This will be a quick post and I shall be blogging some more on tips and articles later this week.  In the meantime I wanted to draw your attention to the importance of garden improvements for your properties and more specifically the important role that design holds in this process.  I shall direct you to the following 3 articles and hope you can get some benefit from these:

The Sunday Times: Improve to move

Landscape Juice: Landscaping Through the Recession

Telegraph: recession is ‘no better time’ to build a home

Will be back soon!

Nicky Patterson

GardenImprovements.com

Originally posted 2009-02-16 11:42:35. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

We have now installed our chat facility at the GardenImprovements.com website so that new customers can contact us directly to quickly ask about our service before they proceed with their enquiry!  You can ask us if we work in your area, if we are available for a meeting, for quick tips, or for the name of reputable tradesmen who offer different garden services to our own – or whatever you want to ask!

Queries remain private from public viewing and you will always be chatting to me personally – messages are relayed to my mobile ensuring that I am readily available.  Messages will be accepted between 7am and 9pm Monday to Saturday.  If you want a query answered outside these hours simply drop me an email to studio@gardenimprovements.com and I shall respond at the first opportunity.

We were sociable before -and now we’re accessible too!!

Cheers!!
Nicky Patterson, Designer @ GardenImprovements.com

Originally posted 2009-10-05 16:11:36. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Why not give yourself a head-start this Easter weekend and get the juniors involved in preparing the garden ready for the summer ahead?

If you have a project in mind where you’d like to have an area dedicated to children’s play or if you’d like to build a garden which will act as an activity and education resource for your children, as well as providing suitable grown up pursuits (such as relaxing and entertaining!) then please drop us a line at GardenImprovements.com and enquire about our Garden Design Services.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend!

Nicky Patterson, Designer @ GardenImprovements.com

Originally posted 2010-04-03 00:26:24. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Lawn-care in the west of Scotland is a constant battle against moss, dampness and heavy clay soil; but still we all love to have that little bit of “green” in our gardens don’t we?  Lawns get muddy and need to be cut almost every weekend.  Lawns are nice but become a chore.  Not everybody likes chores.

So what about an artificial lawn then?

I know what you’re thinking: “Nicky, you’ve cracked…you’ve lost the plot!”, but hold on – let me argue the case:

Artificial lawn, fake grass, astro-turf – whatever you want to call it – has come on leaps and bounds in recent years and the products we see now are fantastic in appearance and feel.  Consider the following benefits:

• A natural grass alternative
• No more mowing
• No more watering
• No more muddy patches
• No more weeds
• No more fertilizers or pesticides
• High UV resistance, always green
• Ideal for pets
• Child safe
• Hard-wearing & long-lasting
• Aesthetically pleasing
• Save water and time
• Looks great in all seasons
• Helps hayfever sufferers

Sound good? Of course it does!

Artificial lawns are of course more expensive than real grass as an initial outlay, but consider the time and money associated with keeping a lawn in top condition over the course of a year…what about two years…what about 10 years?! Now, wouldn’t you rather be enjoying those long warm weekend hours relaxing on a lounger or kicking a ball about with the kids?  An artificial lawn will let you do just that AND is cost-effective in the long-term!

Ideal for:

• Low maintenance gardens – reclaim your weekends!
• Children’s play areas – stop the mud trails through the kitchen!
• Golf putting greens and chipping ranges – stop landing your divots on the neighbours barbeque!
• Roof gardens – you don’t have to humph the flymo up the stairs!
• Around swimming pools and hot tubs – no warm feet on cold mud!

I know you all want one now!  Since we are recommended regional installers for Perfectly Green Artificial Lawns then you should drop us a line!

Nicky Patterson, Designer @ Gardenimprovements.com

Please check us out and connect with us at our profiles below!

Originally posted 2010-02-22 16:24:46. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

by Nicky Patterson

So in December, for the majority of garden design and landscaping firms the phones go dead and the emails come to a halt as people concentrate on the holiday season and their attentions are diverted to hosting family dinners and parties and visiting friends and relatives.  The cold enquiry front gets even cooler in the current economic climate when consumer confidence is at an ebb and the banks are defying to lend as to the government’s and consumer’s wishes.

