Gardening Advice

• First off, create a realistic checklist – what elements do you want to include in your garden –planting, lawns, seating, storage, pathways etc?
• Work with the space you’ve got –whether it’s sloping or flat, you can create a garden that works in harmony with the terrain.
• Don’t over complicate it – if you do, you risk the project getting out of hand and spiralling budgets – make it simple and usable. 
• Research about the plants that work with the light you have available– is the space shady or does it get full sun for most of the day? Choose your planting to make the most of the conditions. Using a guide like this from the RHS can help you get up to speed quickly - https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants 
• Use raised areas to improve the quality of your soil, create eye-catching height levels and make for easy access gardening.

To see more from Caitlin watch this short video.

Last year we supplied our raised beds for an award-winning garden called 40 Sunbury Road. The garden showcased a typical sized UK plot with the aim of demonstrating that even a small garden can be filled with lots of interesting features whilst maintaining functionality.

We installed a stepped planter, positioned at the end of the small lawn in front of the shed and filled it with easy to grow vegetables.

The garden also featured a greenhouse, living roof and wall, pergola (ideal for growing creepers) plus loads of simple, manageable and beautiful planting.

Check out some of our Chelsea exhibits from years gone by with plantings by a garden designer with more than 60 RHS Gold Medals to her name, Jekka McVicar. We kept the designs simple to showcase to visitors how WoodBlocX can be used to transform spaces large and small. We’ve even thrown in a WoodBlocX elephant for good measure!

Now that the cold snap behind us and spring is on its way (we hope!), its time to start looking ahead to the growing season.

March is the month to make a start on sowing seeds, if it is mild enough where you are you can get to work sowing certain veg directly into the soil including carrots, radish, broad beans, parsnip, beetroot, peas, leeks and many more.

Remember that the soil in a raised bed warms up much quicker than open ground, making them ideal for early sowing.

For the seeds such as tomato, basil, peppers and lettuce that need a little more warmth than a raised bed can offer sow in pots either in a greenhouse or sunny windowsill.

Now that the cold snap is behind us and spring is on its way (we hope!), it’s time to start looking ahead to the growing season.

March/April are the months to make a start on sowing seeds, if it is mild enough where you are you can get to work sowing certain veg directly into the soil including carrots, radish, broad beans, parsnip, beetroot, peas, leeks and others.

Remember that the soil in a raised bed warms up much quicker than open ground, making them ideal for early sowing.

For the seeds such as tomato, basil, peppers and lettuce that need a little more warmth than a raised bed can offer, sow in pots either in a greenhouse or sunny windowsill.

Win one of 500 packs of Mr Fothergill’s Seeds

Our latest competition aims to get the growing season for 500 people off to a flying start. We have selected five varieties of vegetable and herb seeds from Mr Fothergills, all of which can be sown from March onwards. So, if you’re new to growing your own food these starter packs are perfect for you.

We’ve got 500 packs of five to give away worth £9.49 and to enter all you need to is click here, plus if you share the competition far and wide you will receive more entries, which means there are more chances to win!

Carrots Nantes 5
A Mr Fothergill’s Best Buy, this is a delicious early variety of carrots, the blunt ended roots have outstanding flavour, matures in 12 weeks.

Lettuce Salad Bowl
The lettuce that keeps on giving, pick the leaves as needed and this variety will crop all summer long.

Radish French Breakfast
One of the easiest growing vegetables, these radishes have a mild and crisp flavour and can be harvested from April – October.

Tomato Maskotka
The best way to grow Britain’s favourite summer vegetable is in containers, this bushy plant will give you plenty of sweet cherry tomatoes from July – October.

Add a taste of the Mediterranean to your cooking using your home-grown basil, sow indoors from March – May or outdoors from May – June.

Successfully updating your garden is all in the planning and February is the ideal month to lay down plans in readiness for spring. we've put a quick guide together to get you started...

For ideas and inspiration for your next garden project visit our website or contact us directly we'd love to help

Ensure your raised beds are ready and raring to go for spring by boosting the health of the soil.

Good quality soil will help increase the crop yield of vegetables and promote healthier blooms in flowers; plus, the better soil structure builds up resilience to pests and disease. There are lots of composts and additives available and here’s a quick rundown of the most popular.

Compost
Good quality compost can offer lots of benefits. If you’re planting directly into your raised bed a good multi-purpose version is the best choice. It can also be used for raising seedlings in pots too and when doing this we use a sieve to make a finer mixture which will save you buying a separate seed compost mix.

