Protect your outdoor Christmas decorations from theft

If you love to decorate the outside of your home over the Christmas season, you need to be aware of thieves. Here are some handy tips to help you keep your garden decorations secure and protect your items from theft.

Locking cords                                

Extension cords that feature locking plugs will make it more difficult for thieves to steal your Christmas decorations.

Tie downs

If your decorations come with stakes or cables to tie them down, make sure you use them. If your decorations haven’t come with these, landscaping stakes can be used instead. If you have lights strung up in trees, use twist-ties to secure the strand in a few places. 

Go heavy

The heavier your Christmas garden decorations are, the harder it will be for thieves to steal them.

Roof decorations

If you can, keep your Christmas garden decorations elevated and out of reach.

Bring indoors

If you have very expensive decorations, it might be an idea to disconnect them and store inside your garage or garden shed to keep them protected while you are away.

Motion sensors

Motion sensors and outdoor lighting are a good deterrent to garden theft. 

Try and take as many security measures with your property this Christmas as it is one of the most theft prone times of year. 

Make a Santa's grotto for your garden

If you have a garden shed, and want to do something special for your children and your neighbourhood, why not turn your garden shed into a Santa’s grotto this Christmas. 

Before you start to think about decorating or any of the fun things that you can do to your shed, it will need a thorough cleaning. Make sure you take out any contents, give your garden shed a good scrub and sweep the floors.

Paint

Depending on what material your shed is made from, you may want to paint your garden shed to give it that real grotto feeling. However if you have a metal garden shed or paint seems too drastic, this won’t be the best option. Other options are available, such as using sheets to cover the walls to create the desired effect.

Lighting

Place fairy lights inside and along the shed roof to create that magical grotto feeling. A lit path towards the shed door for children to follow will look and feel the part.

Fake snow

Fake snow is the ultimate accessory for your garden grotto. You can’t have a grotto without snow, put  fake snow on your shed roof and around the outside of your shed. 

Don’t forget…..

·         A special chair for Santa to sit on

·         A Santa’s sack full of presents

·         A Christmas tree

·         Santa! And his little helpers

Remember to have fun and enjoy! 

Gardening Christmas gift ideas

We love gardens and anything to do with gardening and with Christmas now approaching, we thought we would help you find some garden Christmas gifts that any green fingered person will love!

Which.co.uk have complied a special list of gardening Christmas gifts, which should help you find a gift for even the fussiest of people.

Town & Country Weedmaster Floral Gloves

These gloves promise to be lightweight and flexible, with enough resilience for weeding. Made from 100% cotton with a protective nitrile coating on the palm to improve grip, they cope well with fiddly tasks such as planting seeds.

Spear & Jackson 6758GS Geared Anvil Secateurs

More and more secateurs and other cutting tools are being made with ratchets and gears to require less effort when pruning. These Spear & Jackson Geared Anvil Secateurs,  promise lasting sharpness and easier cutting. Every gardener needs a pair of good secateurs and we've tried out 13 in our tests.

Harrod Horticultural Slot & Lock Connectors

Harrod Horticultural claims its Slot & Lock Connectors firmly grip aluminium tubing to allow you to create a sturdy frame of any shape, to protect fruit and vegetables or support climbing plants. These connectors won the Product of the Year Award at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2012 and are ideal for anyone with an allotment.

Joseph Bentley JBY0211 Stainless Steel Digging Fork

No vegetable grower should be without a good garden fork and the length of this one will suit most people. It looks great, too. If you're buying for someone smaller or taller than average, check out our full reviews of digging forks to find the ideal one for them.

Haws 8 Litre Slimcan

A modern version of a traditional metal model, this watering can is quite heavy but well balanced. The single handle for carrying and tipping is smooth and comfortable. The spout is long and easy to control with or without the rose and, thanks to the large top hole, filling is easy from a tap or by dipping in a tank (you can get your hand inside for cleaning, too). We've tested this and other watering cans on seedings and flowerbeds so you can find the best one to give for Christmas.

Darlac Children’s Bamboo Garden Tools

With bamboo handles and coated carbon-steel heads, these children’s tools are well finished and robust. Each piece has been hand welded so that the tools are strong and durable. We take a look at the Darlac Children's Bamboo Garden Tools and reveal what our four-year-old helper thought of them.

Trio Top Electric Windowsill Propagator

While windowsills can often provide ideal light conditions for successful propagation, they can also be cool and draughty. This compact electric propagator is supplied with three high-dome propagators, each 23cm long by 17cm wide. We've tested seven propagators so you can find just the right one for a gift. 

