Independent estate agent, Chartsedge reveal what internal checks should be carried out on your holiday-lets. Internal Ceilings: If you have a leak in the roof, the first sign is damp on the ceiling. Be aware if your ceiling begins to look uneven because this may indicate a more serious problem, particularly for older ceilings. Decoration: Repaint […]
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Anna Hayman draws inspiration from art nouveau colours and floral motifs
For someone who makes a habit of covering the surfaces of her home in colour, glitter and pattern, Anna Hayman is surprisingly restrained with festive decorations. “I still have baubles and little statues from when I was a child, so I prefer to use those sparingly, rather than go crazy with new ones,” she says. “Otherwise the rooms would just look too overloaded.”
That’s because, year-round, Hayman’s home is her own den of maximalism. She designs patterns for fabrics, wallpapers and tiles and her home has always been a space where she would try out ideas, often repainting rooms on a whim. “For the sake of my marriage, I’ve slowed down a bit now,” she smiles.
Continue reading...Anna Hayman draws inspiration from art nouveau colours and floral motifs
For someone who makes a habit of covering the surfaces of her home in colour, glitter and pattern, Anna Hayman is surprisingly restrained with festive decorations. “I still have baubles and little statues from when I was a child, so I prefer to use those sparingly, rather than go crazy with new ones,” she says. “Otherwise the rooms would just look too overloaded.”
That’s because, year-round, Hayman’s home is her own den of maximalism. She designs patterns for fabrics, wallpapers and tiles and her home has always been a space where she would try out ideas, often repainting rooms on a whim. “For the sake of my marriage, I’ve slowed down a bit now,” she smiles.
Continue reading...Get the new RHS book, then prune your blackcurrants and plant sempervivums
Cut this Pruning blackcurrants is one of my most cherished winter jobs because the cut stems smell just as delicious as the fruit. Identify the oldest stems – they will be the darkest in colour – and trim them down to the base so the total number of stems is reduced by a third.
Plant this Houseleeks – also known as sempervivums – are one succulent you can keep outside. Their fleshy rosettes will survive the winter if planted in a sunny spot with sharp drainage: they come in an array of colours, from shiny green to red. Try planting in paving cracks or shallow containers.
Continue reading...These ivies look lovely, as well as providing valuable wildlife habitat and a late food source for birds and bees
A workshop near me is clothed in ivy like a shawl. It’s tightly woven into the building’s fabric and in autumn it shimmers with bees buzzing as they sup up the late harvest from its flowers. Ivy is truly a sight. It’s very good for pollinators, offering an excellent late source of nectar for many insects, notably bees, but also larval food for the beautiful holly blue butterfly (there are two generations of larvae a year and the second loves to dine on ivy). It’s a dense habitat for many others, too: peer inside any older specimen and you’ll find it full of life, from spiders to bird nests.
Finally, it has beautiful black berries that offer an invaluable food source for birds through winter, and well into spring and early summer. But, as anyone with a wall of ivy knows, it has a habit of using its aerial roots to cling on to whatever it climbs and then stubbornly refusing to let go, which can be a disaster for old mortar. There is a way around this: not all ivies have to climb.
Continue reading...Get the new RHS book, then prune your blackcurrants and plant sempervivums
Cut this Pruning blackcurrants is one of my most cherished winter jobs because the cut stems smell just as delicious as the fruit. Identify the oldest stems – they will be the darkest in colour – and trim them down to the base so the total number of stems is reduced by a third.
Plant this Houseleeks – also known as sempervivums – are one succulent you can keep outside. Their fleshy rosettes will survive the winter if planted in a sunny spot with sharp drainage: they come in an array of colours, from shiny green to red. Try planting in paving cracks or shallow containers.
Continue reading...These ivies look lovely, as well as providing valuable wildlife habitat and a late food source for birds and bees
A workshop near me is clothed in ivy like a shawl. It’s tightly woven into the building’s fabric and in autumn it shimmers with bees buzzing as they sup up the late harvest from its flowers. Ivy is truly a sight. It’s very good for pollinators, offering an excellent late source of nectar for many insects, notably bees, but also larval food for the beautiful holly blue butterfly (there are two generations of larvae a year and the second loves to dine on ivy). It’s a dense habitat for many others, too: peer inside any older specimen and you’ll find it full of life, from spiders to bird nests.
Finally, it has beautiful black berries that offer an invaluable food source for birds through winter, and well into spring and early summer. But, as anyone with a wall of ivy knows, it has a habit of using its aerial roots to cling on to whatever it climbs and then stubbornly refusing to let go, which can be a disaster for old mortar. There is a way around this: not all ivies have to climb.
Continue reading...