Immaterial
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Post by Immaterial on Feb 22, 2022 14:16:32 GMT
Can I suggest sir and/or madam consider middle-class hazel or willow hurdle fencing? Lets the wind through, looks good at the base of a hedge, hunter wellies optional. naturalfencing.com/ (I'm not on commission for some reason).
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Post by technoish on Feb 22, 2022 14:50:33 GMT
I have borders all round my garden, not raised, and they work great. I've put in (basically invisible) metal border at the grass edge to stop me having to do so much grass edging, but previous owners didn't and it really wasn't that much hassle. Piccies from summer last year: imgur.com/a/LMb7of6
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Post by Zomoniac on Feb 22, 2022 20:53:57 GMT
That looks really nice. I’d be up for something like that but would have to put some kind of panel at the back of the fence first. The gap at the bottom is small but noticeable and the dog is a burrower and escape artist so was thinking a raised bed with back wall would block it off.
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H-alphaFox
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Post by H-alphaFox on Feb 22, 2022 20:57:45 GMT
Chicken wire buried is great to stop dogs digging, and generally cheap. Just make sure it is deep enough and comes in a couple of feet.
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Post by technoish on Feb 22, 2022 23:18:15 GMT
Chicken wire buried is great to stop dogs digging, and generally cheap. Just make sure it is deep enough and comes in a couple of feet. Think I might consider that to stop the foxes burrowing in!
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H-alphaFox
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Post by H-alphaFox on Mar 12, 2022 17:12:34 GMT
It would seem my Silver Birch bonsai may actually be alive as the buds are swelling. This is good news and put me in the mood to order a couple more as not many have survived these last couple of years, strangely of neglect more than anything else.
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Post by spacein_vader on Mar 12, 2022 17:42:22 GMT
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H-alphaFox
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Post by H-alphaFox on Mar 12, 2022 17:51:48 GMT
Saps flowing I tell you.
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Post by Sarfrin on Mar 12, 2022 19:21:38 GMT
It would seem my Silver Birch bonsai may actually be alive as the buds are swelling. This is good news and put me in the mood to order a couple more as not many have survived these last couple of years, strangely of neglect more than anything else. How hard is it to maintain bonsai. I love the look of them but I suspect I might just end up with very expensive dead twigs in short order.
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H-alphaFox
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Post by H-alphaFox on Mar 12, 2022 21:08:48 GMT
It would seem my Silver Birch bonsai may actually be alive as the buds are swelling. This is good news and put me in the mood to order a couple more as not many have survived these last couple of years, strangely of neglect more than anything else. How hard is it to maintain bonsai. I love the look of them but I suspect I might just end up with very expensive dead twigs in short order. That is a loaded question, lol. In theory all you need is sunlight, water, fertiliser and a good trim every now and then. They really can be little more bother than a once, maybe twice a day walk around with water and looking for bugs. They can also enslave your life down a rabbit hole you never knew existed. It all depends on what you really want as to how much to spend, it can be cheap if you buy young trees from a garden centre and then just slowly cut them back. But if you want one that looks like the picture in your head then you need money and I'd also recommend finding someone local to help with maintenance. I'm more than happy to get down to specifics and can recommend places in the UK and EU if you need to know more, I fell down that rabbit hole.
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Post by Sarfrin on Mar 12, 2022 21:58:22 GMT
How hard is it to maintain bonsai. I love the look of them but I suspect I might just end up with very expensive dead twigs in short order. That is a loaded question, lol. In theory all you need is sunlight, water, fertiliser and a good trim every now and then. They really can be little more bother than a once, maybe twice a day walk around with water and looking for bugs. They can also enslave your life down a rabbit hole you never knew existed. It all depends on what you really want as to how much to spend, it can be cheap if you buy young trees from a garden centre and then just slowly cut them back. But if you want one that looks like the picture in your head then you need money and I'd also recommend finding someone local to help with maintenance. I'm more than happy to get down to specifics and can recommend places in the UK and EU if you need to know more, I fell down that rabbit hole. I am interested. I'll PM you.
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H-alphaFox
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Post by H-alphaFox on Mar 13, 2022 12:24:00 GMT
And replied. Here is a pic of my Birch when I got it. It's only young and hasn't developed the silver bark yet and does need to fill out the branching a bit more but I'm happy it's still alive. I generally like to buy them under developed for under 100 quid rather than pay more money for a fully developed one that I may kill. I just water it and feed it and as the new shoots grow and lengthen just trim them back to a couple of leaves which will then encourage more shoots to grow and finer branching.
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Post by freddiemercurystwin on Mar 17, 2022 14:47:46 GMT
Any recommendations for a mower? I guess the lawn in our garden is about 150m2 with some paving slabs through part of it, I've not mowed it yet (moved in in Feb) so this weekend I've gotta get on with it as it's getting a bit out of hand now guess it's about 8-10" (stop it) so I know it's gonna be a PITA. Years ago I had a shitty Flymo which I always thought was a bit shit and that was on a fairly flat lawn and there was one similar left here by the last owners which I'll give it a go with, as I have nothing else, this lawn seems pretty uneven and needs sorting out really but that's not on this years job-list. But I really don't want to have to dread moving the lawn all year (like I did years ago) because of a shit mower so thinking of getting something decent, my gut is erring towards something like a secondhand hand Honda petrol.
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Post by dfunked on Mar 17, 2022 15:32:49 GMT
I really need to get on top of our lawn situation. If it's not moss, daffs (which I don't mind) or weeds then its big bastarding holes made by worms or something.
