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Onoff
In the land of the unfinished project I am King!
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I shall ask SWMBO. She's a dab hand with hanging baskets. Used to work for a small firm making them up for commercial places, councils etc.
Onoff
In the land of the unfinished project I am King!
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Got half the bean holes dug with my knocked up tool. Hit a red ant nest who weren't too happy. Got a few stings for my efforts!
The beans are more than ready to go in:
Bear in mind here that I'm not a gardener!
The cored hole is nom 3" dia and say 5 1/2" deep. Where they're dug, inside the rectangle of the galv frame, that's the relatively soft soil that I painstakingly sieved and layered with compost, ash, etc. Outside the galv frame is virgin flint country
The little pots the beans are in now are nom 2 1/2" dia by 2 1/2" deep. I'm assuming to take the plants out of the pots and drop them in the holes. Maybe firmly pack round them with some bagged compost?
The beans are more than ready to go in:
Bear in mind here that I'm not a gardener!
The cored hole is nom 3" dia and say 5 1/2" deep. Where they're dug, inside the rectangle of the galv frame, that's the relatively soft soil that I painstakingly sieved and layered with compost, ash, etc. Outside the galv frame is virgin flint country
The little pots the beans are in now are nom 2 1/2" dia by 2 1/2" deep. I'm assuming to take the plants out of the pots and drop them in the holes. Maybe firmly pack round them with some bagged compost?
droopsnoot
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My lawns are looking terrible at the moment, very brown in patches, and while I like the decent weather, I'd like something to refill my water butts. Sometime soon I ought to have another go at trying to get all the grass out of the flower borders.
Craig-SM
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the areas that are dry aerate them and apply a wetting agent to help retain the water.
droopsnoot
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Thanks. I am reading elsewhere that washing-up liquid is a suitable wetting agent, which would be handy if true as I seem to have about a dozen bottles of Fairy Liquid floating around the place, and probably some cheapo stuff too. Here we have a 40% chance of rain tomorrow, and higher on Sunday, though probably in the form of short sharp showers, so I'll be trying to do this later today, if I can. Also I'm trying to empty one of the water butts and replace the pile of bricks it is sitting on with much fewer second-hand concrete breeze blocks, so a busy evening / late afternoon as I'd like to get it back into place before the rain.
Another question if I may:
I have a small (600mm high) chicken wire fence that runs along one side of the property. Next door is downhill a little, and this just tops off the retaining wall and provides support for the weeds that grow along it. Over the years the posts holding it up have become no good, either because they've rotted or because they weren't big enough in the first place. I've bought some nice 50mm diameter 2m tree stakes, but as I look at them that seems to be far too long for the size of the wire.
If I cut them in half, will 400mm in the ground be enough to support the 600mm wire? Off the top of my head it seems as if it would be plenty, 2/3 of the exposed part. It'll look silly if I leave them at full height, and it would mean I could put them at shorter intervals and still have a few left for other uses.
Craig-SM
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I’ve seen it on other posts about washing up liquid being used as a setting agent. Most seem to be based on old wives tales so I’d be careful over the amount you add as they’re now more concentrated and contain other chemicals too that probably wasn’t the case back when they started using it. Aeration of the dry patches will help no end and evening a good, firm rake to scratch the surface of the ground.
The posts sound adequate but may need deeper at corners.
The posts sound adequate but may need deeper at corners.
droopsnoot
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Cheers, I don't have any corners, it's just a straight run.
I'll have a look at what dosage the other thread was talking about for the fairy liquid, I recall my mother used to tip the old washing-up water on the garden and presumably for the same reason. I may go out in a few minutes and stick a fork in the front grass.
Onoff
In the land of the unfinished project I am King!
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Getting there! Did a bit this morning. Need to get a scythe sharpening stone mind...
Just posting to give myself a boost how far I've got.
Before:
After:
The bit to the left will be left wild save for hacking out the cherry runners as they come up.
Ordered some more seeds; butternut squash, some weird red runners, asparagus & tomatoes.
Looking at this bit on the right I've yet to clear...daunting...
Just posting to give myself a boost how far I've got.
Before:
After:
The bit to the left will be left wild save for hacking out the cherry runners as they come up.
Ordered some more seeds; butternut squash, some weird red runners, asparagus & tomatoes.
Looking at this bit on the right I've yet to clear...daunting...
bigegg
Scream Not Working Because Space Make Deaf
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I use a butchers steel to sharpen my scythe.
gaz1
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ive got the old merry tiller with attachments
the sickle bar comes in handy with long grass same as the hedge trimmer attachment
@Onoff why did you let your grass get so long in the first place when you have a petrol mower the last time i tried to get someone elses long grass down with the same mower its a collection box off and leen the mower back so the blade gets to the high stalks first
the sickle bar comes in handy with long grass same as the hedge trimmer attachment
@Onoff why did you let your grass get so long in the first place when you have a petrol mower the last time i tried to get someone elses long grass down with the same mower its a collection box off and leen the mower back so the blade gets to the high stalks first
droopsnoot
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I dug out my Dad's old Qualcast push-along mower today, mainly because I want to have stripes and none of the electric mowers have a roller on them. I obviously need to get to grips with how to work it, because the roller is slipping in places rather than turning itself and therefore the blade. It also seemed to just ignore some of the taller bits of wild grass that are in the lawn.
I just had a quick go with it, but I can see why people use powered mowers instead of these. But I want stripes.
I just had a quick go with it, but I can see why people use powered mowers instead of these. But I want stripes.
brightspark
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its probably wicking grass
addjunkie
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I hate gardening…….once you get the long stuff short, Id strim it. Just mulch it when cut. Save loads of messing about, and no grass to get shot of. Doesnt actually take long for the grass, even the roughest to start looking 1/2 decent.
Onoff
In the land of the unfinished project I am King!
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Like I've said, we decided to do "no mow May", it was quite deliberate.
On the back of it the varieties of wild flowers that have sprung up is amazing and judging by the amounts of bees, other insects and bats in the evening it seems to have least benefitted the wildlife. Plus I'm getting a workout with the scythe!
Onoff
In the land of the unfinished project I am King!
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I bought a diamond sharpening stone down at the South Of England Show yesterday. It seems to work but I might get something a bit heavier duty tbh.
Smallfry
HE's Spartacus.
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Is it the type with a wheel each side and a small wooden roller on the back and a tee handle, or a wooden roller on the front and a bigger (8 inch or so) roller on the back and crossover (X type) handles ?
