Longacres Blog

You do not have to let go of the garden of your dreams just because you live in a small apartment or flat in the middle of the city – you just need to be clever about the way you use the space available to you. As your leading provider of garden products, we want to help you grow a compact garden of your own. If you live on the ground floor, you can use whatever space is there, even a small yard can be made beautiful. If your flat is up on one of the higher floors, you can build a petite but perfect garden on your balcony. If you live near the top and have the luxury of a rooftop, you can build an urban rooftop garden. Pint-size Patio  If you live on the ground floor you can make a quaint little patio, use any height you may have with climbing plants and a string of lights overhead. The addition of a small picnic table means you can entertain guests outdoors too. Mini Balcony Garden  If you are fortunate to have a balcony, you can build a beautiful retreat. Make the most of every inch by layering the foliage and adding built-in planters. Bring out cosy furniture or find a small bench to enhance your mini garden. Rooftop Hideaway  Build a make-shift city garden on your rooftop by including large planters and beautiful foliage. You can soften a concrete floor with artificial turf or decorative stones. Complete the hideaway by adding weathered benches and tables. Living in the middle of the city does not have to prevent you from creating a beautiful garden or outdoor space, it just takes a little imagination and good use of space. We have a wide range of gardening tools and outdoor products that will fit all your pocket garden needs. Contact us today for the best deals.

So who’d like to win themselves £100 worth of LEGO sets from Longacres? All you have to do is throw that instruction manual out the window and come up with something new and different. We don’t mind what it is, we just want to see your creations! Post a picture of your creation on the Longacres Facebook competition post and click that ‘Share’ & 'Like' button on the post to be in with a chance of winning. Good luck everyone! You can find our Facebook page here - our competition post can be found pinned to the top of the page for ease and convenience. Lego Master Builder All entries must be uploaded by 22/08/2015 at 23:59pm to be valid. All posts must be original; if we feel that you are not the original creator of the pictured LEGO creation then your entry may be withdrawn. Winners’ item can only be posted to a UK address. Judges decision is final. £100 voucher can only be redeemed at Longacres against LEGO products. This Voucher is non-transferable, cannot be sold and no cash alternative will be given. Longacres reserve the right to use any images of LEGO creations uploaded on to the Longacres Facebook page on their other social media accounts or how they see fit. This promotions is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. Any questions, comments or complaints regarding the promotion will be directed to Longacres garden centre, not Facebook.

Hydrangeas have showy flowers that last for a long time. Most hydrangeas enjoy part or even full shade, and they come in a large range of sizes, many being suited to growing in containers. They sound like the perfect garden plant. What else do you need to know about them? Blue and pink The flower colour of hydrangeas that aren’t white are in the blue and pink colour ranges. These shades change in response to the acidity or the alkalinity of the soil they are grown in. If you have chalky soil your blue-flowered hydrangea will gradually change to pink. This can be upsetting if you’ve planned a dreamy blue-flowered garden. If you can successfully grow healthy camellias or any rhododendrons in your garden borders, you have acidic soil. If you can grow blueberries, you have very acidic soil. Otherwise, it is likely that your soil is neutral or alkaline. You can grow your hydrangea in a container with acidic compost, and water using rainwater. It is worth the effort for one fabulous blue specimen. Blue flower treatments The acid to alkaline measure or the soil’s pH is, like earthquake measurements, increased by ten with each unit. Neutral soil is pH 7, and acidic soil at pH 6 is ten times more acidic than neutral. Although it is possible to ‘blue-up’ your hydrangeas, it only really works if your soil is slightly, rather than extremely acidic. In the old days, piles of nails were put round hydrangeas to release iron into the soil. The mineral aluminium is largely responsible for Hydrangea ‘blues’. Alkalinity “locks up” the aluminium so the plant can’t absorb it, the addition of iron to the soil releases the aluminium content to the plant. Nowadays ’treatment’ comes in packets. Sequestrol which contains Iron chelate, can be watered in to the soil. Aluminium sulphate applied at 250 grams to the square metre, puts aluminium into the soil which the plant can absorb. Sulphur applied at 150 grams per square metre, lowers the pH by a useful 0.5. Treatments are likely to be needed annually, and using rainwater rather than the generally alkaline tap water helps when watering. An old party trick is to blue-up just one side of a hydrangea, so you get different flower colours on the same plant! Mopheads and Lacecaps Hydrangea flowers, especially in the case of the common garden ‘macrophylla’ form, have two types of flower. The “mophead” (Hortensia) has big, rounded flowerheads packed with individual florets that are sterile, and tiny fertile flowers that are hardly visible. The “lacecap” heads are flattish, and have tiny fertile flowers at their heart and showy infertile ones, often held on short stems, round the edges. Hydrangea macrophylla Early Blue = 'Hba 202911' is a mophead, while Hydrangea macrophylla 'Taube' (Teller Series) is a lacecap. From traditional to trendy The rather stolid image of the hydrangea has changed in recent years. Some of the new varieties are elegant, even dramatic. Hydrangeas have an important role to play in the most modern and stylish garden. One change to modern forms doesn’t involve the flowers at all. Varieties are now available that have shiny black stems, such as Hydrangea macrophylla 'Black Steel Zebra'. Other varieties have near black foliage and flowers that change colour with age. These, and many more will be covered in next month’s article “Using hydrangeas in the garden”. Enjoy! This blog post was contributed by Susan A. Tindall

