Grass-ias

We all want the perfect lawn in our gardens. A lovely, flat, weed-free, green space for playing and lounging on. But it isn’t very easy to achieve with all the weeds flying about and our wet weather and heavy soils. But, to help you get closer to that dream, I have collated my top tips for a lovely lawn this summer..

Lulu loves lounging on a lovely lawn!

Scarify your lawn

You can add a moss killer to your lawn but you don’t need to. Just use your muscles and a good garden rake to get the moss out of your lawn. I used my Twigz rake which was perfect for the job (£8.99*)

You need good muscles to rake up your moss

You can put the moss into your compost bin. My Twigz wheelbarrow is incredibly sturdy and perfect for this job (£49.99*)

Collect your moss and put it on your compost bin

Weed Your Lawn

Lawn weeds can be a real pain. You can buy weedkiller to put on the lawn or you can use old fashioned muscle and dig up the offenders! Regular weeding is key so they don’t take over and leave no space for the grass to grow.

Tackle those weeds using a trowel and some muscles

Aerate your soil

If you have a heavy soil and a compacted lawn it makes it hard for the grass to grow well and thatch starts to build up. You can buy special tools to aerate your lawn or you can just use a garden fork to create the holes.

Tilda is an expert at aerating lawns!

Add a top dressing

You can add sand if you have clay soil or just a lawn improver to your lawn which will go into the holes you have made and improve the soil making the grass grow better. Use a brush like the Twigz garden broom (£8.99*) to spread the lawn improver around. You can add some grass seed to bare areas while you do this and some fertiliser too to give your grass a wee helping hand.

Brush your top dressing into the holes

Cut your grass

It’s always tempting to cut your grass very short to make it nice and neat but it’s not good for your lawn. Raise the level of your lawnmower and just give it a gentle trim or it will look bare and weeds will thrive instead of the grass. Little and often is the secret. How cute is this Flying Bee Lawnmower from Bigjigs? I love using it on my lawn and Tilda loves the bee which flies off into the air. (£32.99*)

Don’t set your lawn mower too low when you cut your grass

Grass-ias! If all that seems like a bit too much hard work and you would rather just lie back and enjoy your garden while others did the work for you then contact us to arrange a quote for us to do your lawn treatments and grass cutting for you!

Lulu xx

*Prices correct at time of publication

Turn Over A New Leaf for 2016

Happy new year peeps! It’s that time of year when we are all making new year’s resolutions. Some are vast and some are teeny. Make them realistic is what I say. So with that in mind Family Burt have made their new years resolutions for 2016 and have made them super-easy, garden-related ones to inspire you to get outside in the year ahead…

Time to turn over a new leaf

Lulu’s Resolution

Well, I LOVE eating fruit! My friends think I am crazy as I would rather have an apple than sweets but, you know, that’s because I’m sweet enough! So this year, my resolution is to grow a new fruit. I am thinking a little pear tree would be cute and I could grow it in a pot. But you could grow all sorts of fruit no matter what space you have. Already we have apple and plum trees but if you have less space why not grow blueberries and gooseberries in pots like me. Or if there is a corner of your garden that no-one uses why not pop a raspberry plant in there and by summer you will have lovely lush fruit. Yum!

I’ve always loved eating the apples in our garden

Mummy’s Resolution

Well, you are gonna just love Mummy’s resolution for this year. It’s to keep it simple in the garden! With a new extension on the horizon (yup, I have THAT many toys!) 2016 is going to be super busy. So instead of growing lots of plants indoor from seed, transplanting, getting the greenhouse going and so much more, Mummy is focusing on the basics. There will be tatties and onions galore (‘cos they are easy to grow and we eat lots of them!) as well as some other easy veg like beetroot and salad.

Mummy is going to grow more yummy potatoes like these in 2016

Tilda’s Resolution

My baby sister is almost walking now and by the time Spring is here she will be running around the garden. So her resolution is to get outdoors as much as she can and learn all about nature and feel the grass under her toes. From snail races to bubble popping the garden is going to be so much fun for me and Tilly B this year!

Tilda is planning on lots of outdoor fun in 2016

Daddy’s Resolution

With our impending extension Daddy will have to make some changes to our outdoor space. The garage is being demolished and will need to be emptied so Daddy is taking that opportunity to do some more upcycling including new sheds for garden storage.

It’s a busy year ahead for Daddy with lots of projects!

So what are your resolutions going to be for 2016?

Lulu xx

Garden Playhouses, The Vialii Way!

If you are an avid follower of our blogs (and why wouldn’t you be?!) then you will be aware that we love a wee upcycling project at Vialii. And these projects are my VERY favourites that we have ever tackled. Welcome to the Vialii Garden Playhouse Makeover!

I LOVE my new playhouse!

M&D are designing a garden for friends at the moment and tucked away in a corner of their garden, no longer used, was a playhouse which these (very lovely!) friends said we could have. As this saved Daddy the job of making our own playhouse, he now had the time and energy to help me and Mummy give it a bit of a makeover.

Before: the playhouse needed a bit of Lulufication (yes, that IS a word!)

After a bit of a jet wash and sanding down, the old playhouse was ready for some painting. I chose some lovely green paint called Willow for the outside and off-white for the inside to make it nice and bright.

Here I am busy painting my playhouse

We tucked the playhouse in one of our borders so that it doesn’t take up too much space. We just needed to move a few plants.

The new playhouse is tucked in the border between two apple trees

The view from inside is lovely, across the garden the fields and up to the Ochil Hills.

The view from inside my playhouse

My clever mummy made curtains for the windows and door and some bunting for inside and out. I hung a beautiful painting I made at nursery inside and Daddy laid some artificial grass inside which looks like a green furry rug!

The inside all painted, my furry rug, artwork and curtains!

Daddy also made a lovely flower box for the front which we planted some alpines in. The final touch was a sign for the outside saying “Lulu & Tilda’s House, No Boys Allowed” (although I will make allowances for my BFF Euan!) onto which we stuck some shells I had collected.

My new sign: Lulu & Tilda’s House, No Boys Allowed!

While we have been very busy at Vialii Towers, my BFF Euan has also been flying the flag for upcycled Vialii playhouses. His clever Daddy has made his from upcycled pallets. Here he is loving his wee house:

Peek-a-boo

Euan in his wonderful, upcycled playhouse

I’d love to see pics of your playhouses so feel free to share…

Lulu xx