All information taken from and provided by Which? 

How to protect your vegetable garden from the frost

Britain is set to face a big freeze over the next couple of days and we are told this could continue throughout December, with temperatures as low as -20c! If you are planning on keeping your vegetable garden alive and thriving, throughout the winter and cold weather but are worried your crops will be ruined by the frost, help is at hand. 

Cover your vegetables

The most common way of protecting your vegetable garden is by covering them with some type of material. Any material can be used, such as old blankets and sheets. Lightweight material can be draped directly on top of the plants, however if you use a heavyweight material this will need to be supported, to prevent your vegetable from being crushed. Secure your covering with stakes, rocks or bricks. Covers should only be placed on at night and removed in the morning, to allow your plants to breathe. Card board boxes are also a good at covering your vegetables, again don’t forget to remove these in the morning.

Mulch

Mulch is great at insulating your plants from the cold, as it helps to lock in moisture and holds in heat. A depth of 2 to 3 inches should be sufficient and you can use items such as straw, pine needles and leaves.

Water

Watering your vegetables a few days before frost is due to hit, is another way of helping your vegetables see out the frost, this is because wet soil can hold more heat than dry soil. Make sure you only water the plants lightly before the temperature drops.

Containers and pots

Anything you have growing in a container or pot should be brought into a garden shed, garage or greenhouse if possible. If the containers are small enough, why not take them inside. If they cannot be moved, wrap the containers in bubble wrap to help keep them insulated. Burying the pot in soil is another good way of keeping your container vegetables insulated.

Cold frames

Cold frames are a transparent- roofed enclosure for growing vegetables and plants in, while protecting them from harsh weather conditions.  Cold frames provide air and soil temperature insulation, as well as shelter from the wind. Using cold frames is a good away to protect your vegetables from frost. And help them survive the winter.

If you are growing vegetables this winter, this advice and tips should help to keep your vegetables alive and thriving. 

Preparation for your winter garden

 Here are a few tips to help you through the winter season.

Clean up           

Be sure to remove weeds and annuals from your garden. On shrubs and trees, remove diseased leaves, but pruning is not recommended.

Cut back perennials

These should be cut back to 6 to 8 inches above the ground. These will keep your garden looking neat and tidy and save a lot of hard work in the spring.

Get mulching

Mulching protects plants from the drastic temperature change that winter brings and insulated them against the cold.  Mulch can be made up of dried leaves, pine needles, shredded bark etc and 4 to 6 inches is sufficient.

Winter proof containers

This can be done by wrapping bubble around the containers and covering the soil with mulch.

Prepare new ground

Winter is the ideal time to dig over new beds and boarders, ready for spring sowing. This can be done as long as the ground isn’t frozen or water logged.

Clean and store tools

Clean out old pots and seed trays ready for the spring. Clean and sharpen tools and store in a dry place for winter. If your shed is leaky, this water can ruin your gardening tools and other equipment., make sure your shed is in a good condition for the winter weather. If you are looking for a new shed Asgard has a wide range all made from weatherproof steel to protect stored items. 

Did the Olympics encourage garden crime?

Before the London 2012 Olympics began garden crime was said to be rising all over Britain, with a 10% rise on the previous year.  Reports on garden, bike and shed theft, were a daily occurrence and it was thought that crime would possibly increase over the Olympic period, as these thefts are easy targets. With the majority of the country paying more attention to the TV, less time outside in their gardens and more time away from home celebrating Team GBs Olympic success, gardens could have been a thief’s playground.

Did the Olympics increase crime rates

However recent reports have shown that crime rates were down during the Olympic period. This trend has been reported in Buckinghamshire, Thames valley, Bracknell, Dorset and London.

With the Police out in force in London for the games, crime rates were bound to fall. London’s Mayor Boris Johnson confirmed this, by stating that crime in London had fallen by 5% compared to the same period in the previous year.

The Thames Valley police reported that there has been less crime and fewer 999 calls had been made than usual. Elsewhere in Dorset, it was found that during the Olympic period “crime levels have been lower than for the same period last year”.

The Bracknell police chief said that the London Olympic Games had a ‘calming effect’ on crime in the area. Low levels of crime were recorded across Bracknell. However there has been a 17% rise in burglaries across the area, during the Olympic period, suggesting that criminals have been taking advantage of the public’s preoccupation with the Olympics.