However many will still utilise the mass of positive equity still retained in their property and apply it to improving and developing their current residence, to make lifestyle investments which will massively improve the quality of their useable property space.  Those more canny than others will know that January and February and March are the best times to have any major landscaping projects undertaken, ensuring that all the hard construction is cleared in time for the spring and for when the garden can be enjoyed to its fullest (why waste that precious relaxation time over spring and winter having your garden built?).

As we approach Christmas Day and New Years Day during our festive break from site-work I am working upon 3 different designs for prospective work which will begin pre-Spring.  The projects are all of moderate and conservative budgets, £5-£12K, but i am relishing the prospect of getting back to work and further enhancing our design portfolio.

I am enjoying this break, spending it with my wife’s family in Portsmouth – where the weather is eternally warmer than my native Glasgow, but i am also looking forward to welcoming any new commissions or contract proposals for what i see will be a fruitful 2009 despite the delicate nature of our current economy.

So a Merry Christmas to you all and i look forward to seeing you in 2009!

Nicky Patterson

GardenImprovements.com

PS. Don’t forget our fantastic Winter offer of 20% off drawings and labour for kitchen gardens!!

Originally posted 2008-12-24 10:18:03. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

by Nicky Patterson

The format is familiar: new-build property that new owners require to be landscaped;  I arrive for a survey visit and am presented by a blank canvas of either a full plot of earth or fence to fence lawn.  The houses have generally been up and out of the wrapper for almost a year and now that the owners are satisfied with their interior fittings and decoration they turn their attentions to the garden: their initial landscaping budget has been squeezed out by their natural desire to embellish upon the interior design and also commonly by the addition of a conservatory or integrated garage conversion.

I am always excited by the prospect of these garden designs since the grounds are indeed left as a blank canvas and we, with the clients, can truly indulge on a personalised and bespoke design that will fit well with the client’s lifestyle aspirations and procure the most function possible from their new garden space.

The common problem is that the developers have left the gardens in a terrible condition.  Their obvious objective is to gain maximum profit for the property sale and this means that they generally do not spend much on improving the property grounds.  In fact they apply the minimum required to get a fast sale.  Monoblocking along with some tuf and cheap planting the front garden as standard is the most lavish cost attributed but this is crucial in their presentation of the property to the market and so it makes sense for them to spend here.

The back garden deserves none of this treatment as far as they are concerned.  At most they will include a lawn as an option but this, again, is to seem to make the property more presentable.  The truth is very different.

The developers never excavate away any hardcore bases they have used for cabins and site offices, they never excavate any clay or subclay that has been densely compacted by years of constant heavy plant site traffic.  This leaves a broad base of densely compact and variably impermeable sub-structure.  On top of this they will import anything from 2 inches to 2 feet of low quality unscreened topsoil which will respond to the weather much like a goldfish bowl would if filled with mud i.e. rainwater goes nowhere.  The developers will not install drainage as standard to alleviate these conditions.

The new owner is of course unaware these problems until they eventually focus their attentions onto the garden and see how the mud or lawn collects prolonged puddles and they will be unaware of the reasons why and the costs involved to rectify until they consult a professional.

So our initial budget has been bombed.  Either we cannot provide the garden the client truly wants and needs or the client has to shell out £000s even just to get to square 1 of the design implementation.

So what’s the solution?  In current economic conditions, direct confrontation with the housing developers would seldom result with a successful outcome.  Instead I feel we are left to simply creating more awareness of these issues through press and promotion so that, when these new-property owners come to take the garden to task, they can approach their budget figures and design aspirations reasonably, and we landscapers are not left to tricky negotiations after initial contracts have been agreed and the full extent of the poor site conditions is discovered in the opening days of the project.

Our dumper stuck in the mud (whilst installing drainage!!)

Best regards, your huffing grumpy gardener

Nicky Patterson, GardenImprovements.com

Originally posted 2009-03-01 12:39:21. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

We have retained some the great fetures of the old site including our fantastic resources page showcasing all of our co-operative projects and our local business friendships as well as suppliers and helpful website links.  You can also now navigate to our main social networking sites such as twitter and facebook on the right hand sidebar and catch up on my latest updates via my twitter-feed at the bottom of the page.

