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Posts Tagged ‘tree<’
Did you know that the roots of trees can sometimes spread to 2½ times a tree’s height, and that the moisture they draw out from clayey soil can cause the earth to heave? Miss the point of this and plant a tree close by your house, and you’re inviting cracking and subsidence. Rather Find a Landscaper on Mr-Skill who knows what they are talking about.
 If you have heaving clay, and like to garden around your your house then the following may prove useful:
- Avoid the problem in the first place by NOT planting strongly-growing trees like poplars, oaks and willows near to buildings. Plant shy-growing flowering shrubs instead. These may not get tall enough to foul your gutters either.
- If you inherit a tree that’s not grown too big already, then you could try what some London Gardeners still call pollarding. This involves pruning it back annually to keep it smaller. Remember, there’s a ratio between tree height and the spread of roots.
- Don’t leap out of the starting blocks and get a Gardener Quote to chop a tree down the moment you spot subsidence.
 Trees take a long time to grow, and the problem could be the clay itself. An alternative could be to cut the roots back, and see whether this helps first.
- If all else fails and you are forced to cut down a tree, then seek advice from your local council first, because it might be listed and require permission to remove. Chop down deciduous trees in wintertime when the sap is low. You’ll find the job far easier when there are no leaves.
Chopping down a tree sometimes seems like an attack on nature, and the birds that nest there. Don’t try to do the job yourself because tree-felling is definitely dangerous. Use a Gardener on Mr-Skill instead. And finally, please do plant a suitable replacement tree further down the garden.
Tags: Building, chop, chop down, clay, crack, dangerous, earth, fell, find a landscaper, flower, Garden, gardener quote, ground, grow, gutter, heave, height, house, london gardeners, oak, plant, pollard, poplar, prune, ratio, root, shrub, shy, small, soil, spread, subsidence, tall, tree, vigorous, wall, willow, winter
Posted in Gardening & Landscaping | Comments Off
It may not feel quite like it yet, but with the Winter Solstice passed on December 21st, the days are getting longer and Nature has already begun to react. Plants have increased their growth in accordance with the available ambient light, and already bulbs are  gently stirring beneath the snow.
Some, come on Gardeners, it’s time to brave the chilly UK weather and start helping Nature to get going once again. Alternatively, you’re due to get those Gardening Quotes in time again!
- The Vegetable Garden. Order seed potatoes and plant out garlic cloves in pots. Dig the earth over for asparagus plantings. Mmmm – that sounds really good!
- How about an Orchard? The right time for planting trees is when the sap is down. If in the City, find a London Gardener while their rates are reasonable still.
- The Flower Garden. Remove fallen leaves. Cut down and compost annuals. There’s just so much to do, including taking hardwood cuttings of your favourite plants.
 How about a Few More Roses? Dig deeply to prevent root stock from shooting, and then plant in rich organic matter. Remember to support with stakes in case the high winds come.
- And Finally the Greenhouse. If the weather’s inclement you may like to Find a Gardener to clean inside and outside, and check the insulation. After that, you just need to do weekly visits and tidy up.
Don’t be surprised if the neighbours gawk at you out in your garden in your winter woollies. They’ll be jealous in the Spring though! There’s no need to tell them either about the wonderful Gardeners on Mr-Skill. For now at least, it’s a secret between you and me! And it’s all free too … when it comes to finding the perfect tradesperson of your dreams.
Tags: annual, asparagus, bulb, chill, compost, cut, cutting, deep, dig, find a gardener, flower, Garden, gardener, gardening quotes, garlic, green house, greenhouse, growth, inside, Insulation, leaves, light, london gardener, nature, orchard, organic, outside, plant, potato, potatoes, react, root, rootstock, rose, snow, spring, sprout, stake, support, tidy, tree, vegetable, weather, week, wind, winter
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A recent survey revealed that almost every Gardener in London these days has several orchids growing in the house, and I suppose that this would be true of gardeners elsewhere in the country too. Of all of these, the Moth Orchid that the boffins call Phalaenopsis is  reputedly the most popular, and I for one am not surprised that this is so. Did you know that millions of these beautiful while or pink flowers are grown and sold in Britain every year?
