Garden4You

Another Leylandii hedge bites the dust

2008-01-07T19:05:00.000Z

It seems like ages ago now but in reality its only been a few weeks since we did this job. One of our long standing customers finally had to do something about their Leylandii hedge (thanks to a letter from the council!).

When we first started doing work for this customer, this monster hedge has always been the subject of many discussions and thoughts as to what to do with it - I suggested ripping it out of course as I loath them, but in the end our hand was forced slightly by this letter to reduce the hedge - so we duly booked in to do it.

As you can see from the pictures, this thing was massive - we had to get a cherry picker in and a huge chipper to reduce the 5 - 6 tonnes of waste created.

The job when finished looked really good - and now you can also get two cars passing at the same time now without the overhanging hedge.

Fantastic weekend for the Guernsey Boys

2007-12-17T05:04:00.001Z

Picture: The Guernsey Boys before the start

As most of you know by now, I am a keen shooter and assistant game keeper on two local estates in Newbury. This weekend we had a visit arranged for the Guernsey Boys, who we have known for many years who love to come over and shoot a few pheasants, get drunk and party hard.

This week was no exception!

They arrived on Thursday afternoon so Chris, my game keeper friend and I popped down the pub for a quick one and to meet some of the other guns in the team who we didn't know. As usual, this turned into a bit of a session, however both Chris and I made a carefully planned exit as we had to be up early to sort out the final arrangements and prepare for the day's sport.

Lucky for us we did go early, as the guys arrived at the beaters hut looking a bit worse for wear!

After a few cups of coffee and a carefully planned wind up for one of the new guns who had never shot at live game before (this involved an imaginary game licence which was required, which of course everybody had except Andy, who has been looking forward to this trip for months. After a few moments searching himself for something he knew he didn't have, we could not hide our amusement any longer and he twigged....this really broke the ice and settled him down to the job in hand!).

Picture: Andy looking for the licence he never had!

I wont bore you with the blow by blow account of the day, but they all had a few shots and enjoyed themselves.

The next day, we went off to Thame to Chris's dad's shoot - a much smaller but nevertheless enjoyable shoot, with very different scenery and different type of drives. Again a great day had by all.

Chris also managed to convince me to bring Jasmine, my Labrador pup, out on the Friday for the first time. I was a little nervous as we were still bonding, but as usual he was right.

Jazz performed very well and really got the message of what she will be doing in the future - Holly and Amy did the business as usual and Chris's daughter Becky and her dog Holly were brilliant working with me to pick up dead and injured birds.

I am now on a "no drinking" week - my liver is groaning under the strain of 3 days solid booze, but it was really great to see our old friends - we will of course have to have a re-match away in Guernsey in the New Year....

Good weather at last!

2007-12-17T04:35:00.000Z

Following my last post, the weather has made a huge improvement. I don't mind cold, its just rain I hate.

Last week saw a return to normal activities. It gave us a chance to catch up on the week before - we actually managed to do 2 days work in a single day - not that I want to repeat this too often as we were totally knackered after this feat.

We also finished off a really nice job in West Ilsley just outside Newbury, which has been ongoing in phases over the last 6 weeks or so. The final bit of this job was to create a raised veg garden where once there was nothing.

The most effective way of creating a raised bed is by using treated softwood sleepers. In days gone by, people used old creosoted sleepers but I would not recommend this as there are too many toxic chemicals which could get into your food.

This particular veg garden was to be built on a slopping bank, so we staggered the beds one above the other, fixing with cemented posts and then securing the sleepers with Timberlok screws to form the raised bed. Once done, several tonnes of blended loam, compost and soil are added to ensure the veg patch has a great start.

On this particular job we also cleared the front garden of old and overgrown shrubs and turfed an old area which had been used as a builders store area. As normal, when working in a village , just about everybody walks past to see what you are doing, passing judgement on your work and enquiring about the plans etc - this always works well for us and generates several further enquiries.

We also cleared out the middle garden to give the owners a blank sheet to start a new planting scheme in the spring - this involves removing old shrubs, digging over borders and generally getting it all sorted out.

We love these types of jobs as they are interesting and very rewarding to all parties - its a shame I didn't take the before pictures....note to self - make sure camera is in van before starting job!

I think I might have cursed us...

2007-12-07T18:32:00.000Z

There's me saying what a month November was and WHAM - the weather has gone mental!

It's about the one thing we can do nothing about. This week has been a disaster.

Normally we work through rain showers and the like - it really is not much fun but all our gear is designed to work in all weathers and we just get togged up in the waterproofs and get on with it.

This week has been a bit different - cold strong winds blowing in freezing rain - it makes hedge cutting to dangerous and even things like weeding is impossible as the ground is water logged. I had even planned for a vine removal from a house - not on your Nelly in this wind.

The boys are really fed up as Christmas is only a few weeks away and we are not working, therefore not earning....so we have managed a few jobs - a bit of hedge cutting, a small garden clearance, a few maintenance contracts and yes I even final cut some grass today (when will it end!)

One good thing about having time in the office is that my paperwork is right up to date, I have carted off a few broken and in need of repair bit of equipment off to Kalehurst Garden Machines and of course this week spent some quality time with the puppy.

Our house used to be calm and the dogs no trouble - now this puppy, which I am sure has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), seems to be everywhere at the same time!

I bought her a toy pheasant from the pet shop and it seems to stop her chewing up everything else in the house (she ate a load of quotes I had prepared yesterday!) but now constantly wants to give it to me - its wet and smelly and I don't really want it Jazz!

Picture: A moment of peace - No I didn't shoot her (yet!)

PS we had to change her name too as she didn't take any notice of Casey - its now Jasmine, or Jazz or Jazzie for short - she is already responding to it - probably because I say it more than anything else at the moment - usually followed by NO!

The patter of tiny feet once more.....

2007-12-04T20:11:00.000Z

As readers will know, I am passionate about working my Labradors. I am working 2 shoots all the time and helping out a few others when they need me - so consequently I am pretty busy at weekends etc.

Working dogs tend to get very tired after a few weeks of constant work and are also prone to injury. Luckily so far this season I have not had any injury (and fingers crossed I wont).

I have a 10 year old black lab, a 5 year old white lab (the black ones daughter) who both are incredible. My intention was to breed from Holly (the white one) but Alas she will not stand and so the clock has pretty much run out. This leaves me with a real problem.

Amy, the older dog, is just about knackeredat he end of a full day's work and the afternoons are a struggle for her (she was without doubt one of the best dogs I have ever seen). Holly is really at the top of her peak now and works superbly, but without a puppy to follow on I am in the mire as I have nothing coming on in the future.......until today that is!

I was fortunate enough to hear of a dog going to a working home - a 6 month old yellow lab. So I picked up my gamekeeper mate and dog mentor and zoomed off to High Wycombe to view this dog.

I was surprised at it. She really is a good looker and very bright - no training has been done but her blood line is superb and she has a sparkle about her. Needless to say, she soon was in the back of the car heading for Newbury before the guy changed his mind!

I had forgotten how much of a handful a 6 month old pup is, but with the other two to train her this should be easier than normal to sort.

Its first night, the howling hasn't started yet but she has already proven to be a bit naughty with biting tassels off the cushions and ripped up a few quotes I had stacked on the floor for posting off.....

Note to self - take Valium now to get through the next week or so!

Karen (the ever forgiving wife) has taken to Casey already, or is it the other way round?.... this dog is no fool!

Leverage, the Board Game

2007-12-02T11:16:00.000Z

"Now what are you on about" I hear you cry!

Wife Karen (Irun Solutions) and I were invited over to Nigel and Diane Morgan's of Morgan PR on Friday night to play a Board Game called Leverage. This was devised by Brad Sugars - the founder of Action Coaching and self made billionaire whose seminar we all attended back in October.

The aim of the game is to get you thinking about your business, and business in general in a fun way. This game is quite complicated and Diane had created a spreadsheet to help with some of the calculations required at virtually every throw of the dice (otherwise it would have been a nightmare as the gins got larger!)

We arrived fashionably late....the kids decided that the careful plans we had made for them were not to their liking and so had devised some other dastardly and cunning plans which involved running them the length and breadth of the country ....completely stressing me out!

Nigel quickly picked up on my high stress levels, poured me a "Friday night Special" gin and tonic to get me back to earth! We had a fine fish curry prepared by Diane, then settled down to play.

I turns out that I am the unluckiest player ever and I quickly land on the "oops" areas which basically wipe you out of any profit you make during the game and subject you to all manner of problems with the bank etc. Nigel, being the luckiest geezer I have ever met, romps home to win of course (funny how the banker always wins in Monopoly too!).

Anyway, we had a load of laughs (mostly at my expense), destroyed a bottle of gin and some other strange drinks the Nigel kept appearing with.

Great night guys - I look forward to the return match - I am going to be the banker this time!

This has GOT to be the final cut....

2007-12-01T10:52:00.000Z

I can't believe we are still doing final cuts on grass in December!

I have been telling customers that this will be the last mowing visit for about a month now - but still it keeps growing!

I was hoping to service and moth-ball the mowing equipment back in November but we are still cutting. The poor machines have had a really tough season and luckily have lasted the course without any real problems, just a few wear and tear stuff like strimmer handles getting broken off and drive belts getting shredded etc but no large mechanical failures.

On the other hand, we did have an unusual one a few weeks ago with the hedge cutter. We were doing "the Hedge from Hell" for one of our letting agent customers in Kintbury which had not been properly cut back for quite a few years. The Council was starting to complain as the hedge had gone 18" over he pavement, making it a bit of an issue.

Basically, we were commissioned to reduce the size by at least 18" on the face as well as about 18" on the top. Instead of a nice hedge, this was a pyrocanthus, a very hard wood bush with nasty thorns which make you go septic if you get impaled. We decided that chipping the waste would be the best course of action to remove the huge quantities created.

As we started, I could see this job going a bit pair shaped as the shear toughness of the stems was proving quite and challenge even for our mega Stihl 30" heavy duty cutter, let alone our Husky commercial one. Chipping was also proving to be a challenge as the branches were so tangled together it was impossible to get them in the chipper without chainsawing them into chunks!

I sent one of the guys to trim the top of one of the hedges with the Husky, when after a few minutes he came back looking very sheepish. I asked him what the problem was and he said I should come and see....well I don't know what had happened but instead of a flat 24" blade, he had managed to bend it like a banana. Somehow, the teeth had got caught under each other and bent the bar! I took it to Kalehurst Garden Machinery and they had never seen the like of it!

Eventually we got the hedge finished and the customer was delighted - even though it cost me dearly in repairs!

Putting it into practice

2007-11-30T10:23:00.000Z

Regular readers will recall our trip to Las Vegan in October for the Brad Sugar's Billionaire seminar. As with all these things, they only work if you put what is taught to you into practice.

Over this last month, I have been applying various tips picked up to improve the business, as well as our private lives too.

The results have been staggering.

November has been our busiest month ever, with record billings achieved, more contracts won and more quotes sent out - I am also looking to improve our close rates (its pretty good anyway, but always room for improvement!). Furthermore, I have implemented monitoring and quality measurements to ensure our performance is always improved.

My next project is to update our website http://www.garden4you.co.uk/ and improve our conversion and click through rates via Irun Solutions and more google campaigns.

We have had a few set-backs - mostly due to mechanical failure of vehicles and machines, but this also has to be expected with an increase in work load. This obviously has an affect on the business, but my aim is to plan for these and ensure we have a back up option.

In our private life, Karen and I have got more organised, employed a cleaner/ironing service to remove the pressure of constantly having to think about this, attempted to sort out our shopping via the Internet (this really takes up loads of time to sort out initially!) and basically started to manage our time more effectively so we can spent more time together.

I have also managed to fit in more hobby time - I now spend much more time working my gun dogs and doing more field sports.

The law of space has prevailed - basically if you create space it will be filled, by getting more things sorted, I have more time to do other things and spend more time with the family - brilliant!

Neale James's 40th

2007-11-29T06:31:00.000Z

Another event not blogged was Neale James's 40th birthday. Neale James is a great mate of ours and runs Breathe Pictures - the awesome photography company as well as being a broadcaster on Reading 107 breakfast show.

As we were away in Las Vegas during Neale's birthday, it was decided that the party should happen before we go so we didn't miss it. The usual suspects were there of course looking to get Neale truly slaughtered.

The venue was the Madagascan Gin Palace - always a great night out and so the scene was set.

During the afternoon, Adam, Karen and I popped round to Neale & Sam's house to watch football and so we managed to get a bit of a head start - so before we got to the restaurant we were very merry to say the least!

As the evening progressed, things got pretty lively and we managed to get Neale in "The dentist chair" a really horrible form of torture where you get tipped back and alcohol is administered directly - Neale's eyes did go in different directions after this!

Things get a little blurred after this - there was a disco laid on and so dancing etc broke out before we finally ended up back a Neale's....after this I'm not to sure!

A really great night had by all - many thanks to Sam and the girls for arranging etc.

All for charity mate!

2007-11-28T19:48:00.001Z

Picture: Karen & Donna before the run

During my lack of PC, several events took place which are very worthy of note, one being a 10K run the wife did.

Karen, the wife, of Irun Solutions Newbury, Donna of WhyNot Jewellery and Carl of The Fit Farm all decided to go on a 10K charity run in aid of Cancer Research (note my absence from this venture!).

Training was a laborious affair comprising of twice a week early morning runs at either Sneslmore or Greenham Commons, with the occasional "drop me in Thatcham" run on a Sunday where I would literally drop Karen off and drive away - something I tend to do from time to time (usually when we are away on hols etc much to her annoyance - but that's another story...!!)

Then the day finally came, so off we went to Eton Rowing Arena near Slough. The weather was less than kind to the runners as it was cold and wet, however with about 5,000 runners taking part, the atmosphere was pretty amazing.

As the time grew closer, a group warm up session broke out and everybody got ready to go. Nerves started to show at this point especially as neither Karen or Donna had ever done this before. The circuit was two laps of the lake, with watering stations at several points along the way.

Carl was determined to put in a good time and so set off with an early fast pace, followed by Karen and Donna at a more sedate pace. After the first lap, Karen broke away from Donna and set about at achieving her goal.

After a grueling run, all 3 finished looking pretty good considering and achieved not only great times but also adding cash to the Cancer Research pot.

Picture: Karen, Carl and Donna during the run

As a spectator to this event, I was impressed with all the runners and there was a really spirit of achievement - many runners did this for a relative either lost to cancer or surviving it - a truly worthwhile cause - well done to all.

There's only one way to get rid of a mole.....

2007-11-20T06:36:00.000Z

.....according to Jasper Carrott anyway!

Moles are very active during this time of year and so the sight of large mounds of earth are becoming common place in most gardens.

Moles are really fascinating. Not much is really known about them but they are certainly on the increase and they cause a huge amount of damage to both agricultural land and gardens.

Moles are solitary creatures and protect their territory viciously against all comers - even there own off-spring once the mother has evicted them.They can travel up to 300mts in a single day and are pretty much constantly on the move, hunting for earthworks, leather jackets and just about anything else they can find.

This is where the conflict arises. With such activity, they have to push the tunnel earth up somewhere. The biggest problems occur where there are lots of worms - you guessed it a fell cared for and fed lawn!

Our armoury of treatments have been cut to basically two options - gassing or trapping. We used to be able to deal with moles very effectively and cheaply by the use of Strychnine laced worms which were placed in active runs - if applied following proven safety guidelines was far the most effective and safe way to control them.

Today, we will either use Aluminium Sulphide gas tablets (a very strictly controlled substance that will only be supplied to fully trained professionals like us) or trapping using humane mole traps.

Now trapping is an art. Everybody has a go at it but most attempts are futile. We all have learnt over the years "the best" way to trap and the best traps to use, but there are more factors which effect the success than you can imagine. I have to say we get good results based on certain conditions and in may cases trap several moles in each trap (as one is caught, the constant search for food and territory from bordering moles is there downfall).

Gassing is very effective but again conditions must be perfect - everything from soil dampness to activate the gas down to depth of run etc will determine the success of each application.

I do have a fondness for these busy little creatures and do feel a little sad at having to wage war on them, after all we are destroying their habitat by building houses on every bit of land....but that's progress!

Incidentally, going back to Jasper's technique of shooting moles - it does work too! If you see a mole hill being produced and you have your trusty shotgun with you, shoot the mole hill as its moving and you will certainly kill the mole. The shock waves from the impact will kill it instantly - yes I have done this too before you ask!

Expansion of the Garden4You team

2007-11-18T17:12:00.000Z

Its always great news to hear about business growth - especially when it is to meet customer demand.

We have recently made the decision to step up a gear and add a new vehicle to the fleet, thus creating a second team.

This second team allows us to be more flexible and respond more quickly to our customers demands and requests - reducing our lead times is essential to ensure we grow.

After looking around the market, we decided on a Vauxhall Movano. This seems to fit the bill in respect of refinements and most importantly load space and capacity. It is also very economical to run.

