Tag Archive for: garden

Welcome winged wonders to your garden

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Welcome winged wonders to your garden: Think of pollinators and bumblebees, butterflies and beetles may come to mind – but the humble bat also plays a huge role in this vital work. Disruptive wildflower company Seedball is encouraging people to celebrate the importance of this mammal for International Bat Night, held this year between Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 August.

The night has been arranged by the Bat Conservation Trust and is designed to raise awareness of this special animal, which pollinates over 500 plant species, including some mangoes, guava, banana and agave, which is used to make tequila. Over 70 per cent of bats – and 100 per cent in the UK – also feed on insects, and as such play an important part in controlling the numbers of pests. They have massive appetites, and a tiny Pipistrelle bat alone can eat over 3000 mosquitoes in one night!

Welcome winged wonders to your garden

Welcome winged wonders to your garden

Bats’ excrement is also a fantastic fertiliser, known as guano. Bat guano comprises of roughly ten per cent nitrogen, three per cent phosphorus and one per cent potassium – a mixture which helps plants thrive and encourages their bright green colouring, boosts root growth and promotes strong, healthy stems. So, bats in a garden is a great sign that your plants will be benefitting from this brilliant natural fertiliser, helping your flowers bloom stronger, for longer.

Unfortunately, increased use of pesticides means that many British bat species are in decline, as they go hungry from lack of insect prey. Many are also faced with fewer roosting places due to a decline of natural habitats, meaning they struggle to get that all-important slumber during the day. In fact, one third of Britain’s most highly threatened mammal species are bats.

At Seedball, founders Drs Emily and Ana Attlee are encouraging people to plant wildflowers which will entice bats – whether that’s in a garden, balcony or even pots on a windowsill. The Bat Mix tin contains wildflower seedballs specially selected to attract a wide range of insects that bats feed on, including flowers that release their fragrance at night when bats are most active. The mix contains plant seeds with a combination of long and short pollen tubes, and a variety of colours and shapes of flowers to maximise the number of insects they attract – creating a delicious and well-rounded diet for bats! The seedballs contain borage, cornflower, corn marigolds, evening primrose, wallflowers and night-scented stock – which will not only encourage bats to visit but will also look beautiful too.

Dr Ana Attlee said: “Bats are a much-misunderstood creature, but here at Seedball we love them! They play such an important part in pollinating plants, getting rid of pests and keeping our soil healthy, and we encourage people to enjoy these furry visitors – as they are a sign of a happy, healthy garden. Our Bat Mix can be sown between August and October, so we’ll be celebrating International Bat Night on Saturday 26 August by scattering some seedballs and welcoming more bats over the coming months.”

For more information, visit https://seedball.co.uk/product/bat-mix/.

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Makita’s garden redemption has launched

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Makita’s garden redemption has launched: Leading power tool manufacturer Makita UK has launched its hugely popular winter cordless garden redemption promotion. With the purchase of selected products, end users can claim FREE LXT and XGT products, making this an attractive deal for those looking to start or expand their existing Makita cordless kit.

Makita’s latest garden machinery promotion gives end users the chance to claim ether a free 5.0Ah (BL1850B) 18V LXT Battery, or two free 5.0Ah BL1850B 18V LXT Batteries, or a free DMR110N DAB+ Job Site Radio with the purchase and registration of a wide selection of its leading LXT outdoor garden products – including cordless blowers, hedge trimmers, split shafts, chainsaws and more.

Makita's garden redemption has launched

Makita’s garden redemption has launched

Makita has also extended the promotion to offer a free 2.5Ah (BL4025) 40V XGT Battery to those who purchase selected XGT 40VMax outdoor equipment, including chainsaws, hedge trimmers, post-hole borer and even the latest 40VMax XGT Telescopic Pole Saw.

Kevin Brannigan, Marketing Manager at Makita UK said: “We are delighted to offer our valued customers a fantastic choice of free products this winter with our latest cordless garden product redemption. Claimants can purchase from a range of over 40 selected LXT products to receive 18V LXT batteries or a DAB+ radio, and 16 selected XGT products from our 40VMax XGT line up to receive the XGT battery.”

Makita’s latest redemption offer will run until 31st December 2022. Customers who have purchased any of the qualifying models from an authorised dealer between 01.10.22 and 31.12.22 should register their purchase online within 28 days of making their purchase to claim their free product. On successful application, customers will receive their free gift after 30 days.

For more information on the promotion and its terms and conditions, visit: www.makitauk.com/redemption.

