February is the month to…
As warmer weather approaches it is time to take a look at your garden and prepare it for the coming gardening year. Spring is just around the corner, and before all your plants begin to grow again it’s the ideal time to take a fresh look at your beds, tidy up the winter debris and move around or plant new specimens according to your planting plan.
Begin tidying old leaves left on herbaceous plants by cutting with shears, and rake out rubbish and leaves that have collected under shrubs. This helps prevent pests and disease harbouring in piles of rotting vegetation. Do bear in mind that weeds will still grow this time of year, especially if this month stays frost free and damp.
It’s an ideal time to plant any new bare-rooted specimens, such as deciduous trees and shrubs along with roses. These will benefit from the addition of slow-release fertiliser to the surrounding soil, which in turn should be applied to all your beds.
it is also time prune late-flowering clematis. These flower on the current year’s growth, so cutting the stems hard now will prevent plants becoming tangled and untidy. Cut back to the hard woody stems, removing any green growth from last year.
Since we have many frosty days this month, it’s a great time to find a comfy sea, a steaming cup of coffee and cake – and look through the seed, plant and landscaping catalogues to let your imagination run wild and decide how you can improve your garden this coming year.
Roll on Spring!
Keeping Down the Cost of Bedding this Winter
Keeping Down the Cost of Bedding
Horse owners are facing a sharp rise in the cost of bedding for the second winter running due to widespread shortages of both straw and shavings.
That’s according to Becky Ball Managing Director of eazitools Equestrian, a manufacturer of innovative stable and field tools, which have been specially designed to minimise wastage and make caring for horses as easy as possible.
“The last two summers have been very dry, resulting in poor straw yields plus more farmers have now taken to ploughing straw back into their land to reduce the need for fertilisers, the price of which has also rocketed,” says Becky, adding: “On top of this the 2007 construction industry crash has resulted in a shortage of shavings and therefore steep price rises, which only looks likely to worsen until activity in the industry returns to the levels seen prior to the recession.”
A spokesperson for the British Hay & Straw Merchants Association said: “Straw prices are currently up to 20% higher than they were last year. One reason for this is that more straw is now being exported to Europe to cope with extra demand there. Last year’s cold winter also meant animals were kept inside for longer than normal and therefore used up more supplies.”
According to The British Horse Society a 12ft x 12ft stable requires approximately five bales of straw or eight bales of shavings to initially bed down, then three bales of straw a week or eight bales of shavings each week to top up.*
“Adequate, suitable bedding material is necessary in order to provide warmth for your horse, enable him to lie down in comfort, prevent injury and also to help reduce the risk of him becoming cast,” says Becky, adding: “We’re not suggesting that horse-owners reduce the amount of bedding they’re using as this could be detrimental to the health of their animals, but there are changes they can make and habits they put in place in order to keep their costs down this winter.
For example simply changing their mucking out technique, reviewing their tools or bulk buying bedding with other horse-owners on the same yard could make a big difference to their bills.”
Eazitool’s Tips for Keeping Down the Cost of Bedding:
1. Consider buying your straw by weight rather than per bale. It can often work out cheaper this way.
2. Clubbing together with other owners in your yard could help you take advantage of discount rates on bulk or wholesale orders.
3. Consider investing in rubber matting. The initial cost is high but the amount of bedding used from then on is reduced. Rubber matting can also help prevent stable injuries.
4. Review the tools you are currently using for mucking-out. Many tools now on the market have been specifically designed to sift debris and minimise wastage.
5. It sounds obvious, but try to use bedding as sparingly as possible. In terms of the amount of layering you need, consider the hardness of the floor surface and the time of year; as a general rule if the stable seems cold it’s best to add more bedding; if warmer you may be able to get away with less than you are currently using. Remember however that horses should avoid standing on bare concrete floors for long periods of time and, as such, the whole stable floor should always be covered.
6. Review your current mucking out habits. Rather than doing a full muck out of your stable daily consider ‘deep littering’ instead where any droppings and obvious wet bedding are removed and shavings or straw sprinkled on top of bedding every few days. Not only does this save time and money but it also provides a warm, compact bed for your horse. Remember however that mucking-out is an essential job and it can have serious ramifications for your horse’s health if they are left on a wet, dirty bed.
7. Check your storage facilities. Keep bedding as dry as possible and ideally indoors to reduce any waste.
8. Site water buckets or troughs at the front of the stable to prevent leaks.
9. Make sure you are providing good quality hay in plentiful supply for your horse in order to prevent him eating straw.
10. Consider keeping your horse outdoors for longer periods. This could save on both feed and bedding and many horses enjoy being turned out and will develop a thicker coat accordingly. However, there will always be times when your horse will need a stable, i.e. in severe weather or if he is ill.
January is the month to…..
Forget about joining an expensive gym, a few hours of energetic tidying in the garden at this time of year will help you shed those excess pounds. Remember the colder it is the more calories you will burn just trying to stay warm!
Tidying also helps you discover hiding places for slugs and snails during the winter – a surefire way of reducing their numbers come the summer.
If soil is frosty or wet, try to avoid walking over beds as this can easily destroy the soil structure.
Continue planting dormant trees and shrubs in January and check that any newly planted shrubs have not been lifted up by the winter frosts. If so, use your heel to firm them back into the soil again.
In the event of heavy snowfall, carefully brush snow off conifers and evergreen plants to prevent the weight breaking any branches.
Happy new year to all gardeners from the team at eazitools!
Stay clean at the yard
Winter mornings at the yard can be messy, which is not ideal if you’re planning on going straight to work afterwards. Try these top tips to keep yourself clean and free of ‘eau de cheval’.
Keep you hands clean with a pair of gloves
1. Keep a pair of overalls or waterproof trousers at your yard or stable so you can pull on over your clothes
2. Leave your horse’s outdoor rug on overnight (unless it’s soaked). This will help it keep dry ready for the next day
3. Fill haynets for the week at the weekend and invest in a hay bag to move them each day, so that you don’t go to work covered in hay
4. Keep a bucket of water by your stable for easy bucket refilling
5. Invest in a pair of latex gloves to keep fingernails clean
6. Use a dry shampoo to freshen up your hair