As it happens, the very week we bought it, my trusty Land Rover blew the differential and was off the road for a full week - restricting our movements temporarily - and costing £1,200 to fix!

By adding an additional team, we can now comfortably take on the new contracts we are winning and schedule the work more effectively.

Loads of Gardening projects completed

2007-11-17T16:32:00.000Z

Over the last few weeks we have been totally flat out with work. The extraordinary weather has made life very interesting as people are calling us non-stop trying to fit in the last job before winter sets in.

We have done some really nice jobs - from the normal garden clearance to erection of children's climbing frames and swings.

Several really nice jobs of note:

Clearance of a very overgrown bank in Whitchurch on Thames for a very nice lady who seems to have had a constant problem with the bank on her property. It a bit of an odd one as there really isn't much you can do with it - but we are discussing a few ideas and hope to do some more work here shortly. I am forgetting to take the "before" pictures but here is some "after" pictures. The bank was covered in brambles to about 8ft tall and all sorts of other stuff too.

Scarification of lawns

We had a scarifier on hire from A4 Hire in Hungerford for a week and went around to loads of our customers just getting the lawns scarified. We recommend this is done at least once a year to ensure all ther old grass mass and moss is raked out before winter ensuring new fresh grass can come through in the spring. People are amazed at what comes out of the lawn in respect of the shear quantities of rubbish. One of our customers has a massive lawn and it literally took us all day to do - but it has made a huge difference.

Fencing has really kicked off again and we have already done quite a few fences in the last month - everything from replacing damaged panels to picket fencing for a dog friendly area on a new development in Thatcham.

Garden Clearances

We are still doing loads of garden clearances for letting companies or people who are selling their properties - some of the jobs are just unbelievable - but the difference after we have been is incredible. I have been negligent in capturing photos but this tend to happen with us so busy.

One really nice job we are part way through at the moment is a really pretty cottage in East Ilsley. This property has had a load of work done to it recently and so its our turn to sort out the garden. The existing garden was not really in character for the cottage and the front garden had become a real mess of plants. We have now re-turfed and cleared the front - all the villagers who walked past gave the comments and approval!

We have started on the back garden and cleared most of the borders ready for planting and will be building a raised vegetable garden over the coming few weeks to finish off this great project.

Maintenance contracts

We have increased the number of contracts quite radically over the last few weeks. This involves basic closing down the garden in readiness for the spring - pruning fruit trees and weeding boarders etc as well as hedge cutting etc.

Where has the time gone!

2007-11-15T12:23:00.000Z

Hi Readers,

I have had a few technical problems with my new PC which has prevented me from blogging for a while so sincere apologies - the fault has now been rectified so its time to try and catch up!

What a few weeks its been! In the next few postings I will run over the major highlights (and low spots too!) for your information and entertainment.

Biggest highlight was undoubtedly our trip to Las Vegas. Back in June Karen (the wife) of Irun Solutions Newbury and I attended an evening run by Brad Sugars - a self made Billionaire and founder of Action Business Coach, the largest and most successful franchise of its type. We went with the intention of picking up a few ideas for our businesses and our private life too and using them to improve - we never expected to be booking up to go to Las Vegas!

I have avoided America like the plague for many years - I once worked for a very large American corporation who couldn't make me go either and I gave away a trip to New York a few years ago such was my desire to avoid going - so to be persuaded to go by this larger than life Aussie proves how compelling and convincing he was.

Nigel and Diane Morgan of Morgan PR also signed up to go too - which also added to the overall value we expected to get from this trip. It just so happened that my birthday fell on the dates of this trip so we booked a helicopter flight through the Grand Canyon as well.

Grand Canyon Trip

I had never been in a helicopter before so really didn't know what to expect. After a safety briefing, we headed off to meet our pilot and board the helicopter. I had not realised they were so basic - it looked like it had done a flight or two and seemed to be held together with baler twine and wire....I was a little nervous to say the least especially when it was started up and shook like crazy!

The pilot was a bit too laid back from my liking and continually made wise cracks for the hour long flight as well as playing his MP3 player containing Country and Western etc rounded off with the Wagner tune from Apocalypse Now - the one they used for the helicopter attack scene on the beach before surfing......you must have seen it!

Anyway, nothing can prepare you for the views of the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon - simply stunning! My pictures don't really capture it but its a "must see".

We also landed at a private ranch, had lunch and did some horse riding before flying back to Vegas - unfortunately the lunch didn't agree with me and 10 mins before we landed I filled the "comfort bag" much to the dismay of my fellow passengers!!

Later that evening, we met up with the Morgans to go off to New York New York casino where we found the famous "Dueling Pianos" bar. What a great idea! These guys simply got the crowd to pay them money to play a song from an era or genre and then get somebody else to bid up to get the other one to play something else - a real fun evening! Could it work in the UK? I think so!

Nigel managed to stitch me up by telling them it was my birthday - very entertaining for everybody else but not so for me .... I have a long memory Nigel so watch out mate!

We also went for a steak - actually it was more like a cow - all washed down with loads of booze etc - a perfect birthday night out.

Anyway, the Brad Sugars seminar was very intensive and packed full of ideas to improve not only your business but your life, health and wealth - 3 days later we were completely exhausted but very please we went. We have made some simple changes already which have made massive differences to our businesses and our lives - these things only work if you implement them - we still have lots to do but small steps and all that.

As for Las Vegas - it sucks! Everything is plastic and designed to remove as much cash from you as possible - the food was awful, the service was second rate and despite being in one of the top hotels in Vegas nothing worked......God bless America!

I could have easily stayed out in the Nevada Desert and spent the week on the Ranch - now that's my idea of a trip!

Getting ready for Winter

2007-09-29T10:28:00.001+01:00

We are now just getting past the grass cutting season and into the pruning and preparing for winter season.

Yesterday we were at Nigel Morgan of MorganPR doing just that.

Nigel persuaded my to do some more video blogging whilst there - never one to miss an opportunity to add good content to our blogs is Nigel so here it is:

A big thanks to Nigel and Di for the bacon sarnies and gallons of tea!

As usual it rained - it always does in Hungerford for us!!

Garden Restoration for one of Newbury's Flood Victims

2007-09-29T08:18:00.000+01:00

Image taken looking up the garden

This week we provided a garden restoration to one of the unfortunate flood victims in Shaw. Since the floods, all the houses in this small cul-de-sac have been pretty much empty and so now work has begun to get the poor people back to normality once more.

This particular job was quite difficult as access to the rear of the property was only available via a kind neighbour - otherwise it would have been through the house. The garden was in a terrible state - all the extra water and the sun made excellent growing conditions and brambles, weeds grass etc took over very quickly. There was also an old pond which had never really been sorted out and some unusual brick work created by a previous owner which really served no purpose which had to go.

The brief was to get the whole garden under control, fill in the pond, remove the brickwork feature, uncover some paviers, level off where possible and re-seed the lawn area. We decided that turfing was not an option as nobody was able to water it regularly at this moment in time.

This garden needed to be low maintenance moving forward. Removal of the shed was also going to be part of this job, however the insurance company had not made the decision on this at the time of us doing this clearance so we will return for this in the future.

After quite a few hours of brush cutting and strimming, we cleared the jungle, then moved our attention to dismantling the brick work and using the rubble to fill in the pond area. Once done, we started the long and painful process of moving several tonnes of topsoil from the front of the property through the obstacle course of next doors garden and into the garden we were working on. This is when we discovered our broken trailer!

Anyway, the rest of the job went very well and we just managed to get the fertiliser and grass seed down as it started to pour with rain - good for the seed mind you!

Take a look at the Before and After shots - its quite a difference!

Image taken looking down the garden

Outstanding Customer Services from Indespension

2007-09-26T07:31:00.000+01:00

We bought a new trailer about 6 months ago from an outfit in reading called Indespension - a strange name which doesn't really say what they do and unless you know them its a job to find them, however the service received and the price negotiated was great.

The sign of an excellent supplier and one that I would recommend is how they conduct themselves when confronted with a problem.

Monday we had a disaster. We were part way through a major clearance job when I noticed the sides of the trailer wouldn't fit as they should. One of the lads noticed a small crack in the metal framework, which on closer inspection was a major crack in the welding of the chassis of the trailer - rendering the whole thing unsafe to use.

I was pretty much dreading making the call to Indespension and expected the worse, however I was soon put at ease. The call was taken and the manager located in Welwyn Garden City. I was promised a replacement trailer to get me working again within the next 4 hours - sure enough, Ron the manager personally delivered a new trailer for us to use and took the other one away for inspection.

The very next day, I had a call from Ron saying the manufacturing plant had authorised a replacement trailer without further need for delay. I was a bit shocked and surprised at the speed of decision, but also delighted with the way it was sorted.

Being a cheeky git, I also asked if we could have a different model of trailer as the one they brought us to use was actually better suited to the type of work we did (and a newer model too) - again, this was agreed and so I collected a brand new trailer that day!

I have no hesitation in recommending Indespension - especially the Reading branch with Ron and his team. If you want a trailer of any description, these guys do it - a great price and outstanding customer care - nice one chaps it all helps to lower my stress levels too!!

A Rave Review about Garden4You

2007-09-25T19:57:00.000+01:00

Its really nice when you get an email out of the blue from a supplier which a review of your service on.

I subscribe to The Best of Newbury which is part of a national web directory type of service who provide me with quite a lot of good customers and enquiries. Part of the service they offer is that customer can review your service and post it against your advert - a really cool idea (if you do a good job of course - not so good if you screw up!!).

Well one of my long standing customers did just that - I thought I would share it with you.

As a bit of background, we first met Kim whilst we were doing a fencing job on the side of the road in Newbury. She got our number off our roadside board and called me. I attach her review for you to read- its quite funny:

"Driving along the Oxford Road on my way back from Waitrose, I spotted these men at work. Well actually, it was their advertising board that I spotted, however it took 4 drive-bys for me to actually be able to read the telephone number that I would definitely be calling!

The thought of another weekend tidying up my garden spurring me on to do yet another drive-by (there's a message here Graham - the board works, but please make the telephone number bigger!).

So, having made the call and the necessary arrangements, I tried them out. I think I had in mind that it would be a one-off, but I’ve continued to use them and with this strange summer, they’re here each week.

In fact, they are now working with me to redesign and rework my existing patio and bank (something of a mammoth task!). Graham’s actively chasing other suppliers that he will manage too. Nevertheless, Graham’s not one to let the grass grow under his feet (pardon the pun!), so he’s got on and cleared the patio space whilst waiting and in preparation for the house painter to arrive (who sadly didn’t arrive when I thought he was coming!). There’s nothing like being ahead of the game!

So, who are these miracle workers you may be asking.... if only I knew all their names (however they respond really well to "erm excuse me.....", "hello thingy", "hi whatshisname", and even "OY!").Notwithstanding my lack of formality with names (or is it a memory thing, I wonder...), it is an absolute delight having Graham and his team of enthusiasts (thingy, whatshisname & OY), working in our garden. Each and every one of them are conscientious, honest, friendly and are always happy to help in any way they can.

The gardens are fairly large, so the new addition to Graham’s workforce in the shape of a ride on mower, has saved them hours of time, and me some money! So, thank you to the team, I’m so glad I found you."

I have some before pictures, but will publish them separately in another posting once the job is completed.

Its Fencing Season Again!

2007-09-20T18:42:00.000+01:00

Its really funny how jobs seem to come in batches - over the last few months its been grass cutting and jungle busting, now its moving back to more seasonal things - like fencing.

We actually love fencing, strange as it seems. The before and after shots are pretty spectacular and the look on customers faces is even better (note to self - try to capture some on video to add to blog).

Its been pretty quiet on the fencing front since the Nigel Morgan fencing marathon earlier in the summer, thankfully the boys seem to have forgotten the rain, wind and general nasty weather that surrounded that particular job.

Now all of a sudden, the flood gates have opened and I have done a load of quotes over the last few days for fencing - the great news is stock levels of panels and posts seem to have returned to normal and now lead times do not cause us the issues we had.

One really nice job we did was for a letting agent we do some work for. The tenant had no fence for about 9 months and so was overjoyed when I called him to measure up. He was even more happy when I said we would start the following day!

Replacing an old existing fence can be a mine field - this was no exception of course. The previous fencer had done all sorts of wonderful things to the posts, but a good heavy duty Kango from A4 Hire sorted the problem.

In no time at all, we turned a broken horrible fence into a nice new one - even fixing the gates for the neighbour to make it all secure again (all part of the service!)

Commercial Clearance

2007-09-15T16:19:00.000+01:00

As many of you know, we also get involved in lots of commercial work as well as normal domestic and home gardens.

We got a call a few weeks ago to come and price a job in Newbury - basically it consisted of 3 phases:

Cut hedges and clear access to a public footpath
Clear the garden area at the rear of the property
Provide ongoing garden and grounds maintenance

No job is guaranteed, but this one was right up our alley - it really is perfect for us and we love em. We are also highly competitive and at the end of the day the customer will not only go with the right outfit, the prices must be right too.

One of the other factors was that we do go the extra mile - I suggested the main hedge job was done over a weekend to minimise disruption in the car park and also reduce the noise of the chipper etc which was required for some of the larger branches.

As you can see from the picture, it really needed it. Also, working on Saturday brought us a very curious audience - we even had the chap who planted the trees and hedges 20 years ago stop and say hello!

The next phase was the rear garden. At some point in time somebody had cut the grass - I think it was Fred Flintstone by the look of the old machine!

It really was a bit of an exploratory venture into the bushes as they were so overgrown you could not actually see if it was a hedge or shrubs. It was basically hold your breath, get the hedge cutter going and jump in! We did discover some really nice shrubs which obviously need some pruning etc. The pictures show the before and after - there was also a set of steps leading from the Board Room window which could not be used - well now you can!

Some of the staff had never been to the back of the garden and they were really surprised once we had finished - we had some great comments.

The Maintenance Contract is about to start and we look forward to keeping this all up together.

Enjoy the pictures!

Rear Garden - Before and After

Steps from the Board Room

We've gone Green(er)!

2007-09-09T13:55:00.000+01:00

My view on the environment is pretty clear - we need to make all efforts to reduce emissions and stop global warming.

We have been using low emission two stroke oil for some time - whilst more expensive I want to make whatever contribution I can to cutting back CO2 and pollution where ever possible.

This being the case, I have now changed over to Bio-diesel (B100). This is made of 100% recycled vegtable oil (chip fat oil) or Vegtable oils like Oil Seed Rape.

Like a lot of people, I was a little sceptical about what it would do to the Landrover and if I would have problems etc - my Landrover dealer didn't comment one way or the other - so I decided to take the plunge and come what may.

I first became aware of Enfuels in Thatcham at a network meeting when they visited my BNI Chapter in Newbury. I thought it was a good idea, but was a bit shocked by the price (very similar to fossil diesel) so didn't really want to take a chance on any vehicle issues. Since then, the cost differential has changed, but this really isn't my reason to change (but it helps).

As to performance, I think the B100 fuel is probably slightly better - I really notice when towing a large trailer loaded with gear. AS to overall economy, its about the same really - I was expecting an improvement but that hasn't really been noticed.

All I can say is, the rumours about the Landrover smelling of chip fat are unfounded and I am happy to be making a difference - the exhaust fumes are odour free and basically water vapour.

One thing I would like to see is our so called committed government making some kind of concession to those of us who want to change - supporting our farmers who produce rape seed oil as a diesel substitute and cut our tax bills - especially those of us who rely on 4WD vehicles - rather than load our taxes, lets see a rebate for green use!

For more info on Bio-diesel, click through to Enfuels

Fruit Trees

2007-09-09T08:18:00.001+01:00

We are getting lots of calls from worried customers who have issues with their fruit trees being over-loaded with fruit - so much so that limbs are breaking off.

This year seems to have produced an abundance of fruit on most trees, probably due to the mild but wet summer and the early sunshine in the spring which produced loads of blossom.

This really highlights the problem of fruit trees which have not been pruned properly in the past. Unfortunately, there is not a lot which can be done at this time of the year - only to pick the fruit as soon it becomes ripe to minimise the risk of further damage, then get us in to sort out your trees over the late autumn and winter.

A well pruned fruit tree will actually produce more fruit of better quality. I have recently visited several properties where the only possible solution will be to cut down and remove some really lovely trees which have literally split in two - all the pruning in the world will not bring these back.

Fruit tree pruning is one of our specialities so why not give us a call or drop and email to us so we can get your fruit trees under control and producing for many years to come - just click on this link

Pond Clearance

2007-09-07T07:47:00.000+01:00

We recently did a slightly different job to the normal - this was part of a total garden clearance as well but it all links together really in the overall scheme of the look and feel of a garden.

This pond area was designed to be a major feature of this garden, however it had become very overgrown and the plants and weeds obviously thrived on the environment. Before we started, you could not actually see the water - we had to tread carefully to avoid a wet foot etc!