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Summer garden trends

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Summer garden trends: Red is the new Green when it comes to the quiet revolution taking place in Britain’s gardens!  Gardeners all over the UK may be shouting about the new trend in cordless gardening tools, but the products will be whispering as they work away at cutting your hedges, trimming your grass and sucking up all the leaves left on your patio.

Mountfield customers have really taken to the battery powered gardening tools in the Freedom100 and Freedom500 ranges, due to the quietness, cleanliness and ease with which they can be handled and used.  But not only that, all of the products in each range have batteries which have a Smart Tool Recognition System. This battery management microchip optimises the performance of the battery to each tool by analysing the electrical resistance. It then adjusts the power output and current levels accordingly to  maximise the battery’s storage ability, longevity and run-time.  The Freedom100 products all use 20V battery and the Freedom500 range is powered by 48v lithium-ion batteries.

Summer garden trends

Summer garden trends

 

Freedom100 Cordless Garden Tool Examples

New for 2022 the MVS 20 Li battery blower/Vac shredder is the ultimate garden tidy tool. Lightweight, easy to use and energy efficient it not only blows leaves and debris away but can also simply vacuum and shred them into tiny pieces which collect in the 45-litre collector. You can blow, suck or shred to your hearts content with the MVS 20 Li, because it is powered by Mountfield’s superstar STIGA 20V Lithium-Ion batteries giving an impressive air speed of 55m/s.

The MMT 20 Li battery multi-tool (seen above) comes with pole pruner and hedge trimmer attachments.  Powered by  a 4Ah 20V lithium battery, it is lightweight and versatile. This easy to use cordless multi-tool is the perfect nifty partner for any small garden!

Freedom500 Cordless Garden Tool Examples

The lightweight, cordless MTR 50 Li grass trimmer (and Telegraph Best Buy 2022) makes tidying up the garden so easy and effortless thanks to its high-performance cutting device.  The telescopic shaft allows the user to adjust the shaft to suit along with the adjustable front handle for a comfortable working position.

The recently launched last year MCS 50 Li top handled chainsaw is a powerful, high performance tool.  Equipped with a powerful 1000W brushless motor and 12” cutting bar with high performance chain the MCS 50 Li cordless chainsaw is lightweight and efficient and makes easy work of woodcutting jobs around your garden.

You can see all Mountfield cordless gardening tools  on the website: www.mountfieldlawnmowers.co.uk

Easy mows, cuts it, blows it…with Mountfield!

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Pellenc maintains Scotland’s most exotic garden

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Pellenc maintains Scotland’s most exotic garden: The team responsible for maintaining the incredible Logan Botanic Garden have noticed several benefits since investing in a wide-range of Pellenc battery-powered equipment.

Regarded as Scotland’s most exotic garden, Logan Botanic Garden is located at the south-western tip of Scotland on the Rhins of Galloway. The Garden is warmed by the Gulf Stream which enables plants from Australia, New Zealand, South and Central America, Mediterranean and Southern Africa to thrive.

Pellenc maintains Scotland’s most exotic garden

Pellenc maintains Scotland’s most exotic garden

Garden Supervisor Colin Belton has been working at the Garden for 23 years and there are many reasons as to why he has stayed in the job for this amount of time.

“It is a great part of the world to be in,” he said. “It is very quiet, laid back, no rush to life and I’m part of a great team. We all work together as one unit.”

Colin revealed that plans were already in place to reduce carbon emissions after being encouraged to do so by the government. In fact, Logan Botanic Garden unveiled the first carbon neutral glasshouse in the UK. This was five years ago, and Colin’s attentions then turned to battery-powered equipment as an alternative to petrol machinery.

“I first became aware of the Pellenc equipment about 20 years ago,” he said. “I was at a horticultural show, and I saw the Pellenc chainsaw in action. I thought it was modern and different and so I took a brochure away with me. I still have that brochure to this day!

“A lot of other companies started bringing out battery-powered equipment, but to my knowledge, Pellenc has been around the longest and it was the one brand that really stuck with me.”

A forerunner when it comes to lithium-ion technology, Pellenc has established itself as the number one choice in the ‘zero emission’ professional power tools market for the maintenance of urban and green-spaces.

Light, odourless, noise-free, with no starting problems and enough power to enable professional users to work for a full day on a single charge, it’s no wonder more and more professional users are turning to Pellenc. It is an attractive alternative to those who have, for several years, been relying on fuel-based machinery.

