Tuesday 4 December 2007

Sunset on the Swilly

A FEW JOBS TO DO


Frosty broccoli


The thought of going outside to do a bit of gardening might appear to be a crazy one, but it’s not that bad when you are out there. It’s a good time to go around and have a look at your deciduous trees and shrubs now. Prune trees that are getting to be a nuisance by growing over paths, near telephone wires, or too close to the house.

Leave flowering shrubs such as forsythia, spirea and quince as they are spring flowering and you don’t want to chop off all of the flower buds. Leave them until after they have flowered in late spring before you trim them.

Prune established fruit trees such as apples and pears (leave stone fruit such as plums and peaches as they could get fungal diseases in the damp weather) Remove any diseased or dead wood from the tree and cut out branches that are crossing one another. Opening the tree out like this will give the fruit the maximum amount of sunshine come the summer.

MAYO ANIMAL WELFARE


DOG AND WILD ANIMAL WELFARE & RESCUE

NAME:
MAYO ANIMAL WELFARE

ADDRESS:
Honey Cottage, Buckfield, Kilmeena, Westport

PHONE:
(098) 41484

CONTACT:
Noeline Haylett

SPECIAL NOTES:
We have many puppies and older dogs of different breeds, all in desperate need of homes.

ABOUT:
Bank Account: Ulster Bank Westport, Acc. No. 44715043



Mayo Animal Welfare is a voluntary organisation whose members are dedicated to the welfare of animals in the County. It was established in April 1994. The work of the organisation mainly involves:



The rescue of abandoned, cruelly treated and injured animals. Caring for pets in case of sickness/death of owner. Rehoming of animals. Releasing wildlife such as swans,hares,seabirds etc. into their natural habitats after treatment for injuries. The organisation runs regular spaying/neutering discount campaigns where people receive a 40% discount of the normal spaying/neutering price. Contact the above number for more details.



We receive some funding from the Ministry or Agriculture and rely on donations and fundraising. As Mayo does not have an Animal Sanctuary members take rescued animals into their own homes and care for them at their own expense. If you can, please help us to fund the ongoing neutering project by subscribing to Mayo Animal Welfare, as little as €1 per month can make a difference.If you can provide a good home for an animal please contact Noeline at (098) 41484.

NATIONAL GARDEN EXHIBITION CENTRE-GABION BASKETS


I was after a bit of design inspiration last week so I took myself down to The National Garden Exhibition Centre in County Wicklow. This centre has been open for two decades and exhibits twenty showcase gardens planned by the countries leading designers. The gardens are mostly quite conservative but there are new designers coming in and putting a contemporary feel into some of the corners. One garden has loads of vertical ten-foot planks everywhere to give you a feeling of three-dimensional space; they are painted white just in case you might bump into them!

GABION BASKETS
The choices of materials for the paths were interesting to see and I was taken by one design in particular that used Gabion baskets for their main structural design. These baskets are usually used for retaining riverbank walls or keeping hillsides from falling onto the road when it carves through a hillside. They are made from an open weave of galvanised steel and some have a plastic coating. A basket has a guarantee of one hundred years as well! In this garden design the Gabion baskets have been filled with choice, quality stone (some of it from Donegal) to make a fantastic border to the lawn and patio area the style is of a nautical nature and there is also a full sized sail in the garden on the patio. It is not to everyone’s taste I would imagine, using materials such as this will always have its critics, but it would be a great talking point if it was on your own plot. For more information check out the Phi website www.phiireland.ie

Other stories

Related Posts with Thumbnails