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Here are some words and phrases to talk about your house and garden in English.
House structure
Unless you live in a block of flats or a bungalow (= one-storey house with or without an attic), British houses normally have two or three floors or stories. On the ground floor you’re likely to find the living room, kitchen and dining room, while on the first floor you’ll probably find bedrooms and a bathroom.
On the second or top floor is the attic, or loft. On the roof of many houses you can still see a chimney and chimney pot – even if the house now benefits from central heating.
The floors of a house are connected by stairs, with a landing (area) on the upper floor which leads to the upstairs rooms.
Construction of houses
Most British houses are made of brick and cement. In a row of terrace houses (houses joined together), the interconnecting walls are cavity walls: they have a space between them to allow air to circulate. On the interiors, the walls are covered in plaster, and then either painted or decorated with wallpaper. The internal walls of a house fall into two categories: load-bearing walls (those that are structural and support the weight of the floors) and partition walls (those walls that divide rooms, but can be knocked down.) Floors and roofs are supported by beams, which are long, heavy pieces of wood or metal.
Floors can be covered in a variety of materials, such as parquet (wooden squares), laminate flooring (a type of thin wooden plank), or tiles (either ceramic or vinyl). In living rooms and bedrooms, the floors are generally covered with carpets.
Utilities
Houses are normally connected to local utilities, such as mains water, electricity and gas supply. In the countryside, not everyone is connected to mains gas, and some houses have gas tanks in their gardens. The vast majority of people are connected to the local sewage system (for waste water), but some people have their own septic tanks in their gardens to treat waste water. Houses that are connected to utilities have separate meters to show how much they consume. Representatives of these utility companies visit houses regularly to take meter readings – with which they can then bill their customers.
Wiring and plumbing
Some electrical jobs (such as wiring or rewiring = installing the electrical cables) should only be done by professional electricians, although you can still change a plug, or change a socket (the hole in the wall where you put the plug in to connect to the electricity supply). For safety reasons, the wiring in the house is on more than one circuit: lighting usually is on one circuit, and the sockets are on another circuit.
Some plumbing (water piping) jobs should also be done by professional plumbers. For example, although you can change taps, you should get a professional to install a gas boiler.
Home improvements
Some building work can be done without supervision. Many people enjoy doing DIY, such as putting up shelves, fitting cupboards and doors, assembling furniture and so on. However, for the big jobs, such as loft conversions and building extensions, you need to first apply for and obtain planning and building permission (from the local authorities) then employ a firm of builders.
In Britain, damp winter weather causes many problems to houses. For example, some houses can suffer from damp (humidity) or dry rot, caused by water seeping into walls and timber (wood). For this reason, houses have gutters (tubes attached just under the roof that run along the length of the house to catch rain water) and some may need regular damp proof treatment (special chemicals to prevent damp from spreading). Window sills (the piece of the wall – internal or external – in which the window is set) and window frames (the wood that goes around the window) should be made waterproof (so that water cannot get in), and most people have central heating via radiators to keep the air inside warm and dry. Special thermostats set on the wall help to regulate the temperature in the room. In addition, most people have insulation in the loft to keep warm air in, and cold air out.
(See our page on renovating, decorating and cleaning your house for more vocabulary.)
Gardens
Gardening is one of the top ten hobbies in the UK. Here are some useful words and phrases to talk about your garden.
In many gardens you’ll find a lawn – an area of grass which is regularly mown (cut). In other gardens you can find a vegetable patch, a herb garden, as well as fruit trees, ornamental trees, bushes and shrubs (large plants that may also grow flowers) and flower borders (the edge of the garden where people plant flowers.) Some people have a wooden fence around their garden (to separate it from other gardens, or the road), but you can also make a more natural border with a hedge – plants that grow to a height of between one and two metres.
Gardening equipment and tools
Keeping your garden looking good takes a lot of time and effort! If you have a lawn, you’ll need a lawnmower (an electric or petrol-powered machine that you push) to keep the grass short. If you have a hedge, you’ll also need shears (like very large scissors) to trim and shape the hedge. Secateurs (which clip small branches) are also useful for cutting plant stems.
Gardeners also use other tools. A fork (like a large-size eating fork) is useful for digging up the earth. A spade (about the same size as a fork, but with a spoon-shape end, rather than a fork-shape) is good for lifting up quantities of earth. A rake (which has a horizontal piece of metal at the end of the pole, with prongs at intervals) is good for scraping up leaves on the ground. A hoe is good for scraping lines in the earth, because it’s sharp. You can make lines either to plant vegetables, or to remove weeds from the earth. If you are working in a small area, a trowel (like a flat spoon) is useful for digging around plants or making small holes.
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Gardening work
Gardeners have different jobs at different times of the year. In spring, fruit trees need to be pruned. Pruning means to cut back dead or diseased wood, and to limit the amount of branches in the trees. This is also the time of year that you might sow seeds, or seedlings (small plants grown from seeds) or take a cutting (cut off a part of a plant to make a second one) of your favourite plants. It’s a good idea to keep seedlings (or plants that need a lot of light / warmth) in a greenhouse (shed made from glass) until the weather is warm enough to transplant them (move them into the open air).
