City Beekeeping & Artificial Grass

At the end of last summer we wrote about increasing concerns for the future of the honey bee around the world. We quoted examples from southern Germany (where a significant rise in honey bee deaths had been linked to pesticides resulting in the German Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection suspending the registration of 8 pesticide treatments) and the United States where an environmental group had filed a lawsuit against the Federal Environmental Protection Agency for withholding information about the risks to honey bees from pesticide treatments. Clearly, the argument for reducing use of pesticides has never been so strong and with high profile celebrities such as Scarlett Johansson taking to beekeeping, it can only stand to gain momentum.

Now comes the news that the British honey bee population is in serious decline with numbers falling by as much as 30%. See a special BBC News report. The upside to this disturbing news is the growing number of people in Britain who are interested in keeping bees and maintaining their own beehives. The majority live in the countryside which is logical but what about those living in towns and cities? Well, they too now have an option to help the plight of the honey bee. It's called the beehaus. A bright yellow plastic box about the size of an average barbecue set, it is designed to reduce swarming and, it's claimed, can yield up to 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of honey in a year. It doesn't take up much space and its inventors are keen to point this out saying it is ideal for use on balconies and rooftop gardens.

So for those Brits who live an urban lifestyle and don't have a garden, they can now take their balcony or rooftop and convert it into a honey-producing space and play their part in saving the British honeybee. Using artificial grass to make the area colourful and pleasant under foot is the ideal compliment to the venture - no mowing, no watering and, above all, no pesticides required!

Read our Rooftop Grass Growing Fast post.

For more information on beekeeping go to the British Beekeepers' Association (BBKA) website.

Rooftop Grass Growing Fast

Enjoying a rooftop garden is nothing new. We have advocated the benefits of rooftop gardens since the early days of the Artificial Grass Blog and our post back in May 2007 ‘Roof Gardens: A Cool Lifestyle In A Hot City’ has been one of the most popular to date.

Looking beyond the UK and indeed beyond Europe to countries much further afield where hot climates prevail, there has recently been a significant increase in rooftop garden construction.

Take South Korea for example. In Seoul, building owners can get up to 70% of the cost of creating a roof garden as a subsidy from the local government which has been promoting ‘green Seoul’ projects since as far back as 2002. Many office workers in the city benefit from this, opting to take a relaxing break or even hold some of their meetings in the more pleasant surroundings that their building’s roof garden offers.

The therapeutic benefits of roof gardens in Seoul are not restricted to office workers though. Hospital patients are also able to enjoy them, a good example of that being Eunpyeong Hospital in Seoul which has built a rooftop garden on the top of their building specifically for use by its patients. According to a spokesperson for the hospital the garden “can help patients stay in an emotionally comfortable condition and have a positive mind … the green environment is especially helpful for those suffering from depression.” Read the full article here

Artificial Grass Roof Garden

Grass gives a lot of pleasure to people, particularly in the summer months but what if you don't have a garden? Well, if you have access to some sort of roof space the answer is to create your own green, artificial grass terrace. You might be in a top floor apartment with direct access to the roof of the building or the roof space of an attached garage or an annexe might be available to you.

Roof gardens are becoming increasingly popular and our blog article on artificial grass roof gardens last summer was testimony to this, generating a lot of interest from artificial grass customers. In fact, our in-house installation team have just installed Lifestyle® City artificial grass on the roof terrace of 4 apartments within a brand new development in the UK. The interesting part about this commission is that it was the architect involved in the design of the apartment complex who suggested to the property developers that they use artificial grass. After all, you can't use real grass easily on a roof garden - how would you cut it and where would you put the grass clippings?

Artificial grass offers roof garden owners the chance to have their own 'green' space with minimal maintenance. As the photgraph from the installation shows, artificial grass can make a roof garden an attractive, practical and pleasant area to enjoy.

View photographs from this artificial grass roof garden installation.

Full Of Glee - Artificial Grass Success

We're approaching the time when people are inclined to look back at the year and reflect on events. Where Artificial Grass Ltd is concerned, we are delighted to say that 2007 has been a great year. Our thanks go to all our customers, distributors, stockists and installers as well as the AGL team and our UK factory.

March saw the company's launch into the residential market for artificial grass sales and the summer months saw a veritable queue of new distributors asking to sign up to the AGL network; in July our artificial grass products received favourable UK national tabloid press coverage and in and September the company made its first major Trade Show appearance at the Glee Trade Show. Staged at one of the UK's largest event facilities, the NEC in Birmingham, the Artificial Grass Ltd exhibition stand received many visitors over the 3 days.

The variety of visitors and the range of applications for which they were interested in using artificial grass surprised even ourselves - and that's saying something!

