Garden novice... halp plz!

Conor Bourke

Hi All,,

Hoping you can give me some good, impartial advice. I’ve just bought my first home, single lady who grew up watching my parents tend their meticulous gardens and aspiring to something similar in years to come.

I’ve a long, narrow garden which was pretty unkempt with a mish-mash of hedges/small trees. My parents came up from the country at Easter with the chain saw and cut almost everything down which was wonderful. The plan was that they would come back up again around now to help me clear it all away and get an idea of what I’ve actually got to work with but for the moment circumstances have changed and I will have to take the lead. I’ve barely a clue where to start so this is why I’m here.

The main thing that got chopped was laurel hedging that hadn’t been cared for, further up the back there was lots of wild looking stuff and plenty of briars. Ideally I’d like to bag this stuff up (in order to get it out front as I’m mid-terrace) and either hire a skip for the garden waste and the heaps of detritus dumped behind my shed or fill a trailer and go to the dump but the chunks that are out there are too big to be bagged or moved with ease. I saw an electric hedge cutter in Aldi today, would that be something I could use to chop things down a bit smaller to facilitate disposal?

I went out to try and bag up some of the less bulky stuff but it’s a tangled mess and all I could think was that I needed something like a slash hook to get through it. Would that be a good move or a dangerous waste of time?

I got a quote for €1000 from a guy to clear the whole back (inc skip hire) but I just don’t have that kinda money to spare at the moment. I’ve friends that will help me to do as much as we can but right now it all just seems very overwhelming and I don’t know where to start or what to do so any advice would be gratefully received.

RebelButtMunch

Cornelius Crow wrote: »

Hi All,,

Hoping you can give me some good, impartial advice. I’ve just bought my first home, single lady who grew up watching my parents tend their meticulous gardens and aspiring to something similar in years to come.

I’ve a long, narrow garden which was pretty unkempt with a mish-mash of hedges/small trees. My parents came up from the country at Easter with the chain saw and cut almost everything down which was wonderful. The plan was that they would come back up again around now to help me clear it all away and get an idea of what I’ve actually got to work with but for the moment circumstances have changed and I will have to take the lead. I’ve barely a clue where to start so this is why I’m here.

The main thing that got chopped was laurel hedging that hadn’t been cared for, further up the back there was lots of wild looking stuff and plenty of briars. Ideally I’d like to bag this stuff up (in order to get it out front as I’m mid-terrace) and either hire a skip for the garden waste and the heaps of detritus dumped behind my shed or fill a trailer and go to the dump but the chunks that are out there are too big to be bagged or moved with ease. I saw an electric hedge cutter in Aldi today, would that be something I could use to chop things down a bit smaller to facilitate disposal?

I went out to try and bag up some of the less bulky stuff but it’s a tangled mess and all I could think was that I needed something like a slash hook to get through it. Would that be a good move or a dangerous waste of time?

I got a quote for €1000 from a guy to clear the whole back (inc skip hire) but I just don’t have that kinda money to spare at the moment. I’ve friends that will help me to do as much as we can but right now it all just seems very overwhelming and I don’t know where to start or what to do so any advice would be gratefully received.

We'll first thing... take your time and enjoy it.

You could use the hedge trimmer . What I do is when I cut the hedge is to run the electric lawn mower over it twice, and then once more with the collection box attached. That really breaks it down volume-wise. Then its easier to bag.

Lumen

A cheapish pruning saw, a pair of loppers and secateurs are all easy to use and will deal with anything from wrist-size down, and these are all useful tools to keep. Get some heavy gloves too - you can do a lot of damage with even a small saw.

Bypass loppers can be better than regular ones, but need to be used properly (gently) or they'll get wrecked.

I'd get the tools and do a few test bits of different sizes before hiring the skip.

Wouldn't bother with power tools. Anything properly capable will be expensive and dangerous, and you're unlikely to use often enough to be worth the hassle of maintaining.

Slash hook good for clearing but that's done, right? Not the right tool for cutting up.

wexie

Cornelius Crow wrote: »

Hi All,,
I saw an electric hedge cutter in Aldi today, would that be something I could use to chop things down a bit smaller to facilitate disposal?

With regards to hedge trimmers : if you can't cut it with one of these



Then you shouldn't really be cutting it with a hedge trimmer.

