blog:proleno

Finally summer has arrived. As is usual in the UK we’re never sure how long summer will last but for now at least the sun is up, the sky is blue and it’s time to get out into the garden, enjoy sitting on the patio or hitting the beach!

And if your tipple is wine, then you need it chilled!

Sorted. You need an Egg-O wine cooler! Conceived and developed in Vienna, the unique feature of the Egg-O is the lid, which has flexible fins on the inner side. This allows the lid to adapt to different bottle shapes. With the handle incorporated into the cooler, there’s no need to remove the bottle for pouring – the wine keeps chilled for longer and you don’t drip condensation everywhere. The robust construction also makes this great for picnics, barbecues,days on the beach or fun with friends in the garden. The Egg-O is available in blue, green or cream.

Available now from Proleno, on the web at www.proleno.com, on the phone on 0844 357 9855

Escape the hustle and bustle of life without even having to leave your garden, with the Teardrop from Living It Up. Simply curl up and watch the clouds go by….

The Teardrop is an egg-shaped hanging chair with an intricate hand-woven basket, perfect for any garden, wherever, whatever the size.

Imagine sitting comfortably cocooned in the Teardrop’s basket whilst rocking gently, warmed by the summer sun. Sink yourself into the oversized cream cushion as you allow yourself to drift off. The very picture of a blissful afternoon!

Failing that, the Teardrop’s galvanized frame is designed to be resistant to the inevitable cold and wet of the British weather. Available in a choice of black or natural weave. It is quite expensive at £329 but it definitely works for me!

More details at Living It Up.

Enjoy intimate chats or tete-a-tetes on the beautifully curved Banana Bench from Kingshall Furniture.

This solid grade A teak Love Bench will add a touch of glamour and class to any outdoor setting. Immensely tactile, it seems impossible to pass the Love Bench without touching its luscious curves! The bench boasts further curves along the backrest of the seat, giving it that extra special luxury and comfort. With its graceful sweeping curved top rail, level seat and raked back for comfort, the contemporary structure provides the perfect focal point or design solution for gardens and architectural landscape settings. While conveying an unmistakable sense of presence and longevity it is equally at home in both contemporary and traditional settings.

With lighter nights and warmer weather on the horizon add an extra dimension to evening garden parties this summer with Edge Company’s new powder coated Strip Lanterns.

Available in a choice of hot pink or a rather debonair plum, these lanterns offer a fresh avant-garde feel to the garden and with the addition of a simple tealight, are guaranteed to bring the wow-factor. No matter how compact (or concrete) your outdoor space you can rely on the Strip Lanterns to bring pazzazz to the patio.

Their purse friendly price-point makes them the ideal gift for any design-conscious friend or relative. Hand crafted from stainless steel, the lanterns are coated in a bright powder and nickel plating. Pop a little tealight inside and watch them glow!

More details can be found at www.edgecompany.co.uk or you can call them on 01273 491391

Warm days and evenings in the garden may not be upon us yet but already, especially after this long and cold winter, people are starting to think about their gardens and the quality time that can be spent there.

For some authentic Italian culture in your garden, the stylish Toscana Wood Burning Oven is perfect. Add homemade pizza, Italian wine and good friends for that perfect summer party.

It’s not just for pizza though. As many celebrity chefs suggest, a wood burning oven can be used to great effect for roast meats, bread, tandoori and even one pot dishes. Cooking with wood-fired ovens creates irresistible tastes and aromas.

“Wood-fired ovens are helping today’s busy families to reclaim the ability to relax around the table and enjoy each other’s company. Not only do they add features to the garden, they can cook any type of food and provide a focal point”, Scott from retailer Garden Gift Shop tells me.

Manufactured in the UK by Hand, The Toscana Wood Oven is sure to satisfy the most committed outdoor chef!

New Veg Plots Promise to get children excited about their 5-a-day! Don’t resort to paint and crayons to turn your children’s fingers and plates green this Spring Bank holiday. Let a new range of veg pots and plots get your children enthusiastically growing and eating their 5-a-day.

Although we know that children who grow vegetables are more likely to have a positive attitude to healthy eating, few parents have the time, space or know-how for a vegetable garden – the new ‘Grow’ range of compact edible pots and plots might just be the answer.

The children’s ‘Grow’ range of veg growing kits each include self-watering pots, seeds, plant food, a growing diary and jargon-free instructions. They give budding gardeners their own manageable vegetable plot without parents having to spend hours studying how to become green-fingered experts.

The ‘Grow’ kits even turn fingers green by automatically feeding and watering plants. Simply keep the kit’s reservoir topped-up and plants are provided with the water they need, when they need it, preventing over-watering and under-watering – even during holidays. Children can use their ‘Grow Diary’ to record how much water has been taken from the reservoir, so they quickly learn to understand how the amount of water plants need differs according to soil dampness, plant size, light levels and weather conditions.

Lack of green space is no problem. With ‘Grow’ kits ranging in size from a windowsill plot to a one metre long mini greenhouse, you really don’t need any green space to get your children growing and eating their 5-a-day.

Whole meals can be grown on a couple of windowsills, with tomatoes, beetroot and chard all thriving particularly well along with the usual salad leaves and herbs. Whilst if you have a 55cm square space outside on a patio, decking or yard you can add taller and larger plants such as beans, peas, cucumbers and cabbages as well as larger tomato plants.

As for getting your children excited about growing their own veg, what child doesn’t like sticking their hands in soil? Just in case though, the ‘Grow’ kits’ seeds and easy-to-follow growing instructions feature the incredible edibles characters. These super heroes are sure to inspire your children to grow and eat their super veg.

