Buying a tool store for your garden will allow you to keep all of your outdoor tools in a safe and secure place outdoors. An organized outdoor tool store will allow you easy access to your outdoor equipment and keep your home mud free!

Great garden storage can be found at Jack’s online garden store. It provides an easy way of keeping all of your outdoor tools in one place. There is a wide variety of outdoor tool stores available depending on your requirements, space and number of tools that need to be stored. Tool stores can range from small lockers, wall stores to much larger sheds.

Benefits of using a tool store:

• Tool stores enable you to keep your tools in much better condition increasing their lifetime.
• Your tools are kept dry decreasing the risk of rust.
• Better security, your tools will be secured in a lockable unit that will act as a deterrent to thieves.
• Compact, if your garden is small using a small locker or wall store can be a great alternative to a shed which may overcrowd your garden.
• Easy access to your tools.
• Better organized tools.

Check out my full range of tool stores available at Jacks Garden Store. We also offer great information on garden sheds and garden storage solutions which can be viewed here.

Good Luck

Gardener Jack!

Recently the media has been full of stories about our carbon footprint. We all need to work together in reducing each one in order to reduce the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

What is your carbon footprint?
Essentially a carbon footprint is the measurement of all of our activities which have an impact on the environment. It measures the amount of greenhouse gases produced throughout our day to day lives when we burn fossil fuels for heating, electricity and transportation.It is measured in units of tonnes (or kg) of carbon dioxide equivalent.

There are two parts to your carbon foot print:
The primary footprint – which measures our direct emissions of CO2 produced by our energy consumption and transportation choices. All of these areas by which we use fossil fuel are area’s that we have direct control over.

The secondary footprint – This measures our indirect CO2 emissions created via the things that we buy, their manufacture and eventual breakdown. Many sites now offer carbon footprint calculators where by you can view your own footprint. Here you will see that in essence the more that you buy the larger your footprint and negative effect on the environment.

There are many ways in which you can reduce your carbon footprint and help the environment. Your garden can help hold the key to your success.

• Planting trees – Trees not only absorb CO2 but also provide fantastic shelter and food for local wildlife.

• Composting – Installing a composter in your garden and filling it with your food and garden waste will reduce the amount of waste going into landfill and also the journeys taken buy the refuse collectors in order to get it there. It will also provide you with organic rich nutrients for your garden. Jack’s garden store offers a wonderful range of composters and wormeries which will enable you to get started immediately.

• Growing your own fruit and veg – Think of all of the food miles saved if every fruit and vegetable you needed was at the bottom of your garden. Even the smallest of gardens can have pots and planters filled with yummy seasonal delights that should keep you going all year round.Visit my range of herb and vegetable starter kits to get you off to a great start. If space or time is an issue and you feel unable to grow all of your own vegetables try using a local farm shop or market instead of the supermarket to buy your vegetables which will help keep the food miles down. Also buy only seasonal fruit and vegetables.

• Washing Line - Invest in a washing line! Each time you turn on your tumble drier CO2 emissions are being pumped out of your home.

• Swing and climbing frame – Think of the hours of emission free fun your children can have using play equipment in your back garden.Creating more activities to do at home will help you spend less time in the car travelling to the park or to other events such as bowling or the cinema. Save events such as these for special occasions. Getting you children to play outdoors instead of sat at a computer console will not only be beneficial to the environment but also to your children’s well being as it will enable them to get the exercise that so many children are now lacking.

• Recycle – Recycling reduces the amount of waste that goes into our landfill sites. Although recycling bins can often seem rather unsightly,there are now a wide range of recycling bin stores available to keep your garden looking neat and tidy whilst you do your bit for the environment.

• Water barrel – Collect rain water and use this to water your garden.

Good luck

Gardener Jack!

Firewood is a great material used to heat up your home, however storing the wood out of sight and in a spot which will preserve the wood can sometimes be a little tricky.

