Lucky seven!

This week we celebrated our 7th Birthday here at Ark Fencing & Garden Services. And boy those seven years have gone by quick! Sometimes starting something new is scary, and when we began, it was! But luckily, with lots of hard work and perspiration, things have worked out well! The year we began this business was also the year we got married. After being together for eight years already mind you! People used to ask "how do you manage working together every day as husband and wife?" we just used to laugh. It was great. The best days were of course the days when the sun was shining and we were working hard on looking after all our garden maintenance jobs. That feeling when you get home after a hard day’s work, skin warm from the sun, money in your pocket and knowing it was all your own doing was fab. Of course there were hard times too, through winters and the financial crisis. But you live and learn. And we are still going so we must be doing something right.

In 2010 we were blessed with our beautiful little Summer Rose and that summer she came to work too. That was some juggling act, but she was a good baby and quite content which of course made it all that little bit easier.

In 2011 we took on our first labourer and I took a back seat on that side of things to focus on raising Summer at home and catch up on all that paper work and marketing! We still had the odd day out at work though, which she loved, and so did our customers! And here we are today. The main thing is to stay positive. It can be hard going working with the general public! You can't please everybody all of the time. But we all work hard, put maximum effort in on getting a great job done and that's what makes the difference. When you try your best, nothing can stop you.

So there's a little piece of our history there for you! But right now, spring is springing up and the days are brighter and a little bit warmer. Now comes the busy times! 

I briefly mentioned lawn care in the last blog. It is a good time now to add some top dressing to your lawn and more seed to thicken things up and add some new healthy growth. It won't take long for the seeds to germinate now and you'll soon see the results. If you're lawn is in pretty good shape anyway, it will benefit from regular mowing to keep it looking good.

If you have young children, you'll like to know that now is the time to plant those sun flower seeds - right where you want them to bloom. I can't wait; these are definitely one of my favourites since I’m such a big kid! It's also time to get those hedges tidied, if you haven't done so already.

We still have ongoing fences to build since all the storms back earlier in the year. We really have had a busy few months. One thing we have noticed this year is the price increase on timber! And all the suppliers seemed to put up their prices early, in February. Lately we have seen a steady increase in calls for garden maintenance. If things go well, you never know we might have room for another member in the team!

That's all for now, thanks very much for reading. If you want to find out more about us, take a look at our facebook page, we try to keep that up to date with our latest projects: www.facebook.com/arkgardenservices

It’s a heat wave!

Wow, summer heat wave! I love a long day outside, when your skin gets a chance to soak up all that sunshine; I hope you are all enjoying it as much as we are. Get a good dose of vitamin D whilst you have the chance I say!

As far as business is concerned, it seems we can add plant sitting to our list of services. It is for the parents, but it still counts right? We must have about twenty pots to look after, including a range of herbs, strawberries, acers and a load of roses. They’ve all moved in for a few weeks. We’ve had to shuffle things around a bit as it’s a bit crowded! But all the watering and feeding is paying off, with plenty of strawberries to pick each morning. I’m lucky if I get one though as Summer seems to find all the nice red ones and has a constant strawberry moustache on her face! In a couple of week’s time, we’ll transport everything to the new house and sort out planting some of it in the ground.

This week has been a good week for garden maintenance and Richard has done a fair bit of hedge cutting, which I think he really loves. And it gives the arms and upper body a good workout too! His tips are; practice and keep your blades sharp. I’m sure there must be more to it than that, but he’s keeping his secrets to himself, charming!

We’ve dug up a good batch of potatoes today. Our three year old was very excited, digging around in the earth as if she was looking for hidden treasure. Growing potatoes is easy, why not give it a go. You don’t need a lot of space as you can always use pots or a grow bag. You still have time to grow some potatoes this year, get stuck in and they’ll be ready by the end of September for you. Just earth them up and give them plenty of water and sunlight.

The tip for this week is to remember to water your lawn during dry weather. Once the sun has gone, whilst watering any plants you may have, bear a thought for the grass. It will appreciate a drink and will remain green for you. At this time of year it’s good to throw down some seed to thicken things up. Especially if you have a fair bit of traffic, or pets on your lawn. We use a patch repair kit with a neutraliser as we have a bunch of dogs, so our lawn needs all the help it can get!

Finally, my favourite that has come into flower this week in my garden is the mock orange, a sweet scented double bloom, I love it. Thanks for reading, have a great week and don’t forget you can also follow us on Facebook and twitter.