I’d heard of espares but hadn’t considered them as a option recently when we needed some more strimmer line. I didn’t know they did garden spare parts but they do! And they have quite a range too!

Their range includes parts for all of these bits of machinery – Pressure Washers, Lawnmowers, strimmers
and Garden Vacuums. These are the every day items that most of us have at home – and when they break or you need spares then you need to get them quickly and cheaply.
Espares items are usually dispatched within 2 business days.
If you’re looking for spare parts for your garden tools then they are the place to look! A lot of people think we live in a throw away society – but the opportunities are there if you look for them to repair and replace worn parts and make your garden tools as good as new. They sell spares for:- Lawnrakers, Chainsaws, Power Hoes, Shredders, Watering Products, Maintenance, New Pressure Washers, Pruners, Shears, Protective Gear, Greenhouse Parts

This is an impressive list and covers everything in the garage or garden shed for most people! If you’re after strimmer line then they will have it for your machine! You can browse for the machine brand and then the type of search for the model number.
If you realise you’ve ordered the wrong part then you can review your basket at checkout and remove any items and replace them with the right one. If you’ve done it completely wrong and need to cancel the order this is possible too. The site is quite flexible for users to find their way around – it shouldn’t take you more than a couple of minutes to hunt down the part you want!

My first test order was split into two parts – the first part has arrived safely and with appropriate packaging and a ‘fragile’ sticker to protect it from the worst excesses of the postal system! The delivery note that accompanies it states that the other part is being dispatched separately but their efficient email and tracking system allows me to see this anyway! The note even comes with a sticker with their website address and phone number on so you could stick this into your personal phone book!
They also state that if your packaging isn’t new – then it’s because they reuse and recycle packaging which is a great thing for any company to try and do! All cost savings can then be passed on to the customers as Espares have a price match guarantee promise which is well worth looking at.

The whole shopping experience at espares is simple and quick. You can buy with various credit card payment methods or you can use your paypal account!

Delivery costs vary according to how much your order is but for the UK it’s never be more than £3.49
And on orders under £6 it’s only £1.49. For orders between £6 and £9.99 it’s £2.49. This is great if you’re only buying one cheap thing then you don’t pay a lot for delivery! They delivery to Europe too and this costs a little more as you could expect £6.95 – and they can deliver to the rest of the world too for this but some orders might cost more, so if you’re outside the EU you should check how much it’ll cost first.

The site is packed with practical help to enable you to replace items easily without fuss or difficulty. It’s a great site that’s got hints, reviews as well as videos.The videos show you how to do things and explain how to get repairs and replacements right first time.

Repairing your garden tools and keeping them working with proper brand name spares is just what Espares is great for! Make a note of it today!
Overall Espares provides a great service with a huge range of items – all those little things that you could spend hours looking for in a hardware store are all there and easy to find! Make your gardening more eco-friendly by repairing your garden tools!

Slugs are a major pest to the vegetable garden. It seems like they’ll travel for miles to get to your deliciously young plants that you’ve just put in. It can be devasting to see plants scoffed overnight.

There’s a few things you can do to get rid of slugs in the garden.

You can use beer traps. This involves putting beer in a container and the slugs are attracted to the smell of the beer and get in for a drink. Once in they drown. A bit gross and not for the squeamish – you have to keep it clear of dead ones else they become a raft for the living… Told you it was gross… It’s effective and you can use very cheap beer. It’s also a good excuse for keeping a few tins in the shed incase of emergencies.

You can use slug pellets. These are a bit pricey and need regularly reapplying as they disolve in the rain and damp.

Another very gross one – You can go and kill them at night – either by chopping them up or applying salt. You can also mow the lawns in the late evenings – as slugs are active in the night-time then you can kill quite a few at night by just cutting the grass. The neighbours will think you’re mad and you might end up having an accident so we don’t recommend this one.

The most sensible way is to buy Nemaslug Nematodes: Slug Killer. It’s available in two sizes:
Regular Pack treats up to 40m²
Large pack treats up to 100 metres square

This simply needs watering in to your garden. Easy. Simple and the nemotodes do the hard work for you! It’ll last 6 weeks too!

Got to be worth getting just so you can see how much your garden can produce when you’re not feeding a hoard of slugs!

I’ve been clearing away the privet cuttings from shortening the hedge. A bold move taking a foot and a bit off the height, but we get more light in the late afternoons as a result which is good!

I’ve potted out my tomatoes – there’ll be a picture of them tomorrow – and a picture of my greenhouse heater. It’s an old one that I’ve got hold of. It takes paraffin and we’ve been outside lighting it so the delicate seedlings stay toasty warm all night. That’s the plan anyway!
The basil is coming through and the rocket is doing well too! The beans are looking good!

After I’d potted up the tomatoes a couple looked really wilted and dead – but this evening they look fine, so fingers crossed they’ll do well. I’ve got four types of tomatoes this year – some normal ones, some plum ones, cherry tomatoes and some giant ones. It’ll be interesting to see the differences.

Apart from a little watering of plants in pots waiting for their space to be dug over, I’ve done virtually nothing else. I did some weed killing, but that was very effortfree – see my post about roundup! I do have some stray raspberries to clear tomorrow – shoots appearing in the front lawn!