Colin arranged for a demonstration of Pellenc equipment to be carried out at the Garden and he now boasts a fleet consisting of Airion blowers, Helion compact hedge-cutters as well as the Helion telescopic model, an Excelion strimmer and Excelion brushcutter, and the Selion T220/300 telescopic polesaw as well as the Selion C21 HD pruner – which were all supplied by Allan Wright of Agrovista Amenity.

“At the demonstration I think the light weight and the quietness impressed everyone the most,” said Colin. “We no longer have to endure an engine tucked under the ear droning away. Generally, it felt as though the petrol machinery was starting to take its toll on all of us.

The Pellenc equipment has certainly made our lives easier and safer.

“Take the Helion telescopic hedge cutter for example. The Helion enables us to reach the full height of the hedges, so we no longer have the hassle of assembling, moving, or relevelling our scaffolding tower. It’s a huge time saver and we can cut those hedges in half a day rather than a full day now.

“In fact, we can complete a lot of jobs much more quickly now and this is because we can work without disturbing our visitors. Previously we would get complaints about the noise from the petrol machines, and so we would be limited to a two-hour window to carry out jobs like hedge-cutting and strimming, before opening to the public. We can use the Pellenc equipment all day now because it is so quiet.

“There are just so many benefits to using this equipment,” continued Colin. “The Airion blowers, for example, have a huge advantage over the old petrol ones. Many of our paths are gravel based and trying to blow the leaves without taking the gravel with it was impossible with our old petrol blowers. However, the Pellenc Airion blowers have that low setting which is just enough to move the leaves along without interfering with the gravel.

“Then we have Excelion brushcutter with the City Cut head, and this enables us to work in the Garden without fear of debris flying towards visitors. In the past we have had to be extra careful and wait until no visitors were around.”

All the Pellenc tools at Logan Botanic Garden are powered by two ULiB 1500 batteries – the most powerful in the Pellenc range.

“We start work at 8am and we finish at 4.30pm and we get a whole day’s use out of them without the batteries being anywhere near flat. Some of the lighter pieces of kit we have run for days.

“To be honest, I think that initially, we were all sceptical as to whether the Pellenc products would be as powerful as a petrol engine – but they are.”

Pellenc is distributed exclusively in the UK by Etesia UK.

For further information, please contact Etesia UK on 01295 680120 or visit www.pellencuk.com

You can also follow Pellenc on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @PellencUK for much more news, reviews and insightful views.

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Revolutionary garden tractor

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Revolutionary garden tractor: The garden tractor world is about to be revolutionised with the launch of the first fully button operated machines that boast the largest mowing area on a single charge for battery power.

The simple to use STIGA Series 7 machines are smartphone compatible with a simple one pedal drive system. The two machines in the range are innovative and have been meticulously engineered in Italy to meet the needs of garden owners with very large lawns.  They both offer run times of 110 minutes on a single battery charge.

Revolutionary garden tractor

Revolutionary garden tractor

There are two models in the 7 Series:  The Tornado, a side-discharge machine that cuts up to 7,500 square metres, and the Estate which offers a collection facility that will cut areas up to 7,000 square metres, both on a single charge. This is the largest area ever covered by a battery powered tractor across the industry.

The new models have been designed with simplicity in mind, being fully electric removes the need for multiple levers and complicated procedures. Using the intuitive STIGA dashboard, the full range of functions can be managed directly from the driver’s seat with the touch of a button.  All operations can be carried out effortlessly, from starting up the machine, adjusting the blades’ speed and cutting height, all the way to emptying the collection bag.

Furthermore, STIGA electric tractors are equipped with a Bluetooth module that connects the machine’s electronic “brain” – the STIGA Vehicle Management System – to a smartphone, creating a seamless connection to the STIGA.GO App. This allows the user’s phone to work as a true virtual dashboard, illustrating all key information whilst cutting the lawn. Thanks to STIGA’s unique electric powertrain and One Pedal Drive system, just one pedal is enough to operate the entire electric tractor with smooth acceleration, deceleration and effortless parking.

Two motors power the STIGA patented blades that perform a precise, neat and efficient cut every time. Additionally users can enjoy a pleasant ride, even during longer sessions, thanks to a comfortable seating design, coupled with electric battery technology, generating less vibration, noise and no fumes or unpleasant smells. The machine’s cutting deck, blade positioning and orientation improves the cut’s uniformity, whilst its central tunnel design boosts collecting performance and helps prevent blockages in the chute. The collection bag has been created with a wedge-shape allowing it to fill to capacity and facilitate efficient emptying operations.

The new STIGA Series 7 tractors are available to purchase, with a retail price starting from £6,614 for the Tornado and £6,877 for the Estate.

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