Before looking at how to install artificial grass lets have a look at some of the reasons you might want to consider this option. 

1. Low maintenance and pet friendly.
2. Does away with allergy issues.
3. So versatile that a number of homeowners have installed it in their bedrooms, on walls and even on ceilings. However, the most common application of synthetic lawn is of course in landscaping. 
4. Has evolved to look more realistic, with different types of grass fibres that resemble dead particles. 
5. Can be curved and shaped according to any type of garden, big or small. 
6. With the more modern types of buildings going up, garden space is often limited or non-existent. 
7. Stays green all year round.

Who can benefit from installing artificial grass?

Today’s modern homeowner is living a fast-paced and busy life, with little or no time to care for a garden/Lawn. Apartment owners, people living in small estates and townhouses, families with allergy sufferers and homeowners with holiday homes can all benefit from installing artificial grass.

Re-Freshed and Re-Inspired

Home innovation is key at this year’s ECR House & Garden Show 

This year’s ECR House and Garden Show has undergone a design and décor overhaul, featuring a radical new line-up alongside established house and home legends.   MSQ Interior Design have taken command of the entrance way. Hanging gardens and a bespoke tree sculpture welcome to enter a world filled with ideas to refresh your space, inside and out.

Small space living is a movement sweeping the globe. ‘The Apartment’ by Joao Cabral of Route 3 Design Studio showcases its finest innovations. Set inside a 12m shipping container and featuring startling small space functional design blended with the newest in smart technology; its aim is to inspire a new approach to space, and to comfortable living.  At the KAPOW Designer Café presented by Dulux, KZN’s top interior decorators and designers will present their personal visions for home creation. Seven cameo stands, built on a pairing between designers and local fabric houses, form blank canvases on which new home design dreams are built.  Sustainability is key and the African Green Revolution pierces this theme precisely. The home is made exclusively from recycled products. Here inspiration is spun into walls built with two litre plastic bottles, floors sculpted from plastic bottle lids, and a rooftop garden growing from wooden palette beds.

The installation will include information on how to build using home waste.  Cutting edge technology is on the other side of the same sustainability coin. Brett and Scott from Uber Haus have created a fully automated home ready to fire up curious minds, blending the latest from home system solution specialists Legrand and the elegant Springlights into a home straight from the future. “Our aim is to refresh and inspire, inside and out,” said new Show Director Cairey Baxter-Bruce. “Judging by the buzz in our own office I know we’re succeeding! We cannot wait to welcome our first visitors to a brand new House and Garden experience.” 

Notes to Editor 

For further info please contact Michelle Lewis, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., 072 566 2551 About the ECR House & Garden Show KZN’s largest lifestyle show is on from June 30 to July 9 at the Durban Exhibition Centre.

Explore the contemporary small space living display nestled in an up-cycled 12metre shipping container. Discover the new For the Love of Food pavilion to find scrumptious local delights, wine tasting stations, craft beer, foodie products and a reimagined chef’s demo theatre. KZN’s top interior designers and decorators collaborate for the first time to create a mix of trend-focused room settings, alongside a relaxed Café where daily talks will nudge your design dreams into action.The much-loved Homegrown Design Fair returns, bigger and better, to showcase the very best products by talented local crafters and design studios. Back by popular demand is the KZN Travel & Adventure Show, the Builders DIY Pavilion, Tanya Visser’s The Gardener feature, activities to keep the kids entertained, and a whole lot of great show specials. With over 450 exhibitors on display visitors will leave thoroughly inspired and ready to do, and design, their homes. Tickets R85 per person, buy at the door or via iTickets.

The much-loved Homegrown Design Fair returns, bigger and better, to showcase the very best products by talented local crafters and design studios. Back by popular demand is the KZN Travel & Adventure Show, the Builders DIY Pavilion, Tanya Visser’s The Gardener feature, activities to keep the kids entertained, and a whole lot of great show specials. With over 450 exhibitors on display visitors will leave thoroughly inspired and ready to do, and design, their homes. Tickets R85 per person, buy at the door or via iTickets.

