A quick word on muddy shoes…

At this time of year, a viewer can bring more than dreams and visions to your home: the bottom of their shoes can leave a lasting reminder of their visit!

Asking your visitors to take off their shoes is often awkward, particularly if they are somewhat elderly, or not especially mobile.  Of course, if you’re not present for the viewing, you may return home to find an evidential trail of footprints, so you need a non-intrusive, fail-safe way to protect your carpets without upsetting anyone.

Your viewers won’t dirty your Axminster deliberately of course, but they may be so engrossed in looking at your beautiful home that they will forget to look down.  It’s even worse if they have a wander round your garden (which you absolutely want them to do) then come back through the house (which you may not).

My suggestion is those oh-so-fetching blue shoe covers.  Leaving a few in a basket by the door is a gentle message that you value your home, and you expect your visitors to show it the respect it deserves.  (By the way, that goes for your agent too: check out my post “The Obnoxious Agent” for how not to do it.) This visual clue will also remind your viewers of show homes, where they are more commonly in use.  Not a bad mental connection if you think about it.

So, where to get these covers? Well, I did some trawling on the net, and these are the cheapest I could come up with: at only £4.50 for 50 they are a bit of a bargain, but as I haven’t used this company myself, please do your own research too.  Let me know how you get on!

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

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Green-fingered gifts

Give plants and seeds to keep growers happy at Christmas

If you are a gardener, you’ll know the feeling. Come Christmas, the immense pressure to act delighted as you unwrap a boot brush in the shape of a hedgehog, a fibreglass solar light or (yet another) pair of novelty gardening gloves. So, in an effort to break the cycle, here’s a list of my all-time favourite independent suppliers of quirky, fun and interesting gifts for gardeners, all of which are online.

With a name like plants4presents.co.uk, you might be forgiven for thinking that this nursery would just stock the typical supermarket gift options, like poinsettia and hyacinths in festive pots. But think again. I discovered the friendly owners of this small East Sussex supplier about five years ago at the Hampton Court Flower Show and have been hooked ever since. They have a stunning array of weird and wonderful edible indoor plants, some of which are impossible to track down anywhere else. From kaffir limes, right down to the wonderfully fragrant (and surprisingly cold tolerant) Japanese yuzu, their range of unusual citrus is pretty unbeatable.

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Green-fingered gifts https://t.co/7HP99lL4jy Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/GmjoJxU3bM

Green-fingered gifts https://t.co/7HP99lL4jy Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/GmjoJxU3bM (via Twitter http://twitter.com/conveyandmove/status/1069188759218987008)

Green-fingered gifts

Give plants and seeds to keep growers happy at Christmas

If you are a gardener, you’ll know the feeling. Come Christmas, the immense pressure to act delighted as you unwrap a boot brush in the shape of a hedgehog, a fibreglass solar light or (yet another) pair of novelty gardening gloves. So, in an effort to break the cycle, here’s a list of my all-time favourite independent suppliers of quirky, fun and interesting gifts for gardeners, all of which are online.

With a name like plants4presents.co.uk, you might be forgiven for thinking that this nursery would just stock the typical supermarket gift options, like poinsettia and hyacinths in festive pots. But think again. I discovered the friendly owners of this small East Sussex supplier about five years ago at the Hampton Court Flower Show and have been hooked ever since. They have a stunning array of weird and wonderful edible indoor plants, some of which are impossible to track down anywhere else. From kaffir limes, right down to the wonderfully fragrant (and surprisingly cold tolerant) Japanese yuzu, their range of unusual citrus is pretty unbeatable.

Continue reading...

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December is a chance for wildlife housekeeping | Allan Jenkins

Hang bird balls, clean equipment and ponder the riches in your garden

I am tempted to tell you to do nothing much in December. Except, perhaps, to cloche or cover any vulnerable crops you care about particularly, say, chicories or pigeon-friendly kales; to lift leeks and store your root crops if frost is looking imminent. Dig over empty ground now. It will be harder in the coming months.

Rocket, corn salad, land cress and winter purslane should still do fine under cover outside or on a sunny windowsill. Plant raspberries and blackberries if you haven’t already. It’s time, too, for pruning fruit trees, though best leave cherry or plum until spring.

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December is a chance for wildlife housekeeping | Allan Jenkins https://t.co/Zf6uDGP0dX Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/GmjoJxU3bM

December is a chance for wildlife housekeeping | Allan Jenkins https://t.co/Zf6uDGP0dX Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/GmjoJxU3bM (via Twitter http://twitter.com/conveyandmove/status/1069114525121691649)

December is a chance for wildlife housekeeping | Allan Jenkins

Hang bird balls, clean equipment and ponder the riches in your garden

I am tempted to tell you to do nothing much in December. Except, perhaps, to cloche or cover any vulnerable crops you care about particularly, say, chicories or pigeon-friendly kales; to lift leeks and store your root crops if frost is looking imminent. Dig over empty ground now. It will be harder in the coming months.

Rocket, corn salad, land cress and winter purslane should still do fine under cover outside or on a sunny windowsill. Plant raspberries and blackberries if you haven’t already. It’s time, too, for pruning fruit trees, though best leave cherry or plum until spring.

Continue reading...

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