The Meteor BBQ Great Value?
The Meteor Barbecue from Outback was introduced in 2011 and is designed to fill the gap in the Outback range between the Omega gas barbecues and the Excelsior and Spectrum at the high spec end of the range. With more features than the Excelsior 3 burner but for a lot less money, something has to be missing from the Meteor right?
Meteor Barbecue Great Value?
The Outback Meteor barbecue includes;
1, Main cooking area: 61 × 44.5 cm.
2, Porcelain coated cast iron grills x 2.
3, Porcelain coated warming rack.
4, Stainless steel burners x 4
5, porcelain-enamelled ‘flavorizer’ bars.
6, Built-in thermometer.
7, Electronic ignition.
8, Front panel with storage tray
9, Gas side burner.
10, Wheels.
11, Dimensions – 130 × 21.5 × 121 cm.
12, Recommended fuel: Propane gas (not included)
Read more »
Cast Iron Chimeneas
One of the best things about Cast Iron Chimeneas is the amount of heat that can be given out, you can fire Cast Iron Chimeneas to the maximum with no fear of cracking or breaking (although the finish may damage). Cast Chimeneas can be left out in all weathers and as the heat dissipates very quickly through the metal it will quickly warm the patio all around the body.
Cast Iron Chimeneas
To keep your Chimenea looking great keep oily rags handy to wipe over your Chimenea when cool to help protect the Chimenea from excessive rusting. If the Chimenea is fired to high temperatures the heat resistant paint used to colour the Cast Iron Chimenea may burn off, but can be repainted with any high temperature paint if you wish, although most people like the antique effect of a well-used Chimenea!
Quick tips: Wipe over with an oily rag after use. Use any heat resistant paint to touch up. Lift by the base not the funnel.
Don’t forget, Cast Iron Chimeneas get very hot in use and should not be touched for some time afterwards.
Clay Chimeneas
Clay Chimeneas are commonly classed as the best looking of all chimeneas and work in quite a different way to cast Iron. Within Clay Chimeneas the heat builds and is slowly released through the Chimenea walls which radiates slower than Cast Iron.
Read more »
“We were all chuffed to bits when we heard that we’d won!” quotes Managing Director, Mark Doughty of Doughty Cakes Ltd, Lincoln.
The Winning Picture Sisyrinchium Rocky Point
“We heard about Crowders exciting “Clickety Snap” photography competition during our recent drive to approach local garden centres with our latest range of locally sourced & own label cakes. A couple of members of staff decided that they would like to submit an entry to the online competition. We have some keen gardeners in our midst so between them they emailed their submission. To be fair, we didn’t think that we would hear anything more, so it came as even more of a surprise when we’d heard that we had actually won!”
Doughty Cakes plans to spend their online voucher “winnings” of £200.00 by purchasing a fantastic gas barbeque by Outback. “So that we can re-introduce our summer family fun-day for staff and their families, everyone gets to bring their kids, we hire a bouncy castle and we all head outside and hope for the best from the British weather!”
Read more »
Outback Barbecues are one of the leading UK brands of gas and charcoal barbecues, with thousands being sold throughout the UK and and many more across Europe and beyond.
Excelsior 6 Burner Gas Barbecue by Outback
For customer convenience we have tried to bring together a range of down-loadable documents with such things as operating instructions and warranty cards.
Excelsior Gas Barbecues
Assembly and operating instructions for Excelsior 3 Burner Gas Barbecue and Excelsior 6 Burner Gas Barbecue.
Download here Excelsior Gas Barbecue Manual
Hunter Gas Barbecues
Assembly and operating instructions for Hunter 3 Burner Gas Barbecue and Trooper Trooper 2 Burner Gas Barbecue.