Trying to shop for furniture can be stressful enough without having to browse in a cluttered and busy environment; it also makes it a whole lot more difficult trying to envisage it in your home! That's why we have displayed our stunning range of oak furniture within our spacious summer showrooms at Longacres Shepperton, complete with ornaments and accessories! Here you will have the opportunity to walk around and look closely at the furniture on offer to view all of the choices available, to check the quality, take measurements and check prices. You might even find other furniture/ornaments/pictures that you may not have considered otherwise. In our summer showrooms (situated outside) you will find a range of furniture including dining tables and chairs, corner tables, bookcases, chests of drawers, bedside tables and more in warm oak and cornish cream colours at competitive prices. Allow us to tempt you over to take a look at the range in our peaceful showrooms and to speak to a friendly member of our team!

Garden centres and online sites usually have a gathering of Hebes. The featured plants are generally small with long shiny leaves that may be green or carry bright, even curious variegation. There are often ‘tussocks’ of flowers in just about every shade but yellow or orange. They are indeed hard to resist, and are ideal subjects for containers on the patio. Surely one can do more with them. Hebe 'Sparkling Sapphires' Containers have their uses. They are a good setting for many modern cultivars that have variegated foliage, Hebe ‘Sparkling Sapphires’ for example could be used in a pair of containers set on each side of a pathway. The golden foliage of Hebe ‘Golden Anniversary’ can provide a warm gold backdrop to busy containers that froth with annuals. They can also look remarkably good planted in a border or as a feature, primarily for foliage interest. Invest in a group of three, choosing plants with a good solid form, such as Hebe ‘Autumn Glory’ with glossy green leaves and purple flowers in August and September. Plant in a triangle set half a metre from each other and this will develop as a striking feature for year round interest. This would contrast well with other variegated and showy plants. If you want just one plant, the willow-like foliage of Hebe salicifolia and its frothy mass of white flowers in summer, is a delight. Hebe Bronze Glow = 'Lowglo' Hebes also look surprisingly good planted singly in borders, or round the feet of roses. The rather unattractive rose stems can be completely hidden by a compact Hebe. Try Hebe Bronze Glow = 'Lowglo' with its bronzed foliage and blue spring flowers that combine so well with tulips in spring and pink or red roses in summer. In addition to these lush, leafy Hebes there are other distinctive varieties. For sheltered spots the silvered grey and blue leaves of dainty Hebe ‘Glaucophylla Variegata' can make an exceptional contribution. Use it as a tall highlight above low-growing herbaceous plants in a sunny spot. Even more exquisite is silvered Hebe pimeleoides 'Quicksilver' which has outreaching horizontal branches, wonderful as an edging plant or on a raised bed. Hebe 'Mrs Winder' Hebes that have close-textured foliage such as the tight dome of Hebe recurva 'Boughton Silver' make a huge contribution to often shaggy and characterful plants in a Mediterranean-style garden. The whipleaf Hebes with their conifer-like branches can make tiny specimens in a rock garden. Hebe ochraceae 'James Stirling' (a curious shade of burnt gold, is highly distinctive. Finally, Hebes for winter colour. Many Hebes have foliage that changes colour in cold weather, a valuable asset indeed for those long dull months. If you have space, try the magnificent Hebe 'Mrs Winder' coloured red-mahogany in winter, or the smaller Hebe 'Caledonia' which is rose-purple is equally good. There are others, worth a bit of research in your Plant Finder, if you have trouble choosing the one among many that are on offer. Enjoy your Hebes. This blog post was contributed by Susan A. Tindall