In spring and summer, weeds (wild plants that you don’t want in your garden) grow quickly, so weeding is one of the biggest jobs. Some gardeners spray plants with pesticide (to kill pests – bugs). And tall-growing plants (like tomatoes or peas) need to be tied to canes (long sticks, such as those made from bamboo) to give them support. In the summer months, plants will probably also need watering, to keep them alive.
Plants grow best when the soil conditions are right. To enrich the soil, you can use manure (animal waste) or compost (vegetable waste) which add nutrients to the soil.
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How To Prepare Your Garden For Spring The English Home
To prepare your garden for spring, start by cleaning away garden debris such as leaves and old grass cuttings. if you’re talented in the garden then these can be recycled to create your own compost and mulch, for more information on this you can find out how from our sister magazine the english garden once the garden is clear you can create a beautiful meadow by sowing calendula and. Winter is a good time to prune back woody shrubs in preparation for spring. prune out any dead or diseased growth to tidy and ‘cleanse’ the plant. shrubs such as forsythia, syringa and buddleja all benefit when you prune out the more mature stems to encourage new healthy growth, leaving the younger stems in to flower. Before you begin planting in the spring, here is a checklist of the 8 steps you should take to prepare your garden for a successful season: 1. get your shed in order. go over your tools. First, tidy up your garden by removing lawn debris, establishing a compost area, and removing lawn pests. next, you can prepare your soil by testing its nutrient and ph level, amending the soil, and adding compost and fertilizer. purchase seeds and bulbs, and sow your seeds indoors according to their germination times. Start growing from seed indoors in the weeks leading up to spring, and then transplant the small plants into the garden when they’re ready to thrive. alternatively, you can purchase starter plants from local farmers or greenhouses right before you’re ready to plant. to start seeds indoors, begin by choosing a container.
How To Prepare Your Garden For Winter Gardening For
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Revitalize a soggy compost wintertime can bring about a soggy, damp compost as the result of snow, rain, and ice. when spring temperatures start to warm things up again, this is the perfect time to manage all that moisture – and to get your garden compost back on track again! 1. If you grow your plants in a greenhouse, make sure to wash it down before spring arrives. sweep the floors and benches, and even consider using a mild disinfectant for the inside of the glass so as to get rid of any pests that could potentially harm your plants. Taking time in spring to build fertility and loosen soil will set you up for a more productive year. first, a few weeks before you plan to plant, work in any cover crops and then blanket your. Although broccoli can overwinter when fall planting, they’re also ideal spring vegetable garden plants. if you did not make it in time for fall planting, then start seeds indoors two to three weeks before the last spring frost. grow broccoli in raised beds with this guide to growing broccoli. 6. How to prepare garden soil for planting by ann whitman, suzanne dejohn, the national gardening association the biggest mistake beginning gardeners make is using lousy or too thin soil. before planting anything in your yard, prepare your garden beds by digging to loosen the soil and adding organic material!.
How To Prepare Your Home Garden For Spring
Fixing any broken structures now will give you more time to spend in the garden during the spring and summer. replace any broken segments or structures. next, clean fence panels and gates with a power washer to remove dirt, moss and mildew. use a stiff brush to help remove stubborn grime. This is the best time to prune shrubs. this beautyberry or c. dichotoma ‘early amethyst,” is pruned back to 12 inches every spring. here it is at the end of winter. after pruning in the spring. Removing weeds is one of the essential steps to prepare your garden for spring because doing so (and removing dead leaves and debris) can tidy up the space in which plants and flowers are to grow. one of the easiest ways to do it is through hand weeding, which is most effective in dealing with broadleaf weeds. The first step to preparing your garden for spring involves trimming back any trees & shrubs that you have and tidying the hedges. by trimming back and tidying, it can make the backyard much more attractive and also let in plenty more sunshine. cut out dead branches so your plants do not get diseased, new growth will quickly fill any bare areas. Assess your vegetable garden space. take a quick stroll through your vegetable garden space and assess the condition of it. make note of what needs to be done in order to prepare the vegetable garden for spring. jot down a to do list to help you keep track of what needs to be completed.
3 Cheap And Simple Ways To Prep Your Garden For Winter & Spring
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Prune crossing broken branches from bushes and trees now is the time to remove the old wood from the raspberry bushes and tie up the drooping branches that will produce fruit this summer. avoid any severe pruning of the spring bloomers, such as the lilacs, azaleas, rhododendrons, and pieris. Picture your garden without snow and instead with rows of big, bright flowers. take this time to add on to your existing garden bed for extra space; or if you don’t have one, build a garden bed. a raised planting bed can be built of wood, block or brick; with heights ranging from a few inches off the ground to several feet. Take a look and you’ll learn a few simple tips to prepare your home garden for spring. david marine apr 11, 2011 share. with today being the first 70 degree day to hit the northeast in what seems like an eternity, it has my wife thinking about getting the garden ready for spring. But in the meantime, there are many things that you can be doing for preparing a garden for spring and a successful growing season! we are a participant in the amazon services llc associates program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon and affiliated sites. How to prepare your garden for a bountiful spring rising temperatures and longer days signal that it's time to prepare your garden for spring. the last days of winter are the perfect time to get back into the great outdoors—even if it's just in your backyard—and get those beds ready for spring planting.
How To Design An English Garden