The average citizen does not have the same green fingers though. Every year hundreds of thousands of Orchids in Britain fizzle out, and not because Gardener Quotes for small jobs are impossible to obtain either. It’s just because we do not understand that all they need is a draught-free room, some sunlight, a little food and drink occasionally, and a friendly nod in their direction from time to time.
In their natural environment, Orchids grow in forks of trees or in stony crevices. This means that they do not like to grow in earth, but are happy nestling among bark and moss and other natural debris around their roots. Their natural environments also ensure that rainwater drains away rapidly too – forget this principle and they could drown or rot away.
If after several years your Orchid seems as it it’s trying to climb out of its container, then it is time to learn  how to re-pot it. All you need is some Orchid compost (or an imaginative stroll through the local wood) and you are ready to begin this simple process.
Remove the Orchid from the old container, and shake its roots clear before removing any shrivelled ones. Cut the healthy ones back to about four inches long with a pair of sharp secateurs. Wrap the roots gently into their fresh growing medium, press them into their new pot, moisten the compost daily with an atomiser, and your job is done.
You don’t need to Find a Gardener for a simple job like this, and I doubt one would be particularly interested either. If you have a bigger gardening job though why not speak to Mr-Skill. They have all the good gardening professionals on their books.
Tags: atomise, bark, breeze, compost, container, crack, crevice, cut, cutter, dead, debris, drain, draught, drink, flower, food, fork, Garden, green, medium, moisten, moss, natural, orchid, pink, pot, rain, rock, secateur, short, spray, stone, sun, Survey, tree, trim, water, white
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There’s nothing quite as irritating as a leaking gutter, is there? It’s not just the dripping sound at night that keeps you sleeping light. It’s also the fact that gutters are generally so inaccessible too. The answer, of course, is to make sure the  roofer gets the job right in the first place.
Every London Roofer knows that the trick is to get the gutter sloping correctly when installing it. There are various rules of thumb here, but my favourite test is to see whether a dry tennis ball will roll slowly down from the topmost point until it pops out where the downpipe is normally attached.
The next most common fault is downsizing of components. This can result in too much water pouring down into a single gutter, or an insufficiency of downpipes. Unfortunately there is no tap to turn off in the sky, and so the only solution is a modification, or at worse a complete redesign.
 Damaged components can also cause a gutter to begin to leak. The main cause of this is someone using them as steadying points for a ladder, although I have also seen a few gutters smashed by exceptional hail in my time. When this happens, you had better hope spares are still available – if not, then you may need to get Roofer Quotes to replace the entire installation, or put up with a mismatched appearance.
The most common problem though is gutters and downpipes stopped up with leaves. This is an irritating problem at the best of times, and can be costly to resolve, especially where the building is double- or even multi-storey. The solution is to get rid of all overhanging trees. I doubt though that you could get Find a Roofer to do this even on Mr-Skill, although I’m sure you could Find a Gardener here to sort things out for you.
Tags: ball, block, component, damage, downpipe, downsize, drip, find a roofer, gutter, hail, instal, insufficiency, job, lack, ladder, leak, leaves, london roofer, modification, redesign, replace, roofer, roofing quote, rule, sleep, slope, smash, spare, stop, test, tree, water
Posted in Roofing, Gutters & Drainage, Uncategorized | Comments Off
Posted in Handyman Services on Jun 28
There is no end to ideas for paving jobs now that summer is here and the ground has finally dried out. Why not pave over a dead spot in the garden where nothing grows, or create a  pathway to create definition and depth. When you Find a Handyman on Mr-Skill, you could be taking your first step to a new experience in your garden, and here are a few ideas to get you going.
o If you have an area in your garden that’s overshadowed by trees, then a circular patch of paving can be especially effective. You could finish it off with a feature in the centre, or lay it around a tree trunk and finish off with a circular bench.
o If your garden lacks definition or interest then why not ask us to arrange a few Handyman Quotes for you, with ideas for creating a winding pathway that draws the visitor on. An added advantage is that it encourages feet to stay out of flower beds and vegetable patches, and keeps the wheelbarrow out of trouble too.
o  Do you have an alleyway down the side of your house where walls and fences keep the sunshine out, and nothing grows? This is common in the City where Handymen in London create cobbled details and concrete statues that make alleyways almost like wandering through a second Pompeii. There are so many different things that you could do here.
