|
Your news and views |
Postbag
|
|
Now
that we are into spring and there is so much more to say, please
share your ideas and views with us… we are giving away £10 worth
of Unwins vouchers for every letter printed and £20 for the star.
Mail
us here. |
|
|
Star letter Star letter Star letter Star letter Star letter |
|
COLOURING THE WALKWAY Chosen as a runner-up in the Garden Ideas/ Cuprinol competition I received coupons for Cuprinol Garden Shades. After much thought on what to use them on I decided to brighten up the fence that runs along the side passageway. I opted for
the shade ‘Willow’ and painted the whole fence this colour and stencilled
on leaves and flowers in a darker shade of green and blue. The end
result is a brighter and far more interesting passage. Thank you.
|
 |
|
|
A DIMMOCK TOO FAR Unlike C Robertson (Your news and views, March), I found the programme Flying Gardeners with Charlie Dimmock, tiresome. Just how many programmes and products can one woman publicise. I think the Dimmock craze has gone far too far. Gardening personalities have worked hard for many years to put gardening where it is today – in line with home diy, yet to me it seems that Charlie Dimmock is receiving all the credit for what has been many years and many people’s hard work. Please, let
us see someone else on the tv! |
|
NETTLE RELIEF Your feature on herbs in February has prompted me to tell you about one of my own tips. In my garden’s
‘wild patch’ I tolerate nettles for the sake of wildlife and at
least one broad-leaved dock plant for my own sake. The reason being
that when rubbed onto nettle-stung skin, the sap of the dock provides
an instantly effective balm. |
‘Value for money may mean paying more, but it does mean that you receive added benefits’ |
|
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN As a garden centre (Ullesthorpe Garden & Aquatic Centre) which has just begun to sell Garden Ideas, I would like to congratulate you on the magazine. At last it appears there is somebody who is willing to portray garden centres as someone other than ‘the enemy’ to gardeners. Your article on whether garden centres are a rip off or not (January 2000, ‘Are you being ripped off’), encouraged me to contact you. After reading it, I am still concerned that (through no fault of your own) many garden centres still have to contend with the public’s perception of them as ‘daylight robbers’. This may be true of some but not all. |
 |
|
I was very surprised that your shoppers chose centres that, without prejudice, are not considered major players in the trade. Not one garden centre chain was included, nor was any of a huge number of larger independents. Although I am not inferring any of the centres featured are below par, the average price on many of the products featured was cheap compared with these larger centres or chains. As your article
showed, there has to be a distinction between ‘cheap’ and ‘value
for money’. Very few of the best centres in the country have got
where they are today by adopting the former strategy. Value for
money may well mean paying more, but it does mean that you receive
added benefits |
|
|
|
NEW BEGINNINGS Having had my garden taken over by four leylandii trees, your article in the March issue ‘Garden Ideas goes shopping for hedging inspiration’ gave me renewed heart. I have been
unsure of what to do with these towering monsters, as chopping them
down would expose a row of unsightly garages, but leaving them has
meant depletion of the nutrients in the soil. Now, however, I can
hardly wait to chop them back and wait for the new growth. |
