Another great garden project from Yardistry!

 With a growing concern over pesticides and other chemicals being used on our food, growing your own produce is becoming more and more popular these days. With this in mind I wanted to show you this great idea that came from one of the Yardistry team members the other week. Ron wanted to create a clean stylish area for his backyard where he could grow vegetables without having the garden flow open into the yard where it could be exposed animals and the neighbor’s children. He also wanted to the space to look aesthetically pleasing and define a clear walkway so that mud wasn’t trampled into the house as much. From these basic qualifications Ron came up with a few raised bed designs all focused around Yardistry’s X panels that could be used for a number of different garden applications. All of these designs use regular lumber you can get from your local lumber yard and are easy enough to install over the course of a Saturday. (Be sure to used pressure treated lumber or cedar that will resist rot and extend the life of your structure.) We looked into some suggestions about ground preparation and found that if you cut a piece of gardening plastic or weed mat to fit as a footprint to your raised bed you can decrease the growth of weeds and increase the quality of your topsoil. Finally if you fill your walking path with gravel you will create a nice defined area that will keep your shoes free of mud.

This raised bed design allows for some privacy at the back or perhaps some climbing plants.

This U shaped design allows for climbing plants at the back while providing lots of space for veggies to grow.

This is a very open raised bed design that keeps you cridders while providing a lovly place to plant your veggies.

Tell me about the quality of the Yardistry product line

Yardistry`s quality furniture-like finish (offset dado and half lap lattice construction) shows true product craftsmanship. Yardistry`s components comepre-finished with a factory-applied water-base stain. Customers can customize the colour of their Yardistry project by simply applying a semi-transparent stain over the factory finished product. Alternatively, they may wish to paint an existing structure to match their new Yardistry project by using one of Yardistry`s color match formulations (available at www.yardistrystructures.com)

Furthermore, all parts are subjected to the following test by the Product Integrity and Quality Control departments before they are released for production:

Torsional Strength Testing: A screw or bolt is placed in a test fixture, and a digital torque wrench is used tomeasure the amount of pressure it takes to break the fastener.

Steel Hardness Testing: All hardware used by Yardistry is tested for hardness and grade of material. This is accomplished by using a Rockwell HR-150A Hardness Tester.

Heavy Metals Testing: Every component that arrives at Yardistry is tested for lead contamination using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) equipment.

Yardistry has just got a whole lot simpler with the Yardistry Wizard and Custom Design

Yardistry has just got a whole lot simpler. The introduction of the Yardistry Wizard and Custom Design tools means that anyone can create a professional and stylish look with very little effort. Made from exterior grade cedar, Yardistry is cleverly engineered to create hundreds of product designs from only a few core components

The Yardistry Wizard, designed exclusively by landscape architects, provides you with infinite possibilities to enhance your outdoor living space. By answering a few basic questions and selecting your favourite Yardistry elements, you can quickly and simply create a unique design suited to your requirements. Once you are satisfied with your design a customised, dimensioned construction drawing and a material list is generated.

Alternatively, the Custom Design Tool provides you with a full library of Yardistry components and a design template with which you can drag-and-drop your way to a beautiful project design. In addition to enabling the creation of your own custom design, the Custom Design Tool allows you to automatically generate dimensioned construction drawings and a material list for your project.

Simple to install and beautifully unique, Yardistry provides a range of structures, screens and stunning garden focal points. Packaged in kits and pre-stained it is hugely time-efficient and ideal for anyone looking to create something truly eye-catching in a short space of time.

Try out the innovative new design tools at http://designer.yardistrystructures.com/ and find out for yourself how easy it is to transform your landscape.

Fall is a Great Time to be in the Garden

Autumn has arrived. The air is getting cold and the leaves are turning gold. Now our weekend chores shift from mowing the lawn to raking it. But according to Yvonne Cunnington at Canadian Garden Magazine fall is “a great time to garden.”