The Greenhouse Sensation team is so confident that their ‘Grow’ kits enable anyone to grow their own that they offer an Incredible Edible guarantee. They promise that in the very unlikely event that a customer doesn’t raise a healthy crop they will provide free seeds and plant food as well as one-to-one advice to get them back on track.

More detail at their website or you can call them on 0845 602 3774.

…To Join The “Grow Your Own” Revolution.

600 acres of windowsills are ripe for transformation thanks to a new mini veg plot that turns fingers and small spaces green.

The clever new Windowgrow, from Greenhouse Sensation, launches in March. It has been specifically designed for use on windowsills and has a unique way of automatically feeding and watering plants that prevents over-watering and under-watering – even during holidays. Simply keep the Windowgrow’s integral reservoir topped-up and plants are provided with the water they need, when they need it.

The space-starved amongst us can now stop throwing envious glances at those with bountiful kitchen gardens and allotments. Whole meals can be grown on a couple of windowsills, with tomatoes, chillies, beetroot and chard all thriving particularly well along with the usual salad leaves and herbs, so there’s plenty of scope for us all to reduce the carbon footprint of our diets.

Experienced and novice fingers turn greener as a result of using the Windowgrow. The automated watering is more responsive to a plant’s needs than manual watering, it’s like standing over their plant all day adding teaspoons of water, and because ‘growers’ can see how much water has been taken from the reservoir they quickly develop a keen understanding of how the amount of water plants need differs according to soil dampness, plant size, light levels and weather conditions.

Emma from Greenhouse Sensation explained:

“Watering is notoriously difficult to get right and is the most common cause of many gardening problems, especially in a container like a window box. Our combination of clever automated watering, the Healthy Crops Guarantee and the Gardening Angels advice line all serve to get nervous growers started and to ensure that new and experienced grow your owners enjoy more successful harvests.”

Even the most nervous of wannabe growers can be eating home-grown crops in as little as six weeks. Just fill the Windowgrow with compost, add the seeds or young plants and keep the integral reservoir topped-up. The lid keeps the soil warm, so seeds get off to a head start, and the water level indicator warns when the reservoir needs topping-up.

The Greenhouse Sensation team is so confident that their Windowgrow enables anyone to grow their own that they offer an Incredible Edible guarantee. They promise that in the very unlikely event that a customer doesn’t raise a healthy crop they will provide free seeds and plant food as well as one-to-one advice to get them back on track.

More detail at www.greenhousesensation.co.uk or call them on 0845 602 3774

Haddonstone, the UK’s leading manufacturer of fine garden and landscape ornaments, has completed a full costings review of its current ornament prices which has led to over 70 price reductions. The company has also absorbed the recent VAT price increase for both garden ornaments and fireplaces.

As a consequence there is now an increased range of planters that cost less than £100 including the Plaited Basket, Belton Box, Etruscan Vase, House of Dun Urn and the Vine Urn. Also, the Small Key Planter is now only £15!

Significant savings include the popular Bayeux Fountain which has been reduced from £1200 to £995 – saving more than £200!

Simon Scott, Haddonstone’s Marketing Director, comments:

“We have undertaken a full review of our production costs and are delighted to be able to pass on savings, wherever we can, to our clients. By also absorbing the recent VAT increase, we are pleased that customers can continue to buy quality products at sensible prices.”

For more information visit www.haddonstone.com or call 01604 770711 to request a copy of the inspirational 208 page catalogue.

Cambridge (UK) garden designer Julian Askham has put himself up for the ultimate gardening challenge this year, the design of a Show Garden at the prestigious Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2009 (7-12 July).

Lost Communication is the name of the garden designed by the Askham-Benson Design Co-op – a garden design and landscaping duo with an impressive back catalogue (including gold award in the Best Roof/Terrace/Penthouse Garden in the New Homes and Garden Awards 2008).

The Show Garden design is inspired by the rapid development in the telecommunications industry and it’s emergence as a vital part of communication throughout the modern world. Lost Communication communicates the way that nature can harmonise with modern technologies, and the power and resilience of nature to always shine through the adversity of modern life.

Taking on the commitment of a Show Garden at the world’s largest annual flower show is no mean feat, and is a costly affair for the young garden designers. They are looking for an investor “to help us realise our design at this prestigious event” in the extraordinary exposure that this type of project can give. There are unprecedented opportunities for a brand to align themselves to one of the nation’s most passionate hobbies, a healthy and sustainable way of life, and of course to the RHS, the UK’s leading gardening charity.

The design itself is based on an overgrown abandoned satellite graveyard in Cambridge. The clash of past industry and nature reclaiming the structures is the inspiration for the concept and this atmosphere is re-created in the garden ‘Lost Communication’.

“A few years ago I stumbled upon an abandoned satellite communications base near Cambridge and was inspired by the beauty of nature regaining control over the modern structures that had been placed there by man”.

The garden uses similar industrial materials and rough wasteland planting. This design will undoubtedly turn heads. The established communication industry is built on people talking and interacting – this garden not only is the catalyst for such debate but on closer inspection is actually a small haven of life, beauty and balance amid its industrial scenery.

For more information about Julian Askham, the Askham-Benson Design Co-Op and their garden designs visit www.jaskham.com.

Now here’s a Christmas gift idea that’s a bit “off the wall”. We’re only kidding as this is possibly not going to be your Christmas gift of choice but we just spotted this new design and had to share it!

From Dutch designer Rogier Martens, this garden bench comes complete with wheelbarrow-style wheel for easy moving. Clever idea and really quite practical.

There is not too much more to say really as the picture speaks for itself. His website is in Dutch but we guess that Rogier probably speaks good English so if anyone is interested in an unusual garden addition get in touch via his website!