Here's my advice (don't laugh) wait for a weekend with good weather. Hire a skip, organise a BBQ for some friends, get them all over (bring tools if they have them) and have the whole thing cleared in a day. Make sure to keep them fed and watered so they might want to come again.

looksee

Quick answer, no you can't use a hedge trimmer to cut up heavier timber! A bush saw would be handiest - one of those curved handle saws with a blade across.

Don't put stuff behind the shed, you are only saving trouble for later, to be dragged out over your nice new garden.

You are going to make a mess taking it all through the house, so again, do it sooner rather than later.

You might find one of those 1 ton bags (from a hardware shop/ sand and gravel supplier) better for collecting the debris into rather than trying to bag it. Almost impossible to get branches into plastic bags. Get everything chopped into smaller heaps (secateurs work, even it its slow) then get someone to help you fill and carry through the house.

You might be able to hire a small size wood chipper, they are great for reducing vast heaps to manageable quantities - that you can bag. Briars are not great for going through chippers though. I have one of the ones they had in lidl and it has done a great job mincing branches.

brownbinman

keep an eye out in Lidl and Aldi, they very often sell garden tools, flowers, pots etc.

Could be cost effective

Conor Bourke

Cheers lads!

There’s nothing thicker than my arm out there, almost everything has been chopped down already and dried out no which is handy. As was pointed out though, getting it into bags is a heap of me bollix. Went at it there for a while with a lopper and got nowhere fast.

After I posted I went out and moved all the dead laurel up close to the back. It’s a lot lighter than I expected and may not need to be bagged which is handy. The main problem is all the tangled scrubby shït further down the garden.

It wasn’t me that did the dumping behind the shed, that’s the legacy of the boneheads who lived here before me :mad:

I had the idea of asking pals for a hand in return for bbq and beer but I doubt any of my friends have tools worth talking about so I just wanted to know what (if anything) I should invest in and how I should proceed.

Conor Bourke

Oh also re the chipper, I asked in one hire place but was told they don’t hire them out anymore but I’ll see if anywhere else would have one. Thanks again!

theyoungchap

I took on a job of sorting out an unkempt garden a few years ago, it was some hardship but worth it at the time.

Yeah definitely get your hands on a shredder for hedging, etc - you can hire them cheap enough. But they are used for shredding thin branches, etc and might not like the tree trunk very well (OK I know you won't be able to fit them in, but still). (http://www.azhire.ie/garden-shredder-electric-bosch,offer/ and the lads in AZ are dead on)

Any thick trunks, etc can be cut up into pieces and kept for firewood. And cut branches, etc off until you get to the branch to fit in the shredder!

When you've shredded, throw it in to a tonne bag and keep an eye on how heavy it is.....nothing worse than ending up with a tonne bag you can't lift (speaking from experience!).

Bring it to the recycling centres, they will generally take them for about €4-8 in my experience.

If you need to get rid of tree stumps, etc you might be able to hack away at some of them with an axe and a lot of perseverance, some might involve a machine (and a man) called a grinder (maybe don't google stump grinder!!!) or a man with determination.....not being sexist, I don't think my wife could have got through the tree stumps I hacked out of it!

When you have that done, then you look at what you can do with the remainder.

1000 for a man and skip - well maybe just me, but I never pay for things like that - if I can do it myself, I will! Spend the 1k on a holiday to relax after the hard work!

Not sure I'd be willing to help somebody else clear their garden on the promise of a BBQ, I think I'd view it as cheeky, or else it'd want to be some BBQ!!!

The tools in Lidl/Aldi are grand for most amateur gardeners. I got a chainsaw and hedge cutters and both are fine for what I need.

Best of luck, gardening is hugely rewarding when you look back at your efforts with satisfaction of having done it yourself!

looksee

Some stuff from lidl is great, other stuff is rubbish. We got some of those €8 shears a few weeks ago - knowing full well that you get what you pay for and €8 shears are unlikely to be up to much. We were right, they are useless. Decent clippers and secateurs are not cheap but if you look after them they will serve you well for long enough, go to a hardware shop, garden centre tools have notiony prices.

Conor Bourke

Re: hedge trimmer/chipper and the laurel- none of what is there is as wide as my arm. My wrist perhaps, at most. Too wide for the lopper.