Police report reduced crime

The above are all areas where the Olympics were focused. With the increase in police presence, maybe this isn’t such a surprise. How were areas outside of the Olympics reach affected?

Coventry saw a reduction in crime during the Olympic period. There have been over 1000 fewer victims of crime compared the same period in the previous year, with big reductions in burglary, robbery and vehicle crime.  Read more>

North Yorkshire also saw a 13% reduction in overall crime during the same period, with 1,311 fewer victims.

These statics show that the Olympics didn’t create the crime spree that we were all expecting and the Olympics did a wonderful job at bringing the nation together. Now let’s see if this can last!

How to repair your garden after bad weather

There has been a lot of bad weather and rain this summer and for many it has ruined what was going to be a beautiful garden. All is not lost though, the sun has been out and the stormy rain of July is firmly behind us. If you’ve not managed to get out there and sort it yet, here are a few tips that might come in handy.

Weeds

Weeds will have been thriving in the wet weather, make sure you pull them up from the root as soon as you can. Weeds come up much easier when the ground is wet.

Soil

Heavy rain can leach the nutrients from soil. To replenish this restore with a slow- release fertilizer.  The primary nutrient that will have been lost is nitrogen, if this is lost you will be able to tell from the lack of growth and poor colour older leaves.

Replenish your garden

Lawn

If your lawn is water logged it is important to keep off it until it has fully dried out, then you can begin to make repairs. It’s always a good idea to give your lawn some attention in preparation for the winter and revitalise it after the summer.

As autumn approaches be sure to rake away leaves, as they can smother the lawn and damage the grass. When the frost hits, be sure not to walk on your lawn if it is covered with snow as this will damage it.

For a full guideline on autumn lawn care click here>

Make your garden bloom this autumn

Plants

Make your garden shine and look its best over what is left of the summer and up until the frost hits.

There are still plenty of bedding plants about that love autumn weather conditions and a large number of these will bloom right up until the first frost. Flowers will keep your garden bright and beautiful, you might even begin to think its still summer!

Some flowers that bloom in autumn are:

Baby’s breath

Carnations

Roses

Chrysanthemums

See a full list here>

Protect your lawnmower!

If you don’t have a shed or garage, its important to have somewhere safe and secure to store your lawnmower, out of the sight of thieves. Here on shedforce we have spoken a lot about garden and shed theft in the recent months and it is still a continuing problem. Expensive lawnmowers and other electrical gardening equipment is a prime target for garden and shed theft, due to their high value. Recently there have been a spurt of shed break-ins in Stafford with thieves taking gardening tools and using them to break into houses.

In Nottingham a thief was caught on camera steeling a lawnmower that had been left outside a house in a front garden and even with the video footage, the owner of this lawnmower will be lucky to get her mower back. As you see from this article, even leaving your lawnmower unattended in broad daylight will put you at risk to theft.  Another lawnmower theft took place during the day in a garden in Londonderry. Unfortunately our gardens aren’t as safe as they used to be and police in areas all over the country are warning people to take more care.  Garden equipment needs to be locked up at all times when not in use, don’t give thieves the opportunity to strike.

Rural communities have also been warned by the police to protect their property, “It is important that people take responsibility for their property and making sure that shed and outbuildings are properly secured is a step in the right direction. Use good, strong locks to secure outer doors and even consider locking up items which are stored inside sheds and outbuildings. It is also a good idea to install outside security lighting which can act as a good deterrent to potential thieves. Another must to help prevent rural crime is to report any suspicious activity to the police so we can act upon it and build up a good picture of any on-going criminal activity” Sergeant John Clayton. See the full article here

The police know that no one is immune to theft and want to make sure everyone is looking after their property in best way. If you do not own a shed or a garage the only way to protect your equipment, other than keeping it in the house, is purchase a garden shed. There are a variety of different types of garden sheds on offer, from a range of retailers.

For security for your lawnmower and other electric gardening equipment, a range of secure metal lawnmower storage units are available from Asgard. Thieves will find these mower storage shed a challenge, as they are designed to keep them out! With security features such as pick resistant locks and tough locking systems Asgard metal sheds offer great security. See the full range on the website. 

British summer time is rubbish, no time to do the gardening!

