ahs news

The Olympic Torch Passes Ahs

Jul 17th, 2012
by AHS LTD.
No comments yet

AHS - Nick tapp and Georgine Guest with Olympic Torch

What a brilliant day. The sun was shining down on Tunbridge Wells as the Olympic Torch passed right outside of the AHS Headquarters, proudly displaying our banners GO TEAM GB 2012.

AHS, at The Heart of Great Britain’s Landscape Supplies, can proudly boast supplying Bark Products to the Olympic Site, tribute to the quality and extensive range of landscape products that we can offer with next delivery on both bulk and loose products.

AHS Ltd Olympic Celebration Banners

Literally thousands of people lined the High Street in Tunbridge Wells. The atmosphere was fantastic, warm and friendly. It was brilliant to see the crowds and so many capturing the Olympic Spirit – particularly some of the AHS Management with their spectacular rooftop view. The Olympic Torch passing literally a few feet from our HQ certainly made us proud to be a part of this once in a lifetime occasion.

All we can say is GO TEAM GB and everyone at AHS wishes them every success at the 2012 Olympic Games.

AHS Ltd – Olympic Torch Ceremony at Tunbridge Wells on YouTube

Perfect lawn edging for garden and landscaping projects

Jul 16th, 2012
by AHS LTD.
No comments yet

AHS at the cutting edge

Create the right impression with perfect lawn edges.

Perfect edges really do create the right impression and make an enormous visual difference.
As leading suppliers of the multi award winning Rite-Edge System, you can trust ahs to help you achieve that ‘just edged’ look.
Rite-Edge is increasingly being specified in landscape design as the perfect edge for lawns, borders, beds, and pathways. It looks fantastic and reduces the hard work keeping that pristine appearance. Creating interesting curves and shapes or perfectly straight edges is easy using the Rite-Edge System.

Designed to Last

Rite-Edge is designed by Landscape Architects and is manufactured from Aircraft Grade Aluminium Alloy 6063 to T6 Hardness. Such high specification means it is designed to last at least 27 years with no maintenance whatsoever!
Easy to install and supplied in long lengths, Rite-Edge is extremely light, very strong and safe. The profile features a smooth round top lawn edge that will not cut you or damage lawn mower blades, and a castellated body for maximum strength. It can easily take the weight of heavy lawn mowers and rollers, held securely in place with special barbed fixing stakes that are also made from Aircraft Grade Aluminium toughened to T6 hardness.

Specify the Rite-Edge System with ahs today

Permanent – no maintenance required
Easy to install

Saves hours of future edging work

Perfect edges for maximum visual effect

Create beautiful designs

In stock for immediate dispatch

Rite-Edge is competitively priced and held in stock ready for immediate dispatch.

Call us today and see why we are at the cutting edge!

RITE-L-EDGE

Aluminium Landscape Edging and Paver Restraint

In stock and ready for immediate delivery

RITE-L-EDGE is the perfect choice for your next landscape edging project.

Used with asphalt, paving slabs, block paving, concrete, resin bonded or loose gravel surfaces, RITE-L-EDGE is the ultimate choice in landscape edging.

Designed with both the landscape architect and installer in mind, RITE-L-EDGE is easy to install and designed to last a lifetime.  Cleaner more pleasing lines can be achieved, precisely why RITE-L-EDGE has rapidly become the first choice for specifiers and contractors throughout the UK.

RITE-L-EDGE is very strong, versatile, flexible, quick and easy to install and extremely cost effective.  It is manufactured from high quality Aluminium 6063 Alloy and available in a variety of depths to enhance any edging project.

RITE-L-EDGE Features

Durable extruded aluminium 6063 alloy

‘L’ shaped section for added strength

Strong and flexible with high retaining properties

Extra strong steel fixings

Easy to install quick and simple joining system

Maintains a perfect defined edge

Creates beautifully smooth curves

Will not rust and lasts a lifetime

Call AHS today for your quote

Our knowledgeable sales Team are here to help.  Place your order before 2pm and we’ll do our very best to deliver the very next day – no matter how much you order.

