We are now only 8 weeks away from Christmas, okay I’ll admit it I had a mild panic attack when I wrote that. It still feels too early but now is probably the time to start looking for those gifts before the hoards of Christmas shoppers take to the streets.

So if you’re looking to have some festive fun in the build up to Christmas then we have what you want. From November 23^rd until December 16^th every Friday, Saturday and Sunday our Christmas Market will be open for you to peruse, purchase and relax in.

With over 30 stalls you will have a great selection of toys and gifts, clothing and accessories, pet care and bird & bug habitats, wreathes and decorations and food and drink to give you some great ideas for presents this year.

You can even buy your groceries and Christmas meats, including your fresh turkey, which you can pick up at Earlswood Garden & Landscape Centre on December 23^rd.

Come and visit Santa’s beautifully decorated and enchanting Grotto where you will make your way through a winter wonderland to meet some of Santa’s very special friends, including real Reindeer, a white Christmas donkey and Tony the Pony!

There’s also a great traditional sweet shop with all your old favourites from flying saucers to rhubard & custard to satisfy your sweet tooth!

Children can meet Santa and receive a fantastic pre-Christmas gift for just £5 per child. (There’s no admission charge to the main area.)

As you can see there’s plenty to keep the family entertained so why not pop down and join us in bringing this Christmas in, in style. To keep up to date with all the latest Christmas Market news head over to www.earlswoodglc.co.uk/market for information on all the stalls and lots of great pictures.

See you soon!

Now all the fun and games are over what’s next? Well we will be hosting our very first Christmas Market this year but its still August so I’ll leave the talk of Christmas there and move on.

The sun is still shining (at the time of writing) so now is the time to get out and start planting new bulbs and seeds ready for next spring. We have a great selection available to you offering a large variety of colours and plants to make your garden the envy of the neighbours as it blooms and comes to life.

If planting bulbs and seeds is not your thing and you want instant results in transforming your garden then you should visit our onsite Plant Centre who have a fantastic range of grown flowers and tree’s available for you to have a look around. It’s like our very own botanical garden except here you can take the plants home with you.

We have different types of topsoil and compost for plants and vegetables that are nutrient rich to help them need to gain stronger and healthier roots and improve flower development.  We also have soil conditioner, which enhances plant growth by improving tired soils by improving drainage and holding vital soil moisture where it’s needed; close to the roots.

Below is a selection of the most common cleaning products sold at our store.
Take a look through and give us a call or pop in if you have any questions or to get yours.

1. Patio Magic

What is it?
Brintons Patio Magic is a long lasting antibacterial concentrated disinfectant, which allows you to easily treat, remove and prevent the build-up of green mould, algae and moss on patios, fencing, driveways and all hard surfaces. Simply dilute, apply and leave to dry, no need for scrubbing or pressure washing.

Our Price
2.5 litres is £10.49 and covers approx 85sq.m

2. Jeyes Fluid

What is it?
Jeyes Fluid Multi-Purpose Disinfectant for outdoor cleaning has a wealth of uses that may just surprise you. From deodorising drains and disinfecting animal housing to killing bird flu and disinfecting stables to prevent Strangles disease amongst horses.

Other great uses are for cleaning greenhouses to help create the best growing environment for your plants by washing down the greenhouse, cold-frames, cloches and seed boxes; and also for preventing the build up of slime in your water butt by cleaning it twice a year.

It can also be used to keep paths and driveways clean by removing dirt, mould, algae and fungi stains simply by covering the area in a solution of 150ml per 5L of water, leave for 30 minutes, scrub and then rinse off.

Our Price
300ml is £6.49
1 litre is £10.99

3. Armillatox Soap based Outdoor Cleaner

What is it?
Armilllatox Outdoor Cleaner is a highly versatile cleaner that can be used on paths, driveways, tennis courts, greenhouses, poly tunnels, tiles, bricks, wood, glass and much more. You simply dilute 100 to 1 (50mls in 5 litres of water), apply at a rate of 1 litre per square metre and walk away. No need to scrub or wash it down just leave it and let Armillatox work it’s magic over 7-10 days.

Our Price
1 litre is £13.99 and covers approx 100sq.m
500ml is £7.49 and covers approx 50sq.m

4. Paving & Decking Hero Power Cleaner

What is it?
Paving & Decking Hero is a quick and easy way to clean any outdoor hard surface from algae, moss and mould in only 1-3 days and goes on to protect against re-growth for as long as 9 months. Simply add 100ml of Power Cleaner to 5 litres of water, cover area and leave to dry.

Our Price
1 litre is £9.99 and covers approx 100sq.m
4x 20ml capsules is £6.49 and each capsule covers approx 25sq.m

5. Ronseal High Performance Garden Cleaner

What is it?
Ronseal High Performance Garden Cleaner is a quick and easy way to clean garden surfaces. Simply drop the soluble capsule into 2.5 litres of water, wait for it to cpletely dissolve and then apply to your decking, wooden garden furniture, paving, sheds and fences to remove dirt, grime and algae.