It’s the time of year that everyone looks forward to…..summer. The British summer has never been the greatest, but the weather this year has left us all wondering if we are going to see much of the sunshine at all. April to June this year has been the wettest second quarter in the UK since records began and if the beginning of July is anything to go by, it is likely to continue. What does mean for our precious gardens? You've spent weeks choosing flowers, planting seeds, weeding and pruning, only for your garden to be submerged in water.  Or you've been putting off tackling the weeds and those overgrown bushes and now because of all the rain, your garden has turned into a jungle!

Like many people you may have purchased brand new garden furniture and instead of lounging in your new sun loungers or dining alfresco, you’re watching it get soaked through the dining room window. What do you do? Wait out the rain, or brave it?  Either way, here are a few tips to keep your garden in shape.

Brave the rain

• Pull up dandelions and thistles while the soil is wet, this way you stand a good chance of getting the root out in one piece.
• Rescue waterlogged pots, as potted plants can die if the compost becomes saturated. Rescue pots by removing trays from under them.
• Re-sow if necessary, as they may have rotted due to wet soils. Re-sow leafy and root crops when it gets a bit warmer, as they will still do their stuff this year.
• Get some wet weather clothes, walking jackets and trousers that are waterproof yet breathable work well.
• Plan a garden path, make this the last year you squelch your shed by putting in hard landscaped paths or steps, stepping stones, a gravel path or maybe something more ambitious.
• Make a list of which flowers do well after heavy rain? Start preparing for when the weather takes a turn for the better.

After the storm

• Remove rain-damaged or faded flowers. Not only will this make plants and your garden look better, it also encourages more flowers to grow.
• Pesky slugs and snails come out at night, protect young plants and seedlings from them.
• Weeds are thriving so pull them up before they set seed.
• Keep off the lawn as much as possible when the ground is sodden. You can make repairs in early autumn.
• If you experience flooding due to rivers bursting their banks, or broken drains releasing diluted sewage into the garden, this is potentially serious. Any crops covered in flood water should not be eaten.
• Don’t forget to store your gardening equipment and furniture in a waterproof shed, to stop your gardening equipment and furniture from going rusty or rotten. Check that your shed is free from leeks, this is especially important for electric gardening tools such as lawn mowers.

When the weather is as stormy as it has recently been, having a tough weatherproof shed or storage unit is important. For the best in weatherproof garden storage visit Asgard Secure Steel Storage.

Information from the Telegraph

Stop garden thieves!! The worst time of year for theft.

As we all know, acquiring all of our fancy gardening tools and equipment can be very expensive. So just imagine how you would feel, if someone came along and decided to help themselves. Not very happy I can imagine. Shed and garden theft isn’t a new phenomenon, however people think ‘it won’t happen to me’, unfortunately this is a crime which is on the rise all over the country.

In June, Blenau Gwent an area in wales had 23 garages and sheds burgled in just one month and of those 7 were said to be insecure or without sufficient security.  The crime and disorder reduction officer for the area, PC Paul Whittaker stated “It shows no sign of stopping despite attempts to tackle the problem. Power tools, gardening equipment and bikes appear to be the main target for thieves”.  Read more on this story>

In the same month, across Bath 22 garages and sheds were broken into and raided.  It’s not only homes that are the targets of these types of thefts, schools have become vulnerable too. Schools in Stamford and Worcester have also been affected by a number of shed burglaries, with playground toys and tools being taken.

As these items are kept outside, they are more susceptible to theft. Local police are reinforcing to communities the importance of keeping tools locked away securely and help them to keep these thieves at bay. In Somerset police are embarking on the  sheducation of the general public, offering advice on shed theft as well as cycle and car theft. A portable display will visit supermarkets and events during the summer, a time when shed thefts normally rise.

What can you do to prevent shed crime?

• Check that thieves cannot gain entry simply by removing boards from the sheds sides or rear. Alternative to a wooden shed, a metal shed is a great investment and has a much higher level of security than its wooden counterpart. As secure metal shed is a great deterrent to thieves. A wide range of high security and insurance approved metal security sheds and metal garages are available on the market.
• A good lock is the key to keeping pesky burglars out. Make sure your shed is always locked when not in use.
• Sheds with padlocks, will always be more vulnerable as they are easy to remove. A shed with an internal locking system will always be more secure than a padlock.
• Fit an alarm. Shed alarms are relatively inexpensive, easy to install and can be battery operated or mains powered.
• Opt for a shed without any windows. If you can see what’s inside, so can a thief.

For the best in garden security visit Asgard, with a wide range of tough, all metal security sheds in a variety of sizes available, burglars won’t stand a chance.

Information from This is bath, News Wales, Worcester news and Stamford Mercury