Shere, one of Surrey s most unspoilt villages is opening its garden gates for charity on Sunday 28th June 2015 For over a century, Shere has been hailed as the jewel in the crown of the Surrey Hills.  Set at the foot of the North Downs between Guildford and Dorking, this pretty village offers great architecture from wonky little Tudor cottages and Lutyens lodges to more than its fair share of manors and mills. Historically it has been called home by many artists and now with a population of about a thousand it is a popular destination for walkers, cyclists and tourists who take advantage of the many pubs, tea shops, eclectic gift shops and its famous ice cream parlour. For it's 37th year running, Shere will be opening it’s garden gates for one afternoon and inviting the public to view a record number of 28 beautiful private gardens on Sunday the 28th June 2015. Whether you are a keen gardener or simply curious to see behind the lichen covered walls and manicured hedges, Shere Open Gardens gives a glimpse into quintessential England. Come along and enjoy an afternoon strolling from quaint colourful cottage borders and elegantly landscaped water gardens to little patio suntraps and vigorous vegetable plots. There will be an over-the-wall gardeners' question time at the Shere allotments with a couple of the keenest allotment holders, a pimms stall and homemade teas in the village hall. Says Annabel Alford, Chairman of the organising committee: "2014 was a record year for Shere Open Gardens. We welcomed over a thousand visitors and raised about £10,000 for local organisations and causes.  We hope the sun shines again this year so we can have an equally successful day." In 1978 the local village hall was in desperate need of repair; the local villagers all came together to figure out a way to try and raise the money needed - Shere Open Gardens was decided as being a suitable event. Unexpectedly. it proved to be so popular that it quickly became an annual event in the village’s calendar and in this, the 37th year of Shere Open Gardens, the residents once again looks forward to welcoming visitors come rain or shine! Last year, Shere Open Gardens raised over £10,000 and they hope to match (or exceed!) that this year with your help. The funds raised by the event are split between around 17 local causes aimed at all ages and stages in the community, from the Toddler Group and Village Nursery to the Pensioner’s Christmas Party and the local Veterans (of which there are still three!). Event:  Shere Open Gardens Date:  Sunday 28th June 2015 Time:  2pm - 6pm Location:  Shere is just to the south of Newlands Corner off the A25, half way between Guildford and Dorking. Parking:  FREE. The main car park for the event is at the junction of Chantry Lane and Upper Street – GU5 9JA. Disabled parking is available at the Shere school in Gomshall Lane – GU5 9HB. Parking will be well signposted. Refreshments:  There will be a Pimms Stall run by the Cricket Club and Homemade teas and cakes will be served in the Village Hall by the village school mums Entry:  Adults: £6; Over 60: £5; Children under 16: FREE. Tickets are available at the Village Hall and selected gardens - ask parking attendants for the nearest points. Are dogs allowed?:  Sorry, no dogs (other than guide dogs) will be allowed in the gardens Further information can be found at www.shereopengardens.co.uk © Images courtesy of GuildfordPhotographer 