The rest of the mess is a lot thinner again but so tangled and mixed with briars.

wexie

Cornelius Crow wrote: »

Re: hedge trimmer/chipper and the laurel- none of what is there is as wide as my arm. My wrist perhaps, at most. Too wide for the lopper.

The rest of the mess is a lot thinner again but so tangled and mixed with briars.

Still way to big for a hedgetrimmer

They wouldn't really be useful for anything wider than your little finger (and to be honest will probably struggle with something as big as that, the hedgetrimmer that is, chipper should be fine)

theyoungchap

Yeah she needs a chainsaw really if it is the size of her wrist.

looksee

Wood chipper will take up to just about broom handle width, no more.

theyoungchap

looksee wrote: »

Wood chipper will take up to just about broom handle width, no more.

Yeah, although the one I had would probably get stuck on any sort of hardwood wider than your finger for example, and even it got stuck on some of those.

Depends how powerful/sharp/tuned the shredder is. We went back with the first one to them as it wasn't cutting anything, they gave us another one which worked much better.

GreeBo

My mum always used an old duvet cover when cutting hedges.
Wider opening, won't tear and are reusable!

You can also lay them on the ground uber the hedge while you cut it...free bagging!

Do you have a picture of what you agree dealing with?

Secateurs, lopper and a bow saw should be all you need.

Billgirlylegs

If it is all tangled up, I would also suggest a small bushman saw and a pruning saw.
The pruning saw will let you saw in tight corners, and the bushman will cut the heavier stuff.
Try to cut as low to the base as possible to get straight lengths, and try to reduce the curly twisty gnarly stuff as small as possible

When you bag it, how are you going to dispose of it - will it go in a wheelie bin? If it does, you can keep the stuff moving.

If not, cover up what you have processed and dry it out.
You can walk on it when it gets more brittle and break it up a bit more, then bag it and move it.

It is slow work, but you would be amazed at what progress is possible even if you do one hour a day.

Conor Bourke

GreeBo wrote: »

My mum always used an old duvet cover when cutting hedges.
Wider opening, won't tear and are reusable!

You can also lay them on the ground uber the hedge while you cut it...free bagging!

Do you have a picture of what you agree dealing with?

Secateurs, lopper and a bow saw should be all you need.

The hedges have been completely chopped down so I won’t be maintaining them.

Billgirlylegs wrote: »

If it is all tangled up, I would also suggest a small bushman saw and a pruning saw.
The pruning saw will let you saw in tight corners, and the bushman will cut the heavier stuff.
Try to cut as low to the base as possible to get straight lengths, and try to reduce the curly twisty gnarly stuff as small as possible

When you bag it, how are you going to dispose of it - will it go in a wheelie bin? If it does, you can keep the stuff moving.

If not, cover up what you have processed and dry it out.
You can walk on it when it gets more brittle and break it up a bit more, then bag it and move it.

It is slow work, but you would be amazed at what progress is possible even if you do one hour a day.

I have a bow saw but it wasn’t really working on what I’m trying to clear up.

The pic is of the dead hedges, they still need to be chopped up smaller again before I can put them in a skip or they’ll just take up all the space.

Doctors room ghost

Take your time at it and plan what you want to do.
Don’t rush into it and spend a fortune.
And fair play to your parents for coming up with the saw and helping out.
You will learn by doing but just take your time at it.they often have good books in the library on gardening stuff where you might get ideas.

denismc

Anything thing thicker than a couple of inches you are going to have to cut with a saw, you may be able to use this for firewood once it is seasoned.
This will be a tedious job even with power tools.
For anything less than a couple of inches you could get one of these
https://www.diy.com/departments/mac-allister-electric-garden-shredder/698091_BQ.prd#icamp=product.
It won't shred green fleshy stems but its great for woody brush, it will cut thick woody briars but not fresh new ones

Lumen

Regarding pruning saws, I got one of these for Christmas after much research and prompting of spouse and it's absolutely lethal incredible.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silky-Professional-270-33-Curved-Blade-Scabbard/dp/B0014C4QMG

I've used it mostly for pruning of a couple of big old apple trees, and it'll easily remove a leg-thick limb. Or a leg, for that matter. Scars are sexy, right?

