Today I did something in my Garden

Camellia

Spent the afternoon battling ground elder in the garden. My hands are in bits.

SnowyMuckish

Camellia wrote: »

Spent the afternoon battling ground elder in the garden. My hands are in bits.

Horrible stuff! We have it under our hedgerow, how did you tackle it? I haven’t attempted to remove mine yet. If it stays where it is I’ll live with it, but got a suspicion it’ll make its way into the garden!

CelticRambler

Can't quite believe this is the last "teen day" of April already! :eek:

Spent the weekend wearing out a bearing on my belt sander then fixing it (maybe - will put it to the test later). Currently building a pallisade fence for the West Bank of my herb garden. First task: knock the nails out of the hundred pieces of salvaged wood to be used; second task, cut a 7.5° slope on the top of each one to encourage rainwater (hah! as if ... :rolleyes: ) to run off the endgrain; third task, stick them together.



Four 1.25m sections there, three more out of shot, that'll divide the bank into two levels. If the sander works/keeps working, I'll sand them this morning and stain the fronts; and inspired by other contributions, I'm going to char the bottoms and the back, where it'll be in contact with the soil.

And for a bit of lighter exercise, sowed the next lot of bedding plants in plugs: petunias, "magic carpet", lobelia, marigolds, sunflowers, delphinium, zinnia and cornflowers.

looksee

I had not taken on board comments about charring, would it give protection from contact with damp?

CelticRambler

looksee wrote: »

I had not taken on board comments about charring, would it give protection from contact with damp?

The supposed benefit (based on its use in ancient times in Europe and still today in the Far East) is that charring creates a tough water resistant/repellant layer on the outside of the burnt wood. There are (according to my cursory recent reading on the subject) all kinds of variables, not least of which are the type of wood and the wetness of the soil into which it is driven, but by and large charred wood lasts longer than "chemical" treatments. Does it retain its strength? I'll let you know in ten years, as I'm also going to use it on some 2.4m posts that'll mark the back of my new terraced bed!

Currently having an early lunchbreak. The sander worked ... for about ten minutes. Then started spitting orange sparks out of the motor. Did a quick hand-sand to remove the worst of the dirt and too-colourful sub-contractor's marks; the rest will have to be "character" if it shows through the stain. :rolleyes:

Potted on our bananna tree over the weekend .



We've had it almost 2 years now and its flying .
Its extremely tender so must be kept indoors until after the frost.
We keep it in the green house over winter (temp never below 5c).
Im going to need to modify my handtruck or get a special one for moving large pots.I can just about lift that pot when its empty !

Monty has a good bit about overwintering them.

https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/how-to-protect-banana-plants-over-winter/

Camellia

SnowyMuckish wrote: »

Horrible stuff! We have it under our hedgerow, how did you tackle it? I haven’t attempted to remove mine yet. If it stays where it is I’ll live with it, but got a suspicion it’ll make its way into the garden!

Not sure whether it's recommended but I'm digging it out.

CelticRambler

Right: change of plan ... :rolleyes: Charring the palisade is going to take aaaaages. And while I was standing there doing the first panel, watching oodles of resin ooze out of every knot and get burnt I was thinking that there must be as much carcinogenic whatnot being created as anything in the can of stain ... So it's back to plan A - treat the backs and the bottoms with the same product as the fronts and the tops.

For the posts, as they'll be going much deeper into the ground, I will char them, but I'll do it the really old fashioned way - in a fire, and several at once.

SnowyMuckish

My allium Purple Sensations aren’t looking very sensational this evening! I have about 60 bulbs, a lot turning yellow at the tips over the last few days. The photo is one of the worst affected. I’m dreading the thought of onion white rot? Could there be any other reasons?

MacDanger

On the subject of charring wood, is it possible to rent the equipment for that in Ireland (north west)?

looksee

Lidl do an inexpensive flame thrower sometimes, I have one though I struggle to find a use for it. Works fine (terrifies me )

MacDanger

looksee wrote: »

Lidl do an inexpensive flame thrower sometimes, I have one though I struggle to find a use for it. Works fine (terrifies me )

This one (it's called a weed burner here)? Or something more substantial?

https://www.lidl.ie/en/p/great-gardens/weed-burner/p10515

Reckless Abandonment

MacDanger wrote: »

On the subject of charring wood, is it possible to rent the equipment for that in Ireland (north west)?