Also need to sort out the weeds and moss growing between paving, but don't want to use anything toxic due to our resident slow worm. Electric weed burner I got is too puny, so maybe a butane one instead?...
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Post by elstoof on Mar 17, 2022 16:44:32 GMT
Blast the fuckers with a karcher
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Post by Dougs on Mar 17, 2022 16:47:24 GMT
Yup, annual/bi-annual blast with the Karcher sorts that right out. A very messy but fun job imo.
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Post by dfunked on Mar 17, 2022 17:01:05 GMT
Not too sure I'd get any use out of that. Seems expensive for the occasional bit of weed blasting. Although I do really want to redo the front and get rid of the stupid pebble path that the previous owner had put in, so would justify it then. Bastard pebbles get absolutely everywhere!
Stop trying to talk me out of getting a mini flamethrower!
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Post by Dougs on Mar 17, 2022 17:07:20 GMT
Do you have a car? Sorted. Makes washing the car fun too.
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H-alphaFox
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Post by H-alphaFox on Mar 17, 2022 17:14:28 GMT
Well there's ya problem. And I'd totally go for a cheap petrol lawn mower over an electric one. Electric ones are just a bit crap.
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Post by freddiemercurystwin on Mar 17, 2022 17:18:35 GMT
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dmukgr
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Post by dmukgr on Mar 17, 2022 17:24:26 GMT
In my old place I borrowed a mates pressure washer to do the drive and loads of the (admittedly old and crap) tarmac came off so I am a bit worried about doing it in the new place, but it definitely could do with something done. Any recommendations on what Karcher to get? I know nothing about what the kW's mean in practice.
My front lawn is tiny though (and the back some horrible fake thing that I need to rip out) so buying a mower seems like overkill. I just need to borrow a goat for an afternoon I reckon.
Edit - I didn't realise you can get mini flamethrowers for weeds. I've just seen them on the Screwfix site when looking at pressure washers. I thought that was some joke reference for a washer (and hence Dougs mentioning doing the car with one).
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Post by RumMonkey on Mar 17, 2022 18:50:56 GMT
I go out there like a crazed Ellen Ripley and burn the fuck out of all the weeds. Best job of the summer.
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Post by Trowel 🏴 on Mar 17, 2022 19:10:38 GMT
I always weed by hand. Just loosen around them and take out the tap root. Stubborn ones on pathways where you've got nothing else growing are best taken out by letting them grow then applying systemic weedkiller - I do a spray of the front path in late spring once they have a bit of foliage.
Which reminds me, one good thing about weeds is they're a great indicator of the right time to start sowing seeds outdoor.
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Post by Dougs on Mar 17, 2022 19:21:02 GMT
Ha, yes, I assumed it was a joke too about flame throwers!
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Post by freddiemercurystwin on Mar 20, 2022 18:47:36 GMT
'Mowed' the lawn with the ancient Flymo the previous owners left behind, it's apparent the lawn is far worse than I expected, I think it's beyond help with respect to getting it back into shape and will need complete re-leveling and turfing.
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Post by elstoof on Mar 20, 2022 19:11:31 GMT
First mow of the year yesterday, it’s quite incredible the difference a freshly cut lawn makes. Went from a derilict meadow to practically ready for Open Garden Week in the space of an hour
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mrpon
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Post by mrpon on Mar 20, 2022 19:13:32 GMT
Mine is a building/bomb site. I counted 8 fence panels down, shit everywhere, twig city. Still waiting on landscaping quotes.
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Post by technoish on Mar 20, 2022 19:23:11 GMT
I started with a Flymo, god that was awful.
I would definitely recommend an electric Bosch, it's done me really well (Bosch Rotak 32-12). Only downside is only three heights, and I would have liked something maybe between the lowest and middle, but according to my lawn dude, the middle is a good height for a healthy lawn. Make sure to collect clippings in order to keep the ground aerated and reduce thatch buildup.
For 150m2 I would probably go cordless electric!
I pay Greenthumb £25 every quarter to come and do a lawn treatment, which is generally fertiliser and something to kill weeds and moss. Works a treat! I scarify and aerate in the autumn to cut down on thatch and compacted soul, and do a bit of seeding. Wondered if I needed to do seeding in spring again, but it has come back fairly lush already. Just did my first cut of the year.
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Post by dfunked on Mar 20, 2022 19:57:12 GMT
First mow of the year yesterday, it’s quite incredible the difference a freshly cut lawn makes. Went from a derilict meadow to practically ready for Open Garden Week in the space of an hour Yeah, same here which surprised me considering my post above. Honestly thought I'd need to put some serious work into it, but it actually looks quite decent. Still need to do something about the weed and moss ratio, but it's not as urgent as I thought. Managed to get rid of the last few bags of garden waste from last year too. Previous owner left loads of shit behind and brown bin collections were cancelled for months around here, so we didn't bother even getting one until January and had a huge backlog (35ish green bags) to get through. Means we can now start thinking about clearing a bit of space for a greenhouse too. And yeah, Bosch electric mower that our neighbours were getting rid of. Has done a pretty decent job so far, but it's not a huge lawn. Any bigger and I'd definitely go petrol.
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Post by freddiemercurystwin on Mar 25, 2022 10:17:19 GMT
Looking forward to my strimmer arriving today, gonna get out over the weekend and have a good strim.
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