Tag Archives: tips

Why February feels special in the garden

After a long, frosty winter when most of the jobs in the garden are about tidying up and putting things to rest for a couple of months, February brings a sense of anticipation. Spring hasn’t yet emerged, but signs, in the form of snowdrops, crocus, hellebores and primroses give us the sense that it’s just around the corner waiting to happen. Here are a few of the things you can be doing in February that will make a difference for the rest of the year. 
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Need to release some equity from your home? Know your options.

Having your garden professionally designed and landscaped is a long-term investment, that hopefully will add value to your home as well as improving the quality of your life. If you own your own home you may need to find an additional lump sum to make these improvements and might want to consider using the value of your home to release some money to do this. These days you have several options: a second-charge mortgage, an equity release mortgage or a simple remortgage. All are very different products and each needs to be seen as such.  Continue reading…

Invasive Plants and their threat to Land Values

The names Japanese Knotweed, Giant Hogweed and Himalayan Balsam may not be too familiar to homeowners in Oxfordshire. Found across Summertown in Oxford, Witney, Banbury and Bicster, they are some of the most invasive and dangerous plants known to man that can wreak havoc, not only with your garden and the environment, but also with your home.  Left uncontrolled, it can push through brick walls, concrete floors, Tarmac and drainage systems. Continue reading…

Is it a Bird? Is it a Plane?

Following on from my earlier blogs on wildlife gardens and ponds you’ll have guessed by now that, allied to my professional interest in gardens and all things horticultural, is a fascination for wildlife and, in particular birds.

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