After a few hours of thinning, we managed to uncover a very nice pond feature and some really nice plants, all of which were covered in Bind Weed and Nettles before. We didn't discover any fish, but this pond had become a real haven for frogs, toads and newts which are always great to see.

We are due to re-visit this property in the winter months to do some fruit tree pruning, tidy up a very overgrown fruit area containing Redcurrant, Blackcurrant and Raspberry as well as doing more work on the pond area in readiness for the spring.

Beware of the Dog!

2007-09-05T09:36:00.000+01:00

I'm still trying to catch up on all the work and keep my Blog updated on recent events - it's a struggle!

Several funny things have happened over the last few weeks - several of which have been broadcast on air at Reading 107 via Neale James who I call pretty much every day during his breakfast show to give him an update on "The Spuds", my trusty assistants.

One story I have to tell you is the dog attack one. We have a good customer over in Inkpen near Newbury who own two German Shepard's. They have a large 6 foot high gate with "Beware of the Dogs" plastered all over it.

The driveway is a little awkward to drive into, so we have to reverse the trailer etc into it off the main road. I always get the boys to just see me back and warn the traffic etc. Well this day, Ric (AKA Alsatian Spud now) decided that it was a good idea to open the gates and let me in, despite the warning signs etc, so opened them and strolled in.

The two dogs thought this was Christmas and came bounding over at full speed barking. All I could see was a blur as Ric thought he would try to out-run them......not a chance!

One of the dogs latched onto his bum cheek as he tried to vault into the trailer and awaiting safety.....Luckily, there was no skin or clothes ripped in the process - the only damage was bruising of the rear and also his ego!

The worst thing was Ric trying to show us the "scars" and wanting first aid to the area - not even with rubber gloves matey!!!

The next few days were hilarious with Ric having to sit on the mower with a load of padding on one side.....Neale had a ball with this on air!

The next funny thing (I can laugh now) was Pete (AKA Landrover Spud) moving the Landrover forward just a few yards so we could get the mower off - a simple enough task you would think - not so.

I was in the yard just clearing up a few things when I heard an almighty crash and gravel skidding - only to look around and see Pete had run over my brand new strimmer!

I went a little mental as you can appreciate, especially when they tried to reverse back over it to get it out from under the trailer!!!

At least I can cut around corners now....again, Neale did a piece on this too - very amusing radio!

Our UK Wedding Reception

2007-08-23T20:29:00.000+01:00

As you know, My long suffering partner Karen and I got married in South Africa back in March. Not everybody could come and so we thought we would throw a UK Wedding reception for those who couldn't make the 5000 mile journey.

After the usual issues of sorting out a party, We set the date, Sunday August 5th, ordered the caterers - we went for a Hog Roast as just about everybody likes that (and a good friend of our provides catering etc) and sent the invites out.

As it happened, this was the hottest day of the year and luckily our friends Donna of Why Not Jewellery and Steve her hubby arranged a rather odd shaped but very effective marquee for us.
I must say the day started off really well - so great to see so many friends and family turn up - the usual suspects Neale and Sam James AKA Breathe Pictures, Paul and Cathy Rosier. Adam (what no Emma? - she was in hospital having just had their new daughter!) Hillier AKA Verbatim Call Centres , Nigel Morgan of Morgan PR(minus Diane due to holiday), to mention but a few....

As the day moved to evening, after the Hog Roast had been reduced to a bag of bones (this was probably the best Hog ever!) it was time to cut the cake kindly supplied by my Mum.

After this, things get a little blurred for yours truly - we made a big fire on the patio and all the "die hards" sat around talking the usual bull and getting slaughtered - Louis was pouring my drinks (he worked for me as a work experience the week before and Neale James picked on him everyday on his breakfast radio show) and so got his revenge - "Doing me Ugly" on the Brandy and Cokes (not much Coke me thinks!) until I passed out.

The next day I was done for. I don't think I have ever felt so ill on drink - I still can't touch a brandy after 4 weeks!

What a great party - can't wait until our anniversary now!

Picture 1 - The strange but useful tent

Picture 2 - The Catering Team hard at work!

Picture 3 - Cutting the cake - well on the way to being drunk!

Mega House Clearance!

2007-08-23T19:44:00.000+01:00

I had a call from one of our commercial customers which went along the lines of:

"We have 3 cottages we need you to take a look at - I think they might be a bit overgrown, but I am sure you can sort them for us".

So I popped over to take a look.......Well I have a Landrover and I struggled to get into the gate way as the grass was so tall!

Normally, this would be a case of just getting a tractor and paddock swipe and off we go, however access was a total problem as the 3 cottages all had small access and low trees etc making this a real problem.

After walking around the site - hoping not to be captured by some tribe that might be lurking - I came up with a solution to this problem - our awesome Etesia Mower with the windrow attachment and our trusty strimmers!

I was advised that the Etesia would not cope with grass so long, however with limited options we just got on with it. Luckily we had a good break in the weather and so the sun had dried out the grass otherwise I would have thought twice. So Ric D was set off on the Etesia, Pete was dispatched to the hedges (again so overgrown you cant believe it) and I set off with the strimmer to uncover paths and cut the roadside banks and boundaries.

After 5 days, we did manage to get this job completed - and the transformation is simply amazing - the pictures, whilst good, do not show the real difference but they will give you some idea.

We have just gone back and undertaken the first maintenance visit and I have to say that it is really looking great with the new green grass growth coming through - now we will be on a fortnightly visit to maintain the hard work.

Picture 1 - The Orchard - What no trees!

Picture 2 - Spot the Patio (and Path)!!

Picture 3 - An English Country Garden - well it is now!

The only casualty was a damaged drive belt on the Etesia which under the circumstances was pretty much expected - a truly great machine all round.

Its been a while.....

2007-08-23T19:29:00.001+01:00

It s been a while since I have posted on my blog - we have been totally mental busy as well as taking a week off with the kids so time has just run away with its self.

On the good side, we have done some cracking jobs - all of which I will up date you on as I get the pictures sorted out.

These include:-

A massive rockery which had totally over grown and we tamed
A fish pond which was just simply unbelievable - now you can see the water
A garden clearance to end all clearances - this nearly killed us but now amazing
An overgrown hedge on a busy road

All this plus:-

Our big UK Wedding reception
Our Holiday
Our YTS (Youth Training Scheme as was - now called work experience) Experiences
Our Dog Attack victim - poor Ric D!

I hope you enjoy reading the next few blog postings..

What a horrible week!

2007-07-28T09:59:00.000+01:00

This week has been a disaster.

Our first job this week was to do a garden clearance in Beedon near Newbury. When we arrived the poor house owner was trying to clear up the 2 foot of water which flooded off the field and into their house. Despite this, she still wanted us to do the hedges and borders that we had agreed to do a few weeks earlier for the party they had planned for this Saturday - nothing damps the spirit really!

The next few days were a washout, Tuesday we couldn't do anything so I helped the local horse farmer Cliff Percy of Snelsmore Sheltand Ponies collect some hay from Swindon - hay is in very short supply and nothing will be made much this year. As we left Swindon, Cliff noticed there was oil on the back of the car. I couldn't see where it was coming from so we limped home.

Wednesday morning I went to Lancaster Landrover in Thatcham, where I was presented with a bill for £850 for the repairs to an oil seal from the 4WD transfer box. Luckily no other damage found. We did manage to cut one lawn before the heavens opened.

Thursday was rained off once more - my machines have never been so serviced and cleaned!

Friday was good - we managed to cram in about 10 jobs from last week and caught up on a few from this week - I even did my own grass before it got too dark! We did manage a curry with Adam and Emma and Neale and Sam - the ciders did flow as we all had terrible weeks - Adam had his car written off due to flood damage.

Today, I am going fishing - I could work but enough now - time for some relaxation. We haved no kids this weekend so me and the wife Karen will go into town and check out a few bars -maybe go to the Corn Exchange and probably end up in the Madagascan Gin Palace for a meal - get the table ready Richard!!

Next week has to be better - the forecast is for a heatwave over August - I cant wait!!

Rain DID Stop Play!

2007-07-21T08:06:00.000+01:00

Normally, we still do a certain amount of work in the rain, however yesterday was something else - rain on a biblical proportion.

We live about half way down a hill and so would expect not to ever get a problem with rain, floods or anything else like that. There are several springs in the woods above us and many large ditches and water courses which flow from the woods, through the surrounding fields and off to catchment and soak-away pits at the bottom of the hill.

Yesterday morning first thing I had to drive into town to do banking etc and got soaked just walking around the town. When I left home there was a few puddles etc, but on my return at about 10am, it was a different picture all together with loads of laying water and large areas of the road covered.

I was due to pick my daughter up from school at 12:30 and was amazed at the roads. We have 3 ways of getting to our house - the normal way was probably about 4 foot deep and was flowing like a river, the 2nd way has a large dip in the road - also completely full to about 6 foot and the final way is a gravel track through the woods, which without 4WD would have been impassable as this was basically now a fast flowing river too.

Luckily, one of the mums from school gave my daughter a lift to Donnington (which was also under water) and I collected her from there. Meanwhile Daughter nos 2 was stranded also but made her way to a mates house on top of the hill behind us. On arrival, his house was flooded so I spent the next few hours digging out trenches to move the water from his house and ease the flow from the drains.

All roads around us were flooded, the New Oxford Road, the A34 and the B4009. Karen the wife was on a course in Oxford and was stuck on the A34 for a few hours but managed to get off at Wantage and come the back roads - again thankfully she has a 4WD too otherwise she would not have made it through the back roads which were full of abandoned cars.

Now will the government see that people who live in the country NEED 4WD vehicles and stop persecuting us!!

I know people in Thatcham and Newbury suffered a load more than us, but I have never seen anything like this - and hope never to again.

Today its bright sunshine and you would never guess what happened yesterday - whats happening to the world - I think we should be very concerned for the future and our effects on nature.

No pictures unfortunately as my mate was due to return my camera yesterday - I'm glad he didn't even try!

The Dreaded Wasp Nest

2007-07-20T11:51:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we took on a new contract in Highclere near Newbury for a very large house with loads of grounds. The family moved in about 3 weeks ago and so the grounds have not been touched for some while.

As with all new contracts, the first visit is the worst as you do not know the ground, the grass is long and thick and the edges have been neglected - so it takes ages. The owner had asked me to destroy a few wasp nests around the garden and outbuildings.

We found 3 pretty much straight away as there were high levels of wasp activity around the property - one particularly nasty one at the base of the house, one in the roots of a willow tree and one in the shed.

Rather than gas these whilst we are still working and risk getting stung, we set to work getting all the grass cut, Rick on the Etesia ride on and Pete and I with strimmers. All was going well until Rick went flying past me on the mower and disappeared down the drive at full speed - arms waving about in the air.

I switched off my strimmer, lifted my ear defenders and shouted to him - It appears he found another wasps nest in the orchard - with the mower! Not only did he go over it once but then reversed over it to get a better cut of the grass, hence making the Jaspers even more angry.

Wasps do attack - I have no idea how Rick didn't get stung as he also managed to suck up a load in the collector and dumped them on the grass heap too.

Unfortunately I have no pictures or video of this event but it was pretty funny. Needless to say it made my job of wasp control even more difficult as the wasps were highly aggressive and not prepared to have any further invasions.

I did give all the nests a really good treatment and will revisit later in the week to check all the nests are clear.

More Turfing

2007-07-18T11:34:00.000+01:00

On Monday, we did a garden clearance and turfing job in Oxford for a good contact of ours, Andy Foulds of 0800 Handyman. If you have never come across 0800 Handyman before, its a really great idea for people who don't have time to do the little jobs around the house like putting up pictures, shelves etc.

We don't normally go as far as Oxford, but as it was Andy we made the exception. Andy did the survey for me to keep costs down of travelling and I must say his measurements were spot on (as you would expect from a tradesman I suppose!).

I was warned it was a little weedy, but with all the rain etc this garden was something else. Anyway, we did a load of hand pulling of weeds - approx 2 cubic meter bags full to be exact, then got stuck in with the rotavator to break down the thick clay soil. The development we were working on was typical of getting as many houses on the estate as possible, then the designers realising that access needs to be made to get into the garden so they put a tiny pathway down the back. This causes major problems with getting equipment and materials to the garden.

Despite this, we got the ground prepared and the turf laid and changed a jungle into a beautiful lawn. Good job the rain has been pretty constant since then as turf needs tons of water in the early days to ensure root growth.

What did I let myself in for!

2007-07-16T18:00:00.001+01:00

Neale James and me (the handsome one) warming up the crowd!

I made a bit of a wise crack on the phone to Neale James of Reading 107fm when I called into the show last week about taking him to open a gig at Wellington Country Park on Sunday as he would probably be too drunk to drive....as it turned out, it was the other way round!

Usually on a Friday night, several of us have a few beers just to end the week off - this week being no exception. Neale and Sam, Adam and Emma and Me and Karen all had a few when Neale suggested that it would be a good idea to introduce a few of the Breakfast show characters over the coming months and it would be a good idea for me to come to the gig and get a feel for it - obviously I said yes (as you do after a few!).

It only really dawned on me on Saturday what I had actually let myself in for - the warm up act for Marvellous 07 in front of a possible 3000 people!

Now I am game for a laugh, but have never been in such an environment before - my role was to be introduced as "Gardener Graham" off the Radio show and help Neale to whip the crowd into a frenzy - me carrying the prize bag whilst Neale did his stuff and got the crowds going.

On the way there, Adam and I had a couple of Ciders just to calm the nerves - Adam was taking the photos for the event for Neale's Blog at 107fm.

When we arrived, the guy in charge, Pete, and Phil the stage manager ushered us into the back to run through what was going to happen and the bands who were to perform - then Phil tried to get me hooked up with a microphone etc - I politely refused his kind offer as you can expect!

Our time arrived and Neale launched into his much practiced and polished warm up routine which drew the crowds to come to the front of the stage - we then went down to the front to ask a few quiz questions so the crowd could dip into the "Prize Bag". The prizes consisted of a swede, leek, carrot, cauliflower and a spud of course!

Unfortunately, our time was cut short as the act Voulez Vous, an ABBA tribute band was ready to go on and we only had chance to get one winner - but never the less it was a brilliant experience, even if it was totally scary.

Big thanks to Neale - you really got me this time!

The expectant crowd

Pictures by Adam from Breathe Pictures

A funny thing happened.....

2007-07-13T17:24:00.000+01:00

....on the way home to the office!

Today I was forced to spend a large portion of the day in the office with the accounts. Not the most thrilling thing I want to do on a Friday but these things have to be done.

My Accountant Sheila Tompkins of Summit Office Services and I have had a long standing relationship where we have worked together on both large and small companies and systems and as a Sage person she is fantastic. Over the years we have had quite a few laughs over my attempts to challenge accounting practice and her company initials SOS are usually very appropriate when she has to come in and rescue my accounts.

Today was no exception - how she finds out the things I have done on this system is a mystery - but thankfully she does, then spends the day putting it all right for me.

Sheila also comes in to sort out the Wife Karen's Accounts for The Best of Newbury and Webbuildpro - Newbury too so she generally spends a whole day with us.

Anyway, today my accounts were finished in good time, so off I went to get some machines from Paul at A4 Hire in Hungerford for a job on Monday. I was just finishing off with the guys, chatting about the Shalfest Beer Festival which seemed high on the agenda this weekend, when the phone went.

It was Karen asking me how long I would be as we had a bit of a problem with Sheila's car. I said I would be home in 10 mins and so set off.

As I pulled into the lane, I was greeted by a very red faced Sheila who whilst reversing out of the drive had hit the accelerator and not the break - ramming her Mini Cooper up the bank and into the hedge!

Now I have to be honest, I did titter -actually I almost manured myself !

Picture shows me getting the car out of the hedge for her - I didnt trust her to try as she would probably take out a gate post as she shot forward!

Luckily, no real damage (only to pride) was inflicted to car or driver - but it did brighten up what was a pretty ordinary day!

New Machine added

2007-07-13T07:45:00.000+01:00

This week, after lots of investigation and research, I decided to add a new machine to the fleet.

I read loads of articles on the web and also in magazines like NFU Countryside's mag, which features very good reviews on machinery, before finally going to see Neil at Kalehurst Machines in Hermitage near Newbury.

The great thing about going to Kalehurst is they actually know what they are doing - not only for domestic customers but commercial and trade as well.

After spending several hours chatting through requirements, advantages and disadvantages of various machines, I decided that the John Deere X540 was simply not suitable for the type of work we do - even though it is a superb machine and would eat the jobs we have, it is simply too big to go into most of our customer's gardens.

I settled on the Etesia Bahia, which is basically the Hydro 80 commerical machine without lights and a horn (but significantly cheaper!!). I know it looks a little strange and not like a tractor as most machines look like now but its really well built and very strong - essential for us as its on and off a trailer several times a day.