A touch of paving makes a difference in just about every garden, and can be surprisingly inexpensive when you use recycled pavers with the patina of age. Other good news includes the fact that we have rated handymen at most common UK postal codes, and that the chances are good that we could find one for you too.
Well, always like the ruins of Pompeii, if you insist. But the thought was there.
Tags: alley, alleyway, bed, bench, circular, cobble, detail, feature, feet, fence, find a handyman, flower, Garden, handyman quotes, handymen london, job, path, pathway, pave, paver, paving, round, shade, shadow, spot, sun, tree, vegetable, wall, wheelbarrow
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Posted in Carpentry & Joinery on Jun 27
Like most things in life, a satisfactory timber deck begins with a solid foundation. Similarly, a successful career may begin at a good primary school, and a victory in a debating competition often depends on  well-founded logic. I myself am sometimes equally guilty of wanting to get started without planning properly – do this when contemplating a wooden outside deck and you really do invite trouble.
An old hand I knew as a lad and who was a Joiner in London loved to say that every journey begins with the first step, and that when it came to woodwork that first step was down to the timber yard in his mind. After all, it is pointless planning a job unless you can get the right timber, and in the lengths your job needs too. Plan your spacing correctly and help save trees as opposed to accumulating off-cuts.
At this stage in the project there is no substitute to mocking things up on the ground with string or whitewash so that you can visualise exactly where things will go. If you Find a Joiner that you hired setting in the support posts without doing this first and discussing the results with you, best you cut your losses and start again.
 A Joinery Quote must define the type, treatment, dimensions and quality of the timbering to be used on a wooden deck, and the quality of the fixings too. Insist on timber cut from the heart of a tree, and materials that will not rust. While this may increase the project cost by 50%, it could more than treble the lifespan of the finished product.
With everything agreed and the posts set in concrete, the frame should be built up in a matter of days. Inspect the work as it goes along and do not allow any planks to be attached until you are completely satisfied. Keep an eye on the planks themselves too. They must not be split, warped or twisted. Reject those that are, because you specified the best.
The rest should be plain sailing and you can probably leave it to the decking firm to continue undisturbed for the rest of the job. This will be partly because they can see that you know what you are about, but mainly because you found them on Mr-Skill.
Tags: concrete, deck, decking, find a joiner, fixing, frame, joiner london, joinery quote, length, mark, mock up, plan, plank, post, quality, reject, rust, split, string, support, timber, tree, twist, warp, wood, wooden
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Posted in Carpentry & Joinery on May 23
There is absolutely no end to the projects possible for a home carpenter to attempt, provided they have the tools, skills and love for every piece of wood their craft demands. After all as my pal José Pereira  one of the leading Hobbyist Carpenters in London likes to remark every piece represents a labour of love by a tree that took thirty years to grow.
One of the easiest and most enjoyable tasks of all is to use up scraps of wood to make simple wooden blocks and then paint these bright colours. The simplest things in life are often best, and it is amazing how many endless hours of fun a child may have playing imaginative games with wooden blocks of different sizes.
Ever since I discovered that hole-saws produce wooden wheels, I have been having huge fun myself while making wooden toys for selling at local church bazaars. In this way I have been able to donate quite a sum of money to noble causes while whittling away a pleasant weekend.
 Educational toys that assist the younger generation to learn to recognise different three-dimensional shapes and fit them into slots are a challenge that requires quite advanced tooling and relatively high skill levels too. The fun here is thinking of different shapes to use – right now I am working through the A to Z of animals, and have no need to Find a Carpenter to help me do so.
Lately I have been wondering about starting a doll house for my grand daughter who will be turning four this year. My wife suggested getting in assistance when she heard how long the job might take me – trust me my answer was short, to the point and as sharp as my best chisel.
These are but two of many projects for a weekend carpenter to attempt who is also a child at heart. While some may suggest getting Carpenter Quotes to do the work, as far as I am concerned this is simply missing the point completely that I am attempting to make.