Summer is right around the corner and the weather is warming up. Nothing defines the summer season better than beach escapades, cold drinks and a barbecue with friends. Barbecue parties are one of the best ways to welcome summer bliss. After all, the delectable scent of grilled meat completes the essence of the season. You get to enjoy delicious barbecue while you chatter with your buds or play some outdoor games. Barbecues are a great way to celebrate the season. Proper planning plays a pivotal role in successful parties. To enjoy an ace of a party, make sure you have the following essentials: The right equipment How can you cook the barbecue without the necessary equipment? You can spend as much as you want on grillers and charcoal, but one should restrain oneself from spending hundreds of quid for your first party. Cheaper models work just as well as the expensive ones. Decide which equipment suits your need. Will you be holding another party or is this your first and last barbecue? Will you need a deluxe multi burner or kettle barbecues? Make sure you have the right equipment before throwing your bash. The right accessories A griller is not enough; you’ll need other accessories to complete your grilling party. Complete your barbecue inventory with the following: Charcoal Gas canisters Cooking tools (tongs, grill brushes, skewers, spatulas, branding irons) Plates and other flatware Matches The right food Your shopping list should be complete with the food essentials. Barbecues are not always about spare ribs, burgers and sausages. Other options are available, especially for your health-conscious guests. Fish, chicken and vegetables make delicious barbecues; just experiment with different coatings and marinades. Also, shop for salad, corn on the cob and dips. The right decoration Emphasise the summer season by decorating your home for the party. Select a theme for your party; go Hawaiian or use popular culture for your themes. Search your local party shop for cheap and fun decorations. Welcome the summer heat with a party. Barbecue parties are one of the best ways to enjoy summer bliss. Longacres offers the essentials for a successful barbecue party with your mates. Browse through our selection and call us now.

Most people will agree that cheese is great, but not all cheeses are good for everything. There will be some cheeses that excel with certain foods where others fail, and it is in the best interest of any cook to find which cheese works best for what. In this case, we will look at the cheeses that taste the best with food cooking on the grill. Dairy Heat This is actually a difficult subject to discuss since cheese does not normally do well in high temperatures, the variety best suited to the grill should be able to taste good as it melts. Fortunately, there are cheeses that do exactly that, though it may take a bit of exploring beyond the local store to find them. Just to be clear, any kind of cheese will work well on a grill as long as it is melting on top of something. Bread is the best mattress for normal cheese to lie on when grilling, since it transfers heat easily without burning to a blackened husk. Meat is also acceptable in this regard, but the griller/chef should pay close attention to the food and ensure nothing goes black under the yellow and white. Hot Cheese The cheeses discussed here are the ones grillers will have no fear of placing directly on top of the fire for a unique culinary experience. The first of these cheeses is the Haloumi, a salt-brined goat and sheep cheese variety from Cyprus whose curds are heated before processing. This cheese tastes best when lightly grilled and brushed with olive oil, and then served as an appetizer with tomatoes, ripe onions, and cucumbers. Another goat and sheep cheese variety that does not mind taking the heat is the Grecian Kefalotyri. The same recipes of the Haloumi can apply to this cheese; the only notable difference is that the Kefalotyri becomes firmer as it ages. This may change the rate it cooks on the grill, but it should not greatly affect the taste of the final product. We should all remember that the art of the barbecue and grill is not exclusive to cooking and serving meat. There are other ways to grill a special meal, just as long as there is enough imagination and knowledge to do so. If you are looking for quality equipment that can cook a wide variety of food, contact us today. You can also browse through the rest of our website for other products and services that we have on offer.