This 80cm cut machine is perfect to go through normal sized garden gates, but definitely man enough to cope with long and wet grass. We opted for a collector type mower, rather than a mulcher as most of our customers want the grass collected.

Yesterday, we tackled a lawn which we had to cut a few weeks ago with a tractor and swipe. The weather has stopped us getting back on this lawn until yesterday. When we pulled into the drive yesterday I did think that the swipe would be required again as the grass had grown to about 6 - 8 inches long.

As we unloaded the mower, I thought it best to tackle the shortest area first, but Ric just put it in gear and ploughed straight into the main area - I was mistaken as the Bahia simply ate the grass and popped it straight into the collector. During the whole day we never had a single grass jam - most impressive on such long and wet grass.

The customer actually called me later in the day to say how impressed she was with the finish - she never believed her lawn would ever look good considering the mess it was in - another happy customer!

So far I have managed to use it once (on my own lawn actually) - the guys simply wont let me near it and squabble amongst themselves as to who will be using it!

Big thanks to Neil at Kalehurst for his advice and his team for getting it ready so quickly for us.

A Great way to start your day!

2007-07-12T16:48:00.000+01:00

Over the years I have listened to many breakfast radio shows on the way to work.

There are several things that are important to me: news, weather (not more rain!), traffic jams etc but most of all to get you energised for a long day digging or mowing.

I have tried national and local - but over the last few months I have been listening to Reading 107 fm.

Whilst reception in Newbury can leave a lot to be desired, I am willing to live with the cracking and occasional loss of signal so I can listen to Neale James's show. It's hilarious.

Me and the wife have know Neale and lovely wife Sam for a few years but have never really seen the alter-ego broadcaster (well only after a few Magners or Brandy and Cokes!).

We call in to the show most mornings depending on our final destination, but as we do quite a bit of work in Reading we usually get him for long periods whilst sat on the M4 carpark. We generally chat about the places we are going that day - or relay a funny story - but most of all to guess the mystery year - which we pretty much get most of the time!

I keep trying for the money quiz but never seem to get through on this - come on Neale I need to money and I get most of the questions right!!

The new Reading 107 website has allowed Neale to create a page to outline the shows characters - mine is Gardener Graham and the Spuds - we have our own tune "Can you dig it".

I urge you to give the show a try - 7am - 10am Monday to Friday - contribute and email or phone in to the show and try to get a character for yourself.

Garden Clearance like no other....

2007-07-08T07:26:00.000+01:00

Picture: Spot the madman on the tractor!

We try our best to help customers out. We move heaven and earth to fit in jobs which must be done for one reason or another. This weekend was no exception.

I had a call late Thursday from a customer who we have a large garden clearance job booked with us in a few weeks time. This customer manages some very large properties in the Newbury area and most are, or are about to be renovated.

Anyway, the call went along the lines of "Can you pop and see a really urgent job for me - we need to get the Walled Garden cleared before next week". So I was given the address and off I went Thursday evening. Now I am pretty good at finding places, but this one was a challenge - luckily the local gamekeeper was passing and pointed me in the right direction.

As I pulled into the drive of this massive house, the Walled Garden was easy to spot as it was surrounded by a 10 foot high wall - hence the name I suspect! I walked over to the gate and pushed - nothing happened - so I pushed harder and it slowly moved a few inches, just enough for me to see a wall of brambles and nettles at least 8 feet high!

A feeling of dread washed over me as I squeezed in. I have never seen anything like it. I beat a retreat and walked around the side, where luckily there was a full sized gate. Nothing short of a serious tractor and brushcutter would cope with this.

So Friday morning I sorted out a tractor and swipe from the guys at A4 Hire in Hungerford for collection later in the day.

The picture above shows me on the tractor during my first pass - the area itself was about 1 acre - full of Horse Flies, wasps, mosquitoes and other nasty flying objects and the ground was littered with rocks, branches and tree stumps - driving blind on unknown ground is very scary as many people turn tractors over when swiping - so progress was slow.

I don't think I have every been stung and bitten so much.

Anyway, job done, customer sorted and area restored to normal.

Fencing Marathon Ends in Hungerford

2007-07-06T07:04:00.000+01:00

The Morgan Project is completed.

The really great thing about a large project is the before and after pictures are really radical.

During the job, you don't have time to sit and look too much - you are focused on making sure you are on time and doing the best job possible, overcoming the myriad of problems that get thrown at you, making sure the materials are on site (and correct!) etc etc.

I often puzzle at some tradesmen. When I have had work done at my house by electricians or plumbers etc, they seem to spend most of their time at the wholesalers getting parts and bits. These are not generally "odd bits" but the run of the mill stuff like switches, tee joints, elbows etc - every day bits that you must have to do any job - a real mystery. Most tradesmen have a large transit van or the like - surely a bit of on board stock would be better rather than a ton of rubbish which generally fills them?

This would drive me mental as I do not want to leave site to get materials. I always plan and get everything delivered to my office - or have them ready for collection the night before or at least early in the morning on the way to the job. Sometimes you have to leave site if you run into a problem, but generally you make a plan.

The only problem we faced with materials was a few hinges believe it or not! I tried 2 suppliers and couldn't get any - so Nigel popped down the town and found some for me whilst we carried on finishing off.

The before and after pictures were kindly supplied by Nigel - I hope you agree the new fence makes a big difference to the look of the garden.

Day 3 of Fencing project in Hungerford

2007-07-04T19:29:00.000+01:00

Today was our final day at Nigel Morgan's home.

Having really gained time yesterday, we hoped to be away in good time today, however I jinxed the job by wearing my summer shorts, and so we had bad weather - rain, thunder and high winds - as well as finding every conceivable problem we could at every turn. The only thing we didn't find was a UXB! (Un-exploded bomb for those who didn't know!) but I did think we probably would.

As part of my fencing team, my Dad really loves to do the tricky work. He is quite a character and always has the "During the war" type stories and always says things like "You don't want to do it like that" and "When I was a boy" which has the lads rolling about. I do like working with him and so do the lads - cheers Dad you are a Diamond Geezer.

On our last job, he managed to rip one sole off his boot and had to tape it all up etc - he looked a right plonker - that was until the other sole fell off too and he had to walk around with two sole-less boots for the day - classic!

Nigel provided the bacon sarnies again, but this time saved some for himself - he is a quick learner - and also kept us supplied with tea and cakes all day:
Note to other customers, the precedent is now set and my terms and conditions now reflect bacon sarnies and cakes for every job in the future......!

Anyway, this job was finally completed - on time allowed and within budget - despite a few minor "additions", but the results are quite stunning - both Nigel and wife Diane are very pleased - and so are the neighbours too by all accounts.

The lads are knackered, but on to the next job - tomorrow we are cutting 9 lawns and digging a few borders - weather permitting of course!

I have done my second Pod-cast and I must admit it is really powerful and effective - I have had a few calls from readers and mates who really like the idea and want to know more about it - Nigel has got this off to a fine art now and once my camera returns, I will be doing some more - yes I am hooked!

Please see Podcast attached - any comments would be appreciated

Day 2 of Hungerford fencing project

2007-07-03T19:45:00.000+01:00

Picture: It's just stopped raining on day 1

Today we were back in Hungerford working on Nigel Morgan's mammoth fencing project. As projects go, it been a really nice one - a virgin fence IE no digging out old posts etc and just digging new holes on our line rather than trying to follow "Blind Pew's" existing fence.

The great thing about virgin fencing is that it looks amazing from the before and after shots and really gives a huge impact to the overall look of the garden. The other good thing is you can easily use a hole boring machine.

These machines are fearsome. You need to be totally alert and "feel" what you are drilling - or it will throw you about like a rag doll. Believe me I have the bruises to prove it - especially where you don't want to have bruises.

One of my guys, Rick, is pretty small in stature, but very strong and so goes into battle with the dreaded hole borer on virtually every fencing job we do. I liken it to David and Goliath. Today Goliath had his revenge. It was spectacular and so funny I almost had an accident.

Nigel had just persuaded me to do my first Podcast and I must admit I am not a lover of video, but I am always prepared to listen and learn from my marketing guru, so went along with it. I dispatched the boys to the furthest corner of the garden so they would not distract (or worse take the mickey!) and did it on the first take.

The great shame is that Nigel had just gone in and missed Rick's tango with Goliath - which would have been far more entertaining to watch! Basically, Rick pulled the starter cord and the machine literally jumped into action - throttle wide open and off it went - with Rick holding on to the starter cord dancing around the garden - this thing has a 9" auger drill which revolves really quickly and jumps about all over the place. I couldn't do anything for laughing - the look on his face was legend!! Finally it fell over and Rick dived on the stop switch - but how funny was that - if only it was on video we could have got £250 from You've been Framed without question!

Today we had gourmet bacon sarnies - Nigel just appeared with them and I must admit they were very good - shame he used all the bacon on us and forgot himself - live and learn mate!

Tomorrow is our last day and its just the fiddly bits to do and finish - these are the important bits that make the difference between a good and a great job - we pay a lot of attention to this as its so important to us the customer is truly happy - and it gets us our money quicker too as well as good referrals to other customers.

I am going to try and post my Podcast and a few pictures of the job for you. Ps Nigel has put it on his blog too www.morganpr.blogspot.com if I get it wrong!

Rain doesn't stop play!

2007-07-03T07:44:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we started a major fencing job in Hungerford for Nigel Morgan of Morgan PR.

We finally got the long awaited panels after close on 8 weeks, and with jobs building up, the start dates were fixed in stone for this week - come hell or high water.

The rain was torrential virtually all day - we did enjoy the 15 mins of sunshine which just gave us enough hope to carry on.

Nigel made the customary offer of help - the sort of offer we all make when you see anybody struggling against the odds - but I would not subject any normal person to this kind of abuse. This is reserved for the slightly deranged, or the clinically insane - I am not sure yet which category we fall into!

Big thanks to my intrepid crew who carried on all day with hardly a complaint - and of course to Nigel for the tea and cakes throughout the day, which we consumed under the gazebo which acted as shelter during the heaviest downpour.

Nigel did take "before, during and will take after shots" (once completed) so I will get those in due course - and I am sure he will do a blog on this too http://www.morganpr.blogspot.com

Despite the weather, the job has gone extremely well - a bit slower than normal due to the rain but a vast improvement on the previous fence.......will update on progress as it happens.

A Funny Fencing Story

2007-06-30T14:52:00.000+01:00

Farmers are a different breed.

During my life, I have met loads of farmers and have worked on several farms too - the one common denominator is that farmers are all the same. Is there a "farmers finishing school" somewhere that train them in funny ways as part of a final exam or something?

Why am I going on about this? Well this week we were working on an old farm house, which was sold off at some point and is not owned by the farmer anymore. I have met the two brother farmers a few months ago when I was doing a big hedge cutting job, and they were very pleasant and bemused by my hedge cutting platform as they had not seen this before - but very chatty etc.

This week we put up a new fence between the old farm house and the farm. We pitched up on Monday morning during the most horrendous rain seen for a long while and started to clear the old fence and trim the bushes to allow us free access for putting up the new fence. There were about 4 old fences behind the old panel fence we were replacing - all at different lines where various fences had been built over the years - we cleared them all to make sure the finished job looked great.

As we were doing this, both farmer brothers came and spoke to us, wanting to know what we were doing, how were we doing it, chatting about weather and farming and all sorts of stuff - very interested etc. We decided to call it a day for Monday as the rain got worse and we could not really do much more. They waved us off as we left.

Next morning, the weather held off so we attacked this job full swing, trying to make up the lost time. Again our farmer friends came over to see what were were doing and chat etc. The farmer brothers watched us mark out dig our first holes and set our marker posts. We then started on the panels - putting up 4 in relatively short time - with two teams digging holes and fixing posts etc you can really crack on.

Then the sting came. Brother 1 - the older one - drove slowly past and stopped. He wound down the window and shouted "You're doing a great job boys - shame its all got to come down".

I stood there laughing - a little nervously of course - then asked him why.
He got out of the land rover and came over. "That's the wrong boarder line" was his comment.

I said that we had followed the line of the old panel fence, he agreed that we did, but said that the old fence was wrong too! He then showed us a tiny post almost buried by dirt 3 inches back from our line "That's the boundary marker" he said. " You will have to take it all down and move it" was the last comment as he walked off chuckling to himself. To make matters worse, the ground in question was a dumping area of god knows what - digging holes in this stuff was a nightmare!

Normally I am pretty laid back and calm, but the boys knew I was about to launch so scattered in all directions. It is very difficult to argue with somebody when you don't know the facts - so we just took down the panels, managed to remove the posts - then set about re-digging the holes and starting again.

Why the farmer brothers didn't say something when they stood and watched us I don't know - that's the mystery about farmers - they all do it!

About an hour later, Brother 2 drove past chuckling and asked how it was all going - how I remained polite and courteous is still a mystery to me (and the boys).

As it happened, this incident re-doubled our efforts and we managed to erect the complete fence in the afternoon (and evening!) and it looked fantastic.

I told our customer the story yesterday and we did laugh about it after the event.
He is just delighted to have one proper fence to keep out the crazy farmers!

Great excuse for no pictures - I have lent my camera to my mate Richard to take on holiday....

Happy Customer

2007-06-22T11:31:00.000+01:00

We have recently completed a really nice job which has been going on for quite a few months on and off over at Oxenwood near Hungerford. We have been working with our great friend Annie Nicholl of Annie Nicholl Garden Design who is simply brilliant at getting the planting and design schemes just right - She is so good, she designed my garden!

This job started about December and my first involvement was to dig a trench for a new Beech hedge and dig over some ancient flower beds which had not been touched for about 25 years - the digging was tough - but the weather was worse. Being on the edge of Salisbury Plain, we have seen some amazing extremes of weather including high winds, driving rain, snow and even blistering heat as well.

The customer was great, always on hand to assist and get feedback throughout the job and really hands on at every opportunity - with a project of this size sharing the pain and the success really make the whole job go so much better.

We used our friends at A4 Hire in Hungerford extensively for a range of diggers, rotovators, power harrows and god knows what else over the months and as always they were very helpful and had everything we needed.

Our final day was about a week ago when we did the icing on the cake - the turf. Rolawn Medallion turf is the best and we use this all the time - a bit more costly but nice turf which lays well and looks great from day one.

The customer wrote some kind words which he has allowed me to use as follows:

"We have recently undertaken a significant "makeover" of our largish garden. The team from Garden4You were major contributors to the success of the project. Excellent planning and high quality, cost-effective solutions from a team who were a pleasure to have on site and for whom nothing was too much trouble."

DH of Oxenwood

The Team really liked working here - I can't wait until the next project!

PS Pictures to follow......

Grass & Hedge Cutting in full swing

2007-06-15T17:35:00.000+01:00

As well as loads of grass cutting being tackled, we are also flat out on hedges too.

You know when your grass is long when you have to hire a tractor and a paddock swipe to get in the gate! We did two jobs last week where we were confronted with jungles - one was Yogi's owners who needed the front paddock cutting down to size as well as strimming off Yogi's run - the other was a new customer who wanted a first cut.

We hired a tractor and swipe from A4 Hire in Hungerford as Paul and his team are very helpful and priced right and set off to do the jobs. Yogi's house was pretty easy really, but then the other one made up for it. When a 40hp tractor in low range first gear still can't get through the grass you know you are in trouble.

We did manage to finish it and then cleared 2 huge trailer loads of hay off the garden.

As for hedges, one of the best tools I have bought has been the chipper. I devastates all manner of vegetation and reduces the mass to a more manageable level as well as making clearing up much quicker - also it produces really good compost material or wood chips for the garden.

My chipper is a Jobeau, acquired from Neil and Kalehurst Garden Machines in Hermatige (see picture). This machine caters for the mid range chipper market and really does a brilliant job - maximum capacity is about 4" of Leylandii or Willow but in bang for buck terms, really kicks arse against the more costly chippers out in the market.

We have put most stuff through it and I have had no problems to speak of - the blades are a little difficult to change but this only needs to be done about every 30 - 40 hours of use - unless the guys put stones in it!

Before we bought it, Neil said "Bring in a few branches etc and we will show you it working". Rather foolish thing to say when you are half way through a tree clearance job - so we turned up at the shop with trailer loaded up to the brim.

After the shock, Neil wheeled out the chipper and we all set to work chipping the trailer load. I was impressed to say the least and ordered one the next day (Neil said I would!). Since then, its been pretty much in constant use - a good investment.

Building patios

2007-06-07T17:02:00.000+01:00

This week has been a real tough one - we are all completely done in.

The week started with a patio in the middle of Newbury. Not only did we have to cope with the normal problems of working in town, but then the added problem of parking and site access added to the trauma!

I recently bought a really great all round flat bed trailer with all the cage sides etc and ramps to cater for just about every eventuality from Reading based Indespension.

I must say, the manager Ron was really brilliant - he knew exactly what I wanted as a gardener/landscaper and also did a good deal. I literally drove to Richfield Avenue, looked at the stock he had (which was pretty impressive I must say), then did the deal. I had to wait about an hour for the PID to be completed but then hooked up and away with it. Great service chaps!

