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Britons spend more than £200 a year on their gardens, but some of the improvements carried out could increase the risk of their home flooding, an insurer warned today.
Homeowners have spent an average of £633 carrying out work in their gardens during the past three years, according to Direct Line.

Garden sheds are the most popular addition with 61% of people installing one, while 58% of people have added a patio and 51% have added outdoor seating.
Nearly a third of people have had a summer house built, 26% have added a water feature and 17% have taken the more drastic action of concreting over their front garden to create a drive.

But Direct Line warned that some of these improvements could be increasing the flood risk faced by properties.

In his interim report on last summer’s floods Sir Michael Pitt said laying impermeable surfaces, such as paved driveways and patios, could increase the amount of surface water run-off after rain, leading to flooding.

The Government is planning to introduce legislation later this year requiring homeowners to get planning permission if they want to lay impermeable surfaces.
Frances Browning, spokesperson for Direct Line, said: “Homeowners should be fully aware of the potential implications of their garden improvements and choose their development materials carefully.

“There are plenty of permeable paving materials now available which absorb water and so will not require planning permission once the Government changes the law.”
:: Opinium Research questioned 2,139 people during March.

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Homeowners are turning to DIY to add value to their properties as the market flattens, according to research.

More than a quarter of homeowners (28%) are planning improvements specifically to add value to their properties over the next 12 months, Halifax said.

Almost half (44%) believe improvements will add up to £5,000 to the value of their property, with 12% believing the increase will be between £10,000 to £25,000.

The most popular home improvements are redecorating (71%), garden improvements (35%), new furnishings (33%), new carpets (25%), laminate or wood flooring (22%) and a new bathroom (21%).

Almost one in five (17%) have introduced energy efficiency measures into their homes.
Russell Galley, head of mainstream mortgages at Halifax, said: “In the current market, homeowners can inject value into their homes by undertaking the right home improvements.

“Carrying out work on your home can be rewarding but costly to correct if not executed properly. Where appropriate, consult the professionals and seek any necessary planning permission before getting started.”

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Seem to be a lot of shed fires, so be careful sheddies.

Two injured in Buckley ‘explosion’
A MAN suffered burns when a garden shed “exploded”, leaving residents in shock.

Shed Fire accidental
Four people escaped injury when flames engulfed a large shed, early this morning.

Fireball ‘went 50ft in air’ after Blackburn shed arson attack
A FIREBALL shot up to 50ft into the air when a gas canister exploded after an arsonists torched a shed.

Arsonists set fire to shed
Residents were woken by a shed fire believed to have been started by arsonists early today

also a timely reminder for Shed security

and from international news

Melton South school shed blaze
The fire destroyed an uninsured tool shed, causing up to $20000 damage.

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A firefighter came to the rescue when a giant tortoise got trapped under a garden chair.
The tortoise’s owner called the emergency services when she could not free her pet.

Matt Furber, 41, cut a leg off the chair with a hacksaw to allow to tortoise to continue its journey around the garden in Ramsden Heath, Essex, yesterday.

“I’ve been in the fire service for 14 years and without doubt it’s the strangest call I have ever received,” said Mr Furber.

“The tortoise was about the size of a dustbin lid. It had gone under one of those metal-framed garden chairs and got stuck. The chair had then sort of collapsed on it.

“I got the impression that it had been there for about an hour and the owner called because she was worried about hurting it.”

He added: “I borrowed a hacksaw from the owner and cut one of the legs of the chair. The tortoise still didn’t seem keen to move but eventually the owner coaxed it along.
“I’m not an expert on tortoises but it didn’t seem distressed to me.

Mr Furber said he had travelled to the house alone and had not activated lights and sirens.
He added: “I did look in our guidelines to see if we had anything on trapped tortoises - but we didn’t.”

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that beach Hut I blogged about in Abersoch has been sold for the asking price of £70k according to the beeb and others.

A detached beach hut measuring just 13ft x 9ft (4m x 2.7m) and with no electricity or water has been sold at auction for its guide price of £70,000.

The hut is on a sand dune at the highly-sought after location of Abersoch, on the Llyn Peninsula in Gwynedd with views over Cardigan Bay.

It is in the middle of a row and made of corrugated sheeting and wood.

Agents Beresford Adams, who marketed the hut, said the new owner wanted to remain anonymous.

“There’s always a lot of interest in these huts, because it is a very rare opportunity when they come on the market, as there is only a limited amount of them,” said Martin Lewthwaite, senior manager with Beresford Adams at Abersoch.

“There were three people bidding for the hut, but no-one offered more than the guide price of £70,000,” he said.

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The miltonnkeynes news reports

Rob Caulfield, 22, and his pregnant 16-year-old girlfriend fear they will have to share a single mattress in the small shed after learning that their one bed council flat in Stacey Bushes is to be bulldozed.

Mr Caulfield said he spent a year living in the shed after his sister, Tanya Pierce, found him sleeping under a bus shelter in the city centre.

Mrs Pierce said: “One day I was out shopping, I saw someone wrapped in a blanket in the bus shelter and it was my brother.

“He was a mess - it was upsetting.

I had to stick him in the shed because there’s no room in my house.

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Alex has some pics and a link to a great looking allotment shed build in Sweden.