Our Price
2 capsules is £4.99 and covers approx 20-24sq.m

6. Sika Mould Buster

What is it?
Sika Mould Buster is an effective way to kill and remove mould, algae and moss from patios, driveways, roofs, brickwork, decking, garden furniture and more. With no need to use a pressure washer or scrub off the grime, just apply the solution and leave it to work.

Our Price
5 litres is £19.99 and covers approx 100sq.m

7. Everbuild Brick & Patio Cleaner

What is it?
Everbuild Brick & Patio Cleaner is a fast acting acid based formula which dissolves mortar and cement stains, ingrained dirt and most paints on mineral surfaces such as brick, stone and concrete. Unlike many other cleaners, Everbuild’s Brick & Patio cleaner comes ready to use so there’s no need to dilute.

Our Price
5 litres is £4.99 and covers approx 50sq.m

We hope you have found this blog useful but if you have any questions, please contact us on 01564 702314 or pop in to the store.
Don’t forget, we’re open 7 days a week so come along any day.

If you do use any of our products we’d love to see some before and after pictures of your cleaned paving, fencing, decking and garden furniture. You can email us at feedback@earlswoodglc.co.uk

PRODUCT REVIEW

My paving at home was starting to look a bit worse for wear as it hadn’t been cleaned for a very long time and wanted something that would do a good job at cleaning with minimal effort so I bought some Armillatox cleaner from work as it only required me to pour a bit of the solution into a watering can and sprinkle away, the result was, well, impressive. A lot of the grime lifted after only a couple of days, I gave it a quick brush after a week to sweep away the loosened dirt and gave it another coating.

After another week I admittedly did get the pressure washer out but it wasn’t set very high at all as I didn’t want to risk damaging the paving. It was set at a low pressure just to wash away the more stubborn grime. The end result was in essence having new paving because I couldn’t remember it ever being such bright colours or even having those colours.

All in all I am very happy with the result and would happily recommend the product to anyone especially as it’s perfectly safe on plants and grass so you don’t have to worry about any running or sprinkling onto your lush green lawn.

Here are a couple of before and after pictures so you can see the kind of differance clean paving makes.

This next image shows the before, after using Armillatox and then after using the pressure washer.

The only problem is your grass isn’t a nice, lush green. We have some great products here for lawn care; one of those products is the EverGreen Cut & Feed Lawn Food.

With just one simple application after the grass has been cut you can expect a greener lawn in only 3 days, there’s no need to water in, and with it’s ‘no scorch’ formula you won’t be left with any damaged lawn. Once applied your lawn will continue to improve over a period of 6 weeks leaving you with a thick, green lawn.

EverGreen Cut & Feed Lawn Food 120m2 – £4.99
EverGreen Cut & Feed Lawn Food and Spreader 1200m2 – £6.99

Another great product we have is Westland’s Water Saving Gel, which can hold up to 400 times it’s own weight in water and can treat up to seventy-two 15-25cm pots. The granules slowly release water over time and can store up to 1 litre of water per pot. You simply mix a small amount of the granules in the compost, then water twice to charge the granules and then water as required afterwards.

As the granules retain and release water when needed you don’t need to worry about your prized flowers, fruits and vegetables suffering during hot summer days.

Our Price: £3.79

We know why hosepipe bans are issued, because there’s an insufficient amount of water in reservoirs to cater for the general public should water treatment plants start to run low. That’s the cause but what’s the solution? I’ve always felt it a little ironic that a planet covered in 75% water has drought problems.

There’s a growing concern to the melting ice caps which in turn causes sea levels to rise and the best way to stop rising water is to have somewhere for it to go and what consumes more water than anything? We do.

Desalination plants are the first things that come to mind; they are a large water treatment facility that turns seawater into drinkable water. So why don’t we build a load of these plants? Unfortunately the costs of running these types of facilities is very expensive and it ends up being cheaper to divert water from countries with surplus amounts to those with little water.

That’s all well and good for providing enough water to a large population but what can we do? Water butts are a great solution for the average household, almost 100,000 litres of rainwater falls on our roofs each year and we can use them to capture the rainwater, which in turn we can use to water crops, plants and grass.

How a water butt works
A water butt can be connected to a downpipe so that it collects rainwater from your gutters. If you are using a downpipe, you will also need an overflow pipe or a rain diverter to redirect water into the butt. Once it’s full, water flows down the drainpipe. A gutter filter will also keep out unwanted debris.

To fit a diverter or an overflow pipe, your butt will need a hole in the side, and to fit it directly to a downpipe it will need a hole in the lid. Butts either already have these holes provided or have a guide as to where to cut a hole.