Anyway, before I went off on one, the only issue is reversing into impossible gaps with a trailer....God it drove me mental so I was stressed before the start!

It had been a few weeks since I had seen the site, but I couldn't believe how much it had grown - trees and bushes seemed to be everywhere..so we set about clearing the area.

All went reasonably well but as with all these jobs, things happen to change this once you get started. The main tree we wanted to save as a feature ended up having such shallow roots that we decided rather than dig down to get our area level, we needed to add a small retaining wall to raise the level instead.

This meant getting some bricks. There was no way I was going to attempt the reversing again so decided to send one of the lads up to Jewsons with a wheelbarrow....how they laughed and took the Mickey as Rick trundled through the security barrier with a barrow loaded with bricks! If only I had more time and less stress we all could have had a load of fun at Rick's expense - I could have sent him back for a long weight, a left handed screwdriver, some sky hooks etc.

As it turned out, the patio looked great, we had a few late nights getting it finished on time but the customer was delighted.

I didn't remember the camera for the before - but the after shot looks pretty good.

Global Domination.....

2007-05-31T20:25:00.000+01:00

It had to happen at some point.

You can't run successful businesses without the odd thought of taking over the world - well today I had my first trans-Atlantic enquiry.

Though the power of Google, I was found by a lady in New York, USA who wants to give a gift of our gardening services to a close relative.

Initially, I didn't read the email too closely - general fatigue and years of "skim reading" only allow you to see certain parts that interest you - so I had mental visions of a flight to New York to do a site survey, leading to all sorts of ideas of how to get the equipment over there, or invest in a New York office etc.

Then I read it again - the recipient of the gift lives in Newbury, Berks.

I was a little disappointed not to go to NY, but nevertheless I would love to do this for the lady in question.

Anybody in South Africa who wants a bit of gardening - please just email me as I don't need too many excuses to go there!!

I am glad to see that all the money I spend on Google each month gets me found - nice one Google and of course my fantastic website as supplied by Webbuildpro

Wasps - beware!

2007-05-30T20:37:00.000+01:00

Today I spent the day at Bicton College near Exeter. Why I hear you ask?

As well as doing the normal garden maintenance, I also get involved in dealing with garden pests. I control everything from Deer, foxes and rabbits to rats, mice, moles and of course insects.

I attended a wasp control refresher course arranged by a supplier of mine lead by the British Pest Control Association.

Wasps are a total pain - sometimes quite literally. Nothing is more annoying than having wasps buzzing around you when sat outside. Some people are also allergic to the stings, including my wife Karen I might add who has a very nasty reaction to them - anaphalactic shock - and requires immediate medical attention.

I have always been fascinated by Wasps as they build incredible nests and fiercely guard their queen. There are 3 types of wasps:

English Wasp

German Wasp - easily recognised by the towels they carry to reserve prime sites!

Hornet

Both the German Wasp and the Hornet are on the increase in the UK.
They are all dealt with in a similar way, but all have differing degrees of aggressiveness towards potential attacker - especially with insecticides. I have dealt with many nests over the years and have suffered quite a few stings - but Hornets still scare me witless.

Only last week, the wife and I were sat watching a film and I heard a scratching noise from the fire place. I got a torch and looked in - only to have a huge Hornet look right back at me. These things have bad attitude and I give no quarter to them - so a handy block of firewood dealt the killer blow.

Another time, we had one fly into the kitchen and literally dive bombed us - I had to hit it with a squash racket in mid flight to sort it - not nice!

Anyway, the good thing is we are at hand to deal with all your wasp and creepy crawlies - we are just a call away!

High winds bring down more trees

2007-05-29T05:17:00.000+01:00

The freak weather we suffered over the bank holiday brought a fair few trees down.

We had a call from a desperate customer who had a willow tree taken down across their drive and were asked if we could clear it.

Whilst we are totally stacked out with work, we will always try to fit in emergency jobs where ever possible, so from the customer placing the initial enquiry to actually completing the job was about 5 hours!

Is funny how when you ask the customer what size is the tree, they always say its not very big. When we arrived, this thing was huge. A willow is quite a handful as it has so many branches, but luckily they cut pretty easily and the chipper handles them very well.

Nobody really appreciates just how much wood is in a tree but we had a good 2.5 tonnes of wood and 5 cubic metres of wood chips to deal with - but a happy customer as well.

Unfortunately, I forgot the camera so no piccies this time......note to self - put camera in truck!

For the love of a dog

2007-05-27T20:03:00.000+01:00

I get some strange and unusual calls from time to time - last week there was one I have not had before.

I got a call from a really nice couple who had just moved into a beautiful farm cottage near Inkpen. Basically the problem was that they have a small Norfolk type terrier which has never been in the countryside as it has lived in London, which now had a huge garden and wood to run around in - with no fence.

When I went to look at this job, the rain was pouring down and both the customer and I got soaked walking round the site. We agreed that the best thing to do was a rabbit type fence around the back garden.

I must be getting soft because I agreed to work on the Bank Holiday Saturday as the dog could not live there without the fence. Having been without my dogs in the past when moving houses I know how this feels.

As it turned out, the fence was a nightmare to put up and it took all of Saturday plus Sunday morning - again working in the pouring rain, but we got it finished and Yogi now has a brilliant run - the enclosure is approx 180 square metres, and I have a delighted customer.

One really good thing was the bacon sarnies, cake and constant flow of tea - I wish all customers were like this!

The rest of the plans for the weekend were scuppered due to the awful weather - I was due to go salmon and sea trout fishing with my uncle and cousin in Devon, but instead me and the wife lit a big fire as it was so cold, crawled under the blankie and watched films all day - luckily the kids were at "sleepovers" so we had peace and quite all day.

Turf, Turf and more Turf

2007-05-24T05:01:00.001+01:00

We have been flat out sorting out a customers "Jungle" over the last few days.

I first saw this job back in December. The customer's family wanted to give their mum a large lawn area where a veg patch once stood. It's been pretty neglected over the years and had grown into the "before" picture you see above.

After a few hours digging out the biggest dandelion and thistles I think I have ever come across, we rotovated and leveled the area in preparation to turf. As with all surfaces, preparation is the key to getting a great lawn and unfortunately this takes time to get it right. I think the results are obvious when its done properly

I have started using a new turf provider who is proving to be most reliable - he actually turns up when I want him rather than waiting around or simply just dumping the turf and running. I am using Rolawn turf as I have tried many different types over the years and Rolawn is about the best you can get - a little pricey in comparison with the "meadow turf" providers, but a whole lot better.

What you get is a uniform turf, fully fertilised and weed free with a rich soil backing, making the new lawn take more quickly and giving it a head start.

My advice to customers is pay a little more and get a better job - you only want to do this job once. It's like painting your windows - a horrid task but you use the best paint not stuff you got cheap down the market!

We also did another turf job as well this week. We cleared this unused area of old shrubs a few weeks ago and the customer decided to rotovate the area himself - not a problem for us. He did a pretty good job, but paid a hefty price for doing it himself - he put his back out and spent hours (and many £'s) getting it fixed at the osteopath ......also it screwed up his golf swing for days too!

Wedding Blog by Neale James

2007-05-20T07:47:00.000+01:00

I hadn't realised, but Neale and Sam James of Breathe Pictures , our mates who came with us to South Africa for our wedding and did the wedding photography for us has been writing a blow by blow story of our visit to SA.

When I do get a moment to sit down and have some "me time", I check out all the people I know who are writing blogs, but because its so busy I hadn't been there for a while - what a nice surprise.

I am not sure how Neale finds the time - he has just taken over the breakfast show for Radio station Reading 107FM which is very funny - its just a shame we have such difficulty picking it up in Newbury - well worth a listen to. I am sure they have caller ID on the phone line to the studio as I can never get through - perhaps not a bad thing as I am sure we would get into trouble......I still owe you mate....revenge will come!

Go and look at Neale's Blog - he writes well and has a few sneak pictures - they are still working on our wedding album but I have seen a few pictures and they are superb.

Other blogs to visit are:

Nigel Morgan - Mr PR - always current news and stories

Richard Hayman - Madagascan Gin Palace - has re-started after a while

If you are a regular to my blog, let me know other sites worth a read

New addition to the family

2007-05-19T07:04:00.000+01:00

Picture: Ginger the tortoise

Gosh I can hear you say, they have only just got married!

Well let me tell you, two kids are more than enough - our house seems like a hotel with multiple kids drifting in and out at all times of day and night as the new thing is "sleepovers" - an excuse to get out of chores and homework as well as eating everything in the cupboard.

We have however had the patter of tiny feet this week - the arrival of Fred and Ginger.

My wife has always been on about two animals - giraffes and tortoises. Whilst I would love to have a giraffe, she had to make do with tortoises for her birthday as a suprise.

When I was a kid, me and my brother had a tortoise each. These things just walked around the garden and ate everything, then we would stuff them in the airing cupboard over winter and that was that.

What a different story today. I arranged for the little blighters to arrive after our Italian trip, but before then we were sent an extensive owners manual with loads of do's and dont's - frankly it scared me to death (and Karen too!).

I bought them from a really helpful company The Tortoise Shop who talked me through the original purchase and have provided phone "support" already to a panicking new mother!

I decided to get two tortoises as I am a great believer in not having a single animal as I am sure they loose their will to survive and have a better quality of life etc.

When they arrived, Karen and her mate Donna of WhyNot Jewellery were worse than two kids - I have never seen anything like it. I was left to build the enclosure and get the lights etc set up while they sat and "warmed them up" - the poor things were sent by TNT and spent the night in a box on a van!

Once placed in their enclosure, they sprang to life and literally ran around, and they started eating, and eating ,and eating.....in fact they only stop eating to bury themselves and sleep (a bit like the kids really).

They are very cute and each one has a little personality developing - well as much a personality as you can expect from a tortoise.

Our dog walks have now taken a different turn - we now go out armed with carrier bags and foraging equipment to ensure a ready supply of their favourite munchies....are we mental or what?

By the way, they love dandelions!

Gardens have gone mental

2007-05-18T08:46:00.000+01:00

Picture: Small hedge planted at a nursery school in Reading to add colour and clean up a mud patch

With the brilliant weather over the last 6 weeks, it is inevitable that the rain must come - and didn't it!

In the winter, we expect bad weather and plan jobs where it doesn't matter if it rains, you just get on with it - but in the summer it's a nightmare. You cannot cut grass in heavy rain. You cannot re-point patios or treat decking.

I have had more rain - offs this last week than all over the winter. We have part finished jobs waiting for sunshine and grass is growing like wild fire - as I look out of my window, my grass will take the best part of the morning to sort.

Anyway, we have been very busy - we have actually been planting hedges and fencing as well as the normal grass cutting etc. Hedges also have gone a bit mental and we have done a few trims too - one particularly bad one over at Peasemore which was just a jungle - now tamed of course.

As to other jobs coming up, we are flat out on turfing and this rain has been good for that so I cant really complain - but I so hate wearing waterproofs when its so humid - its like having your own personal sauna all day.

Bit short on pictures as I keep forgetting to take the camera - note to self - put camera in the car!

Interestingly, at the job pictured above, we found a whole colony of Stag Beetles in a rotten tree trunk - I have not seen one since I was a kid - we left them well alone as it was a pleasure to see them. Funnily, my helper ran a mile as he thought things like that were in horror movies only!

A visit to Italy

2007-05-15T09:06:00.000+01:00

Picture: Tony and Nat Boneventura - Picture by Karen Chapple

A very good friend of ours - Tony Bonventura and his fiancee Natalie - invited us to their wedding in Italy last weekend, so off we went.

I have never flown with a low cost airline before and I must admit it was a different experience. We fly from Stansted on Ryanair - or should I say RiotAir!

I am not a lover of flying, I hate crowds and I hate being treated like cattle, which is exactly how you feel at Standsted. A smile cost nothing, but the staff of RiotAir must be charged per smile as I have never seen such a grumpy lot in my life.

We had the flights booked for us by Sarah Godwin of Travel Councillors and she booked us one "priority ticket" - this concept allows you to board the plane first and grab a good seat - I had no idea that you didn't get a seat allocated.

As we were delay on the M25, and had stood in a queue for 40 mins getting checked in by the grumpy team, we just had to run to get to the gate. Then the scrum started - I got dragged through the priority lane, leaving poor Karen to cope on her own!

I got a good seat - then the trouble started - I reserved a seat for my wife, which apparently isn't allowed, so I had to fend off everybody who wanted to sit there - mostly very grumpy Italians who didn't speak English. A few seats in front of me, some guy was having a massive argument with the stewardess, whose customer care was from the Fawlty Towers training school, told the customer "If you don't like it just get off!" - simply amazing.

Poor Karen was the last person on on the plane and had literally been kicked about in the queue - I say the last person but somebody was refused entry to the plane as he squared up to the Steward.......there has to be a better way!

Anyway, the wedding was fantastic - even if a little long - a full Catholic wedding in Italian.....just under 2 hours, but at least I caught up on some sleep...!

The reception was just unbelievable - a 10 course meal - after 6 courses I wanted to throw up so I could eat more...just amazing.

The flight back was even more chaotic and disorganised - and on arrival at Stansted we had to queue once more to get into passport control - over 45 mins - apparently this is a new system to speed up your transit through customs - guys, let me tell you it isn't working!

Charity Clay Shoot

2007-05-11T08:19:00.000+01:00

Picture: Rodney(foreground), Paul (on the stand)and Louis at my worse stand - note the trap in the distance....

Saturday 5th May - I was invited to a charity clay pigeon shooting day by my uncle. Now I don't do much clay shooting, however its all for charity so why not go and have a few bangs.

As always, when the family get together, it ends up in fierce competition. My Uncle Rodney (a VERY competent shot who takes on the high birds of Devon every year), my cousin Paul (also a very keen shot) and his son Louis (just started shooting but is following in the family footsteps) and I decided to have a few practice shots before going for the main round.

Well quite frankly, I was embarrassed at missing so many clays - much to the amusement of my family members of course! Luckily we all shot pretty badly, but I had one stand in particular which was a nightmare - I just clipped one out of ten - lots of mickey taking etc.....

Once we got down to the real thing, the old competitive spirit settled down (or maybe a few beers took the nerves away?) but I soon took the lead in our group - with Paul constantly trying to un-nerve me of course. One thing I have learnt over the years is not to buckle under pressure - in fact I respond to the challenge of pressure.

Needless to say, despite Paul changing the order of shooting cards on the last stand, which happened to be my worse stand on practice, I stepped upto the mark with one clay between us - and shot 7 out of 8. Paul by now had realised that I had won, lost the plot and missed most of the last stand.

Rodney had a bad day too - this is probably the worst I have ever seen him shoot, Louis also didn't do so good - he had a worse score.

After the shooting was done, it was down to some serious drinking - which I openly admit to being defeated by the Rosiers!

The charity auction was strategically timed to coincide with large volumes of alcohol consumption - this proved a very expensive afternoon for me as I bought a very nice case of wine and a days shooting with the family in Devon next January.....I don't know how I can explain this to the wife - or the bank manager for that matter!

I am not sure the final total raised, but it was well into the thousands - so a great day out and all for a good local cause - Thanks to everybody involved.

Garden Clearances

2007-04-25T07:07:00.000+01:00

The jobs we like the best are ones where you walk in and see a jungle - but we know what it will look like after we have been there a day or two.

This job was pretty amazing - the garden hasn't been touched for a few years and it was very overgrown. Actually, there were some really nice plants but they had just gone wild. Its unusual to fine some really nice fruit trees and bushes and a grape vine which produces loads of fruit in town gardens.

After discussions with the customer, we decided to "blank page" the whole garden and start from scratch - expect the fruit trees of course. These pictures show phase 1 of this project before and after clearance.

We are discussing options for phase 2 currently and will show the results once the job is done - enjoy the pictures!

Custom Fencing

2007-04-20T07:00:00.000+01:00

We get involved in all aspects of garden maintenance - fencing being one of them.

This job was quoted way back in December. A taxi had hit an ice patch and skidded off the road and into this customers fence, taking down a large Leylandii (shame it wasn't more!). Luckily nobody was seriously injured. Well its taken this long to sort out the insurance claims, but eventually we got the go ahead.

We had to match an existing fence which has been there for some time, however the job is now completed and looks pretty damned good - Check out the picture

Our African Wedding

2007-04-15T07:11:00.000+01:00

It all seems like a distant memory now since being back to work.

All I can say is that it was absolutely amazing!

We left England on the 29th March, despite South African Airways best efforts - they had double booked the plane and scattered everybody in individual seats, even though we had pre-allocated and had printed confirmation!!. Luckily, I am used to "The African way" and after a few strong words, we at least managed to get in small family groups which was fine.

I want to say a big thanks to Sarah Godwin of Travel Counsellors for sorting out the tickets and travel arrangements - she is brilliant and I will never try to do this on my own again as she got an overall better deal as well as sorting lots of other details out too.