At the age of 23, I can honestly say that I have only a handful of memories of ever seeing a hedgehog. When I was around the age of 6 or 7, me and my family became aware of very timid hedgehog visiting our garden in the evenings for a spot of dinner. Sometimes we'd catch a glimpse of it but not always... and after a week or so it stopped visiting. I vividly remember one evening my mum waking me up and excitedly telling me to go and look at something outside. Confused and sleepily I stepped forwards slowly and could see the hedgehog in the middle of the grass... but it was hunched over and didn't look quite right. For a horrible few moments I worried that it had hurt itself, but on closer inspection we noticed the hedgehog drop something.. it had been holding a baby hedgehog! The mother took a few small steps backwards, allowing me and my mum to really get a closer look of the baby. After a minute or so, the mother stepped forwards, picked up her baby, walked away and we never saw her again. It felt like she had been using our garden as a maternity ward and before leaving wanted us to understand why she had been there. It is a fond memory of mine, especially as I haven't ever seen a hedgehog since. Were you aware that, devastatingly, English hedgehogs are disappearing about as fast as tigers are worldwide? To be more precise - they are in decline by around 97%. Surprisingly, there is also evidence to suggest that they are suffering just as badly in the wider countryside as they are in more built-up areas. This shocking revelation comes as a result of a number of different factors: loss of hedgerows and grassland due to urban development, digestion of pesticides and herbicides, and believe it or not but even tidy and sterile gardens have majorly contributed (fences and roads have been pushing hedgehogs into smaller inhabitable areas). But we can all help to stop this species being lost forever through a number of different ways: Place down some tubing in your garden and fill it with dried mealworms, cat food and water (make sure it's large enough for a hedgehog - you don't want it to get stuck!). This provides a fantastic and cost-effective home or pit-stop for passing hedgehogs. Leave a messy patch in your garden (compost heaps or log piles work too!) and hedgehogs may use these to create a nest for hibernating or rearing babies - messy patches are beneficial to hedgehogs because they attract insects! Hedgehogs won't ever stay in just one garden - they need more space: streets, neighbourhoods and linked gardens. You could help make this possible by cutting one or two small holes in your garden fence (approximately 13cm x 13cm in diameter) to allow them to move easily around from garden-to-garden - then make sure to let all your friends and neighbours know to do the same! Hogilo House from Wildlife World For those of you with a bit more cash to spare, why not consider buying a Wildlife World Hedgehog House (£47.99?) or a Wildlife World Hogilo Hedgehog House (£44.99)? Place these in a shady and peaceful area of your garden - and make sure that you've cut a hole in your fence for them to access it! Both of these homes can be bought online or in store from Longacres Bagshot and Shepperton. Don't litter! Even something as small as an elastic band can kill a hedgehog. Donate to a hedgehog charity and provide funding for research into ways to stop hedgehogs from going into extinction. You could even fundraise for them by holding a charity event! Try to avoid treating your lawn with herbicide and putting down slug pellets.. these can kill hedgehogs if digested in large doses. For many of us, hedgehogs played a part in childhood memories of ours, but at this rate our future generations won't be lucky enough to ever see one.. so let's all get involved and help save the species!

As a change from containers that brim with colourful, generally annual plants, your display could include or indeed consist of, containers with plants that are grown primarily for their foliage interest. These plants generally flower, giving a few weeks of extra beauty, however they are mostly grown for the pleasure of enjoying their long-lasting foliage effects. The following suggestions are all for plants that have large leaves. In containers filled with small-leaved annuals, the foliage masses of these suggestions will provide a pleasing contrast. Hosta 'Silver Spray' The first choice is Hostas. These come in a range of sizes from the tiny to the huge, but the following selections are hostas that are mid-sized. Try something blue with Hosta 'Blue Danube' This serene plant has conical leaves that are coloured blue-green. This would look nice against a ferment of red pelargoniums (often called annual geraniums). For blue and silver elegance try Hosta ‘Silver Spray’ cool and crisp with fat leaves edged in silver, which is good with vibrant blue Lobelia. For subtle chartreuse and gold try the broad leaves of Hosta ‘Guacamole’, matched with lush Petunias. Hostas are prone to attack by slugs and snails. When grown in a container on their own a copper band placed around the container provides an excellent slug deterrent, provided the slugs can’t climb onto the hosta from another plant. The second choice is Heuchera and x Heucherella. These are well-suited to containers where they often seem to do better than in a busy flower border. They often make slightly tiered mounds of foliage and can result in a good block of colour that combines well with annuals. These plants come in a variety of forms, some having very ruffled foliage. The forms with smoother leaves generally look better when placed near busy annuals. For something dark and delicious try Heuchera ‘Obsidian’ dark, shiny and black. Heuchera 'Autumn Leaves' Heuchera 'Autumn Leaves' changes colour through the seasons going from pinkish red through tan to orange. For lime green, and having slightly ruffled edges to otherwise smooth leaves, try Heuchera Key Lime Pie = 'Tnheu042' (Dolce Series). It pays to treat potted Heuchera forms (and indeed all container plants) with a vine weevil killer as vine weevils can completely separate a plant from its roots before one notices. Finally, grey-foliaged plants are always appealing and the light, silver grey oblong leaves of Brachyglottis (Dunedin Group) 'Drysdale' is beautiful with purple and orange flowered annuals. Cut off the yellow flowers for a pure foliage effect. This needs a sunny position to give of its best. All these plants are perennial which means they can be used in future years. Alternately, they can be planted out in the garden so that a whole new series of plant combinations can be tried in your containers next year. Enjoy! This blog post was contributed by Susan A. Tindall