Order Hotline – 01797 252728

Wild Bird Seed is important, Why? We all should feed our feathered friends

Apr 26th, 2012
by AHS LTD.
No comments yet

It is so important to Feed our feathered friends

The opportunity to be a participant in natures wonders vary from coast to coast and continent to continent, but our love of the wild bird is forever strong regardless of where you actually live. From the beautiful exotic ‘ humming bird ‘ feeders of the Caribbean to the cut ‘sugar canes’ of South Africa we all love to watch the magic that is our own personal feathered feeding frenzy. Relishing with delight the newest arrival to your feeding station and excitedly grabbing your A-Z when a visitor is not recognised, regardless of your location we all have the same need and that is our purchase of Wild bird seed. Food shortages can happen at any time of the year so the most important element to remember when buying your Wild bird seed is keep it permanent, do not let them down and assure that you buy quality seed. You can become a life line for breeding any bird which could mean the survival of the young for that year, unfortunately if the weather turns wet or particularly cold during that all important breeding season the insect population can plummet just as if the weather is excessively dry the gardeners friend the good old earthworm will also be obvious in his absence because of rock hard soil.

Feeding an Wild Bird with Seed also helps remove unwanted insects

All these points are just some of the most important reasons to remember that your feathered restaurant must have all year round opening hours; this is not just for you to enjoy their visits but to help our garden visitor’s survival when things are not so easy. Once a regular feed supply has been established with good quality Wild bird seed you will have payment in abundance from your new friends, from removing unwanted caterpillars from your precious vegetable garden, even helping to remove the population of snails that just doesn’t appear to diminish, as you sit on a beautiful, quiet, balmy evening sipping something cool the only sound to hear is a gentle, persistent ‘tap-tap’ as a Thrush enjoys his handy-work, a thank you that a gardener would very much appreciate, the abundance of beautiful song as word gets round that you have the five star restaurant that is so hard to find, fledglings learning to make their way in the big wide world, a damp and drizzly autumn day that suddenly holds a ray of sunshine as your regular guests call in for breakfast or lunch.

Different Wild Bird Seed for all kinds of seasons

The Wild bird seed must be applicable to the season as severe cold, damp weather and early morning frosts mean that high energy is needed which translated is your high fat foods where the spring and summer months a high protein is needed especially as they are moulting and breeding. A good quality Wild bird seed will contain all the requirements for your birds from flaked maize, sunflower seed and peanut granules, the black sunflower seed you see in some of the better quality Wild bird foods is because the oil content is higher in the black kernel than the striped and the maize and peanut granules provide a wide variety of nutrients when things are a little tough, your restaurant needs to be readily available at all times once you have started.

Fresh Bird Seed will encourage a variety of different Bird species into your Garden

With all this goodwill on your part it doesn’t mean that hygiene disappears, as a stale wild bird feeder can be a killer, the stale food provides a breeding ground for Salmonella Bacteria which can cause food poisoning and there is one particular type of Salmonella that can cause death in some of our species of birds like house sparrows and finches. All you need to do is make sure you don’t over feed, monitor your wild bird feeding stations and if you find that there is a lot of food left over, every two or three days empty the waste, wash and dry the feeder and refill. If a table is your feathered gourmets delight a hard brush in all the nooks and crannies soon brings it back to a gleaming gastronomic delight for any Finch, Thrush or Robin.

Enjoy our environment! Feeding Wild Birds is a joy

The wonderful hours spent enjoying the delights of feeding any wild bird is something that can-not be bottled, if it was, it would be worth a fortune. For the price of a quality bag of Wild bird seed you can enjoy hours watching the antics of your very own winged show, enjoy its orchestra of song notes and amaze at the strength and determination that the scruffy little fledglings have as they learn to cope with all the big wide world has to offer. A clean restaurant, a wonderful supply of clean water in your bird bath, your A-Z (just in case you have a rare visitor) and your Wild bird seed, a recipe for a birds gastronomic delight, a deliverance of affection and enjoyment that with such simplicity is available to all, from Town house to Manor house, grounds to gardens enjoy the world of wild birds.