Our good friends Neale and Sam James of Breathe Pictures came with us to record our special event, and so the photos started from Heathrow really right until we got home - this will be a pretty unique wedding album when its finished as they took hundreds of pictures throughout the week. My Cousin's wife, Cathy, brought along a bear called Barney, who has been photoed in all sorts of places - she wouldnt let me take it on the rifle range though......funnily, it was strip/internally searched at Heathrow, much to the ammusement of fellow passengers!

Anyway, as you know, we arranged this wedding "blind", relying on our friends Coen and Alta Vermaak to arrange the whole wedding - we only knew the colour schemes and thats about it really. We were just happy to accept whatever happened and enjoy the day. As it happened (also knowing Coen and Alta as we do) everything was just perfect.

The venue, Heia Safari Lodge in Muldersdrift was simply beautiful. Set in 600 Hectares, it has a huge dam packed with fish, loads of animals including Rhino & Giraffes as well as tons of plains game (Zebra, Wildebeest, Springbok, Impala etc) just roaming freely around the camp and tons of birds too. My uncle Rod has now become a "twitcher" and was often seen creeping about, binoculars in hand....

Freckles, the large male Giraffe, was in the track as we arrived - Karen Loves Giraffes and it seemed that even he had come to greet us! He was also at the gate when we departed too - do they know?

As expected, there was another "Bachelor Party" sorted at a friends plot just up the road so all the boys went off for a quick drink - yeh right!

It was a joint party - Korbus, who owned the plot by the river was also celebrating a birthday. The Brits, who had never experienced a proper African Jawl before, were a little apprehensive when we arrived at the rivers edge to just a table full of booze and a Braai, but they soon got into the spirit of it - literally - and were introduced to Richeleau and Coke - the staple drink for Afrikaners.

Korbus is a great chap - completely mental though. I owe him a debt of gratitude for saving both Karen and Courtney from being swept out to sea in a rip tide a few years ago. He is a brilliant spear fisherman and gets towed out to sea about a mile and simply free dives for fish amongst the sharks etc - clinically insane I think. He also has two Dalmatians as guard dogs, who he can get to attack on command. Well he wanted to show the Brits this and got the dogs so wound up, one attacked him and bit him badly on the side of his head! Neale didn't get any pictures of this as he basically ran for cover when the dog went mental (as did the rest of us too!), but then Korbus's father in law tried to disinfect the wound with Whiskey and Coen had to pin Korbus down.....what fun!

Anyway, the stories can go on, but I think I will save them for a rainy day.

Needless to say, we got married at 4:30pm - Karen looked stunning - its not often I am speachless - as did our two daughters, Kelly and Courtney who were our Bridesmaids. I also managed to get Coen in a suit - I am told its a first as well - and the day went off without a hitch.
The video cameraman did break the ice though. As Karen arrived next to me and the Minister was just starting his piece, the cameraman managed to knock one of the pedestals carrying flowers over with a boom mic. There was an almighty crash and I though Alta was going to strangle him - but we all laughed and then settled down to the ceremony.

Afterwards, we arranged for Zulu dancers to perform, whilst we went off for photos etc - I am told they were brilliant, we only saw about 10 minutes so I cant wait to see them on the video when we get it.

I only have one picture at the moment as Neale is busy working on them - so here it is!

Goodbye Leylandii!

2007-03-29T09:26:00.000+01:00

I have had a great week.

You all know my hatred for Leylandii, so this week we had the pleasure of removing some more!

I was not due to do this job this week, but I still cannot get fence panels to do a large contract in Reading. Thankfully both customers fully understand, a big thanks to Jeanne in Reading for being so patient and understanding, and Mr Lewis for allowing us to bring his job forward.

The job at Boxford near Newbury has a few phases, repairing a large close board fence, which we did a few weeks ago, removal of this large Leylandii and replace with a post and rail fence to match up with the existing fence, remove yet more Leylandii and replant with Privet and a few other little jobs.

We really wanted to get all the trees down before the birds started nesting, so this was a really great time to do it. As it happens, we did have a few problems as with all jobs, however this was more mechanical failure of equipment rather than the work.

Firstly our chipper decided to give up the ghost, so I had to rely on good old Cliff from Snelsmore Ponies to allow me to dump the trees on his land to chip later. Then my trailer wheel bearing finally said enough as well - so its being repaired whilst we are away next week.

One really funny bit of the job was my helper. He had not used a post auger before and he thought that he would try to do a hole on his own, despite my warnings! Well you can imagine what happened....yes it was something off of "you've been framed" with him spinning round and round as the drill hit a root! I nearly peed myself!

Check out the before and after pics above - it was a pretty radical change.

We fly off to get married today, so will post a few pics when we get back

More piccies from the "Do me Ugly" tour

2007-03-24T09:00:00.000Z

As time goes by, more pictures are coming through - but by no means all of them!

Here is a quick selection of recent ones - staring Hemant Amin, a Senior Partner from Charles Lucas Marshall Solicitors, who was the unfortunate victim of curiosity when he came over to find out what was going on.....what a great sport he was!

Also, Richard Pennington, the first victim of the Apron of Doom - I think he rather liked wearing it - is there something you need to tell us Rich?

There are a few more of yours truly.....!! Interestingly, I have no pictures of Neale James or Adam Hillier, the organisers of this ... is there any out there?

We are jetting off on Thursday night, to be greeted by a further Stag/Hen do over in South Africa arranged by some rather loud Afrikaner friends which will almost certainly be a rather heavy session - I had better say goodbye to my eye brows now!

As yet, I have seen no pictures from Karen's Hen Party, but by all accounts it was pretty good, they went to Jongelers at the Corn Exchange and then off for a bop after.

More pictures to follow if they are interesting/funny etc

Leylandii Hedges - Another one bites the dust!

2007-03-17T07:42:00.000Z

I love Leylandii Hedges, especially as they disappear into the chipper!

This week I had a nice job for a fellow BNI Networker. Ann Merrick of Infineo wanted her Leylandii hedge removed and replaced.

I first met Ann through Karen of The Best of Newbury. Ann's company Infineo provide Tech support to small and medium businesses, including remote support and backup. This has helped us on many occasions, including a total machine failure which would have meant disaster if Infineo had not been doing our daily remote backup. They charge a small monthly fee - its worth it not to have the hassle of dealing with PC's and backups.

This was the Monday after my stag do and I was not feeling particularly great still. We decided to get to site very early and crack on. Then disaster struck. My very reliable Landrover decided today was the day to spring a diesel leak - not just a drip or two but a major split in the pipe, spraying diesel everywhere.

I called a mate to come and take a look to see if it could be fixed at roadside - not a chance! It was still drive able, so I drove to Lancaster Landrover in Thatcham. I have been using these guys for about 15 years and know most of them, but even they couldn't sort this one out quickly - the tank needed to come out and parts to be ordered.

This really screwed me up. You cannot hire anything with a towbar. So I got a lift home to pick up my shooting truck, a beat up old Suzuki, just to recover my helper and tools. It was then my neighbour Cliff Pursey of Snelsmore Shetland Ponies came to my rescue. He has an old Ford Sierra with a towbar which he lent to me - what a Diamond Geezer!

Having lost half a day, we really had to move to get the trees down, and chipped to keep on schedule. My Landrover was fixed by lunch on the Tuesday, so we worked until 6:30 to get the stumps out, which were a bit stubborn to say the least! Its not the first time we have worked in the dark - I must buy some floodlights as its becoming a regular happening!

We have re-planted a new Leylandii hedge which we will hopefully keep under control. One thing I forgot to do is the "before and after" pictures of this job - its a shame because the change was so radical - you cant remember everything especially when suffering with hangover and car failure!

I survived the "Do Me Ugly" Tour!

2007-03-14T06:27:00.000Z

As predicted, they "Did me Ugly".

I am still having flashbacks about my Stag Do. People are still showing me pictures - who ever thought of putting a camera in a mobile phone should be flogged!

We all met at Newbury Rugby Club at about 12:30. On arrival, the lady on reception gave me a sympathetic "you poor thing" look. I entered the room to a loud cheer. Adam and Neale had prepared the room for what was to come, decorating the table and walls with pictures etc announcing the "Do me Ugly Tour", they even did a Tee Shirt for me - how kind!!

The Tour rules were very simple:

You can only drink left handed
You cannot point
You cannot say drink

Sounds easy eh? Yeh right! Everytime you broke one of the rules, you got a yellow card, if you got 2 yellows, you got a red card and had to pick a forfeit from the bag. These ranged from drink a shot, down in one, streak across the pitch at half time and wear the dreaded "Apron of Doom".

As we started, everybody was so keen to stitch each other up that the most common rule default was somebody shouting to the ref and pointing "He just said drink", which obviously backfired and meant you had a red card and forfeit - how silly!

Richard Pennington was first to fall victim of the "Apron of Doom". This was basically a woman shaped apron etc - I say no more. He had to continue to wear this until somebody else picked that forfeit and he seemed to wear it an awful long time.

One very funny part of the day was when a partner from Charles Lucas Marshall came over to find out what was going on. The poor soul got a red card almost immediately and picked the Apron of Doom as a forfeit! We did have some fun with him! I think he learnt his lesson.

Ivan, the rat man, really wound me up about a dwarf stripper that had been arranged - In my highly suggestible state, I actually believed him - just you wait mate, this is not forgotten!

One change to the rules was that my Dad was allowed to pass his forfeits to me or my brother, so thanks Dad for stitching me up a few times.

I discovered later that there was a plan to get me to kick a few goals at half time to add to my humiliation, but luckily the Club didn't let this happen.

As it happened, I didn't see any of the rugby, nor did many of the others. The bar staff know how to pour a Springbokkie now as they seemed to spend most of the afternoon doing it. A big thanks to David Smith and the bar staff who took everything in great spirit. Thinking about it now, going to a Rugby Club for a stag do is a bit suicidal really - lesson learnt from me.

Anyway, we all staggered off to the Nags Head - I was very thankful of the long walk and fresh air (and to Richard Bennett for propping me up on the walk down). This part of the evening is the most blurred, but I do remember buying the whole pub a drink which cost a small fortune - I must have been doomed as normally getting a drink out of me is difficult to say the least.

Why is it you want to eat an Indian when drunk? Anyway we crossed over to the Indigo Bay - I cant remember much about this only that Bill my future Brother in Law fell asleep in the loo for 1/2 hour until being finally evicted. He was meant to be looking after me but was in a bad way. Apparently he did this a the rugby club too so I was told after. Also, Adam went very pale, stood up and said he needed to go home and walked out. Adam had a "down in one" forfeit on a pint of cider which nailed him. Neale seemed to be the most sober, the Babycham obviously had worn off by now!

The rest of the evening is a bit unclear - we did go to Gordons but I ended up home thanks to my Cousin Paul's wife Cathy. Bill passed out, I talked rubbish to the misses for an hour non-stop then passed out too.

Sunday Morning was painful, in fact Sunday was painful.

I cant wait to get to South Africa for my African Stag do......the day before our wedding - oh God!

BIG Thanks to Adam & Neale for sorting the event, all those that made it, the Rugby Club, The Indigo Bay and The Nags Head. Also sincere apologies to all persons offended and abused during the event.

I am on a quest to find any photos of this event - please email them to me on info@garden4you.co.uk

Stag do Warning

2007-03-07T19:12:00.000Z

Picture: The Evils of drink... a heavy session in South Africa - its not me either!

As some of you will know, I am shortly to marry my long term partner Karen - "There's still time love" as a few friends keep saying to her!

I wasn't keen on really having a Stag Party, especially when you know the sort of people I do.

Despite my protests, it's happening this weekend. My mate Neale James of Breathe Pictures and Radio 107 on Sunday Mornings, and Adam Hillier of Verbatim Calls Centres are arranging this between them.

This task historically falls to the Best Man however my Best Man is my very good friend and hunting companion Coen Vermaak of South Africa, where we are actually getting married. I am sure when we all arrive in SA, Coen will have arranged a "Lekker Jawl" for me, the night before the ceremony!!

Anyway, I am not really looking forward to my Stag Do. I have premonitions of what will occur, and who will "Do me Ugly" as the saying goes. Ivan the rat man, an extreme party animal, and I have a nasty habit of getting totally bladdered and becoming a comedy double act, most to the disgust and annoyance of anybody in earshot.

Neale on the other hand is a bit of a girl and after 2 glasses of Babycham and a Bailey's wants to go home, after headbutting the nearest bird-bath!

Adam is Mr Gadget and when I want the most bizarre tool of any description, Adam has one, or even two. Again, Adam and I have had quite a few good sessions in the past, one recently where we watched the rugby at his house, drank the place dry of cider and had loads of a South African shot called Springbokies, after which he promptly passed out and missed the evening he had planned with his ever suffering wife Emma.

Also in the group is Ashley, Brad, Richard and Jamie of Pervasive Networks, all very bad news - remember Amsterdam boys?, Richard Pennington of Calixus - our fall guy for the night, my brother Malcolm, my future brother in law Bill who is a policeman and mad Scot, and my Dad - yes My Dad!

Neale has already commented on me bringing Dad on his blog, but my Dad is a major party animal too, but probably wont make the evening event (he needs his Horlicks and an early night as does my brother!)

Anyway, I apologise now to Newbury Rugby Club, the Indigo Bay and the Nags Head and any other pub we get thrown out of in advance, as well as any taxi driver daft enough to take us home afterwards...I am sure there will be some pictures next week!

Never thought I would be a "Page 3" Model....

2007-03-04T07:59:00.000Z

Well what a surprise! Me, a Page 3 Model - read on....

My wife to be (the ever suffering Karen from The Best of Newbury) and I were very kindly invited to the West Berkshire Business Clubs annual Business of the Year Awards dinner by one of the finalists, Nigel Morgan of Morgan PR (my PR Guru as previously described).

Also on our table was Roger Hick of RhD Design and his wife Pam. Roger and Pam are one of my long standing customers who regularly call me to carry out work on their garden. Roger is also in my BNI Chapter too. As it happens, as the evening went on, it came to light that we were at the same school at the same time - we even knew loads of the same people and spent a fair bit of time recounting the weird teachers and various incidents at school that we both knew about!

The event had 3 finalists;

Nigel Morgan of Morgan PR
Robin Winnet of WinIT
Melvyn Byles of Netstationers

The Award was one by Robin Winnet, but I am sure it was a tough choice with 3 really great finalists.

As to the rest of the evening, there was a charity auction, which ended up costing me dearly - never take your misses to an auction...! We ended up buying a day out with Nigel Morgan!!??

All jokes to the side, this will be a really great day at Meridian TV and a chance to see behind the scenes and meet more PR and media people so will really help our businesses moving forward.

Anyway, back to the original story. A few weeks later, I had a few funny phone calls from various people joking about our picture on page 3. It didn't make much sense to me when out on site, but when I got home, the Out and About Magazine was on my desk, opened at page 3.

I must say I look rather dashing (clever photography hid my second chin as commented by my cousin Paul the Plasterer) and the misses looked gorgeous as normal - I will try and get the picture to add to this posting.

Fence Panels - The Nightmare continues!

2007-02-25T17:13:00.000Z

Don't mention fence panels to me.

How many people have been emailing and calling to get quotes and lead times on putting up fence panels! Its a shame I have no good news for them - or any of my existing customers either.

My fence nightmare began about 5 weeks ago. I did the deadly sin of taking down the old fence and trashing it, before actually getting the new panels on site...well its never been a problem before and I did have them reserved at the supplier....or so I was told.

When I turned up at the supplier, my normal contact wasn't in as he was on holiday. This is how my order got sold to somebody else...!!

This really put me in a good mood. I then spent 2 hours on the phone trying to find some more - but the answer was the same from all local (and a few distant ones too) "No chance - 4 to 5 weeks minimum"

So I then spent the day building a temporary fence to stop the kids escaping and everybody else looking in.

Well my delivery finally arrived so I dropped everything to get the fence up. It was going pretty well, apart from the pouring rain.

Then it happened. I was just removing the last bit of concrete with a lump hammer and bolster to allow the panel to sit perfectly when, due to slippery wet tools, the hammer glanced off the bolster and smacked my hand with full force.

The boys thought my jumping about and screaming was highly amusing, but I was in agony. My hand swelled up so quickly I couldn't get my glove off. Those of you who have done this will know what it feels like and the waves of nausea that go with it.

Well we managed to finish the fence with the last panel fitted by street light. Then off to casualty to get my hand looked at. By now it had gone a funny colour, but I guessed nothing was broken as I could move fingers etc. After a quick X-Ray I got the all clear, but was told to rest it for a few days - yea right!

You get no chance of that in this job....business as usual I'm afraid.

So to all people out there looking for fence panels is 4 - 5 weeks from order is the standard lead time - don't be tempted by getting some very nasty inferior quality panels kicking about at the moment. It simply is worth it as they are rubbish.

