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Indoor plants for unheated rooms
Due to lack of funds, I only heat about a quarter of my house. The rest is rarely or never heated which means that the landing and some other rooms can have temperatures almost approaching zero on some occasions. I can get some plants to grow in the unheated parts of the house, but I have had a lot of failures. Spider…
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Time for cutting trees / pruning
I have some conifers that need pruning and some trees that need shaving. Is Dec a good time to do it or should I wait?
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Cutting down Autumn raspberry canes
My Autumn raspberry canes have finished fruiting. The usual advice is to either cut them down January/February time or leave them to get second early crop next year and cut down then after fruiting. I have tried leaving some till next year for an early crop and the results were disappoiting so I reverted back to cutting…
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Curlews
I have just seen something extremely strange............ Often see an odd one or two curlews in flight & in the local fields. Yesterday I was driving along a road past a field of winter barley & saw not one or two but in excess of 30 curlews in the field. An absolutely amazing sight & something that I have never every seen…
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how to store bare root roses from David Austin
Hi, Just had 3 bare root roses delivered. Were supposed to come Fri and I would have planted them over this weekend. However, they have arrived today. Do I need to plant ASAP? I really won't have the time to do this till Sat. Can I store these over the week? If so how? Thanks
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Garden wildlife during winter
After some ideas for food/shelter for the wildlife in our village garden, so far we have a couple of bird boxes, and bird feeding station with nuts, seed mix, suet fat balls and a bug mix in a suet block What else can we buy or do for the animals this winter please?
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maintenance free fencing
Hi all, does anybody know where I can purchase plastic/upvc/ vinyl fence panels that are not just plain plastic boards ? have better things to do than maintain wooden fencing. ta in advance
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Any Ideas for Speeding up Leaf Compost
I've got a tonne of sycamore leaves I want to compost - in the past I've bagged them and left them but it took 2 years to completely break down - ideally I want the leaf compost ready for next spring - any ideas anyone? Thanks
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Fruit/Vegetable Trees
Hi I’ve recently removed all my conifers in my garden and looking to replace them with fruit and vegetable plants/trees. I’m a total beginner at gardening so any tips would be helpful It’s not a huge garden so probably fit two fruit trees at the most with a few vegetable plants darted aroud. So my question is, 1) which…
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Decking as a retaining wall
The house I'm buying has a bit of a sorry garden, but its a nice size and has potential to be a nice family space. I am planning to do the work on the garden myself having done the paving and decking in my current garden to a decent standard and really enjoyed it. The difference with the new house is that the garden is in…
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Is there a ‘standard size’ barbecue grille?
Hi all I’m starting from scratch building a brick barbecue in the garden. Before I start laying the bricks (well, the brick is... not me) i’d Like to know if there’s a standard size grille. I’m not sure if it’s called a grille. I mean the metal rack thing you put your chops/chicken etc on. Any other advice before I start…
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Starting garlic in pots
My recently acquired half plot is terribly weedy and I haven't managed to clear a space yet for my garlic. I would like to start them off in pots and move them to the plot once it has been cleared, in the late winter or early spring. One item I have seen online suggests 3" pots and another at least six inches deep. Could…
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Caring for a lawn over winter! Suggestions & Help please
My lawn has just started to get patchy and yellow in places :( really upset as it was so lush and green, is this normal for time of year? Is it worth me using lawn feed this time of year? What ones do people suggest? how often should i apply november, december, january, feb and spring and summer? Is there anything i can do…
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Suitable bird box location?
I’ve never put one before and would appreciate your advice as to whether you think this is suitable or not? ie On one of the branches of this cherry tree?
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Apache potatoes -- amazing!
I'm no gardener, but... in the past few years, when I've bought potatoes that have gone past being edible, I've planted them to see if anything grows. :) They were always "bog standard" white-skinned potatoes of different varieties. Some got half-eaten by slugs or tiny-worms, but I'd usually get a handful of decent…
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Grow house
I’m looking to buy a small aluminium grow house and have come across this website vivendi-direct.co.uk they seem very competitive. However, I’ve never heard of them and can’t find out much about them. Does anybody know if this is a genuine trustworthy company or a fraudulent site. Any alternative recommendations would also…
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Succulents arrived but not planted - help!!
Hi, Can anyone advise? My daughter decided to kindly order me some succulents (an aeonium and aloe) online after a conversation we had. However they have turned up today but are not planted ( she didn’t realise)just literally the plant and exposed roots. I am on 13 hour days now until Tuesday morning and have nothing to…
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Cost to remove leylandii
We have 3 large (about 40ft) leylandiis at the far end of the garden, can anyone give me a rough idea as to the price we'd expect to pay a tree surgeon to cut down and remove them? The only access to the garden is via a side passage.
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Sweet Potato cutting - will it survive?
A branch of my Sweet Potato plant has layered and is well rooted. I'm tempted to pot it up and keep it on the windowsill in the house for the winter. Has it a chance of surviving? I'm game to have a try. The main plant was bought from the Garden Centre last Spring and has been in a large deep pot in the (unheated)…
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Ground Source Heat Pump - anyone got one?
Hello Hope this is the right board for this question: I am currently refurbishing a victorian farmhouse and 3 cottages. We intend to let out the cottages, and live in the main farmhouse. No current "proper" heating systems in any of them, only open fires or plug in heaters. Going to be insulating as well as we can as part…
