heat pumps and grey water recycling for use around the home. Most new domestic technologies are still in the development stage, and have twenty or thirty year pay-back periods.

A wind turbine in the garden would suffer from limited wind speed in urban areas, needs planning permission, and unless 2 or 3 metres in span produces very little electricity. However, if you live on the top of a hill in Scotland a wind turbine is a good idea. Solar panels for generating hot water are worth considering, and are cost effective on your house rather than on your garden office.

The investment in new technologies is definitely worthwhile personally and globally if you are building a new house or if you intend to live in your home for life. But there are simple measures that all of us can take in our homes and our garden offices to help reduce our carbon footprint.

So what are the simplest and fastest ways of reducing energy consumption in a new garden office, granny flat and in our homes?
Here’s an energy check list below: -

1. High levels of insulation. Is your loft insulated? Have you got cavity wall insulation in the house? Have you got building regulation levels of insulation in your garden office to help balance your carbon footprint?
2. In a larger garden offfice you could heat with a woodburning stove. Woodburners burn efficiently and the resulting ash can be compsted or spread straight onto your garden.
3. Double glazing. Have all the rooms in your house, including your garden office, got double glazing?
4. When choosing new domestic appliances and garden office equipment ask for an energy rating. Don’t leave any electrical equipment on stand-by. [Plasma TVs use more electricity than traditional televisions.]
5. Building materials. Have the building materials in your new extension, loft conversion or garden office been manufactured in the UK to reduce carbon miles and do the manufacturers care about their carbon footprint? Do they recycle, how do they fuel their manufacturing plant?
6. Small but effective measures are energy saving light-bulbs. Washing your clothes at 30 degrees. Walking!
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Ornamental trees and scrubs are often the focal of a garden. They can offer colour and shape to a garden and most are easy to maintain. Some of the most garden worthy trees and shrubs in cultivation can be found in this article and have been carefully selected for their valuable contribution to gardens, whether for their architectural shapes, beauty of flowers, prolific scent, ornamental bark or outstanding autumn colours. Many of these plants are frequently seen in gardens and have been included owing to their popularity, others are very scarce seldom seen in garden centres or gardening nursery catalogues making them rather more unique.
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