Download here Trooper and Hunter Gas Barbecue Manual
Read more »
Cuttings
Ceanothus Concha flower close up
Now’s the time to take semi-ripe cuttings from some of your favourite shrubs like Hebe’s, Rosemary, Weigela, Ceanothus and Hydrangeas. Take the cuttings from the current year’s growth just below a leaf, remove the leaves from the lower half of the cutting and dip the end in rooting hormone. Then insert the cuttings in pots of cuttings compost. Cover the pots with a polythene bag or put them in a propagator and place somewhere warm and sheltered but out of strong, direct sunlight. They should be ready to pot on in a few weeks. Don’t forget to pick up everything you need when shopping to ensure perfect cuttings including pots, cuttings compost, dibbers, rooting hormone, labels and propagators.
Wisteria Pruning
To get the most from wisteria it’s important to build up a good framework of permanent branches to cover the support, so make sure you tie in stems as they grow. And now’s the time to give your wisteria its summer prune. Cut back all this year’s leafy side shoots to five to seven leaflets. After pruning feed with a potash-rich granular feed such as a rose fertiliser. And if you were jealous of everyone else’s wisterias earlier this year then get buying and planting today, wisterias can take many years to flower so the longer you leave it the longer you are without beautiful wisteria blooms. Remember they need a spot in full sun and a sturdy trellis or similar for support.
Weeds
Weeds can soon take over the garden and not only do they look unsightly, but they can smother your prized plants, steal valuable water and nutrients from the soil and become hosts to pests and diseases. Now’s the time for an all-out assault on them using a hoe for annuals and small weeds, mulches and planting membranes to keep beds and borders permanently weed free and weedkillers to stop even the most persistent weeds taking over. Use a weedkiller based on Glyphosate for persistent, deep-rooted perennials.
Read more »
Summer Bedding
June is the month to plant out your bedding and other half-hardy plants. These plants can’t tolerate cold weather, so ask our staff for help and advice – and have some fleece handy to provide extra protection. If you’ve grown your own, make sure they’re hardened off first – that is, acclimatised to the cooler outdoor conditions – again, using fleece will help. And water the plants well before and after planting out. Remember to feed regularly for a summer display to be proud of. Take a look at our superb range of bedding, patio and container plants to ensure your garden is a riot of colour this summer in store. And don’t forget that larger plants will provide instant impact.
Rosa designer sunset patio
Pond Care
Green ‘pea soup’ water in ponds is often caused by a lack of aquatic plants. Make sure your pond is stocked with plenty of oxygenating plants and marginal’s, and cover at least a third of the water surface with floating plants – including water lilies. Adding barley-straw or an algaecide to the water or installing a pump and filter might also help. Ask our experts if you need any advice – we’re here to help.
Furniture, BBQs
If you haven’t seen your garden furniture or barbecue since last summer, now’s a good time to rescue them from the back of the shed and give them a good spruce up ready for plenty of outdoor entertaining. We stock a wide range of cleaning and renovating products. And if your furniture and barbecue are past their best then this is a good time to replace them.
Read more »
Garden Health Check
Keep your Spring bedding displays – including bulbs – flowering well by feeding weekly with a high potash liquid fertiliser. And remember to deadhead – that is removing the faded flowers – and you’ll be rewarded with a further flush of flowers or an extended display. Many border plants will need support and tying in to prevent them from being damaged and flopping all over the garden. Make sure the supports are in place early as it can be difficult to do when they’re in full growth.
Plant Up Tomatoes
Now’s the time to plant out greenhouse tomatoes for a bumper crop; and we have a good selection of plants in stock. You’ll need something to grow them in – such as growing-bags, 8 inch pots or growing rings filled with potting compost. If you find that growing-bags dry out too quickly – and the bottom of the fruit turns black – then cut the bags in half widthways, stand them on end and put one plant in each half. And don’t forget you’ll need to regularly water, feed and support the plant, so take a look at the products we have available.
Prune Hedges
This is a good time to get hedges back into great shape. And you can even rejuvenate overgrown evergreen hedges – but not conifers – by cutting them back hard. When cutting, make sure the hedge is wider at the base then it is at the top to prevent it becoming bare at the bottom. To do a good job you’ll need the right tools, so take a look at our secateurs, shears, loppers and hedges trimmers.