I bought a torch for 49 euro regulator for 20 and gas 35 (you need the red bottle ) so all and all 104. I used the whole bottle of gas to do my pergola appropriately 30 sp meters of larch .

Renting one didn't work out much cheaper as you'll still be charges for the gas . Buying one meant I could work at my own pace too

MacDanger

Reckless Abandonment wrote: »

I bought a torch for 49 euro regulator for 20 and gas 35 (you need the red bottle ) so all and all 104. I used the whole bottle of gas to do my pergola appropriately 30 sp meters of larch .

Where'd you buy those - a local hardware place? Or online?

Reckless Abandonment

MacDanger wrote: »

Where'd you buy those - a local hardware place? Or online?

Yeah most hardware/ builder providers would have everything you'd need

looksee

MacDanger wrote: »

This one (it's called a weed burner here)? Or something more substantial?

https://www.lidl.ie/en/p/great-gardens/weed-burner/p10515

Yes, that one.

New Home

MacDanger wrote: »

This one (it's called a weed burner here)? Or something more substantial?

https://www.lidl.ie/en/p/great-gardens/weed-burner/p10515

Also great to caramelise the top of lemon meringue pies in 2 seconds flat.

magicbastarder

MacDanger wrote: »

On the subject of charring wood, is it possible to rent the equipment for that in Ireland (north west)?

how much wood do you need to char?

CelticRambler

looksee wrote: »

Lidl do an inexpensive flame thrower sometimes, I have one though I struggle to find a use for it. Works fine (terrifies me )

That's exactly what I used, thinking that it'd at least be better at charring wood than killing weeds (for which it's pretty useless, at least in my courtyard )

It does the job of charring, but I think a proper flame thrower - or at least a plumber's blow torch - would be more efficient on account of working with higher pressure.

Other uses for it - great for setting fire to a bonfire of brambles on a windy day when your matches keep blowing out before you get them to the starting point! I'm told they're very good for starting barbecues, but I gave up having BBQs years ago.

Yet to be proven, I think waving it around my winter-sown lettuce greatly reduced the incidence of slug-attack, either by killing the infant slugs in the soil or simply by cooking the soil in that area and making it unpleasantly itchy for the slugs to slither over ... In any case, I'll try it again next autumn.

MacDanger

magicbastarder wrote: »

how much wood do you need to char?

Not a huge amount - about 10m2 I'd say

Igotadose

Chopped up a big, old, mostly dead gorse in the front yard, Cut it back to the base, good riddance to the wretched thing. Painted the stumps with nasty stuff to hopefully kill it off completely.

hirondelle

CelticRambler wrote: »

That's exactly what I used, thinking that it'd at least be better at charring wood than killing weeds (for which it's pretty useless, at least in my courtyard )

It does the job of charring, but I think a proper flame thrower - or at least a plumber's blow torch - would be more efficient on account of working with higher pressure.

Other uses for it - great for setting fire to a bonfire of brambles on a windy day when your matches keep blowing out before you get them to the starting point! I'm told they're very good for starting barbecues, but I gave up having BBQs years ago.

Yet to be proven, I think waving it around my winter-sown lettuce greatly reduced the incidence of slug-attack, either by killing the infant slugs in the soil or simply by cooking the soil in that area and making it unpleasantly itchy for the slugs to slither over ... In any case, I'll try it again next autumn.

i'm intrigued- you are in France but don't do BBQs- may I ask why?

CelticRambler

hirondelle wrote: »

i'm intrigued- you are in France but don't do BBQs- may I ask why?

You may ask! Various reasons, the main one being inconvenience. If the day's catering is for (low) single digits, it's more trouble than it's worth to find fuel, get it all set up, wait for the fire to be "just right", then cook a small amount of food on it and have to supervise it for the rest of the evening. If catering for large numbers, then the person/people doing the cooking can't be at the table.

