Gardening 2023

[Jenkins]

Finally a day in which the majority of this year's gerdening was done - all the fuschia plants were cut right back, the lavender bushes cut right back, two large borders weeded and what passes for lawns at the front, side and rear of the house cut.I now have to book a slot at the local recycling centre as I have 6 black sacks and a large cardboard box of garden rubbish to be disposed of.

 

[Hicky]

Garden shredders…I’ve got a load of shrubs in the garden very well established that need lopping back twice a year.
Trekking to the tip is becoming a pain(due to the volume). Is a garden shredder the solution….are the basic screwfix jobby up to it?

 

[Tail End Charlie]

@Hicky I'd say a shredder is worthwhile, but have no knowledge of the Screwfix one (mine is a Scheppach, which I've had for about 20 years). Mine is 2200W and copes with most stuff up to 35mm but it does take a fair while to shred a large pile, but at least then you have a mulch for your beds.
Just looked at the Screwfix one, it has a more powerful motor and is of the type which only works if a box is under it, which I would find annoying. That said, the box will only activate a microswitch, so would be easy to circumvent.

 

[Tail End Charlie]

I've just gone round my garden and dug up things which I've lost due to the cold weather. Around 12 hebes, a couple of penstemons and a myrtle. There are still some other shrubs which I'm not sure have made it through the winter, but I'll give them a few more days.

Where I volunteer has a bed managed by the Hebe Society and they have lost loads too, so it was obviously a bad winter for them.

 

[Jody]

Possibly frost damage.

Definitely frost damage.

You can't leave terracotta pots out over winter

 

[Drago]

110 tomato plants seedlings now outside. Last year I had a good crop from a mere 5 plants, so should do well.

Also 6 x potato plants are sprouting nicely.

 

[Time Waster]

You can get frost resistant terracotta pots but there's things to do to ones your not sure are frost resistant. Firstly ensure they're free draining and the contents are too. Make sure you use pot feet or supports to lift the pot from the floor which helps to drain the pot a bit. This supposedly helps but just replace with frost resistant ones.

 

[Time Waster]

Well three weeks ago we bought a 2500w ryobi shredder. £180 I think from b and q. Works very well but have to tilt it back on the wheels every so often to stop chipping build up at the back of the box. It doesn't fill the box evenly so it can pile up when half empty causing a jam. Really easy to predict and prevent.

Works very well but I've only used two out of the three weekends since buying. I cut the tip of my finger clearing a jam. Note if it says to use a brush to clean out do it! Cutting your finger tip off took a long time to stop bleeding and then restarted every so often for 2 or 3 days afterwards.

 

[Time Waster]

So autumn last year we had 3 large trees cut down and more trimmed. We had to clear the brash and wood. We're still hardly made a dent hence the shredder purchase. We've got apatio of branches to clear at the bottom of the hill then the huge piles at the top where they were cut to clear out. We'll do that up there now we have the shredder.

As to whether screwfix one is good I'm not sure but looking at the macallister one's the more expensive one would be my preference. It's like my ryobi one but supposedly higher wattage. Don't quite believe it but if anything like my ryobi it'll be good. The £85 one is the same power rating supposedly as my ryobi but it's not as good a design. They're more for light work. Apparently a gardening reviewer I read puts grass cuttings and green stuff through it to speed up composting. I'd avoid that one personally.

BTW Iquestion the power ratings. Macallister is a cheaper, own brand copy of bigger name brands I reckon and the power rating seems a marketing figure to counter the brand name snobbery thing most ppl have. They look similar to bosch and ryobi versions with lower power but that's not everything. The internal mech and blades can make the difference too.

I think they're worth getting. Should compost nicely now the branches are tiny chips.

 

[Time Waster]

Tip, keep an eye on the collection bin. If the shredder has one it won't fill evenly and if it backs up to the shredder it'll jam.

Ime different woods shred easier than others. Leylandii and conifers seem to shreds easier. Thorn trees don't. I think deciduous wood shreds harder than coniferous in our shredder. I've shredded Leylandii, Holly, beech, Hazel, hawthorn and a number of shrub branches. Beech, hazel and hawthorns didn't go in too well. Leylandii practically went in by itself.

 

[Drago]

You can get frost resistant terracotta pots but there's things to do to ones your not sure are frost resistant. Firstly ensure they're free draining and the contents are too. Make sure you use pot feet or supports to lift the pot from the floor which helps to drain the pot a bit. This supposedly helps but just replace with frost resistant ones.

It's always a gamble un the UK, but I've had my eye on the long range forecast for a while and picked my say with care. I'm as sure as I can reasonably be that I've dodged the frost bullet.

 

[Tail End Charlie]

The broad beans which I planted 3 weeks ago are coming up well and I've just done another lot.
I scrounged some thick cardboard tubes, they're about a metre in length so I've placed them upright on my allotment and sieved a load of soil into them. Should be perfect for some prize winning parsnips! Assuming the cardboard doesn't collapse of course.
Replaced some of my winter losses with new shrubs, but I've a few spaces to fill yet.

 

[Time Waster]

We've got rolls of fabric at work that come on big cardboard tubes with a wall thickness over an inch. Very heavy but would possibly last a few years for that use.

 

[postman]

What with the dry sunny weather here in Meanwood.I have been having ago at removing moss out of a lawn 26 x 14.Three barrow loads so far.A few more passes yet then some form of moss killer according to the boss.

 

[biggs682]

15 runner bean plants out and positioned around some poles I wonder how many will be munched by this time tomorrow