Why young people should get involved in Gardening and Landscaping

Apr 19th, 2012
by AHS LTD.
No comments yet

Understand Gardening from a young age

From the youngest garden explorer to the wisest landscaper, the excitement of growing or designing a festival of colour or an expanse of horticultural excellence is both awe inspiring and breath taking. The animated face of concentration on a young child as they lovingly fill their little plastic pot with compost, excitedly forcing something as simple as a ‘sunflower’ seed deep within the overflowing soil, watching daily for the magic tell-tale signs of life reaching slowly from the pot.

These joys are simple and fun, a gift that can be shared with all the family, encouraging an understanding of nature and horticulture that can exceed that early seed with its promise of magical green treasure surely followed by a crown of petals fit for any vase or even better, your first carrot just like Peter Rabbit. Hampton Court Flower Show had just that exciting and inspiring adventure when 15 year old James Callicot became the youngest garden designer ever to exhibit at their wonderful show.

Hampton Court Flower Show really do seem to encourage youngsters

The Hampton Court Flower Show really do seem to encourage and attract the newest of the horticultural treasure chest of gardeners as last year they also boasted, rightly so, the arrival of Jack Dunckley being the ripe old age of 16 years at the time of the show. So excited was Jack that he is to return to Hampton Court this year and no doubt, these two wonderful young entrepreneurs of soil and air will evolve to great heights encouraging their peers with tales of exotic plants, soil mixes or incredible designs befitting a Kings Palace….now there’s something for the future ! The opportunities that are growing within the field of Horticulture and agriculture are vast and in many Colleges they are bringing in new and varied classes to cover the up surge of interest now starting to filter through the educational pool that ultimately will reward us with achievements and results for a promising future. These young hopefuls of Horticulture establish themselves as knowledgeable, Thesaurus-like, sponges of interest that cover sciences, maths and sculpture.

Encourage Children and Teenagers to get involved

As with James the benefits go beyond an understanding and interest in plants or garden design, James was one of thousands of young people suffering the frustration surrounding Dyslexia. The last thing on his mind was designing and appearing at Hampton Court Flower Show, the facts were so much less exciting. James was struggling at School and eventually a decision was made for him to receive Home tuition from his mother, thus allowing him to try and clamber that extremely high mountain of understanding that is the written word. Unfortunately no matter how hard James threw himself into the jumble of letters before him, that is exactly what he saw, a jumble of letters a total fusion of squiggles, lines and apparently jolly good reading if, you could do just that, read.

Then James was given Gardeners ‘ World magazine, was he interested in this subject, not particularly, but the curiosity surrounding some of the incredible designs and creations that poured from the pages slowly opened an up until then ,closed door of understanding, the ability to understand the string of letters and line after line of text that lay before James. His thirst for knowledge surrounding design and its Architectural wealth of possibilities has rewarded him for his hard work and tireless effort in overcoming his Dyslexia. The opportunity of encouraging children into the mixing bowl of Horticultural, arboriculture even agriculture is not just rewarding, fun packed but a stake in the project of life that opens its own paths, the world of soil, garden structure and landscaping really has become an oyster with the possibility of our children being its futures pearls.

The MD of AHS Ltd believes young people should be involved in Gardening

AHS Ltd is one of the top companies within the UK that supply Gardening and Landscaping tools and equipment to UK Business’s and soon to launch a new website that will sell and encourage the general public to get more involved in Gardening. Nick Guest (The Managing Director of AHS) is encouraged at the thought that more and more young people are getting involved in gardening and landscaping “The days of people in their 40′s plus getting involved in planting, landscaping and general gardening have gone, more and more young people are now involved, which is excellent for the future of agriculture and Horticulture”. If you want to know more about what AHS Ltd supply you can checkout the website here www.ahs-ltd.co.uk and www.ahsdirect.co.uk.

Gardening Against the Odds Awards 2011

Jun 7th, 2011
by AHS LTD.
No comments yet

The judges

Honouring unsung gardening heroes who create beauty against the odds.

The 2011 Gardening Against The Odds Awards, launched by The Sunday Telegraph in association with The Conservation Foundation, call for entries from individuals and community groups who garden in often unpromising and unlikely places or in the face of physical or psychological difficulties and in so doing bring joy to all who see them.