Are you selling your house? If so read on...

2007-02-21T16:35:00.000Z

One of our really popular services is garden makeovers.

This is particularly useful for people who are selling or letting a property.

This week I was called to a property in Newbury which has been on the market for some time. Inside it was really well decorated and it is situated in a tiny cul de sac near town. Despite this, the owners had over 30 viewings and only one mental offer, well below the value.

So we agreed to come in and "do a blitz". This involves a radical front to back clearance of weeds, cutting grass, cutting hedges and pruning trees and shrubs. In this case it also involved removing the dreaded ivy (you know my thing about this!) front and back as well as "Old Mans Beard" which had grown so thick and tangled that it had gone all around the TV Ariel as well.

We also suggested that the drive was looking very shabby and that taking off 2" of top coating and replacing with new 20mm Berkshire shingle was needed, which the client agreed.

So we set to work and did the blitz in the first day and the drive on the second. I did think that we could do this by hand, however it soon transpired that it was too big a task. So I called our friends at A4 Hire in Hungerford who came to the rescue with a 3/4 ton digger at really short notice.

Whilst we were doing the drive, the estate agent started showing a couple of prospective buyers around, which I must admit I thought was a little odd, however they were most impressed that the owner was still doing work on the house and that the improvement from the Estate Agents literature to the new look was pretty radical.

Anyway, job done, happy customer - and best of all, one of the prospective buyers came back for a second visit later that day and made an offer just short of the asking price!

Just goes to show that spending a few hundred on getting the pro's in to do a blitz will save or make you thousands - take a note from that woman from the House Doctor programs.

I hope I am not quite as annoying as her......Check out the piccies.

Hedge Laying - a dying art or in revival?

2007-02-06T09:27:00.000Z

Before Hedge Laying started

After Hedge Laying

Last weekend, I was lucky enough to be invited to attend a hedge laying course by my one of my neighbours. He is fortunate to have loads of neglected and over grown hedges all around his land and so we were a bit spoilt for choice really as to which hedge to do.

Our instructor for the day was John Savings of Oxford. John is one of the top hedge layers in the UK and competes and wins more often than not in the national championship - so we were in good hands from the start.

When I was a young lad, I used to help my granddad do this but even then tractor driven hedge cutters and flail cutters were just taking over and hedges were being dug out to make larger fields for more food production, so I never really took a great deal of interest in learning more about it.

Luckily, landowners and conservationists are slowing realising that open fields and barbed wire is making the countryside look terrible and that a properly layed hedge is a great wildlife habitat and an asset as it is virtually zero maintenance and lasts 50 years or so - this combined with a government grant makes hedge laying more attractive.

Anyway, we all met at Howard's house (our host) for breakfast. Alan, a teacher and brother in law of Howard, Howard, a top London Barrister and Christopher, also a Barrister started the day with a hearty cooked "Fully Monty" before we set off to work.

The hedge chosen by John was in fact possibly the worst hedge on the estate. It was full of rubbish, dead trees, fallen barbed wire fences - you name it and it was there. John's comments of "If you can lay this hedge you can lay any" filled us with some dread.

John proudly displayed to us the tools of the trade - a collection of ancient billhooks and slashers all sharpened to perfection (we soon changed that!) and of course the obligatory chainsaw. John started by attacking the hedge with the chainsaw, clearing out everything dead or not required, leaving us to drag out the debris to make a huge bonfire. It's at this point I realised that Howard had managed to rope in several volunteers to sort out his hedge Free of Charge - no wonder he is a top Barrister!

Anyway, as the Sloe Gin appeared and the sun got hotter, we soon started to learn just how effective this form of hedge repair is and as our confidence grew, the pace picked up and by lunch we had layed a good 25 metres of hedge.

Lunch was a welcome break and we all had worked up an appetite by then. Conversation was pretty much geared to hedge laying and other anecdotes from John (who has hundreds!) as well as many funny comments from the rest of the group - Alan was particularly amusing and had us crying with laughter on several occasions!

Back to work and the worse was yet to come. This hedge had a number of Elm trees in it, some dead some almost dead and some smaller ones fully alive. We were all amazed that a tree approximately 8 inches round could be layed as easily as a small Hawthorn bush - John just took it all in his stride. He even managed to drop a tree on Howard - thankfully a small one which just bounced of without injury!

The icing on the cake was to finish off the hedge with woven hazel sticks, called binders, and hammer in the stakes and trim to size. This basically holds it all together and creates a very strong and attractive hedge. The before and after pictures really show what a difference we made to this pretty awful hedge and just how attractive and nice them finished item looks.

We are all keen to attack the rest of the hedge over the coming month or so and complete this project, so I will keep you informed as to progress.

I would like to say a big thank you to Howard and Catherine for the invite and lunch etc, Alan for just being really funny, Karen my other half for the pictures, Christopher for nicking all the wood before I had chance to and John for a most enjoyable day.

If any of you want quotes for hedge laying - just drop me a line....

Wind and more wind!

2007-01-29T07:26:00.000Z

Greetings readers,

The last two weeks have been almost non-stop due to adverse weather and especially high winds. I have been inundated with requests for fence replacements, tree clearances and the like, so the Blog has been somewhat neglected - apologies but only so much time available in a day.

I thought I would share a story today of something which I have touched on in the past, however this really brought it home to me.

I was in my regular garden machinery supplier last week sorting out my very overworked chainsaw when this chap came in. I was not in a great hurry, so I let him get served first. This guy was in his late 30's, very well spoken and obviously had a bit of money behind him. The sales guy pounced on him to see if he could help relieve him of some cash.

As it happens, the chap had a small wood which had been hit hard with the wind so wanted to know about chainsaws. As I ear wigged the conversation, the sales guy lead him to the display and started to go through the range with him. Insanity/shopping frenzy kicked in as he pointed to the largest pro saw on the shelf and said "That's the one".

I use chainsaws a lot and I don't have anything like this thing - nor does any of the tree surgeons I know either!

The sales guy obviously thought Xmas had returned and flogged him this monster without mercy (or discount either!) and this chap soon became the proud owner of this most impressive beast.

As the sales guy ran through the "safety features" of the saw, it turned out this guy had NEVER used a chainsaw in his life!

As he staggered out of the shop, loaded up with files, oil, gauges etc, I gave him a card and told him to ring me if he wanted a few hours training......I haven't heard from him yet so he is probably dead by now.

I grabbed the sales guy after and quizzed him on corporate responsibility and why he had sold this beast - apparently there is nothing to stop anybody over 18 buying any chainsaw (except a top handle pro saw). There is also no requirement to advise them of safety clothing (the sales guy missed an opportunity here and realised it too at this point!).

You cant blame the sales guy, he is just doing his job and fulfilled his obligation and responsibility in showing the saws safety features - but I think its time for a change in law. These tools are lethal and should simply not be sold to the public unless they are trained in its use - regardless of the size or type of saw.

I would be interested in any feedback on this one.

The Power of PR

2007-01-09T19:41:00.000Z

I have had a string of enquiries over the last few weeks - the New Year has heralded a time for change no doubt and also people actually seeing their gardens in daylight over the xmas period has also had a lot to do with this I am sure!

As I have said before, I use a few carefully monitored sources for new business;

My Google Campaign (quiet costly and a lot of "interested only" people, basically tyre kickers),
My "Best Of" advert and sponsorship of their newsletter (very cheap for what you get and all excellent opportunities ie people who want to do work),
My networking group BNI Kennet Chapter (weekly group meeting combined with a minging breakfast, but some great business opportunities and advice comes from here),
My website www.garden4you.co.uk (this is the dogs danglies and is such an asset, supplied at a very low cost by Webbuildpro which I am constantly updating)
And last but not least, my PR Guru Nigel Morgan of Morgan PR.

I monitor all enquiries to see where they came from and decide on what marketing is or not working and change accordingly. My criteria is simple, if I cover the cost of each method plus a small margin to cover the hassle and time, then its worth it. If I can get it for free (like PR on occassions) then any return in any form pays dividends on the bottom line.

For instance, I had a call out of the blue this week originating from a press article that Nigel Morgan did for me in the NWN Business Section a few weeks ago. This is a massive quote, and I am the favourite to win at this point (fingers crossed on this one). Looks like another meal out with the Morgans is on the cards!

What this goes to show is that you need to have multiple channels to market yourself, monitor the spend and return and do more of what works and less of what doesnt - common sense really but I still come across other businessmen who have a strange approach saying things like " I have always had an advert in the paper and am not interested in the internet".

All I can say is I am glad, cos this means there are more opportunities for me!

Bad Weather Warning - Trees and Moles!

2007-01-06T16:03:00.000Z

What a miserable start to the year - grey sky's, rain and wind.

This has been a busy week for me - the wind has brought down quite a few trees and branches, luckily for my regular customers I am only a call away!

This time of year pretty much restricts what can be done in the garden, so having big trees to cut up and log is an added bonus - for me and my customers - I get lots of work and they get lots of logs for next year.

I purchased an hydraulic log splitter a few years ago and it really has earned its keep over that time. Whilst it is a bit cumbersome to use, it is really powerful and quick so goes through just about anything - I am still amazed at it when it groans through a really knotty bit of Oak which could never be split with axe and wedges......medication time again methinks!

One side effect of the wet weather has been to produce an epidemic of moles. Whilst these cute little things are great in the woods and hedgerows, god help you if they get in the garden!

As a pest controller, my arsenal of weapons to deal with these dark destroyers has been almost wiped out by legislation. The use of Strychnine as a poison (one of the most effective and safe ways of dealing with them - in the right hands of course!) has been banned for some time now, so we are pretty much restricted to trapping (very costly and labour intense due to the amounts of visits you need to do to catch a few moles) or gassing (again quite costly and not without risk either).

My advise is that at first sighting of a mole hill in your garden, call me. Don't deal with it yourself unless you really know how to trap (it takes years of trial and error). You will not get hold of gas anyway as it is a controlled substance.

Once they get established, goodbye lawn. So call me.

New Years Eve

2007-01-02T15:31:00.000Z

New Years Eve went off with a bit of a bang.

This year we decided to stay home and invite a few people round for a murder mystery evening. None of us had done one before so we bought a DIY kit and set about it.

We invited the usual suspects; Neale and Sam of Breathe Pictures, Sammie (one of N&S's mates) and Adam & Emma of Verbatim Call Centres - so we knew we were in for a bit of a session what ever happened!

If you have never done one of these events before, you really need to prep for them - everybody dressed in period costumes - Adam was a Reverend and dressed like the Exorcist, Emma was a "lady" with a Little Britain wig, Sam was in an evening gown as she was her Ladyship, Neale was a poet with a large white wig (hair, something he has only a distant memory of...) and spouted hilarious poems at each and every opportunity. I was Lord Clifford and Karen was the Reverends assistant.

It was a bit hard work, but after downing loads of cocktails and various other beverages, Sam was declared the murderer - all the girls guessed it, all the boys were too hammered by then!

Midnight came and went and the obligatory hangover the next day heralded the start of a new year.

Happy New Year to you all!

Picture = Adam as "The Reverend"

Christmas is over - back to the garden

2006-12-29T18:02:00.000Z

Christmas seems a long time ago already. I really needed a break as it has been a bit mental over the last few months. All I did was service all the machines and clear everything up, and of course take a look at our own garden and do those jobs I keep meaning to do - I never actually get any time these days.......I must get a gardener in!!

It may sound a little odd but that last statement actually makes sense as my customers are in exactly the same boat! We all rush around doing life and stuff and we all leave things which should be taken care of for another time, but they never get done.

This is were Garden4You comes in.

Most of my customers are so busy making their businesses work and earning money that they don't have time to garden, decorate, put up shelves and pictures etc (I know lots of tradesmen who will do this for you BTW so just ask!).

Just do a simple calculation for yourselves - if you earn more per hour than it costs you to have it done - then get it done by somebody else. Also if you value your leisure time more than the cost of somebody sweating away in the garden, then also get it done by somebody else.

Don't look at it as a cost to running your house, look at it as an investment in you and your family time.

Also, you will be pleasantly surprised at how cost effective getting your garden sorted can be - so call me and lets talk!

On another note - Father Christmas was good to me this year and gave me a replacement MP3 player - a dinky little Creative Zen V. This is a really cool entry level device and I must say has a nice piece of software and easy to use interface - ideal for a starter unit (still not a patch on the Creative Micro and software though). It holds about 200 tunes with ease,

I can resume normal service now - singing as normal with MP3 backing rather than freestyle and get my Micro repaired at my leisure.

Gardening and Chainsaws

2006-12-23T16:11:00.000Z

In this job, you have to get involved in all sorts of different things and have to have loads of skills. I am a great believer in training and safety (all important when you are on your own with power tools).

To this aim, I have just completed a chainsaw course. This may seem a little strange as I have been using chainsaws for years and never really thought it necessary, however with Health and Safety legislation and insurance companies looking to not pay out if there is an accident, it is important to get proper training - especially when using tools like chainsaws.

I have always had a very health respect for tools that can Mame or kill you - chainsaws are not very forgiving and every accident is a nasty one. I take safety very seriously and always use Personal Protective Equipment (referred to as PPE ) but its amazing how many people don't. When using dangerous equipment or entering into dangerous tasks I always do a risk assessment to ensure both my safety and anybody Else's safety (or property) is not in question. It not worth taking that short cut - EVER!

The main thing about a training course like this is that it shows you what bad habits you have developed over the years - its quite enlightening to say the least. I do have a few criticisms about the course and the assessment you have to go through, but I did get a lot out of it too. The course itself was 2 days with a 1 day assessment (a bit overkill!) with a pass rate of 95%. I would say this is an ideal course for novice users, even though its a bit expensive (approx £400!!).

I was on the course with a couple of young farm hands and a boat yard owner. As expected, the farm boys produced a chainsaw which should have been condemned about 10 years ago. There were bits hanging off it, the chain was completely knackered and I think it was probably run on diesel! Needless to say we all had a laugh at their expense when the instructor made them take it all apart and replace all worn and dangerous components (almost the cost of a new saw!).

During the assessment one of the lads could not get this ancient thing started. I thought I was going to have a heart attack with laughter - it was like the sketch off Fawlty Towers when Basil couldn't get the car to go....hilarious!! I lent him my saw to do his assessment in the end as we just couldn't stand laughing any more.

I am pleased to say we all passed the course, despite the farm lads chainsaw incident.

On a serious note, anything to do with tree removal, limb removal or clearance is dangerous and jolly hard work - it's both physically and mentally draining - so don't believe its a walk in the park and never attempt it yourself without training.

Its not worth the risk to life, limb or property - call me for a quote instead!

The Day of the Triffids

2006-12-13T19:53:00.000Z

Strange title for a gardening blog? This was the message left from Richard at The House of Frames in Newbury regarding some gardening work he wanted doing - "Come and sort my Triffids out please!"

I met Richard when helping my misses Karen of The Best of Newbury and Neale and Sam James of Breathe Pictures with The Best of Newbury Exhibition recently held in the Corn Exchange (and now on show in certain places around Newbury so check it out).

Richard and his team provided the picture framing service for the exhibition and we got chatting (as you do) about his garden and the hedges that needed cutting some day....well that day arrived with this phone call.

We set the date for Monday and all was fine. That was until Monday morning. I took the dogs out for an early morning walk and got absolutely drenched - this was before 7:00am. When I saw the forecast for the remainder of the day, I made the call I hate doing and rained off. Paperwork and indoors for the rest of the day - pooh!

Tuesday was different all together, a bit windy and cool but no rain. I made my way to Wantage to get an early start. I had not seen the job, but Richard described a nice Beech hedge and a few Leylandii that needed a bit of a trim....it shouldn't take too long.

I must say, the house and location was a dream property - an old Farm House and mature gardens - simply beautiful.

I have recently added an extension kit to my Henchman hedge cutting platform which takes it up to about 18 foot, allowing me to safely cut some really big hedges - thankfully I had just thrown this in the back of the truck "just in case" as well as my Husky Pole Saw as the hedges were simply ENORMOUS.

As usual I just cracked on with the hedge cutting until disaster struck - my Creative MP3 player went faulty! Nothing else for it, I had to sing without it, driving the dog mad and the neighbouring cows too.

Anyhow, the hedge was just about finished before darkness fell, with just a few more bits to do on my next visit - about 8 - 10 feet shorter in some places than at the start.

I was also very spoilt, I was given some lovely home made soup for lunch - other customers please take note!

Commercial Gardening

2006-12-09T17:30:00.000Z

Not many people know this but as well as doing domestic garden maintenance, I also get involved in commercial gardening too.

I have just completed a garden and car park clearance in the middle of Newbury which included removing the dreaded IVY! I may have mentioned before - I HATE IVY!!

The best thing about removing Ivy is that it is really satisfying when its all down and is going in the shredder - I almost laugh......oops the medication must be wearing off!

