The History of English Landscape Gardening

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All landscape gardening essentially makes reference to the great English maestro “Capability” Browne’s life work. Lancelot “Capability” Brown introduced a style of gardening in the 1750’s which became known as “serpentine” gardens. Perhaps the best known example of this style is Hyde Park, in London, England, which although not actually designed by Capability Brown, was certainly influenced by his work. As the style caught on, it began to be known as “English Landscape Gardening”, which in one form or another came to influence the grounds of every stately home in Britain.

Capability Brown’s basic philosophy was that a park or estate should be a heightened reflection of the glories of nature. Plants and lawns should be arranged in a harmonious, natural setting. This was in direct opposition to the French style of garden, such as at Versailles, which aims to trammel nature into formal, abstract – and for Capability Brown ultimately sterile – formations.

The great master’s influence is still strong today. The ideal of a garden is to bring out the best in nature and give it an idealised setting to shine. The “serpentine” which tended to form the backbone of the garden is a winding or naturally formed body of water or lawns. In Hyde Park, the artificial lake is actually called The Serpentine. Lancelot was born and grew up in Northumberland, in a labouring family, and his first work was as a gardener of an estate, where he was in charge of vegetables. This proved to be an invaluable early education into plants and how to take care of them.

In 1739 he moved to an estate in Walton, where he caught the eye of the owner of Stowe Park, in Buckinghamshire, one of the country’s great estates. Here he learned the art of growing exotic fruit and vegetables and pleasure gardens. Lord Cobham, the estate owner, was very up-to-date both politically and socially and encouraged the introduction of all the latest techniques. Top names such as Vanbrugh, Bridgeman and William Kent had contributed to work on the grounds. Their influence was classical and they tended to include follies, or sham ruins and attempted to perfect nature. Large-scale landscaping was introduced, using water, trees and mossy caverns, to create a classical but natural effect.

Lancelot, undoubtedly influenced by this trend, moved it into another dimension by increasing the scale and taking the whole estate as a theme. The grounds became huge woods and lakes, more rivers were introduced and spectacular views brought right up to the doorstep of his client. Clever use of proportions and enhanced perspective gave the effect of rolling hills falling away from the main buildings.

This was a revolutionary approach and contrasted strongly with other styles of gardening of the times. Italian Renaissance, Tudor knot gardens and the French and Dutch influences, with formal fountains and canals, and constrained-looking, clipped evergreens and concentric circles, aimed to dominate nature, instead of working with it. You can visit http://www.best-landscape-design-ideas.com for more information about garden landscaping.

The ideals which Lancelot spent a lifetime developing have stayed with us until modern times. His influence has been so profound that his harmonious ideals are to this day those which the makers of gardens, no matter how big or small, adhere to. On a smaller scale, the owner of any garden or plot of land can take his basic tenets to create a harmonious space in which to relax and feel part of nature.

Choosing Patio Furniture For a Great Outdoor Look

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When the weather is nice it is good to have a comfortable place to relax outdoors. One way to accomplish this is to get patio furniture. However, when choosing new furniture for a great outdoor look, it is important to take some time to consider the various options and see just which one would be right for you.

Both wrought iron patio furniture and wood outdoor furniture can look very nice, but these options will require you to spend a little more time on the upkeep or care of your furniture. They will need to be repainted from time to time to keep them looking nice. Plastic, resin, and PVC patio furniture all require less care, though they might not be as nice looking or as long lasting as the wood or wrought iron furniture. Cast aluminum patio furniture is also available.

Once you have decided which type of material you would like to have your set made out of, you might want to consider which parts you would like to purchase. When choosing furniture for a great outdoor look you want to make sure that the pieces you choose will look nice in the space that is available. You don’t want to make it too crowded. If the space is small you might want fewer pieces or smaller pieces. Of course loungers take up more space than upright chairs, and different sets come with different sizes of tables and numbers of chairs. How many chairs do you need? Consider the possibilities of entertaining as well as the number of people in your family.

There are also accessories available that will give your furniture a great outdoor look. These include patio cushions. Keep in mind that it is best to store these out of the weather whenever you are not using them so that they stay in good condition. This is true even if they are made to be weather resistant.