Probably because I'm in France, our meals contain relatively small amounts of hot cooked meat, and the menu is based on what food is being served, not a single means of cooking. In the fifteen years I've been here, I've never been to dinner anywhere where anyone's used a barbecue. Spit-roasted whole sheep or pig over an open fire, yes - all the time! - but no barbecues.

Way back in our first year, I did build one (recycled an old, defunct, range-style cooker that was in the kitchen. It got used for cooking that first year, and ever since has been relegated to being a place to rest stuff when trying to get to the stuff behind! :pac:

In the fullness of time, I'll replace it with a proper outdoor kitchen - gas hob, electric oven, fridge and sink. That'll allow us to keep the heat out of the house in the summer months, especially when preparing food for storage (jams, chutneys, pickles, par-boiled veg prior to freezing, etc.

looksee

I'm with you on the barbeques, very overrated activity imo. Though I have cooked many pots of stew and pottage over an open fire, but sitting with a one-stop bowl of food is entirely different to the faffing and organising required for a barbeque.

Reckless Abandonment

looksee wrote: »

I'm with you on the barbeques, very overrated activity imo. Though I have cooked many pots of stew and pottage over an open fire, but sitting with a one-stop bowl of food is entirely different to the faffing and organising required for a barbeque.

100% im all on for dining outside but the kitchen is only 12 feet away.

SouthWesterly

Busy evening. I'm using peat pots that can just be thrown into the soil once their inhabitants are big enough.
Will plant out chard, lettuce and beetroot at the weekend. Also need to put out the Jerusalem artichokes.
Sowed the following this evening... Peas, broad beans (4 varieties) chard, fennel, broceletto, comfrey, sweet corn. Bunching onions.

Hocus Focus

Gaspode wrote: »

I had the same with a hoe this week - I drilled in the biggest screw I could find and then levered it out with a claw hammer. A lot of hard work!

Totally by chance I recently saw a "Repair Shop" video on just this subject, where the guy first centre-punched the rivets, then drilled them out. He next put the tool, it was a shovel, in a vice, and using a hammer and a short length of timber (about six inches of broom-handle, or similar), he just tapped out the remaining stub of handle. He then test-fitted the new handle and used a sharp chisel and a spokeshave to reshape the generic tapered end to the curvature required for it to fit in the shank of the shovel. He finished off securing it with two large galvanised screws of the requisite length, having first pilot-drilled, so as not to split the timber.

If you are not equipped with sharp chisels, a bench vice and a spokeshave you may have to improvise,but do make the effort, because I can tell you from previous experience that not adapting the handle to fit snugly will result in a shovel/ hoe, or whatever, with a wobbly head.

CelticRambler

Reckless Abandonment wrote: »

... but the kitchen is only 12 feet away.

:pac: :pac: :pac: :pac:

Not here ...!

looksee

SouthWesterly wrote: »

Busy evening. I'm using peat pots that can just be thrown into the soil once their inhabitants are big enough.
Will plant out chard, lettuce and beetroot at the weekend. Also need to put out the Jerusalem artichokes.
Sowed the following this evening... Peas, broad beans (4 varieties) chard, fennel, broceletto, comfrey, sweet corn. Bunching onions.

Give them a really good soak before planting, I am quite sceptical about those pots, some plants have trouble escaping from them in order to develop.

New Home

Hocus Focus wrote: »

Totally by chance I recently saw a "Repair Shop" video on just this subject, where the guy first centre-punched the rivets, then drilled them out. He next put the tool, it was a shovel, in a vice, and using a hammer and a short length of timber (about six inches of broom-handle, or similar), he just tapped out the remaining stub of handle. He then test-fitted the new handle and used a sharp chisel and a spokeshave to reshape the generic tapered end to the curvature required for it to fit in the shank of the shovel. He finished off securing it with two large galvanised screws of the requisite length, having first pilot-drilled, so as not to split the timber.

If you are not equipped with sharp chisels, a bench vice and a spokeshave you may have to improvise,but do make the effort, because I can tell you from previous experience that not adapting the handle to fit snugly will result in a shovel/ hoe, or whatever, with a wobbly head.

You mean this one?

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=116883479&postcount=816