How much do they cost?
Not as much as you may think, we have water butts from as little as £24.99, which holds up to 100 Litres of water, that’s roughly fourteen full 7-litre watering cans. If you need something bigger we also have 136 and 210 Litre water butts at a cost of £29.99 and £35.99 respectively.

We also supply all the diverters, connectors and filters you’ll need and our expert staff will help you choose what you need and if needed advise you on setting everything up. A Connector Kit and a Diverter & Filtration Kit bought together cost £26.98, that means all the connectors and filters and a 100L water butt will only cost you 52p a litre for the first 100 litres.

The first question people ask is are they any good? And the honest answer is, it depends. There are a lot of well made, high quality lights out there which give around 8-10 hours of light but as with everything there’s also some cheap and cheerful products out there that are not that bright and only hold a charge for a couple of hours. Standard solar lights are not as bright as wired as you’d expect but with the advancements in Solar technology the difference is becoming marginal.

The most appealing factor to Solar lights other than the price is the fact that there are no wires, this means no hiding wires from plain sight and should you want to see what they lights look like ‘over there’ it’s as simple as picking up the light and placing it back down.

The typical solar stake light is the cheapest, most common and more often than not the most appropriate light for the job. They can be used for highlighting hazards in the garden, make keyholes more visible or to just add a bit of light to the garden at night for those that don’t have a large area to light or only want something simple and elegant.

Another popular solar light are Rock Lights, these types of lights are affordable, yet durable and easily blend into a border, edging or shrubs. Several of these along a garden path tucked into the plants will give a great effect at night as they softly illuminate the path.

Solar powered Fairy Lights are aesthetically pleasing and help create a nice ambience especially if you’re having a romantic dinner for two on your patio. Submergible solar lights are relatively new but are fantastic for adding extra character to a mini stream or garden pond.

We have a fantastic range of solar lights ranging all the way from the fun decorative lights to high quality, ultra bright lanterns. Pop in and take a look at our range and if you’re after something specific and we don’t have it just let us know and we’ll see what we can do for you.

Product Review
Cole & Bright Ultra Bright Border Lights (2 Pack)
Cost: £21.99

I bought some solar lights a little over 7 years ago, they were standard run of the mill border lights and cost around £15. I was very impressed as Solar Power was all new and exciting then, even if they gave out as much light as a firefly. When some new solar lights arrived here I jumped at the chance to update my old, barely visible lights to something new.

There’s not much you can do with a border light in terms of looks but the brushed aluminium top and stem look quite smart and when assembled, which is nice a simple, the border light is very sturdy. When placed in the ground it gives a great contemporary look to the garden.

Once night falls the light given out by the 7 LED’s is very, very impressive. These two lights illuminate an area of 12m2 nicely and hold a charge for at least 7 hours. I’ve had these lights for almost 6 months now and they are still as good as the day I bought them and as someone who was a little apprehensive about spending £20+ on some solar lights I can say with certainty that its been money well spent.

There is no magic formula to completely eliminate all snow and ice from your pathways, steps and driveways but rock salt certainly helps the fight and might just save you from a nasty slip or even a slide in the car!

They’re not all the same
For this blog I want to explain a little about the two main types of rock salt available and why we choose to supply pure white rock salt over the brown winter grit alternatives.

The 2 Types of Rock Salt

1. Traditional Winter Grit / Brown Rock Salt
Favoured by the majority of Councils & Local Authorities, winter grit is mined from the ground and is made up from a blend of rock salt, sand & grit.

Whilst it’s an effective way of controlling snow & ice and providing a grippy surface, it leaves the sand & grit behind once the snow & ice has melted, leaving your driveway and paths in a real mess for weeks if it’s not cleared away. It also gets trodden indoors, causing a horrible mess inside too!

Some suppliers blend additional sand & grit to increase the level of grip for very steep driveways, paths and steps but this leaves even more residue behind and is simply not required for most domestic areas.

2. Pure White Rock Salt, (as sold by us)
White Rock Salt is pure sea salt with NO added sand or grit so it leaves very little, (if any) residue after the snow & ice melts away. Any salt that is left can simply be washed away with water making it ideal for domestic areas, such as garden paths, steps and driveways.

When to use Rock Salt
Although rock salt will melt the snow & ice away if applied after it has, it performs best when spread BEFORE the snow and ice comes so it can prevent it from bonding with the ground. This is why you usually see the council gritters out on the night before snowfall is forecast. They’re not being lazy by trying to get the job done early; they’re trying to get it done on time.

Keep an eye on the weather forecasts and if they predict sub-zero temperatures or even snowfall, spread the rock salt as early as you can to cover the area.

Don’t forget to keep a snow shovel / pusher handy by the front door to clear the fresh top level of snow away. The rock salt will make this job MUCH quicker and easier to do.