Soil improvers

Garden centres stock lots of different soil improvers which can be scattered directly onto the surface of the raised bed and gently forked in and left to do the work. Many are enriched with beneficial nutrients and micro-organisms to support root growth and keep working for many months.

Make your own
Putting fruit and veg peelings, egg shells and cartons, tea bags, grass clippings and other garden waste into a compost bin and not the wheelie bin is a great feeling, right? They say good things come to those who wait, and homemade compost is one of those things. Remember to turn it regularly to allow air to get in. If the bottom layer looks like soil, it's ready to use. Spread it throughout your raised bed instead of shop-bought compost for a BIG nutrient boost.

Get ready for the growing season

Our raised are ideal for growing and make a beautiful addition to the garden. Use our calculator tool to check your measurements and work out the cost of a raised bed for your garden. If you have a bigger project or just need some advice contact our Design Team who can create a free design bespoke to your garden.

It’s January, the weather is gloomy and there’s not a great deal going on out in the garden; but don’t let that stop you being productive! Here are four easy to grow and useful veg that can be sown between now and the end of February, either directly in your raised bed or indoors.

Garlic is a wonderfully versatile ingredient with the addition of some great health benefits. If you are keen to grow your own make sure you use the cloves from a bulb that is specifically for planting as those sold in the supermarket for cooking may not be suitable. Plant individual cloves in a sunny spot directly in the soil.

A square, rectangular or even circular raised bed is ideal for growing garlic and vegetables.

A fresh leek pulled straight from the soil is tender and tasty and a million miles from the supermarket leeks. Use in soups and stews or smother in cheese sauce. Leeks can be planted directly in the soil or in seed trays, but remember if you’re planting them directly to leave a good space between them.

Raised beds are perfect for growing leeks and other root vegetables, plus weeding and watering is made so much easier due to their height. A classic rectangular raised bed is a great choice.

Tomatoes are one of the most popular vegetables (or fruits!) to grow at home. Sow indoors towards the end of February in a warm windowsill or heated propagator to get them off to a flying start. Remember to gently remove the new leaves as they sprout in order to keep the plant focused on developing the fruit and growing new stems.

If you prefer growing tomatoes in the greenhouse, the low-level large rectangular raised bed is a popular choice to install, and bespoke lengths are also available

Broad beans are another versatile and easy to grow vegetable; simply sow in pots or undercover to begin with and then transplant into well-drained soil, making sure you leave plenty of space between them. Have some canes at the ready to train the plants to grow upwards.

The long stepped planter is ideal for growing beans, climbing veg and fruit canes, and with different compartments it’s the perfect height for tending and harvesting.

Growing your own fruit and vegetables takes time and perseverance, but it does give you complete control over the whole process, allowing you to grow organically or choose the fertilisers and pest control products that suit your preferences.

WoodBlocX raised beds are ideal for vegetable growing, being raised up from the ground means they warm up much quicker than open soil, plus the wood used doesn't contain any harmful residues that could leach into the soil making the kits a great alternative to railway sleepers which are often treated with chemicals.

In the south, there have been very few really hard frosts, so even some tender bedding plants like geraniums have survived and it means that many of the bugs and other nasties are also thriving! So now is the time to go slug and snail hunting and dispose of them! Really we do need a good old cold snap to freshen things up.

The constant damp and heavy recent rainfall is not good for the garden, resulting in waterlogged muddy beds that are difficult to work. So stick to ordering seeds, maintaining your garden, re-edging borders, pruning fruit trees, clearing out the potting shed and repairing your equipment ready for upcoming spring activity!

Maybe this year you should think about a “No-Dig” system for your veggie patch or  raised beds? It is a low maintenance system, ideal for organic enthusiasts and if combined with a WoodBlocXraised bed, will make growing your own veg easier and less of a chore!

Basically you remove any surface weeds and dig out perennials (in Autumn) then simply spread a generous quantity of well rotted manure or home made compost, on top of the raised bed (at least 4 inches deep) and leave it to nature. The mulch over the surface helps to keep the soil warm and, therefore, the worms active, drawing the compost into the ground. Later on, when you are watering your raised bed crops, you will find that on an un-dug bed it is easier because it soaks away through this organic matter whilst a bed that has been dug often has a surface that will smear and cause run-off.