Finally, most people have to take price into consideration. Higher quality furniture does tend to cost more, but sometimes all you can afford is cheap patio furniture. You might be able to find a good sale so that you can get something of better quality if you look around carefully, especially at the end of the season.

Floor Heating Ideas

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Winters can be harsh and one of the problems with the winter being freezing is that people feel cold in their own homes as well. This is why adequate floor heating is needed to warm the room from the bottom up.

The idea behind generating heat from down upwards is that it also warms your legs, which can get cold easier. Once the floor is nice and warm, the warmth will spread higher up the ground as well to other areas of the room. Once the bottom area is warm, the air will mix up easily with the cold air from above so that gradually the entire home gets nice and warm.

The air gets easily distributed pretty much everywhere and once warm, it stays that way for a longer time than when using traditional heating sources.

While people have recently started using this type of heating, it is not a new concept at all. It has been first used during the Roman Empire when people were using water hydraulic pumps to bring water up from below the ground. You had pipes attached to the pumps so that the water would be pumped upwards through the pumping mechanism which would push it through the pipes. The water was getting heated and it would pass through the actual floors. This heat was generating a nice warm floor that would warm up the air around it as well.

It took a while to perfect this method and early on it did take quite a lot of time to get the room warm, however these days there are very easy floor heating devices that can make the room warm in a jiffy. You can find currently electric heating mats that you put under your flooring for fast warmth spread over the entire floor. This is using the power supply at home and this means that you can easily connect it to your home electricity supply.

As for the installation, it can be done quite fast, much faster than in ancient times. Within a day the system is up and running without having to reinstall any of your flooring in the process. And when it comes to how much electricity you are consuming, that is hardly worth mentioning as it doesn’t consume all that much either.

Maintaining Strong Teeth With Electric Toothbrushes

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Brushing one’s teeth is a necessity of life if one wishes to avoid cavities and other problems. An aching tooth brings a pain like no other and sends the sufferer quickly to the dentist. To avoid this problem it is essential that proper brushing be done twice daily.

Toothbrushes come in many different styles and colors. The price ranges from as low as one dollar up to one hundred. There has been many arguments as to whether the electric toothpaste does a better job than the manual one as far as reducing plaque and keeping the teeth in good condition. A mutual agreement on this matter has not been reached.

The advantage of an electric toothbrush over a manual one is that the electric one can cover more area in a faster and more efficient amount of time. This eliminates the need to brush longer when using a manual one. In addition, with the various shaped detachable heads, it reaches a great deal more area.

To be able to keep good teeth a person must practice oral hygiene and brush their teeth regularly. Thanks to the invention of toothbrushes, plain and electric, they have been able to do this. The various heads on the electric toothbrushes add extra assistance in this effort.

Although there are arguments that the electric or battery toothbrush is not any different from the manual one, no one can argue that the advantage of owning an electrical toothbrush is its ability to reach into deeper places between the teeth than the old manual one did. Being able to do this keeps more plaque from forming on the teeth and, therefore, eliminates the need for more frequent dentist visits for cleaning.

It has been agreed among professionals that a person should brush their teeth a minimum of 2 minutes twice daily. In brushing all areas of the top and bottom, teeth should be covered thoroughly especially behind the back molars. It is also helpful if dental floss is used to remove any food lodged between the teeth before brushing.

One of the new developments in the toothbrush industry is a visual screen which tells the person brushing their teeth just exactly how long they have brushed. It is reported that a smiley face usually comes up when they have brushed long enough. It would appear that, with the exception of small children, this would not have any more impact than the brushes with automatic timers.

Dentists constantly see people with poor teeth. This can be due to poor diet, lack of brushing, and other things. Some cannot have regular care because they do not have insurance or are short of funds. This is why, regardless of one’s station in life, it is urgent to brush the teeth daily. Some who do not follow this plan just have all their teeth pulled. They soon find that dentures do not take the place of a good set of teeth. Fortunately, most people have found that, with electric toothbrushes, it is possible to live many years with few cavities and good, healthy teeth.