Stop Codling Moth
If you’ve bitten into an apple only to discover a maggot inside, then you’ll need to be on the look out for codling moth. Now’s the time to take measures to stop maggoty fruit this year. One of the most effective methods is to hang a codling moth trap in the tree. It’s completely organic – it doesn’t use any pesticides. The trap contains a pheromone that attracts the male moths, which become stuck to a sticky pad. No males means no fertilised eggs and so you can say goodbye to the maggots. Alternatively, spray with an insecticide containing bifenthrin after the flowers have faded, and again three weeks later.
Read more »
Patio Containers
Add instant colour to your patio and garden with our ready-filled pots, or plant up your own. Add a controlled-release fertiliser and water-retaining gel to the compost to make feeding and watering easy. And fix up a micro-drip watering system for even better results – believe me, it’ll make life easier too! Remember to pick up everything you need including containers, plants, compost, feeds, gel and watering system, and get planting today for a superb splash of colour through spring and summer.
Bulbs
Remove the faded flowers and seed heads of spring-flowering bulbs as they start to go over. And remember to feed the plants during and after flowering with a soluble plant food applied over the foliage and around the roots. This will help to make large bulbs to ensure another superb display next year.
Clean Up
Make sure you’ve carried out any cleaning and repair jobs. Clean the patio and greenhouse, preserve and stain wooden features, and clean out water butts. Not sure what products to use? Just ask – we’re here to help.
Summer Bedding
Prick out seedlings of tender bedding plants and pot up young plug plants and cuttings so that they can grow into sturdy plants ready for planting out once the fear of frosts has passed. Always use fresh potting compost and make sure that seed trays, pots and cell trays are thoroughly cleaned – or buy some new ones. Plants will need hardening off before planting out, and they can be protected from cold, wind and light frosts with horticultural fleece.
Seed Sowing
Hardy annuals can be sown outside now where you want them to flower. Indoors you can sow a selection of annual climbers. Also sow tender vegetables indoors ready for planting out next month. Wondering what to sow? Just ask a member of staff, and don’t forget – you’ll need seed trays, cell trays, small pots, a propagator, compost and labels, so buy them before you leave.
Read more »
Plug Plants & Seedlings
Buy your bedding and patio plug plants and seedlings now for growing on – and you’ll have your biggest and best bedding displays ever. We have a wide range of varieties, including all your favourites, for potting up and planting out after the frosts in beds, borders and into containers and baskets. Remember to pick up everything you’ll need – including pots, seed trays, labels and compost.
Rejuvenate Houseplants
This is the perfect time to rejuvenate your houseplants. Start by re-potting those plants that need bigger pots. And this is the time to start giving all your houseplants a good feed. If you can’t remember to feed regularly, controlled-release fertilisers are a great way to simply feed and forget. Pests will be on the increase now so check regularly and deal with any you find. We’ve got everything you’ll need to give them a spring treat – from pots and compost to fertilisers and insecticide sprays. And if you’re looking to brighten up your home, take a look at the fabulous range of plants we have in our houseplant section.
Stem Colour
Plants grown for their colourful stems – such as dogwoods, rubus and some bush willows – will produce more intense colours if the stems are cut back hard now. And if you want to add a selection of these colourful shrubs to your garden, take a look around our plantarea for those you can plant today.
Herbs
Herbs are not only good to grow for the kitchen – many also have colourful flowers and foliage, so plant some today. They can be planted in a herb bed, mixed in with other plants in beds and borders, or grown in pots on the patio where they’ll be handy to pick and provide excellent colour and scent.
Seed Sowing
If you have a heated greenhouse or similar warm, light place, then you can get a lot of your bedding plants and vegetables off to a flying start by sowing them now. Take a good look through our seed display to see what can be sown now – and remember you’ll need a heated propagator, pots, trays, compost and labels.
Read more »
Available for download are logos for use only with our permission.
Crowders Logo Central
Read more »