Autumn is the perfect time for the gardener to prepare for the next year. For example Yvonne recommends planting perennials so they have plenty of time to establish root systems. In addition fall offers a change from the scorching heat of August and provides an excellent opportunity to garden in mild temperatures with nature providing plenty of rain for your new projects. Not to mention, with garden centers ready to clear out their summer stock, there are an ample supply of sales to be had.

So with sales in mind, and since you are out in the garden trimming and planting blubs why not surprise the family with an outdoor addition to your living space. Whether it is a shed, play center or garden structure this could be the perfect time to buy. It’s a great time to install before the weather gets to cold and the ground gets too hard. Plus it could save you money and time in the spring.

 

Custom Pergola Story

Last week I received a phone call from a potential customer inquiring about a pergola design in our image gallery online at www.yardistrystructures.com.  He liked the design (shown below) and wanted to know how he could achieve a similar look for a pergola he was looking to add to his outdoor living space.  Pergolas are nothing new to us here at Yardistry, however this particular design is a little more unique as Yardistry panels have been used in the roof rather than the traditional trellis beams.  As a result he was calling in to get some advice to ensure that he was going to construct the project correctly.

Speaking with him I was able to understand his situation and help him design a pergola that perfectly matched his needs.  The goal was to keep the original design as unchanged as possible, especially keeping the design of the roof.  In the end we increased the overall size of the project from 12’x12’ to 14’x12’ to better suit his outdoor space and changed the design of the corner panels from a Lattice panel with an X on top to panels made solely of Yardistry’s X Panel.  With the design settled upon I took this information and had designs drawn up by our multimedia department (shown below).

Everything turned out nicely and our new friend, along with everyone involved in the process on our end, was very happy with the end result.  Pictures have been promised once the project is complete and we will upload one on our blog so everyone can see how this design worked out.

Glee 2011 Exhibition Update

Day 1 at GLEE has proven a huge success. The most prolific visitor to the Yardistry stand so far has been Sir John Hall. Starting life as a miner’s son, Sir John Hall is now a millionaire property developer. The one time owner of English football club Newcastle United, has decided to build the mother of all rose gardens. British newspaper The Telegraph describes it as a ‘£2.5 million spectacular of terraces, pavilions and water across four acres and filled with the world’s largest collection of roses, upwards of 10,000, many of them rare and exotic.’

The location of this rose extravaganza is the Grade II listed Wynyard Hall where the man himself now lives. The 19^th century mansion has been transformed into a luxury hotel complete with golf course and Sir John, creator of Europe’s largest shopping mall, hopes the planned rose garden will help attract a further 50, 000 visitors a year.

Yardistry is perfect for adding interest and excitement to any garden and will look stunning amongst the roses of Wynyard Hall if Sir John plans to go ahead with using it.

Come See Yardistry at Glee Exhibition in Birmingham, UK Sept. 19-21st!

For the second year in a row Yardistry will be proudly presented at the  UK’s most comprehensive trade show for the garden, landscaping, leisure and pet industries. At Glee, Yardistry will be featuring a selection of Garden Rooms, Pergola’s and Arbours that come ready-to-assemble, pre-stained and with full easy to read instructions. Yardistry is also proud to present it’s special line of Collection Series projects that allows Garden Centres to provide over 18 different garden progects, with full DIY instructions with only a few simple components.

Yardistry is the quick and easy way to upgrade and add to any outdoor space. Made from exterior grade cedar (C. lanceolata) it is cleverly engineered to create hundreds of product designs from only a few core components. Simple to install and beautifully unique Yardistry provides a range of structures, screens and stunning garden focal points. Packaged in kits and pre-stained it is hugely time efficient and ideal for retailers, garden designers and landscapers looking to create something truly eye-catching in a short space of time. With a focus on easy to build, pre-finished and ready-to-assemble projects, Yardistry brings to Glee a fresh new look on the garden structure business in the UK.