Apart from maybe sowing some shallots, radish, carrots and parsnips under cloches, you are better to wait til the end of February before sowing any seeds, as despite the unseasonably warm weather, low light levels will suppress growth. Carrot Marion is a good Nantes variety which is suitable for all year growing. Towards the end of Feb you can sow early salad crops in the green house and peas and broad beans without heat, but under cover. One of the oldest and most nutritious of all cultivated vegetables, hundreds of years ago broad beans provided protein in a meat poor diet! Try Sciabola Verde or Red Epicure (both from Marshalls-seeds.co.uk)

Grow Your Own Anywhere!
Whilst you are planning what new vegetable seeds to order from the catalogues, why not try growing some Dwarf French beans in a WoodBlocX planter? Maxi is a good variety to try and also new White Aubergine- Ivory (what else!) is another crop that can be successfully grown in a planter.

Have a look at the various WoodBlocX planter options and see how you can create your own small kitchen garden anywhere.

All too often a great design idea has to be amended beyond recognition because of the practicalities and realities of the garden and the budget. Perhaps all the materials for the garden have to be taken through the house, perhaps there are pets or young children around, or perhaps you’re on a deadline – all these logistical problems and more can mean that the original vision is compromised. However, whether you want to add planters or raised beds, benches or more to a problematic area, the solution can be found in a modular timber system such as WoodBlocX.

Modular systems, because they are delivered in pieces rather than unwieldy pre-built wholes, can be taken into the garden much more easily. All the WoodBlocX components can be easily carried by one person, so even in the tightest of places there’s space to squeeze them through. They are delivered on pallets, which can be easily moved to get as close to the construction area as possible, saving time and effort in moving things around. This is also helpful when the garden build has to take place around household life – the components do not take up much space, so disruption can be minimised.

Modular systems built from small components are also light and can be easily carried up steps. This means that it is also possible to build quite large planters on rooftops, and incorporate a rooftop garden to bring some life to a dull area.

So, WoodBlocX are easy to get onto the site, but they are also easy to work with once the components are there. All the individual pieces are pre-fabricated to exactly the right size, and pre-drilled and mitred as well. Therefore you will not need any power tools to build up the BlocX themselves – no drilling, cutting or sawing is necessary. The BlocX are quick and easy to put together, and there is very little noise created in the process, keeping the disruption to family and neighbours to a minimum. Furthermore, the pre-cut modular system also means there is no dust or mess and virtually no waste to dispose of (and what waste there is can be easily moved and transported to the tip), saving time and money again.

Modular timber systems like WoodBlocX are the smart choice for any garden, but especially those with access problems. Call our team for a chat about your project and how we can help.

Whether you are just putting in a couple of beds for a vegetable garden or terracing the whole garden, it’s always good to be able to see all the costs of a project up front. Using a modular timber system for raised beds and other landscaping means that the material costs are really easy to calculate, and there’s no need to pay for someone else to do the work. Modular systems from WoodBlocX are available either as off-the-shelf pre-designed kits, or free bespoke designs can be created for your particular site.

For example a set of three raised beds, each 2250 x 1125 x 450mm, could be used for a fruit, vegetable and cut flower patch, or for flower borders. The price of these off-the-shelf kits are less than £300 each. Larger projects such as driveway edging are easily calculated – a 250mm high edge for example, is less than £100 per 3m stretch. Delivery is cheap and easy because all the components easily fit onto pallets. Check out our online calculator to get a quick quote for your project.

If there is nothing suitable for your garden project in the wide range of pre-designed beds, why not get WoodBlocX to design something to your exact specifications? The design service is free, and because they do it all for you there’s no need to worry about anything! WoodBlocX make sure that your design is safe, that it will work, and that you have all the right components so you are ready to build - no running to the shops for extra pieces – everything is supplied with the kit, along with some spares as well just in case. The design service also extends to ponds, edging, seats, retaining walls and steps. Alternatively, use the online calculators to work out what you’ll need for yourself. There’s no obligation to buy after using either service.

When using a system like WoodBlocX, even daunting and complicated projects can be made easy – and it’s possible to do all the work yourself. Rather than get in builders or landscapers to do different parts of a project, such as terracing or retaining walls, and then look at putting in beds and steps afterwards, the whole thing can be done by you with WoodBlocX. This can save a lot of money, you get the satisfaction of having built it yourself, and it’s as simple as knocking together layers of BlocX: a win-win solution.