RiderOnTheStorm

Some great advice here OP. Let me add my tuppence worth.

What ever you do, do it yourself (or add friends...just dont hire someone). You may make mistakes & it will be slow. BUT... it will be cheaper, the satisfaction will be great, and it will be YOUR garden.

Get a couple of tools. Dont go mad. You will build up a great collection in time. Just buy something different each time. Co-Op shops, builder suppliers, hardware shops, army surplus are great. The likes of Woodies , B&Q etc are overpriced. Start with a hand saw of some sort and a secateurs .

You say you are mid terrace, so I imagine getting the cuttings out is a problem. Get a wheelie bin, fill it, and bring it through the house to a skip outside. However skips can be expensive, so look at getting a skip-bag. You will fit a lot in one (more than what is in that picture) and it is unmovable when full, so decant some cuttings into it via wheelie bin as mentioned (put down plastic or cardboard to protect house floor). Next year get a small wheelbarrow...

Watch out for specials in Lidl & Aldi. Their stuff is usually very good. You will be able to tell good from bad in time.

Try enjoy it! This is gardening too!

+1 on the BBQ & friends. Even if its 2 people with no tools of their own, it will go faster and be more fun.

Alkers

If you know anyone with a trailer, you could do a few trips to a bring centre? Would be a lot cheaper than a skip and you can use a Wheelie bin or wheelbarrow to bring things through the house

theyoungchap

Simona1986 wrote: »

If you know anyone with a trailer, you could do a few trips to a bring centre? Would be a lot cheaper than a skip and you can use a Wheelie bin or wheelbarrow to bring things through the house

Yeah I would agree with that, a skip bag will be 80 quid to get lifted if I remember correctly. There is also a place out near Donnycarney which takes car loads of stuff for very little cost http://mulch.ie/ I think I paid him about 16 euro for the car load before but they were very friendly and decent people. If you need compost, you could get it while you are there.

Those thick branches will need to be cut and definitely won't go through a shredder. You could hire a chainsaw and shredder for a day for not too much.

I don't think hardware stores are cheaper than woodies etc though to be honest. If you can wait, order stuff on ebay/amazon and you might save a few bob.

Surely some of your boards.ie colleagues would help you out.....wink wink.....unfortunately I am too busy that day.....

Conor Bourke

Can I hire a chainsaw (Sang to the tune of “can I borrow a feeling”) anyone I’ve mentioned that option to has looked horrified at the thought of me using one, they think it’s too dangerous but I expect I’d be fine..

Also re tools, I should’ve opened with the list of what I have:
-loppers
-secateurs
-a very small axe
-a bushman saw
-a wheelbarrow

I still kinda want a slash-hook coz I think it’ll be helpful to clear some of the junk behind the shed.

Im trying to be realistic in my expectations. This year I would simply be pleased if I got all the oul shït cleared out and kept on top of the grass. Plenty of time next year for walls/fences, beds, flowers etc though I am excited st the prospect.

Thanks again for all the helpful advice

theyoungchap

Be careful with that slash hook, they are dangerous in the wrong hands!
Be sure to take plenty of before and after photos.......I made the mistake of not doing so

wexie

Cornelius Crow wrote: »

Can I hire a chainsaw (Sang to the tune of “can I borrow a feeling”) anyone I’ve mentioned that option to has looked horrified at the thought of me using one, they think it’s too dangerous but I expect I’d be fine..

No I doubt it, not sure if you legally can't but very few places hire them out anymore (if any). It's just an insurance nightmare, mostly because there is no such thing as hurting yourself a 'little' with a chainsaw.

theyoungchap

Get one of the Lidl or Aldi specials, for what you need they will be fine, have a look at YouTube about how to use one safely.
They are lethal, don't ever use one above your waist at highest.

GreeBo

Based on the pic you attached, a loppers should be fine.

I wouldnt go near a chainsaw, they are fine 99% of the time, problem is the 1% they arent you have chopped something off that you shouldnt.

There are the Gator type ones where the chain is hidden behind protective jaws, but they have a limited diameter they can cut.

gk5000

Cornelius Crow wrote: »

The hedges have been completely chopped down so I won’t be maintaining them.



I have a bow saw but it wasn’t really working on what I’m trying to clear up.

