The potting shed

lesleystrawson

Some help if anyone has ideas please!

Hubby and I have a large area out in our garden where we want to build a wood store. There were over a dozen 1-2 metre high/wide bushes that we had to cut down to clear the space, but digging out the roots by hand will take literally weeks. They are not as broad as tree trunks, but the 'stumps' going into the ground are several inches across and quite deep.

I've looked at hiring a stump ginder for the weekend, but to be honest I'm not sure it's the right piece of equipment. Does anyone have any ideas as to what we need? The area is out the front of the property so access is not a problem.

Many thanks in advance
Lesley

oldandhappy

We have just had to clear an area in the Garden for yet another workshop....depends on the type of trees/shrubs whether you need to remove all the roots or not as some will just grow back but others will just die back...hopefully. We had some concrete laid over our clearance site so we did not want them growing through the concrete..they can for sure.. although it was hard work we done a lot of digging out of roots by watering around the area and letting it soak and soften the area before digging out and some wrenching back and forth with fork and spade(we have some real solid clay here). Have heard of people pouring various mixes onto roots to rot/destroy but obvioulsy that takes longer but little muscle power.
Just found this gardening thread and really enjoyed reading up on everybodies queries and responses. Just love anything to do with gardening and the wildlife side of life. Mrs H

mikeywills

Moved house in March and as yet have not put down any veg in new abode. Missed terribly the lovely rich manured veg plot I had before, but hopefully next year will come good.
I have inherited a large quantity of roses some 40 odd, which are not my strong point, they did not do great in the sun any tips to bring out the best in them next year, someone local suggested banana skin at their roots.
Grass however, has been great all summer, I left the blades high and only cut every two three weeks and its stayed lush all summer without any watering.
I refuse to water anything in the garden outside of my precious veg, as we are on a meter.
Over winter I will be sourcing some old oak barrels for water butts to make the best of our wet wales winters.

pickledtink

mikeywills wrote:

Moved house in March and as yet have not put down any veg in new abode. Missed terribly the lovely rich manured veg plot I had before, but hopefully next year will come good.
I have inherited a large quantity of roses some 40 odd, which are not my strong point, they did not do great in the sun any tips to bring out the best in them next year, someone local suggested banana skin at their roots.
Grass however, has been great all summer, I left the blades high and only cut every two three weeks and its stayed lush all summer without any watering.
I refuse to water anything in the garden outside of my precious veg, as we are on a meter.
Over winter I will be sourcing some old oak barrels for water butts to make the best of our wet wales winters.

I can vouch for the Banana skins for your Roses. They respond to a good hard prune back too. October would be best for that.
I reckon if you get your compost heap going and source some manure now you should have plenty to dig in come spring.
Lots of luck with your new garden!

mikeywills

Thanks Pickled tink,

have lots of compost already approx 4 metres cubed, so will be digging in over winter before we get to cloggy and before the frosts. Do you know what it is in the banana skins that is good for roses?

Lord_Gardener

It's the potassium (about 8% in bananas) one of the three major plant nutrients (others are nitrogen and phosphorous) required for good healthy plants. Autum is the time to apply high potassium feeds to increase plants stamina for the winter months!

irnbru_2

I'm paving over part of a garden for ease of maintenance. The excess soil has been used to make raised vegatable beds but I'm now left with quite a bit of heavy clay soil.

Can I add this to the compost heap in the hope of breaking it down to make it more managable i.e. less clumpy ?

janem2

Do they work? WE would like to use it for cuttings from our apple tree and some bramble ---I am assuming you can't use it for grass cuttings...

Thanks

Jane

mikeywills

irnbru wrote:

I'm paving over part of a garden for ease of maintenance. The excess soil has been used to make raised vegatable beds but I'm now left with quite a bit of heavy clay soil.

Can I add this to the compost heap in the hope of breaking it down to make it more managable i.e. less clumpy ?

Clay as odd as it may seem is the best soil type for a veg garden, as out of the three(clay,silt,sand), it is the best for holding onto nutrients which are valuable for the veg. It is a good idea to add as much organic matter such as that from a compost heap, into the soil to improve its structure, as this is the downside to clay. Clay is made up of very fine particles that clog together well, by adding organic matter you are helping to separate these, the ideal goal is to get to a point where you can pick up a handful squeeze it in between your fingers and crumble it back into fine pieces again.

So in answer to your question yes you can add the clay into your compost, although I would not recommend it, better still set it aside. Let the compost do its work and add the compost into the soil when it is broken down well. The clay may restrict the processes within the compost heap from working effectively slowing down the time it takes to gat good compost.;)

mikeywills

janem2 wrote:

Do they work? WE would like to use it for cuttings from our apple tree and some bramble ---I am assuming you can't use it for grass cuttings...

Thanks

Jane

Why not have a bonfire and put it on, or use an old bin and cut some holes into it to let air in. You can burn tree cuttings and the bramble, though I would give it some time to dry out first, the greenery can give off a lot of smoke.
The grass clippings are best going into your compost bin, they dont burn easily unless they are very dry.