Tags: bazaar, block, carpenter, carpenter quote, carpenters london, chisel, doll house, easy, education, enjoy, find a carpenter, find a joiner, fit, hole-saw, imagine, joiner london, joiner quote, love, project, scrap, shape, skill, task, tool, toy, tree, wheel, wood
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Posted in Cleaning Services on Mar 09
Wood is a beautifully natural medium that can last forever if correctly cared for. Because it is natural though, it starts to decay as soon as a tree is cut down, which means it must be looked after all its life. If you have especially valuable  antique wooden furniture you should consider getting Housekeeper Quotes from those specialised in the field.
The first step to caring for wood it is to determine which finish was applied to it
Expert Tip: Test in a less obvious place first.
Step 1: Rub a few drops of boiled linseed oil into the wood. Is the oil absorbed? Is yes, the wood either has an oiled finish, or it is natural wood – if neither, read on.
Step 2: Rub a little acetone over a spot in a gently circular motion. Is the acetone repelled? Then the finish is polyurethane. Is the acetone dissolved? Then the wood is lacquered – if neither, read on.
Step 3: Try a few drops of denatured alcohol. If the finish dissolves quickly it is shellac. Does it react slowly instead? Then the wood has been varnished.
 Generally speaking, wood that has been oiled will benefit from a monthly application of a little good furniture oil to prevent it from drying out or cracking. Check to make sure that the oil will not make the wood go darker first. With this exception, you can keep all your furniture in tip-top condition with a general-purpose surface cleaner once a month, and a dusting once a week between.
Never expose wooden furniture to harsh chemicals or bright sunlight. Do not allow moisture to lie on any piece of wood for long, or else it may stain it permanently. This includes plastic or rubber objects that can generate their own humidity because they do not breathe.
If your wood furniture becomes water stained, a rated Cleaner in London may be able to provide some expert advice. Our advice is not to take chances with things you do not understand – rather Find a Housekeeper on Mr-Skill.
Tags: acetone, alcohol, antique, care, chemical, clean, cleaner london, cleaner quote, dust, find a cleaner, find a housekeeper, furniture, housekeeper london, housekeeping quotes, lacquer, linseed, natural, oil, polyurethane, rub, shellac, stain, sun, sunlight, surface clean, test, tree, varnish, water, wood
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Posted in Electrical Work on Feb 19
 Those of us who love gardening are all faced with the task of pruning trees from time to time, or even taking a beloved storm-damaged one down completely. All tasks are made easier by using the right tools – in this case it is a question of selecting the right saw.
Advisory Warning – Pruning large trees can be dangerous and this not a job for an untrained amateur. If you need a ladder to reach where you need to prune, rather play safe and Find a Gardener on Mr-Skill.
Each of the following saws is designed with a specific use in mind and all can cause serious injury if misused. Know the pros and cons of the one you choose by reading the manufacturer’s safety instructions carefully. Always keep both hands on the handle of the tool to avoid the risk of cutting one off instead. I kid you not – these things happen.
o Bow Saws – these have large wide spaced teeth and are perfect for cutting damp green wood and crude pruning. As a rule of thumb do not attempt to cut a branch thicker than your forearm with this tool.
 o Pruning Saws – these are for finer work and are perfect for finishing off cuts made by Bow Saws. Some blades have coarser teeth on one side in which case they are interchangeable with the latter. They are also easier to fit between the branches of a dense bush or tree.
o Chain Saws – these highly dangerous saws are sometimes hired out to amateurs who have never used them before. While fitted with all kinds of safety devices they can still be lethal and we recommend that Mr-Skill clients Get Gardening Quotes for major pruning jobs instead.
Please bear in mind what we said about being careful with saws. We did a survey that revealed that most of the Gardeners London residents employ insist on proof of formal training in the use of Chain Saws before issuing them to staff.
Tags: bow, branch, care, chain saw, chainsaw, cut, danger, electric, find a gardener, find a landscaper, Garden, gardener london, gardener quote, gardening london, gardening quotes, gas, instructions, landscaper london, landscaper quote, landscaping london, landscaping quotes, lop, prune, pruning saw, remove, saw, tool, tree
Posted in Electrical Work | Comments Off
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