Here are some examples:

• Landscapers


• Homeowners - lawns, small putting greens, city life use such as roof garden terrraces


• Shops - for window dressing and displays


• Construction companies - for everything from housing development gardens, roadside verges to swimming pool surrounds


• TV Shows

The results from the trade show have been impressive - new stockists and distributors signing up, new orders placed and one contact resulted in a TV Garden Makeover that included artificial grass made in our factory. Screened in early October, the programme had many viewers resulting in a rush of enquiries about the artificial grass lawn which was featured.

Bringing 2007 to a close is our new artificial grass product Snow Grass - its launch could not have been better timed for Santa's Grottos and Christmas shop displays. Whether your Christmas is a white one or not, may we wish all our customers, distributors and website visitors a very Happy Christmas!

Roof Gardens - A Cool Lifestyle In A Hot City

During the height of the summer the streets of London can become unbearably hot and sticky. You long for an ice cream or a cool drink and somewhere shady to sit and catch a breeze. For the lucky residents who have access to a flat roof there is now an important alternative solution. More and more home owners are building roof gardens or green roofs to help them live in style during the hot weather.

Although there are examples from the earlier part of the 20th century, it was not until the 1960’s that the use of roof gardens began to literally grow upwards. As well as having an amenity value, a roof garden offers substantial environmental benefits - for instance:

1. It can lower the temperature above a building, often substantially. Basically a city can raise the atmospheric temperature by reflecting sunlight - a phenomenon sometimes referred to as 'the urban heat island effect'. Having a green roof helps counteract this.
   


2. Insulation - a roof garden can help keep a building cool in summer and warm in winter, so fuel bills are reduced.
   


3. Wildlife - even on high rise apartment blocks a green garden can provide a stopover for tired birds and attract insects with plants.

If you want to enjoy the lifestyle which comes with a proper roof garden there are 2 choices:

The “Heavyweight” Route
This involves layers of waterproof membrane, constructing drainage channels if needed and then laying natural turf over the top. Of course, you could venture into hydroponics to try and minimise the weight and there are special soil mixtures available to help but basically you are looking at a lot of weight , a lot of installation work and possibly even strengthening the roof.

The "Lightweight" Route
Use planter pots, tubs and bedding to carry your plants and lay artificial grass. This way you will have less maintenance and the whole project will be easier to construct. Not only that, but all the worries about how you compost grass cuttings 10 stories up won't even cross your mind!

Many city dwellers are already doing this with the likes of Lord Linley setting a headlining example when he had artificial grass installed on the roof garden of his central London residence.

So next time you are trying to catch a breeze in a hot dusty city, look up .... you'll probably see beautiful roof gardens offering a cool solution to a busy city life.

Artificial Grass - Environmental Benefits, Usage

A recent news article shows nicely how artificial grass can both support environmental concerns and enhance your lifestyle. The Prince of Wales had upgraded his Range Rover to run on biodiesel but was then faced with the difficulty of how to avoid problems caused by low overnight temperatures. Apparently as the temperature drops below -5 degrees centigrade then the biodiesel becomes thick and lumpy.

What was the solution? His Royal Highness turned to artificial grass as a covering for his garage floor in order to keep the temperature above freezing point. Whilst this was obviously a welcome endorsement for artificial grass, it serves as a reminder of the many different uses to which it can be put.

Here are just a few examples:

1. Putting greens - we have seen putting greens laid out inside buildings, even a small one in an office and recently we installed one as a leisure area for the use of delegates adjacent to a hotel conference room. Read more....

2. Swimming pool surrounds - traditionally natural grass doesn’t fare very well around swimming pools; the wear under foot creates a worn, bare and faded turf. Artificial grass is the ideal solution.

3. Roof gardens - planting shrubs and flowers in tubs is fine but when you want to really forget where you are and capture the feelings of being in a real garden then you need grass as well. Natural turf is generally not an option here but artificial grass is ideal.

4. Exhibition stands - if you sell outdoor products it helps to show them in an outdoor environment such as garden furniture etc. Conference centres and exhibition halls are not ideal for natural turf, but artificial grass can add a truly authentic look.

5. Airports - the grass verges of runways can be difficult to maintain, as they need regular cutting and maintenance. If also in a hot dry climate, they would need regular watering. Using artificial grass makes all these issues much easier.

There are many more ways in which artificial grass can help promote a better lifestyle as well as support environmental issues. 

Tip: Owners of cars with biodiesel engines are well catered for when it comes to options of increasing garage insulation.In addition to using our artificial grass as a floor covering, you can now buy insulated roller garage doors to help increase energy efficiency.Just as with artificial grass, you can even do the fitting yourself. More power to the DIY enthusiasts!