the daydream fund challenge thread

rhiwfield

Hi Lir, I'll prob be shot by the purists but you dont have to follow the official rules too closely.

You want to encourage side shoot growth just below the training wires so if you have a maiden whip (without established side shoots) you will want to prune the main stem when dormant above a bud (to grow to continue main stem) and itself above two buds to form the side branches to be trained to the wires.

If your tree already has two well established branching shoots these can be trained along the wire. Help can be given by tieing a bamboo cane from the main stem to the training wire and tieing in the shoot if it doesnt quite reach the wire.

Oh, btw, dont have the lower branches too close to ground (blackbirds, slugs, room to hang, etc)

lostinrates

rhiwfield wrote: »

Hi Lir, I'll prob be shot by the purists but you dont have to follow the official rules too closely.

You want to encourage side shoot growth just below the training wires so if you have a maiden whip (without established side shoots) you will want to prune the main stem when dormant above a bud (to grow to continue main stem) and itself above two buds to form the side branches to be trained to the wires.

If your tree already has two well established branching shoots these can be trained along the wire. Help can be given by tieing a bamboo cane from the main stem to the training wire and tieing in the shoot if it doesnt quite reach the wire.

Oh, btw, dont have the lower branches too close to ground (blackbirds, slugs, room to hang, etc)

Thank you rhiwfield


I don't really want or need lowest branch low....I want highest eventually to be quite high...ten feet if possible. And I'm growing climbing roses up the fence behind. I thought very hard about the roses, because there is little worse than being prickled by rose while trying to do something like pick fruit (or prune I guess) but I decided pain for number of visits to the trees per year was worth it for enhanced view from the kitchen. I'll curse myself every year I know, but....I'll wear stout gloves while dealing with pruning/training and And the trees are going to be behind/at the back of a sham knot garden/parterre which will house my herbs....right by the kitchen door so I can pop out for them while cooking.

rozeepozee

HI guys, not much to report here. We are moving from one rental property to another in the next few days. Good job as we are going slowly mad in this place.

House buying wise, there's not much new to the market - nothing with any land, anyway. We have the auction property to consider and we are going along to the auction ready to buy if all the solicitors enquiries come through okay and it's at the right price... It's count down to next Friday.

alfie_1

evening all :wave:

:T generator is working... albert is fine [although he will notice something else missing besides his leg,:eek: thought id kill 2 birds with one stone sort of thing...] anyway he seems to be ok,im hoping his neck collar will still be on in the morning ...

so it is now official...

I AM SKINT

ive been skint before and baked beans can become quite attractive with practise :rotfl:

the guinea fowl are £55 for 6 BUT i reckon i can get a bit more off..:D
i will find out colours tomorow for you. tho you realise it would mean a visit from me to deliver :eek:.....

lostinrates

alfie_1 wrote: »

i will find out colours tomorow for you. tho you realise it would mean a visit from me to deliver :eek:.....

you are always welcome. As always though, I can collect of easier....your hands are very full atm.

alfie_1

LIR....... do you know everytime i read your "pants should be crazy" etc i still smile and have a laugh !!

Davesnave

lostinrates wrote: »

everyone is so quiet!

Sorry, I've been too knackered to post in the evenings.

I've spent two days cutting back and beginning to lay the hedge Mr Dog pleaded with me not to disturb for fear that his 'privacy' would be breached. He cares nothing for our privacy and quiet enjoyment, so a bit of self-assertion won't hurt.

It's a job that will take weeks. Only the top and our side of the hedge is being done now, but there's the other side which seems to be ours to maintain, thanks to the stream which flows there. Luckily, further down, the situation's reversed. On the stream-facing side it's still thick with blackthorn, so until they go, Mr Dog will suspect nothing....maybe! :cool:

Hmmmm, I have a huge pile of thinnings in the field and Bonfire Night is past. When those go up, I think my cover will be blown.

Anyway, it's a satisfying job, as the oaks are getting the overcrowding around them removed, though their dense canopy has actually killed off a few smaller trees on the north side. Our field will see a bit more daylight too and I dare say the wild flowers will benefit.

In other news, the combines have been out in force, cutting the maize which is all around us in these parts. They were working well into the night - past my bedtime anyway!

Best of luck with the auction, rozee. I suppose little will come to the market now until February, when there will be the hopefuls, in quickly for the spring bounce!:rotfl:

I think most of us are skint, alfie. Having established that we could put another floor on this place, we're now having second thoughts about it from a financial perspective. If we're going to put extra money in, then perhaps it should provide something more tangible than a view.....

Rummer

Hello!

I have started to get excited about next years garden plans :rotfl::rotfl:. We picked up quite a few bargains at the end of season sales, a total random mix of things but sadly we did not manage to get a set of garden furniture (ours died this year).

Got quite a lot of heather plants that were 50p for 6 so I am going to make a heather garden area next to the shed. We are trying to make our garden as wildlife friendly as possible and as we have quite a few awkward areas it should be easy to leave them to the local animal life.

We are also going to plant less veg this time as we did too much and ran out of space so I am just going to plant the things that I know I will really use and that are easy to manage.

The front garden is still a worry for me as it floods all the time and a lot of the things I have tried to plant in it have not lasted long at all. Any ideas what will look acceptable in a front garden that gets very little sun and that floods badly when it rains?

choille

Welcome new comers & all.

had a time with a badger eating my wonderful hens & chasing old cat ......all during middle of the day ...really shocking stuff.
Lost caligula my marvellous Scot's Grey cockerel, Dame Edna my magnificent lavender Orp !!!!, A black orp that was recovering fron a strain & just getting really well again after a month in her own pen, 3 baby orps & a special young Scot's Grey female that I was keeping as she was so perfect making wise.

Managed to get one of the top fields topped & got the sheep off the hill & back inby - feels as if I gather my anaimals in close now.
Very mild & mad for November with Azelas flowering!
dark way too early, but at least this wee while past has been dry thankfully as it has been no Summer & the place was becoming a bog.

Have been slowly going about small tasks as felt really tired recently - sliding into hibernation mode.
keep well all.

Davesnave

That's rotten luck, choille, and in broad daylight too! I don't know what to say really, but I hope you are taking whatever steps are appropriate. Think I'd be out with the appropriate 'bait,' if you know what I mean.

I met our field neighbours today, not exactly by accident, as I'd hoped to intercept them on their nightly dog walk. As suspected, the stream side of the hedge bank is mine to maintain, so I said I'd do what I could this year and they seemed happy with that.

These folk also told me they'd lost 2 of their 3 guinea fowl to the fox within a fortnight, apparently in the field next to ours, so our plan to free range some there looks a bit precarious! They also said they thought a young cockerel might have been taken by a buzzard recently, but couldn't be sure. They definitely saw a buzzard take an owl, though it dropped it, but it didn't survive.

All this stuff happening next door our apparently benign patch makes me a bit worried.:eek: Our RIRs are just a nice size for a buzzard now, but we've been relying on the number of fences to put them off, there being no easy swoop for them.

I know what you mean about it being dark way too early. By the time I'd visited town today & cleaned out one lot of hens there was only about an hour & a half left.

Still, my 'Christmas tomatoes' are doing OK. In fact we have the first one ripening now. Yes, I know, even in the conservatory I'll be lucky if they're still alive on December 25th, never mind fruiting, but it's a giggle.