I'd love to help answer this, but I'm in the USA and don't know what zone Ireland is in, what sort of soil you have, or how many hours of light on an average summer day various parts of your yard get. For a cottage garden look, you need some perennials and some annuals. You'll also want a rose trellis somewhere in the mix. While this may sound silly, what you might want to do is keep a camera or cell phone with you and take photos of local yards you admire during different seasons over the next year then have an experienced gardener help you identify the plants that you like in the photographs so you can get them in your yard. The reason to take photographs during different seasons is because different plants will be in bloom. The reason to take the photos locally is because you'll be better able to tell which plants grow well in your soil type and climate zone.

Hi all, We are at construction stage of our new build and now need to decide/bottom out on the stair design. I've attached the plans and also a recent photo of the project. The interior curved wall will be constructed with the same stone as the outside and will cover from ground floor to 1st floor ceiling level. Our intention is to have an open thread design in order to allow the stone be seen - the thought is that we will have a single steel support with timber steps. The handrail and side of stairs is very much open for discussion/suggestions. I've seen loads of different options on the website however I'm still struggling to decide. I'd love to hear some fresh ideas from yourselves - the finish of the interior will be very much contemporary/modern. Thanks in advance for reading my post and helping out. Colin

We discovered woodworm infestation in the entire ground floor, a little in the stairs, and a little in the attic. No evidence in the 1st floor. We got the ground floor filled in with insulation and concrete. We got the attic, stairs and landing sprayed by professionals. Afterwards, the walls around the stairs and landing are covered in drip marks. The ceilings above the stairs and landing is stained and blotchy. It doesn’t seem to be coming from the attic treatment as the bedroom ceilings are ok. It seems to be what was done in the stairs and landing. Has anyone had woodworm treatment done and experienced this?

I am insulating the ground floor of our Victorian house, have the floor up now and cleared rubble etc below to leave a nice space for ventilation below the floor joists. My question is should I cover the ground soil with anything like a layer of plastic or should I just rely on the ventilation from the air bricks and the improved space to manage this area under the floor. I am using 80mm PIR with GapoTape between the joists. Thanks for any advice.