For more info, housegardenshow.co.za

Date/s: 30 June to 9 July 2017
Show Times: Mon – Thurs 10am – 9pm | Fri – Sat 10am – 10pm | Sun 10am – 8pm
Entrance Fees: R85 adults | R60 seniors (over 60) and students (bring student ID) | Under 12 FREE (with adult)Mid-Week Senior
Special: Mon – Thurs 10am – 11:30am one cup coffee / tea and one muffin or danish FREE
Venue: Durban Exhibition Centre, 11 Walnut Road
Find & Follow: www.housegardenshow.co.za | facebook.com/housegardenshow | twitter.com/HouseGardenShow | instagram.com/housegardenshow

​In partnership with Power Construction, the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Government Habitat for Humanity is calling on all active citizens to come together and join them in their Desmond Tutu International Build Week in Pelican Park from the 2 – 6 March.  Responding and putting into action the request in the words of their patron Archbishop Desmond Tutu “Do your little bit of good where you are - it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world’.  

Teams from as far afield as the USA and Ireland will be joining the build event together with 18 of  ​Habitat's International Board of Directors from across the 70 countries in which Habitat operates as they have chosen Cape Town as their venue for their Board meeting this year.   Funding provided by the event helps provide valuable funding for Habitat’s Social Facilitation Programme as part of Habitat’s community development work in the Pelican Park project.     

Through their Social Facilitation Programme in partnership with the communities and galvanising the support of active citizens and other stakeholder partners, communities are empowered to take ownership of their communities through leadership, skills development and self-belief to become the champions of their own developments and their communities.  

“Our five-year goal through our community development process is to meaningfully transform the lives of at least 100, 000 fellow South Africans living in communities across South Africa.  Help us achieve this by joining our team build event, helping to build homes, communities and hope” said Adrienne Burke, Habitat’s Marketing Manager.  If you or your company are interested in getting involved contact Habitat’s Head Office on 021 657 5640.    

Editors notes

Founded in 1996, Habitat for Humanity South Africa is the national organisation of Habitat for Humanity International and part of Habitat’s Europe, Middle East and African region. Habitat South Africa is entirely self-funded and works in partnership with all stakeholders to serve the poor and marginalised in our country. Based on the firm belief that decent shelter provides the greatest opportunity for families to break the cycle of poverty, Habitat works with all people to give a hand up in building homes, communities and hope.    

This press release has been distributed on behalf of our client, Habitat for Humanity South Africa.  

We, Kansai Plascon, have achieved one of our best B-BEE ratings to date and are recognised as a Value Adding Supplier. Our B-BBEE procurement recognition level has increased from 110% to 137.5%, which is higher than that of a non-value adding level 1 status supplier. So, when tendering for projects, our combined B-BBEE status and Value Adding Supplier position effectively make Kansai Plascon the preferred procurement choice.

Our B-BBEE status now stands at level 3, as of  September 2014, having increased from level 4 in 2013. With a score of 80.27 points, this rating cements our position as the coatings industry market leader.  

There's great news for our customers too. Companies that  purchase from Plascon will  improve their own procurement scores thereby improving their B-BBEE ratings. By partnering with us, customers benefit through improved B-BBEE procurement scores.  

In contrast, if a customer purchases products from a non-value adding level 5 supplier and not Plascon, then their  procurement recognition will amount to a far lesser 80% only. All this renders Kansai Plascon the obvious choice.  

Kansai Plascon has 125-year long history of leading quality assurance, superb formulation and trusted performance – and now, we have also secured our position as the market leader in benefitting our customers.  

- ENDS

About Kansai Plascon Kansai Plascon is a company within the global Kansai Paint group. Kansai Paint is the world’s sixth largest paint company and Japan’s foremost coatings manufacturer. With the backing of Kansai Paint, Kansai Plascon will continue to drive innovation and excellence in the retail, trade and industrial coatings market in South Africa and will further the company’s interests in Africa.  