We will probably be shifting the emphasis of our portfolio onto blog releases and onto our Facebook business page and a Flickr account.  We shall also shortly be announcing the launch of our YouTube channel which will serve as a video diary for our projects as well as showcasing our finished gardens and interviews with clients.  Exciting times!

The site will probably still be tweaked here and there but I would welcome any feedback you guys can deliever!

Cheers for now,

Nicky Patterson, Garden Designer @ GardenImprovements.com

Originally posted 2009-03-25 09:00:12. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

We are set to reclaim the weekends for the good people of Glasgow and surrounding areas!

Perfect Regency	Perfect Buckingham
Perfect Ivy	Royal Grass Delite

“Perfectly Green supplies the most natural grass alternative and the best quality installation, to customers who want it. We pride ourselves on the standard of service and installation we provide due to our experienced, knowledgeable and helpful staff. Perfectly Green goes the extra mile to stand out from the rest, to provide you with a product and service that is second to none. We appreciate that the customer’s needs and wants are central to our business, so customer satisfaction is at the heart of everything we do.” Stuart Hedgecock, Perfectly Green.

We are looking forward to a successful and sustained partnership with Stuart and his team.

Nicky Patterson, Designer @ Gardenimprovements.com

Please check us out and connect with us at our profiles below!

Originally posted 2010-02-22 15:53:17. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

As we all look to our balance books and see what can be done to reduce outgoings and with constant pressure to be green and healthy at the same time, why not invest in your very own kitchen garden?  Feed your whole family for years to come from produce grown in your own back yard!!

We are offering as our winter (and credit crunch) special 20% off plans drawn to site your kitchen garden in the best possible place and tailor it with the most practical and fitting design for your lifestyle and your gardens surroundings.

We are also offering 20% off of labour costs for kitchen garden projects booked in January and February !!

Of course this is to try and fill our books during the enquiry barren winter months but it is also an opportunity for you guys to get a head of the pack, have fun, be lean and green and SAVE MONEY to boot!!

Book a survey with us quoting “KITCHEN GARDEN” in the further comments box and we will arrange to visit your property and discuss your requirements.

Nicky Patterson

GardenImprovements.com

Originally posted 2008-12-16 20:38:11. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

These leaves (or blades I'm calling them) are RAZOR-sharp!

We set out this morning (our first day out this week!) to build a small kitchen garden for a regular client in Newton Mearns.  On arrival we discovered the site to still be completely covered in snow and the area where the garden was to be built was unworkable.

The client pointed out a number of trees for us to trans-plant while we there anyway and so we got to task.  Moving the apple tree was no problem nor was the new 10ft Ilex too difficult to plant in; but the young Monkey-Puzzle posed a problem.

Beautiful but dangerous!

The leaves of this tree are thick, tough and scale-like, triangular, 3–4 cm long, 1–3 cm broad at the base, but have razor-sharp edges and tips.  I mean razor sharp!  The tree itself was only 5 foot tall but had been planted in a raised bed far too close to house.  If you have seen these trees around your own neighbourhood then you will know how big they can grow and this really isn’t great for small front garden areas, nor for the house because the tree will block light into it’s windows.

We really cannot get close enough to the tree to dig it out without causing injury to ourselves – genuinely! Next time you see one go up and feel it’s leaves and you will see what I mean!

The solution that we came up with was to tie up the branches of the tree upward into trusses with string, so as to hold all of the branches in a conical shape hugging the trunk – much like how Christmas trees are packaged by netting for ease of transport.  The branches are flexible enough to allow this to work without causing  any harm to the tree itself.  This took a great deal of care not to cut our hands but allowed us to get close enough in to get our spades into the ground near the root-ball.

And it’s that simple!  Not so simple that I’m not calling it a Top-Top though!

We transported it by wheelbarrow and planted it into a space in the perimeter planting that needed to be filled.  The location suited the style of trees nearby, mostly other conifers and pines – but also added some security; there’s no way a burglar could drop over the fence and into this tree without letting go an alarming yelp!

So if you ever come face to face with a young Money-Puzzle tree that you want shifted you’ll know exactly what to do!

A job well done!

Cheers

Nicky Patterson

GardenImprovements.com

Originally posted 2009-02-06 21:06:02. Republished by Blog Post Promoter