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October 2006 
 Groundwork
 Ellerslie update
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Greetings!

I can’t believe it’s October already. Preparations for the Ellerslie Flower Show are now in full swing and I’m already getting the feeling that there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything ready for our exhibition garden. But a lot of capable people are involved so it should be OK. Actually, it will be brilliant. If you’re in Auckland around 14-19 November, you would be mad to miss out.

In this week’s issue of Groundwork I want to introduce you to some of the excellent landscaping suppliers we’ll be using for our Ellerslie exhibition garden. We’ll have stone pathways from Watersedge Stoneweavers, solid fences from PanelRok, and macrocarpa from MacDirect.

 Stone pathways
 

Stone pathway Here’s one from the ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ files.

There are some great landscaping products coming out of New Zealand’s wild West Coast, and the garden will feature prefabricated stone pathways from Water’s Edge Stoneweavers in Hokitika. These pathways are amazing – they’re made from genuine West Coast stones that get washed down from the Southern Alps and eventually get handpicked from a tiny beach. The stones are then fixed to a galvanised, welded wire mesh which can be laid on the ground in interlocking sections to form a beautiful, natural pathway. It’s instant and easy. And the stones are very easy to keep clean too - some warm soapy water is all you need.

Find out more.... 


 Solid fencing from Panelrok
 

The walls of our garden will be made of PanelRok, a revolutionary solid fencing system.

If they ever decided to build the Berlin Wall again, they would probably use PanelRok. It’s a virtually indestructible wall made from the latest advanced resins developed for the marine industry, and the finish is very contemporary – it’s similar to the sponge concrete used on new houses. There’s no timber so there’s no rotting, cracking or splitting, and the base of the fence can be buried, without leaving an unsightly gap at the bottom of the fence.

Installation is very quick (usually taking just one day) - which suits us perfectly because we’re going to be in a mad rush at Ellerslie! And once it’s installed, Panelrok allows easy access for heavy equipment if you’re doing a landscaping project on your section. If you need to get a Bobcat onto your front lawn, you can just slide one of the fencing panels up (actually, the designers of the Berlin Wall might not have liked that feature).

You can find out more about Panelrok here : 


 Macrocarpa
 

I love Macrocarpa. It’s probably my favourite wood. Who could resist the lustrous, honey brown colour and the wonderful scent of the freshly cut timber? But there’s much more to macrocarpa than its sensual appeal. It’s naturally resistant to fungus and insect attack, it doesn’t shrink, and it provides great structural strength.

In short, it’s the ideal timber for landscaping projects. It’s strong, it looks good, and it lasts forever. So I’m using macrocarpa from macDIRECT to construct an ‘outdoor room’ for the Ellerslie exhibition garden. macDIRECT is New Zealand’s leading supplier of top-quality macrocarpa timber.

You can find out more about their macrocarpa products here 


 Featured listing - Shademakers
 

A good way to enhance your outdoor area is to add a shade umbrella. It’s especially important as the summertime comes around and those nasty UV rays get more intense. As well as protecting you and your family and friends, a good umbrella will protect your outdoor furniture from the elements.

Shademakers is an innovative Auckland company that is leading the way in shade umbrella design. They can make your house and garden look like a five-star resort - some of their designs need to be seen to be believed.

Shademakers was the winner of a competition we held last month in which we encouraged our members to update the content of their listings. As a result, they’ve got a spot on the front page of the landscapedesign.co.nz site. We normally charge $2000 for that sort of exposure. That’s a pretty good result for them, isn’t it?

You too could be a winner if you list your business with www.landscapedesign.co.nz.

Find out more about listing your business.... 


 Wally Richards’ latest columns
 Companion planting and bee problems

One of the things I like about gardening is that it’s a lifelong hobby and you never stop learning, and someone we can all learn a lot from is Wally Richards. He is truly a guru of the garden and his knowledge is both deep and broad.

Wally's most recent columns focus on the issues of companion planting and bees. I urge you to read them - it just blows my mind how knowledegeable this guy is!

Read Wally's latest columns here ... 


 Landscapedesign.co.nz continues to grow
 

It's official - September was our biggest month ever.

Unique visitors to the website have increased by 400% since January of this year. Every week several thousand kiwis visit to look for advice and inspiration, and to search for people with the products and skills to help create their ultimate outdoor landscapes.

And with over 1,900 businesses listed in our nationwide directory there is plenty of help on hand.

Find more site statistics.... 


If you have a great story or something of interest we can feature on our site please email us to let us know. The feedback from advertisers and the New Zealand public continues to be fantastic and we appreciate hearing your stories of being brought together by the website. That's what community is all about!

Kind regards,


Tim Durrant & the landscapedesign.co.nz team
landscapedesign.co.nz ltd

phone: 0800 54 78 65
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