Keeping a small amount indoors for daily use is recommended but please keep the bulk of your firewood outdoors as the logs will contain bugs and insects.

Storage
The key to great firewood is air circulation as this enables the wood to stay dry. The most ideal storage spot for your firewood is either a specialist wood store or an open ended shed that allows you to stack your logs up off of the floor on a dry surface.
The main function of a wood store or shed is to store your firewood whilst it is seasoned. Successful seasoning requires the wood to be cut, split and exposed to sun and wind so that the wood can dry out.

Location
Plan where you would like your wood store or shed to be located in your garden. Try to find a spot that gives you easy access to your firewood. On the coldest darkest days in winter you will want to get to that wood very quickly and not have to trample across a wet and muddy lawn.

Keep your log store at least 30 feet from your home where possible as firewood attracts insects and bugs. If space is an issue and you do have to keep your wood store nearer to your home that’s ok but please make sure you allow a gap between the store and your house wall so that your logs  can have air circulating around them, this will prevent the wood from rotting.

Protection
Cover the log store with a protective cover during severe weather conditions and remember to remove it when the weather improves so that the sun can dry the wood and remove any moisture that may have seeped through.

Stack the largest pieces of wood at the bottom of the pile in level rows and make sure weight is balanced evenly across the storage unit to prevent tipping or an avalanche.

Good Luck

Gardener Jack

Metal sheds are a fantastic alternative to having a wooden shed. They enable you to overcome many of the maintenance problems that you often encounter with timber structures. However as we’re all aware metal sheds themselves can suffer from condensation problems. Read on to find out how to alleviate this problem.

All metal garden sheds will suffer from condensation where damp is present in the foundation.  This occurs when a damp proof course has not been built into the base . Air inside a shed is slightly warmer than the air around it outside so any moisture in the foundations will rise until it touches the cool exterior metal panels and cools forming condensation. This moisture then will drip down and will become part of the cycle once more.

Because condensation is so difficult to stop it is essential that you prevent damp in the first place by ensuring you take proper action when constructing the base of your shed.

* Always make the concrete or slab base only a few inches larger than the base rail of the shed.

* A damp proof membrane must be inserted into the foundations.  It needs to be put into the base at least two inches higher than the surrounding ground level.

* Allow the foundations of the shed to cure for 3-7 days after laying the concrete. Do allow longer if the conditions are damp. If you fail to do this the water drying up from the concrete will provide moisture to start a condensation cycle once your shed has been erected.

* After you have bolted your metal shed to the concrete or slab base apply a silicone or mastic sealant to the inside of the shed base rails. (Please note it must be the inside and not the outside). By doing this you will preserve the drainage capacity of the channels whilst preventing any water seepage under the rails and into the shed.

If you are reading this as you have already constructed your metal shed and are unfortunately now suffering from condensation here’s some of the best ways to break the condensation cycle and fix your problem:

Detach your shed from its base and build a timber floor a few inches larger than the base measurements of the shed put this on raised bearers. Next fix the shed to the timber floor securing with wood screws and mastic seal the inside of the shed base rails. By doing this you are allowing air to flow under the floor enabling it to keep dry thus eliminating the problem. Please remember with this method to check that water cannot pool under the floor as this will stop the ventilation and render all of your hard work useless.

An alternative tried and tested method of eliminating condensation from your metal garden shed is to clean off the underside of the roof panels with a methylated spirit making sure all panels are dry, then purchase polystyrene tiles and attach them onto the underside of the sheds roof using a specialist spray glue that bonds polystyrene to metal and is not affected by the hot or cold. It is best to carry out this work on a warm day. Both the tiles and the shed roof should be coated and after 2 minutes the surfaces can be bonded together. By using this method you will not be eradicating the moisture in the atmosphere within your shed however you will be able to prevent condensation now that your shed has been insulated.

For a great range of metal sheds visit Jacks Garden Store now.

Good Luck

Gardener Jack