Come see us at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham on September 19th to 21st. Hall/Stand:  4H04-J05

Yardistry R007 – A perfect garden arbour to sit and read a book under

Yardistry R003- A garden entry which is excellent for accenting the way into your outdoor space

Yardistry R001- A pergola which can be used to provide some privacy from your neighbours on your patio or over your spa

Yardistry’s Modular Installation System: Ease and Simplicity.

What really sets Yardistry apart from other lattice, screen and fencing products is its focus on installation. Yardistry’s panel system was developed to help remove the problem of the high cost of labor on traditional garden structure builds. Traditionally, landscape architects and contractors had to rely on the expensive expertise of carpenters and other skilled workers to create anything other than a simple fence or a basic pergola. Most of the work these projects require is repetitive and very similar to mass manufacturing. Yardistry removes the tedious manufacturing process away from the expensive carpenter and allows most contractors and Do-it-Yourself enthusiast to build custom designs with very little tools and with half the time required to traditional methods.

As you can see in this video, (Yardistry Panel Installation Video) Yardistry projects are constructed from just a few basic components that can be rearranged to create hundreds of unique designs. Because most of the work is completed in Yardisty’s factory, all you have to do is click-and-lock the panels together, add a decorative top and bottom rail and then attach your panel assembly to your posts. As you can see, with Yardistry, installation is quick and easy!

See more project ideas in the Project Library at http://www.yardistrystructures.com/design_library.php

Yardistry’s 12×12 Pergola Room Donation

In conjunction with The Home Depot Canada Yardistry will be participating in an outdoor makeover benefitting the Canadian Deafblind Association’s (CDBA) Ontario Canada Chapter.  The outdoor makeover will be specifically benefitting the organizations Kitchener Ontario location and Yardistry has donated a 12’x12’ Pergola Room Kit (image above) to help make their space more liveable.

The makeover of the CDBA’s Kitchener Ontario facility is scheduled to take place on September 17^th 2011 and will include outdoor renovations designed to create a refreshed outdoor living space.  Yardsitry’s 12’x12’ Pergola will play a key role in this makeover.

The Canadian Deafblind Association (CDBA) assists Canadians and their families who have reduced abilities in both sight and hearing lead rich and meaningful lives.  Yardistry is proud to be a part of this outdoor makeover with Home Depot to benefit this well deserving organization.

Once the makeover is complete we will upload photos of the finished product.  To get your own 12’x12’ Pergola room kit visit Yardistry’s dealer locator and find the closest dealer to you.

http://www.yardistrystructures.com/dealers.php

Maintenance on Wood and Vinyl Garden Structures

Often at tradeshows I am faced with concerns over the longevity of Yardistry as it is manufactured out of wood and not a man-made material such as vinyl.  This is a legitimate concern that anyone considering the purchase of a garden structure needs to consider, however the perception that vinyl or any other man-made material is 100% problem free is incorrect and I would like to take some time to elaborate on this now. 

Vinyl has become an increasingly popular building material among consumers as it is perceived to be a material that requires no maintenance and will continuously look brand new throughout its lifespan.  Over time nature will age any material, vinyl is no exception, and depending on your local weather conditions vinyl can twist and warp. 

Wood is often perceived as a building material that does not stand the test of time and will require constant maintenance.  While this is true of some wood species it is not true for all.  Yardistry is manufactured out of cedar (C. lanceolata), a wood species that is renowned for its ability to naturally resist rot and decay thanks to the oils produced by the wood while it is growing.  In addition all Yardistry products come pre-finished with a water based stain for additional protection.   Like all stains it will fade over time and within the first 3-5 years of purchase will require touch ups however, as Yardistry is made from cedar (C. lanceolata), you can let it age naturally and your product will turn the characteristic cedar silver-grey.  

Yardistry also offers a unique advantage over other wooden products in the market.  As Yardistry projects are constructed out of modular components it is easy to modify your project with different styled panels or to expand your project as you see fit.  Check out the design options available at www.yardistrystructures.com.