Relatives, friends, neighbours and passers-by are also urged to nominate those who deserve recognition but may hesitate to put themselves forward. Individual gardeners and community groups who garden despite physical difficulties or in the face of mental or psychological problems, such as depression and grief and those who have transformed inhospitable corners into green havens are all encouraged to enter.

The awards, in their second year, are dedicated to Sunday Telegraph writer Elspeth Thompson, who died in March 2010 following a bout of severe depression.

 “When we launched the first awards we were all feeling the shock of losing a very special person, but thanks to those awards and meeting many of those taking part, we have seen what Elspeth knew – that there were other very special people and places making our world a better place,” says Conservation Foundation director David Shreeve. “We launch these new awards not out of a sense of loss, but out of celebration.”

“We are delighted to be launching the second Gardening Against the Odds awards,” says The Sunday Telegraph Life editor Anne Cuthbertson. “The entries we received last year were so inspiring; they were stories that made your heart sing. The awards have been the most fitting tribute to our dear and much-missed colleague Elspeth Thompson. They continue Elspeth’s championing of ordinary gardeners who create something beautiful and honest under challenging circumstances.”

Andrew Barnett's winning garden

 Last year’s winning gardeners, honoured at a presentation event in the Conservatory at Chiswick House in the spring, all had their own story of gardening against the odds. Overall winner Andrew Barnett told of how his garden helped him to cope when severe depression left him unable to work as a head teacher. His daughter, who nominated him, wrote: “The garden saved dad and dad saved the garden.”

Other winners included Growing Together, a group of 16 blind people in Bingley who used to have only their blindness in common. Now their shared garden gives them great pleasure as well as a way out of isolation. Expert horsewoman Annie Maw thought her life was over when she broke her back. Her Somerset garden has helped her recover her joie de vivre, able once more to seize life by the scruff of the neck.

More information from www.conservationfoundation.co.uk and www.telegraph.co.uk/gardeningawards2011 
Become a Facebook fan at www.facebook.com/gardeningagainsttheodds 

HOW TO ENTER
The closing date for entries is 16 September. Winners will be announced in Life in October. Full details on how to enter are at www.telegraph.co.uk/gardeningawards2011

PRIZES
The winner will be presented with the Gardening Against The Odds trophy and will receive £100 of Telegraph Garden Shop vouchers. The two runners-up will receive two garden kneelers, made especially for the awards in the Fine Cell Work workshops at HMP Wandsworth and £50 of Telegraph Garden Shop vouchers. The top ten winners will receive a choice of garden equipment from Hozelock.

The Gardening Against The Odds Awards are supported by The Tanner Trust.

ahs ltd launches new bagged range of products

May 6th, 2011
by AHS LTD.
No comments yet

ahs ltd have added a new range of bagged products to its portfolio of products. Due to demand ahs ltd now supply popular brands of bagged products like the Growise range of bagged composts, which include general multipurpose, ericaceous and tub and basket composts, manufactured by leading producers Bord Na Mona.

We also supply the popular J Arthur Bower’s Multipurpose Compost and New Horizon’s Multipurpose which has been awarded Which Best Buy Container Compost 2010.

ahs ltd also offers its own range of bagged products, including the top selling ornamental chip bark and fine composted bark, and a range of play surfaces like the popular hardwood playground chips offering long lasting and excellent quality and value for money.

They are available as full pallets, half loads and full loads, throughout the UK, on next day and economy 3 day delivery services.

Call our sales team for our very best prices on 01797 252 728 or email sales@ahs-ltd.co.uk for more information.

Parks for People receive extra lottery funding

Mar 17th, 2011
by AHS LTD.
No comments yet

Parks for people have received the exciting news that The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) has allocated a further £10m funds to the programme over the next two years. This is in addition to the Heritage Lottery Fund’s (HLF) annual contribution of £20m towards the programme.

The Parks for People programme launched in 2006, through a partnership with BIG, which invested £80m for parks in England, and HLF which committed £70m for parks across the UK. The Parks for People programme supports conservation and regeneration in parks cross the UK.

Parks for People offers grants for projects that regenerate public parks of national, regional or local heritage value.  The definition of a park for this programme is an existing designed urban or rural green space, the main purpose of which is for informal recreation and enjoyment.  It includes parks, gardens, squares, walks and promenades.