For further information, please contact: Alex Coggins Marketing Executive, Kansai Plascon + 27 11 951 4500

The second development phase at Somerset Lakes, a 42-hectare residential estate in Somerset West, will be released to the market in mid September. The first phase sold out rapidly, with 114 sales being recorded within just six weeks of the launch. Construction of the first phase is well under way and occupation is expected to take place in mid 2015.

The new phase, Waterford Green, comprises 48 freestanding double-storey houses, selling from R1,3 million including VAT, no transfer duty. These two and three bedroom homes offer spacious, contemporary, open-plan living areas and private gardens. All homes include at least two bathrooms, one being en suite, and the three-bedroom design offers a garage and an optional guest toilet.

According to Dave Harris, Sales and Marketing Manager of Somerset Lakes, the new product has been specifically designed to help meet the growing demand for affordable, quality housing in the popular Somerset West area.

“We’ve been inundated with requests from buyers looking for houses,” Harris said. “People want freestanding homes with gardens, views and security, in close proximity to the centre of Somerset West, and that’s exactly what our latest product at Somerset Lakes has to offer.”

Designed by Schabort Associates Architects, the new development phase is located alongside the six-hectare lake that gives the estate its name.

“This unique feature is a huge attraction,” Harris commented. “It’s ideal for swimming, canoeing, sailing, windsurfing and fishing, and home to a rich variety of water birds. A magnificent community clubhouse on the shores of the lake, The Summer Club, will enhance the appeal of this fantastic recreational asset, providing residents with play areas, boat sheds, a sandy white beach, and a swimming pool and deck area with stunning views of False Bay and the Hottentots Holland mountains.”

The developers, Omwieco (Pty) Ltd, a consortium of highly experienced development professionals backed by financial giant Investec, have devoted no less than 40% of the estate’s total area to green, open space for the recreation of residents. This includes the lakes and other water features, a mature forest of stone pine trees, landscaped parks and gardens, and kilometres of walking trails and mountain biking tracks.

An indigenous fynbos nursery has been established on the estate, which was recently awarded the prized 2014 SALI Gold Award for landscape design by the South African Landscapers Institute.“No expense has been spared to implement the most technically advanced security system at Somerset Lakes,” said Harris. "These measures include electrified perimeter fencing with 70 high-definition surveillance cameras, which are monitored around the clock from the hi-tech guardhouse, 24-hour guarding and patrols, and an on-site rapid response team. Other advanced features include biometric fingerprint access control."

All homes in the estate will be hardwired with fibre-optic cabling for superfast internet access, DStv and VOIP telephone connectivity, which will allow free telephone calls within the estate.

A Curro Castle School is being constructed on the estate and is due to open its doors in 2015.

Convenient access to the Somerset West village has been provided by the developers through the R16 million construction of Reunion Drive, which links the main entrance of Somerset Lakes to Sir Lowry’s Pass Village Road under a specially constructed railway bridge. Just a few hundred metres from this entrance, an upmarket new shopping centre is now under construction, where Checkers, Woolworths Foods and Clicks will be the anchor tenants.The Vergelegen Mediclinic and the Somerset West CBD are less than two kilometres away, while popular Somerset Mall shopping centre is just 3,5 kilometres from the estate.

“When you consider the amazing lifestyle advantages Somerset Lakes offers, the security, the convenience of the surrounding amenities, and the incredible natural beauty of the estate, I have no doubt our second phase will sell as fast as the first one,” said Harris.“I strongly advise anyone interested to register online for an invitation to a pre-launch sales opportunity, ahead of our public launch in mid September, to avoid disappointment.”

For further information visit www.somersetlakes.co.za or phone 021 202 2200.

{pp}Living Matter, a small independent landscape design company, is turning heads in the Cape Town landscape design scene. Their clean, contemporary design approach combined with their sense of community, ecological awareness and integrity have earned them recent recognition as one of the most promising urban landscape design companies in Cape Town.