ONLINE NOW – 50% OFF ALL VEGETABLE SEEDS At Thompson and Morgan
Well worth a look – it’s not too late to plant loads of stuff
END DATE: Sunday 9th May 2010
Thompson & Morgan have a list of what vegetables you can plant in May
All vegetable seeds, half price! Get massive savings!
To get your discounts click here for 50% off Thompson and Morgan seeds

Beetroot
Peas
Calabrese
Carrots
Lettuce – you can keep planting this for months
Salad Leaves – well worth growing this – saves you money on bagged salad
Spring Onions
Radish
Sprouting Seeds
Sweetcorn
Dwarf Beans
Runner Beans
Soya Beans
Turnip
Swede

The Roundup’s
Pump N’ Go Sprayer is 5L of weedkiller in an easy use container. It’s certainly
a weighty bit of kit in your war against weeds. It weighs 5kg when full, which
is comparable to a full watering can that you might be using to apply different
weed killers. It is an impressive item though.

To assembly you need to cut the two clips that keep it secure – when you cut
the one on the handle pay attention to where the pump handle is turned – when
it’s turned in right you can use it as the handle but when it’s free from the
clip it sits under you will find it acts as the pump. Once you see this it’s
very obvious! You then undo the clip on the wand and unwind the pipe from the
holder. The wand is easy to fully assemble – you press the small orange button
on it and pull out the nozzle until it’s full extended and it clips into it’s
hole.

When you finish with the weedkiller ensure you put this wand back into it’s
original position as this is what stops kids from playing with it, or it accidentally
discharging. Apply the tube to the container and you’re ready to go. This clipping
on of the nozzle tube is reversible but only under force. There’s no need to
take it off either. Refills are done through the cap on which the pump and handle
which unscrews.
Sensible but normal weed
killer precautions apply. Wear gloves and shoes you can rinse off if you
get any on. You don’t want to walk this powerful weedkiller over the lawn! Also
don’t do this on a windy day. You’re much more likely to get spray going where
you don’t want it to. So don’t damage your plants, or your neighbour’s plants
by using this on a very windy day. Ideally a calm dry day is what you need.

With it all set up you need to pump the handle about 20 times. This will give
you 3 minutes of spraying time. It’s not hard to pump either which was a pleasant
suprise. Having used some other pump action containers this was the easiest
by far. If you like you can put the bottle on the floor and still spray using
the nozzle so you don’t have to worry about carrying it – just pick it up and
move it along as you go. The spray is allowed out only when you press the release.
This release is very easy to control. This means you can spray only the weeds
you need spraying rather than having to spray constantly along.

You get a high level of control with the application. This saves you money
as you don’t waste any weedkiller! I did all the weed spraying I needed from
one lot of pumping. This makes it very quick and simple to use with no hassle
at all. The nozzle is put back into it’s handle and hung on the clip and then
tubing goes back on to it’s hanger too making it all very tidy to put away.
The container needs the pressure taking off before you put it away – do this
easily by undoing the lid a little and then retightening.

Roundup’s
Pump N’ Go Sprayer is very easy to use. The wand means you can stand up
and still be accurate with the spraying. It’s trigger is very responsive and
this makes for less waste. The whole package is very neat and you will effectively
and efficiently be able to spray all the weeds in your garden. Advantages are
that the spraying is effortless, there’s no constant pumping like you get on
some other spray systems. You don’t have to bend down – you just point the wand
so it’s less back breaking than weeding! And as it’s a spray you can get the
weeds you don’t want to pull up because of where they are! It’s suitable for
weeding along the edges of your paths, on your patios, around the egde of your
house and along fences. It’s especially useful if you have areas that you can’t
reach to weed as you can just spray the weeds and this will kill them. You could
in theory use it to target the dandelions on your lawn – it is controllable
enough to only get them – you’d just have to be careful not to tred on any you’ve
sprayed and then move the weedkiller on to your lawn.

New products at PondKeeper

PondXpert Greenstop 23000 UVC – 36 Watt £79.99
PondXpert does it again….a robust UVC at a rock bottom price.

Read the rest of this entry »

New item at John Lewis

John Lewis Romano Cushion, Natural £79.00
Add some comfort to your Romano sunlounger with this cushion.

New items today at John Lewis

Lightweight Terrazzo Square Planter, White, Large £44.95
Creamy-white, elegant planters. Available in 3 different sizes, so you can mix and match. Small: H20 x W20 x D20cm Medium: H30 x W30 x D30cm Large: H40 x W40 x D40cm

Read the rest of this entry »

John Lewis has these new items today

Wide Striped Tealight Holder £10.00
Stained wooden orb with wide strata, enhancing the shape. With a tealight holder at the top.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tooled Up has this new item today

Felco Model F610 Pruning Saw 330mm Blade £36.95
Saw recommended for pruning and cutting all types of wood. Rust resistant hard-chromed blade / conical blade shape that cuts without clogging. Comfortable non-slip handle. Sheath for right or left handers with detachable belt loop. Specifica…