Whatever you do, please take care and stay safe in the winter weather.

If you have any questions for us or want to know more, please contact us on 01564 702314 or pop into the store.

NNBW is a great idea to help promote the conservation of the nations breeding birds and wildlife. With many old buildings being repaired or demolished and tree’s being cut down many species of birds will need to find a new nest site. We can help by building or buying a Nest Box and placing it in the garden, Local Park, schools and even the workplace.

BTO have some great information on their website including Which birds use boxes? and Nest Box essentials. You can also request and information pack here.

“National Nest Box Week is great for birds. Starting on St Valentine’s Day, it’s the time we remind ourselves to provide homes for dozens of species, from Blue Tits to Barn Owls.

If you’ve never built a nest box before, why not give it a go this year? Or if you haven’t got the time, it’s easy to buy a good one. Go on, take part for Britain’s birds!”
Simon King (wildlife cameraman, author and presenter)

Some boxes now come with full colour video and audio recording equipment that gives you a real inside look at how nests are built and how they care for their young. This a great for avid bird watchers, budding ornithologists and even for schools where it would not only enhance the learning experience but also make it fun.

At Earlswood we have 7 great offers to get you flying into NNBW with Nest Boxes from £3.99 and Colour Nest Boxes from £39.99. On top of that we also have feed and feeders from as little as £1.49.

Pop in and take a look, we have expert staff who will be able to help you with any questions you may have and a colour display wheel which tells you which birds like which food.

Overview

I’ve used Pavestone’s Sandstone range extensively over the last few years and found it performs well, is easy to lay and is very reasonably priced.

One recent change in the range as I understand it is that the Raj Blend and Grey shades are to be hand selected to a thickness of 18 – 22mm, the rest of the range is to be calibrated to 22mm.

This makes the sandstone easier to lay and handle and with the stone tested to be twice the strength of concrete it makes it the equivalent of a 40mm concrete slab.

A full mortar bed is recommended when laying the stone and an application of SBR bonding agent to the back of the paving will help adhesion and prevent the mortar leaching through and staining the surface over time.

Personally I prefer the shades that more closely mimic paving tones traditionally used in our country such as the Raj Blend, Cotswold Mix and Old Black. Lighter shades do look good around a pool area but I would be careful using them under trees and next to hedgerows because they will “green up” more than the other shades

This particular review relates to the Sandstone range, Pavestone also supply a “worn” and polished version which are also well worth checking out.

A circle feature is also available in three sizes, ( 1.5m, 2.4m, & 3.3m ), together with corner sets if required. It does require some skill but I prefer to “drop” the circle into the paving pattern without the use of a “squaring off kit”.

I try to order project packs when ever possible and customise the paving layout to suit, this is both economical and allows the creation of a pleasing random pattern that particularly suits this sort of riven sandstone.

Specification

Click for view full range of Colours:

Paving Sizes: 600x900  600×600 600x290  290x290mm
Note – The Sahara comes in a project pack that includes different sizes to those above.

Circle Size: 1.5m, 2.4m and 3.3m diameter and squaring off kit.

Thickness: Callibrated to 22mm indicated in the picture (c) otherwise hand selected to 18 – 22mm

Joint Width: 8 – 14mm

Weathering: Lighter shades may be susceptible to “greening up” especially under trees, etc.

Lichen Growth: Lichen is possible but I would consider it part of the natural ageing / weathering.

Maintenance: Clean with warm soapy water and brush as required.

High pressure washers can damage surface and pointing so be careful !

Cutting: Recommend diamond cutting blade. If anything I find the sandstone easier to cut than concrete paving.

Size: There is a slight variation in size with all sandstone and you may need to “tweak” the pattern as you lay it to even out the joints.

Pointing Type: Semi-Dry Mortar Mix 3 part building sand 1 part cement or a “brush in” jointing product, ( which are widely available now ).

Ease of Laying: Easier to handle than some man made paving, you need to keep a close eye on the joints due to the slight variation in sizes, other than the sandstone is easy to lay.

Price Guide: Approximately £17 – £20 / sq. metre excluding VAT ( pricing February 2011 ).

Official Guide: Pavestone Sandstone

Summary

Pros: Easy to lay, cost effective and a wide range of shades and accessories.

Cons: Lighter colours especially can be susceptable to “greening up”. ( A problem not particular to this range ).

Photos

Raj Blend Terrace Wet

Raj Blend Terrace

Fossil Patio (Wet)

Fossil Patio Side Paving

Review written by Gary Cobb – http://www.acerpaving.co.uk

Source of photos Pavestone and Acer Paving & Landscaping’s portfolio.

Further examples can be seen on the Acer Paving & Landscaping’ feature page on the Pavestone website.

This review is based upon personal opinion; the reviewer receives no financial gain from the supplier and/or manufacturer to write this review.