The pic is of the dead hedges, they still need to be chopped up smaller again before I can put them in a skip or they’ll just take up all the space.

That may look like a lot but it would be easy enough to cut it up to take up little space.

Get a lopers and a secateurs.
I guess u can manage to cut upto 1 inch thick with the lopers, and upto 1/4 inch with secaters.

Take each large branch (over 1 inch thick) and trim the side bits with secateurs and lopers so your are just left with lengths. Lay them together into armful bundles(called ******'s !!! ). These are now easy to transport through the house to car.

Take the medium branches (1/4 to 1 inch) and cut with lopers into 1 foot lengths and put in bag - again easy to transport.

Then u are just left with the very thin branches and leaves...so just compress them into strong bags...done.

Do it systematically and you will be done in no time.


(Seriously ******s !!!- f a g g o t s - check wikipedia - but the boards filters are blanking out)

theyoungchap

How did our OP get on here?

Conor Bourke

theyoungchap wrote: »

How did our OP get on here?

Hello!

About 4 weeks ago I rounded up a few friends and we cleared about 2/3 of of the garden in a few hours. There’s one big pile of remnants to be cleared but I ran out of bags and it’s just been too busy and warm to do much more. I invested in the slash hook after all it was handy for the briars and bindweed around the shed, which I’ve almost cleared.

Got a skip bag for a lot of the junk in and behind the shed but could probably get another one at this rate with what I unearthed up at the back (a flippin’ hot water tank was amongst the detritus). Need to clear the last patch, get busy with the sprayer and then I think I’m more or less done for this year.

I’ve the stumps/roots of the hedges to try and pull up, any advice?

theyoungchap

Cornelius Crow wrote: »

Hello!

I’ve the stumps/roots of the hedges to try and pull up, any advice?

Either hire a stump grinder (dodgy name I know) or get somebody in to do this. I read a lot about this it is more difficult than it looks. We got a man in to do it for us, he was great and did it in no time for a couple of hundred quid if I remember correctly. PM me if you want a name.

It was worth every cent and he did a great job.

Graces7

looksee wrote: »

Some stuff from lidl is great, other stuff is rubbish. We got some of those €8 shears a few weeks ago - knowing full well that you get what you pay for and €8 shears are unlikely to be up to much. We were right, they are useless. Decent clippers and secateurs are not cheap but if you look after them they will serve you well for long enough, go to a hardware shop, garden centre tools have notiony prices.

I had secateurs from LIDl for e2 and they are great. Cleared a jungle of aged brambles ..

Conor Bourke

Hello again everyone!

Update time: Summer 2018 was too hot to do very much work in the garden and the grass pretty much died which was fine until I got pretty seriously ill in August and was out of action for a few weeks. By the time I’d recovered, things had started to grow back and I hadn’t the energy to go back at it until June of 2019, by which time things were even more out of control and daunting than ever.

I spent almost every spare minute of last summer clearing that damn garden. I had some occasional help but for the most part it was me on my own tipping away at it. I filled two maxi skip bags, countless loads in both the brown and black bins (was over my weight allowance on every collection for about 4 months) and did at least two trips to Ballymount with the car wedged to the gills with green waste.

I chopped the briars behind the shed down with an electric hedge cutter from Lidl that a friend loaned me, it was a game changer, there’s no way I would have been able to achieve as much, as quickly without it. Once I moved off the bulky stuff I dug out the roots of the briars and bindweed. I even got down the side of my shed which I didn’t think would be possible.

Today I flew in to Windmill Road with a half tonne bag of green waste and the realisation hit me that it was probably the last bulky bag of waste I’ll ever have to dispose of. Nothing that’s left now is too big for the green bin.. I can’t believe it!

What I’m left with now though is a rough and scruffy lawn at the back and stumps of shrubs is the main issue. I’ve set myself the challenge of getting rid of them by September and hopefully then I’ll rotavate and reseed the lawn and maybe try to create some flowerbed borders.

Once again, I’m asking for advice on how best to get the shrub/hedge/tree roots out without absolutely killing myself (I went at one of the laurel roots with a pickaxe and damn near put a disc out in my back). Is there anything I can do to encourage them to rot away eventually?

I’ve a few before n after pics for ye as well!

Conor Bourke

And another few, in particular the last one shows the roots I want to get rid of.