Anyway, this company has some really nice people and despite the foul weather I manged to get the ivy off and the front of the building sorted out before the lightning came - I don't mind the rain too much but lightening is another matter. Standing on a steel platform, waving around a 10 foot metal hedge cutter in a storm is not recommended. It was a rare happening for me but I called that a day and went home for a hot bath as the sky lit up and the thunder rolled around the town.

I finished the job on Saturday morning with the help of the ever willing Karen. We were both nursing a very nasty hangover following the BNI Kennet Chapter xmas do - we were by no means the worst ones (eh Neale and Sam!) who for some reason had a Kebab as we were queuing for a taxi - a sure sign of too much booze! Amazingly I have seen no pictures yet but I am sure some will appear at an inappropriate time - I will keep you posted.

Off to the next job..

Getting exposure and new business

2006-12-07T16:49:00.000Z

Regular readers will know I bang on about my "virtual team" of advisers and helpers who calm me down when I get over excited, pick me up when I am down and give me a place to sound off ideas as well as listen to what they have to say.

Today has been a brilliant day when all good things seem to come together.

Firstly, my PR guru Nigel Morgan of Morgan PR got me in the Newbury Business Review with a big spread - just the thing to give me a boost over the xmas period. As I have said before, unless you know and befriend somebody like Nigel, you will not get the exposure you need. Not only is he well connected, he is good company too!

The second big push for Garden4You was that I officially joined BNI Kennet Chapter today and was sworn in. I have been close to several members over the last year and my other half joined over a year ago for her Internet advertising business, The Best of Newbury . Its has been really good for her. The Chapter has some interesting characters and businesses, most of which compliment each other, therefore helping with referrals etc.

The BNI thing is a bit regimented, but in some ways its a good thing as it really makes you do what you are there to do - network. As a small Newbury based garden maintenance business, regular contact of this type ensures you have a constant stream of leads to deal with which otherwise you would not find - generally I am out all day, every day, so looking for business on my own is hard (I am blessed with a great website and excellent Google rankings as well (thanks to Karen and the "best of"). But its great to have 30 motivated BNI "sales people" working for you without the cost.

If anybody is interested in coming along to our BNI Chapter as my guest, just drop me a line - I went several times as a guest and stand in for other members before I joined and it really made my mind up about doing this.

The other thing I have done this week to market Garden4You is to buy some shirts with my logo on, a roadside display board so people can see who the loony is singing to themselves and magnetic signs for the trusty Land rover - I've now blown my whole marketing budget so now I need to get some work in to pay for it all!

Interesting Evenings...

2006-12-04T14:01:00.000Z

Over the last few days, me and the misses have had a few interesting evenings - nothing at all to do with gardening I know, but nevertheless worthy of a mention as gardening at the moment consists of never ending leaf clearance, rain and mud!

The first one was a strange phone call from Neale and Sam James of Breathe Pictures inviting us up for a curry. Nothing too strange about this one would think, however it was an invite up to the studio, not the restaurant. Both the James's and us have entered into a bizarre contest in which we both invent imaginative ways to stitch each other up at any and every opportunity, so suspicions were aroused as to what would await us!

On arrival at the studio, the car park was full of cars - again adding to the suspicions. As we entered the studio, a strange smell of Indian cuisine wafted over. Adam Hillier of Verbatim call Centres and wife Emma, Geraldine Curtis of ICL Office Designs and Sams mum were all there dressed in Christmas decorations and hats, each with an Indian dish being photographed.

Apparently, Breathe Pictures had been commissioned to capture "The 12 days of Christmas" for the Indigo Bay Indian restaurant in Newbury and Neale had composed his own version of it and wanted to represent his version in film.

Needless to say, the draft pictures we saw were brilliant, we all got stitched up big time and our images will be on display in the Indigo Bay for future public humiliation - go and check it out!

Revenge will be sweet. I almost feel sorry for Neale already. Almost.

The second evening we had out was with Nigel Morgan of MorganPR and his wife Di. As regular readers will know, Nigel is my marketing and PR guru and we don't actually get much time to socialise these days so these rare occasions are always welcomed.

On Nigel's recommendation we went to The Bear in Hungerford. How this has changed from my days living in Hungerford. I can still remember the moth eaten stuffed bear in reception which has long gone(my dog attacked this one night - that's another story.....). Now its modern, well laid out and stylish.

We had one of those evenings where the stories exchanged, loads of laughter and good company made the time just fly by. I highly recommend the restaurant. The food was great, the atmosphere was just right and the service was attentive and professional.

It was also Nigel's birthday the next day - I still don't know how old he is but he isn't quite as grey as me yet so I am assuming he must be considerably younger than me - unless he is using a hair colour treatment of course!

Oh well back to leaf blowing then.

Extreme Gardening - Customer Comments!

2006-11-28T17:49:00.000Z

I just received a really great email from the customer of "Extreme Gardening" fame. I want to share this with you:

"Fantastic is the only word I can use to describe the service from Gardens4you - after a last minute panic to prepare our property with 1/2 acre gardens for letting (the last tenants were not 'gardeners' - they certainly didn't lift a finger in the year they were there!) I found the website and emailed Graham, not really expecting a reply as most web-based enquiries systems are under-monitored. Not Graham's! He called within 3 hours and arranged to attend the house 48 hours later to tame the lawns and hedges.

The allotted day didn't dawn - it rained so heavily that it never actually got properly light - but Graham was there in full wet weather gear, attacking the wayward shrubs, hedges and grass in the monsoon. I fully expected him to at least call it off at lunchtime when the rain was still hammering down, but he completely the whole day like a Trojan and got everything we asked for done. A real trooper.

Fantastic job - we will certainly be recommending you - rainy season or not!"
Many thanks,
Jenny

Now I know why I go out in all weathers, face daily danger with hedge cutters, chainsaws, lawn mowers etc - not to mention savage dogs (that's another story!). It's all about doing a great job, getting fantastic feedback from happy customers - and being away from an office of course!

Gardening by moonlight

2006-11-21T19:59:00.000Z

I have just completed another nice 2 day clearance job over in Burghfield Common. As usual, it was hard work, but I like clearances the best because it makes such a difference once complete - and you truly see the results instantly.

Most clearance jobs include grass cutting (usually a small jungle), shrub and bush trimming (usually so over grown you expect to find Pygmies living in there) and inevitably the dreaded IVY!

I have come to loath Ivy.

Whenever I see it I want to rip it off the walls and shred it without mercy.

This job had a special twist to make this Ivy job even more difficult - a large shed in the way, making putting a ladder up the apex almost impossible.

An ivy removal can go one of two ways - simple, not too much hassle, comes off in a big sheet and then you have to cut it up to shred it. Others, well they come off it 6 inch strips, stick like glue and are just a nightmare. Guess which one today's was!

The first thing was that I broke my trusted scrapper handle on the first bit, so instead of a hefty 6 foot pole to move even the most stubborn shoot, I was left with an 18 inch, pathetically wimpy little scrapper.

There is nothing more painful than hanging onto a ladder for 3 hours, with a long hook, picking away at very resistant strands of ivy. Your legs go numb. Your arms burn worse than any gym workout. Everything goes in your eyes (even with eye protection on!). All Gods creatures go down your neck - spiders like dinner plates that also bite are common. Choking dust goes down your throat. In fact why do I do this to myself? It must be cos I'm going a little mental!

This job took so long I had to finish in complete darkness - thankfully I did all the ladder work in daylight, but there was no way I could go back to this job tomorrow, so I just got on with it.

Another gardening first for me - I can relate to the term "moonlighting" now!

Note to self - get a torch!?!

Extreme Gardening - the side effects!

2006-11-20T20:32:00.000Z

I eventually got my gear dry - ready to face it all again today! I cant believe that I have a whole week of this weather to come - but the customer comes first!

Following my efforts from Friday, there have been a few side effects that I hadn't considered - the worst being aching and shaking hands from the vibration of so much strimming in one hit - or was it the strimming? Let me tell more!

Friday night I crashed and burned - we had no kids and so a few bottles of wine, a silly movie and the blanket (called a blankie in our house) soon saw us both snoring - but it was just what we needed after a long week.

Saturday, I was lucky enough to be invited to a local pheasant/partridge shoot (one of my passions!) by my cousin Paul Rosier of plastering fame. We had a great day (sunny, warm and dry!!) and between us shot most of the bag as the birds just came to us all the time, and we are both good shots of course!

In the evening, me and the misses went out with Neale and Sam James of Breathe Pictures, the guys who have just had a great exhibition in the Corn Exchange with The Best of Newbury.

Neale and Sam are totally great fun and we always end up in a pretty bad way when we all get together, this being no exception of course. If you see Neale, ask him about the bird bath incident, which he totally blames me for. The boy just cant take a few drinks!!

As to the aching hands, it might have something to do with the booze from Saturday, but I think it was the strimmer too. So much so, today I bought some fantastic anti vibration gloves for use with strimmers, chainsaws and other devices that vibrate - these were £30 by Timberland, but if they stop the pain, then great. Talking to Neil at Kalehurst Machines, this is a very common ailment in tree surgeons, especially as the weather gets cold.

I will try these gloves out over the coming weeks and let you know what they are like - for £30 they had better be "the dogs"!

Extreme Gardening

2006-11-18T06:45:00.000Z

I have discovered an new sport - Extreme Gardening.

Let me explain more. Yesterday was probably the wettest day this year. Guess who was out in it all day?

I had an urgent enquiry off the internet for a garden clearance and tidy to prepare for letting. The only day it could be done was Friday. I didn't need an alarm clock as the rain was so heavy it woke me - not a good sign. Having loaded up and got soaked, the forecast and prospect for a dry day was not looking great.

On arrival, the rain was so heavy you couldn't see across the garden. I donned my wet weather gear, a full PVC type suit, described by the manufacturer as being the ultimate weather protection, and ventured out to survey the work to be done.

The grass had been described as "being too long for a push mower" - no kidding! It was so long and wet that I had no choice but to strim the lot - hence my first sport - endurance strimming. I can honestly say that I have never strimmed a 1/2 acre of lawn before!

The next event was marathon grass raking - using a strimmer produces a mass of cuttings which needs to be cleared. This event was followed by Tug of War - loading the mass of soaking wet cuttings onto a tarpaulin and dragging them to the mulch heap.

By now, the locals had established there was a new loony in the village. Opposite the cottage was a school which had a constant stream of bemused parents, looking at this PVC clad idiot in the rain, possibly singing to himself (a habit I have developed when using my MP3 player).

In fact as I started to cut the hedges, out of the corner of my eye I noticed a car had stopped. I looked around to see the driver taking a picture of me with a mobile phone! Where will that shot end up - who knows, probably some fetish site for PVC clad people!

Anyhow, job done, happy customer and a new sport created.

Leylandii - to be or not to be!

2006-11-13T20:35:00.000Z

I was on a job today to remove a forest of 30foot tall Leylandii trees which had grown out of control.

This brought back to my mind a debate on these fast growing trees which when kept tame make a great hedge for noise reduction, privacy and lets face it when trimmed properly look great.

Much "blood" has been spilled over the trees; neighbours literally come to blows over these trees and many Court cases have been fought to remove them from blocking light/encroaching etc.

The Law was changed recently to make this more clear; however the onus has now fallen to the victim rather than the perpetrator (seems a common thing these days in our legal system!!).

The law states that no hedge or tree border should exceed 2Metres in height. That's fine but if you complain about your neighbours hedge, it is you who has to pay for removal or shortening. Also, if by trimming the hedge to an acceptable height threatens the life of such a tree, you cant do it anyway!

The world has gone mad once more.

In my view, keep them short and trimmed and you don't get issues - if they are causing grief, cut them down. Life is too short for legal battles afterall.

A big thanks to my old mate Eddie Powers for the use of his excellent chipping machine, and to my other willing helpers today who slaved tirelessly for a few beers at the weekend.

Call me if you want to get advise on these darned trees.

PS Forgot the camera today, so no before or after shots (shame cos these were monsters!)- but there are some happy Turnpike residents tonight, minus their Leylandii problem.

Building a business

2006-11-12T13:30:00.000Z

One of the big challenges facing a small business is finding customers. You can spend thousands on all sorts of things to give you a profile, but which ones are right for you. Trial and error can be an expensive mistake to make - so how do you find the right ones?

I have been fortunate over the years and have come into contact with many marketing ideas and techniques with truly work, however there are a few things I can recommend as outstanding.

The first is to find somebody who know everybody and has huge exposure in your chosen market area, in my case West Berkshire.

I found Nigel Morgan or rather we met at a business networking event. Check out Nigel on www.morganpr.co.uk or visit his blog http://www.morganpr.blogspot.com/. Basically, Nigel knows everybody and is a PR/Media guru who simply must be on your contact list if you work in West Berks. He has and continues to help me constantly.

Another secret to business success is the internet. Unless you have a professional internet presence you will not survive and grow. I have a really good site which doesn't cost a bomb - in fact its self built. Its powered by www.webbuildpro-newbury.co.uk - a local self build website builder and it costs a fraction of the price of any web design company.

Its all very well getting a website but you need traffic and to be found - a common trap is to get an expensive website created for you costing thousands, then wonder why you get no business!
Here's a trick - contact your local "bestof" franchise www.thebestof.co.uk and get on their site without delay.

I am on The Best of Newbury www.thebestof.co.uk/newbury and get loads of traffic sent to my website and directly from my advert (webvert). Its low cost, highly visited and best of all locally run so I know my enquiries are for local work. The bestof get me front page of google searches, virtually all the time at the very top - check it out by typing "garden maintenance Newbury" in your google browser and see what I mean.

Also, start a Blog - my marketing guru Nigel told me to so it must be the right thing to do!! go to www.blogger.com and sign up today.

Hedge Cutting tools

2006-11-10T19:46:00.000Z

One of the best things I have bought over the last few months has been a tool called a Henchman. This is basically a portable hedge cutting platform which allows you to very safely cut hedges without risking life and limb on scaffolding, ladders or other such crazy things - I know a guy who actually straps a scaffold tower to the back of his trailer and cuts his hedges this way - it works so I don't knock it, but HSE would surely have a blue fit!!

The product I bought (they are actually based in Newbury as well so its even better for local business) was from their professional range - the Midi, which allows you to cut hedges up to 11'6" with ease. Some jobs I have won recently require a higher platform than this - so guess what, they provide an extension device which fits the Midi - now I have just added another meter to my platform.

This tool allow one man operation without loads of hassle.

They are expensive and probably out of most pockets, but as a professional tool - its just brilliant and I cannot live without it - check out www.henchman.co.uk and tell them I sent you!

The other great devise I have is my MP3 player - a Creative Zen Micro - I don't leave home without it - the ear pieces fit under my ear defenders as well so I can bop whilst I cut.

Japanese Knotweed

2006-11-07T14:52:00.000Z

I went to look at a really good job today, only to discover the dreaded Japanese Knotweed!

This horrid weed has become the curse of the countryside since its introduction as an ornamental plant in 1800s.

What is it? Well this plant forms dense clumps of undergrowth, reaching upto 3 meters in height. Its large oval green leaves and hollow stem (like bamboo) is a give away, as are the reddish shoots which appear in the spring.

This plant grows at an alarming rate - up to 20mm per day in any type of soil. In the autumn it seeds (luckily sterile) and dies back soon afterwards. It spreads through a system of roots which grow several meters from the main shoots. It also spreads vegetatively ie new plants are created from fragments of existing plants, the real danger of this weed.

It is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to plant or otherwise encourage the growth of Japanese Knotweed. This could include cutting the plant or roots and disturbing surrounding soil if not correctly managed.

Any Japanese Knotweed polluted soil or plant material that you discard, intend to discard or are required to discard is classed as controlled waste and must be accompanied by appropriate Waste Transfer documentation.

Spraying and mass root removal are the only effective means of control, following strict guidelines.

In my opinion, control, disposal and removal should only be done by experts to ensure you are conforming to EA regulations, thus avoiding prosecution.

What should you do if you think you have some? Cordon off the area & contact the Environment Agency without delay

My Blog

2006-11-06T16:07:00.000Z

This is my attempt to create a blog, so forgive me if you are experts in this!

I want to try to give visitors an overview of the interesting topics and situations I find myself in everyday - some are hard to believe and very random, some are just typical of a day in the life of a gardener!

Today, I visited a site which was overrun with rats - yes I am a trained pest and rodent controller too!

Recently, the law has changed regarding toxic materials in the environment, rat poison and Aluminum Phosphine gas and the treatment of wildlife (yes even rats!!). This means that the unwary "DIY rat catcher" can expose himself to serious prosecution and fines if he doesn't follow strict guidelines (and prove he has) including risk assessments, COSSH assessments, treatment reports and prove due cause to use toxins.

A recent professional outfit was fined over £35K for failing to follow the guidelines and exercise due care - a passer by found a dead rat on a foot path near the site and forced the HSE to investigate - an expensive lesson to learn!!

Needless to say, prices must reflect the cost of doing it correctly, but it will be cheaper then £35K!!