"At any given time, somewhere in the world, someone is barbecuing. Let us take you on a journey to some of the most delicious barbecues around." These are the powerful opening words of BBQ Cultures; Weber's brand new cinematic and interactive campaign that allows us to watch a series of short films whilst interacting and learning about Weber products, recipes, tips and tricks along the way. Click here to view the BBQ Cultures Interactive Campaign Five distinct BBQ cultures are focussed on, starting with a men's fishing trip in tranquil Scandinavia and ending at a warm and beautiful wedding in France. The campaign reinforces the fact that there is a barbecue cooking food, at any given time, somewhere in the world - and we at Longacres couldn't agree more! Longacres are now incredibly proud to be an official Premium Weber Certified Store, meaning that we are fully authorised to offer the entire Weber product range to you. It also means that our seasonal team have been trained by the Weber experts themselves - so you can fully trust us to ensure that we sell only the barbecue(s) and accessories that are right for you. Come and visit us at our Bagshot store where you can see the full range on display. Weber display at Longacres Bagshot Did you know that Weber are hosting their much anticipated Grill Academy - On Tour event at our Bagshot store on Thursday the 25th June? The Weber Grill Academy is a live and exciting 2-hour cooking demonstration designed to inspire and excite you, whether you be a barbecuing pro or a total novice! The Grill Academy will begin at 6:30pm and will last for approximately 2 hours. Tickets cost just £10 and include entry to the event, refreshments, nibbles and samples. To find out more about the event and to view a video of what to expect click here, or if you've already been persuaded enough to buy tickets click here! Don't forget that our seasonal department also has a vast range of barbecues, accessories, furniture and more, with new additions to our BBQ range from the likes of The Big Green Egg and Landmann, as well as new additions to our furniture range including Alexander Rose, the Jamie Oliver range and Bramblecrest. Take a few minutes to watch the video below to find our more from our seasonal manager, John Connel, and have a glimpse at what we have in store this year. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho89Ak6K7fw[/embed]

Brits are not doing enough gardening; at least that is the sentiment of renowned English television presenter, gardener, writer and speaker Montagu Denis Wyatt "Monty" Don. More Green Opportunities Monty Don, the current host of the BBC television series Gardeners' World, said that many young people are being turned off by gardening because they can no longer pay for homes with green spaces. Don said it is a “tragedy” that not enough young people are learning gardening skills. He is concerned that spiralling house prices and lack of space could mean people do not have opportunities to get green fingered. “My generation grew up expecting some sort of ownership and access to gardens. I had my first home aged 26 and started growing things then. My three kids are in their 20's and none of them rent or own homes with gardens,” the BBC host told Radio Times magazine, as quoted in a report in mirror.co.uk— the online edition of The Daily Mirror.  “A generation is growing up with no access to green space. There’s an increased remoteness about it all. Gardens can reach into life in a way that’s beyond horticulture. It’s about how we choose to live our lives and how younger people engage with them.”  He added, "We've lost so many of our allotments and it's a tragedy. They're increasingly important as young people have less access to gardens. Don, who is returning as the host of this year’s Chelsea Flower Show, explained gardens are “part of our way of life and we can't keep building on them. Councils are selling them off and say they'll find allotment space somewhere else but this is missing the point.” Gardening the Easy Way We stand behind Don on this issue. Gardening should be something that everyone does. Experts are even saying gardening is key to longer life. We've always encouraged everyone to have some sort of green patch in their home, even if it’s just a few potted plants by the windowsill or by the front garden. We have a range of plants and other products that make gardening easy. You can get the seed, the pots, and the feeds to give your plant a boost all in one convenient centre. Longacres Garden Centre is one with horticulturists and gardeners in encouraging everyone to grab a shovel, dig in, and start planting. Get in touch with us today and we’ll be happy to provide you with any gardening products you need.