new product

All the advantages of wood and PVC: a stylish decking product that looks good and works well. I've been looking about for a decking product to use when a client wants a deck but doesn't want wood. I came across this PVC based material at a trade fair last year, and had the opportunity to try it out on a large deck this spring. It looks 'woody' rather than wood, as it doesn't have a grain, but the wide range of 8 colours is good and easy on the eye. What I like about this is that it's a true material - it doesn't try to look like a fake wood, it's obviously a plastic-type material, but it looks like a natural material when laid.

new product

It's easily laid with a concealed system, so no awkward nails, and since it looks good on both sides, it was good for our two story deck project (see double deck garden in our projects section).

Product details on: www.downpvc.co.uk

Matching composite wood railing by Brite, sourced  from: www.betterdeck.ie

new plant

My current favourite tree - I have just planted some of these small maples in a garden in north Louth. I hadn't come across it before but I love the huge leaf shape and soft colours - apparently the leaves turn to a buttery yellow in autumn. I'll keep you posted! Here is some more information I found on various web sites:

"Striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum), also called moosewood, is a small tree or large shrub identified by its conspicuous vertical white stripes on greenish-brown bark. It is a small deciduous tree growing to 5-10 m tall, with a trunk up to 20 cm diameter. The young bark is striped with green and white, and when a little older, brown.

new product

The huge, hand-sized leaves are broad and soft, 8-15 cm long and 6-12 cm broad, with three shallow forward-pointing lobes. Moosewood is an understory tree of cool, moist forests. It prefers slopes. Usually found in the northeastern quarter of the United States and southeastern Canada, it is among the most shade-tolerant of deciduous trees. It can germinate and persist for years as a small understory shrub, growing rapidly to its full height when a gap opens up. It does not ever become a canopy tree, however, and once the gap above it is closed, it responds by flowering profusely. It is sometimes planted as an ornamental in heavily shaded areas."