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Not about sheds, but I love a 99 in the Summer and I love Sausage and Mash, but those odd lot over at Aunt Bessies have gone one better and mixed the two!

Aunt Bessie’s Mash Cone

Mash and a banger in a cone launched as the first all-weather alternative to the ’99 Flake’

It may look like a 99 Flake from afar, but it’s just the latest sign of the British adapting our eating habits due to our increasingly rainy summers. With last summer being one of the wettest ever recorded and the heaviest snowfall for almost 20 years this month, Aunt Bessie’s* is breathing new life into the fortunes of the ice cream van by replacing chilly ices with an all-weather, British classic: creamy mash and a banger – in a cone!

Served from a specially customised ‘Mash Van’, Aunt Bessie’s will offer cones filled with creamy, warm homestyle mash and a banger topped with gravy and a sprinkling of garden peas. Aunt Bessie’s Mashed Potato is made using exactly the same ingredients as you would at home - real potatoes, milk, butter, salt and pepper.

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“Every invention that has ever mattered in the whole of human history has come from a man in a shed in Britain” says Clarkson in the sunday times

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Plans for a new youth centre to tackle teenage delinquency and crime have had to be put on hold - after the building was stolen.

The prepacked building was delivered in boxes to the Austrian village of Traismauer ready to be put up the next day but were stolen by the time workers arrived to erect it.

A recent wave of vandalism, theft and burglaries in the area had been blamed on youths and local authorities met to try and find a way to keep them off the streets.

Mayor Johann Gorth said the new youth centre planned to give kids something else to do and get them involved in something positive.

Police are investigating but fear some of the children that the youth centre was aimed at helping may have been involved in the theft.

A spokesman said: “Of course there is a possibility that the thieves were youngsters who were well aware of the plans for the youth centre.”

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This offer is now over but you can still buy some great Turf ,Topsoil & Bark Chippings

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Our renowned Medallion turf® is Britain’s biggest selling and most frequently specified, being the first choice for both professional landscapers and experienced gardeners who demand the best. Our Blended LoamTM is also Britain’s biggest selling quality topsoil. Our range also includes Minster ProTM Turf, a fine-bladed ornamental lawn turf, Beds & Borders Topsoil, Lawn Topdressing, Lawn Seed, Lawn Food, GroRight Lawn Establishment Fertiliser, Soil Improver and Landscaping, Play Grade & Decorative Bark.

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If you’re looking for inspiration as the warmer weather beckons, try leafing through some of the excellent books out this spring, bringing you advice on everything from growing fruit and veg to design and practical tips.

There’s a plethora of new books out this year on every conceivable way to grow every conceivable fruit and veg, pushed further by the Jamie Oliver effect and with all the big guns jumping on the grow-your-own bandwagon.

These include Alan Titchmarsh, with The Kitchen Gardener (BBC Books, £20), and the RHS, with two yummy titles including a revised edition of its Vegetable & Fruit Gardening (Dorling Kindersley, £20), featuring advice from experts on growing more than 150 different foods, and Grow It Eat It, (April 1, Dorling Kindersley, £9.99), aimed at junior chefs and gardeners who can get to grips with healthy eating but grow the food themselves.

If you want something a little quirkier, wait till the May publication of Forgotten Fruits, a guide to Britain’s traditional fruit and vegetables, from orange jelly turnips to Dan’s mistake gooseberries, by Christopher Stocks (May 1, Random House, £16.99).

As well as being a guide, it’s also a fascinating work of natural and social history. Did you know, for example, that gooseberry-growing contests were a prominent feature of 19th century rural life? Or that the first radishes to arrive in England (in around 1548) were the size of small turnips? Or that there are over 2,000 varieties of cooking and eating apples in Britain alone?

TV tie-ins are also abundant now, so if you have been enjoying Monty Don’s Around The World In 80 Gardens, you can find out more about them in the accompanying book (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £20), as he searched for the world’s most inspirational gardens.

If you’re after something different, a little later on in the year you can pick up some entertaining titles including One Man And His Dig (Pocket, £6.99, May 6), written by journalist and allotment holder Valentine Low, who decided to forego his world of dinner parties with the chattering classes to take on a down-to-earth pastime. He recounts tales of the characters and crops he has encountered on his allotment and offers tips for green-fingered urbanites.

If we don’t have a similar summer to last year’s washout, we may be in need of Ian Cooke’s new book out in May, Waterwise Gardening (New Holland, £12.99), which offers all manner of water-saving advice for gardeners - what to do if you have a hosepipe ban, ways to recycle and store water and water-wise plants.

Take a leaf out of Chelsea gold medal winner Andy Sturgeon’s book by following his design ideas in his new book, Minimum Space Maximum Living Outdoors (Mitchell Beazley £16.99, Apr 15). It looks at a range of different spaces from balconies to basements, rooftops to entrances, and highlights particular considerations of each as well as illustrating inspiring design ideas.

And for those planning some visits to gardens for inspiration, grab some companions such as Gardens Of Britain And Ireland, by Patrick Taylor (Dorling Kindersley, £14.99), featuring 300 of the greatest public and private gardens, with quick and easy references arranged by region.
Alternatively, pick up a copy of the 19th edition of The Good Gardens Guide (Frances Lincoln, £15.99), which selects only gardens of real merit, vividly describing their main characteristics and qualities, with detailed information and coloured maps.

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