For more information on Parks for People visit their website www.parksforpeople.co.uk

2000 trees to be planted by children in fruit-full schools project

Mar 8th, 2011
by AHS LTD.
No comments yet

Fruit-full is a project that has been designed to help support children and young people to research, graft and grow at least 2,000 heritage fruit trees and establish orchards in 200 schools throughout England.

The 4 year project will help in engaging 65,000 children, young people and community members in activities to improve understanding of the cultural diversity and benefits of locally produced food.

50 secondary schools will be involved, with the key objectives of getting young people involved in green-fingered activities and teaching them how to help enrich our natural environment. Programme Manager David Burchett Said “You can eat a different English apple every day for more than 6 years, yet we import 69% of our apples. Two thirds of our traditional orchards have been lost since the 1950s and the loss of these unique habitats has had a significant impact on more than 1900 associated species. Fruit-full schools are helping to counteract the massive environmental loss”.

The funding for the four-year project came from the Big Lottery Fund and community charity the People’s Postcode Trust. Match funding came from firms such as ICI and schools across England applied to take part in this project.

Each school cluster is coordinated by an accredited Learning through Landscapes Associate. Learning through Landscapes is a charitable body that tries to ensure all children benefit from stimulating outdoor learning and play activities, whatever their background.

Keep posted on our blog for updated information on this exciting project.

Good news for rare farmland bird

Mar 4th, 2011
by AHS LTD.
No comments yet

Farmers are joining forces with the RSPB to try and save a rare farmland bird. The Corn Bunting’s population has declined by almost 90% over the past 40 years.

RSPB conservation director Mark Avery Said “Corn Buntings are just one of a number of species that are declining from our countryside; we cannot allow this to continue. Farmland bird numbers over all have halved since 1970. Imagine turning the volume of birdsong in today’s farmland up twice as loud – that’s what your countryside sounded like 40 years ago”.

Research has shown that targeted agri-environment schemes paying for farmers to include measures for Corn Buntings in their land can make a real difference.

Corn Buntings don’t have sufficient places to feed. They prefer nesting in growing crops and eating insects in the summer and grain and weed seeds in the winter. In South East England the RSPB and Farmers are working together on projects to help save the remaining population. They are helping them access funding to provide vital habitats for this songbird.

Some farms within the South East have already entered into these schemes which will help provide what they call the big three – summer food, winter food and nesting areas. Some good ideas to help are providing tussock grass in open fields for birds to nest in, planting wild bird seed mixtures to provide winter food and leaving strips of untreated cereal crops around fields, where insects will thrive in the summer.

Farmers in the South East Region who would like to receive help from RSPB to access funding can contact Bruce Fowkes on 01273 763 621, or Bruce.Fowkes@rspb.org.uk

Source: Rye Observer

Your say on how the Heritage Lottery Fund is spent

Mar 1st, 2011
by AHS LTD.
No comments yet

Due to strong Lottery Ticket Sales, The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) is now in line to receive increased income after 2012, once the lottery has paid its share of the costs for the 2012 Olympics. From 2013 onwards they will have more lottery money to invest in UK’s heritage and now you have an opportunity to help shape the way this money is spent.

The Heritage Lottery Fund is inviting you to have your view on their strategic framework for 2013 – 2019. They have set out proposals on a range of issues and would like to hear from you. This is your opportunity to tell them what you think, ie what they should continue doing, what they need to do differently and what new initiatives could have the greatest impact.

The funding distributor has developed a consultation document with their proposals and HLF is inviting feedback from the public and organisations to help shape its strategic plan.

HLF currently fund projects covering UK’s entire heritage. From archaeology, culture and memories, to historic parks, buildings, green spaces and nature conversation. They now want to hear from you, for your opinion on whether these are the type of projects you are interested in them investing in for the future.

If you would like to get your point of view heard, go to www.hlf.org.uk/consultation2011 and complete their survey. The consultation is open from 31 January 2011 to 26 April 2011. Your views will help shape the way the Heritage Fund is spent in the future.

 

← Earlier Posts