Gardening basics!

Red-Squirrel_2

getmore4less wrote: »

Don't forget a compost bin
A shredder may be going a bit too far but can make disposal(composting) a lot easier if you don't have a garden waste collection and the tip is too far or you don't have space in the car.

I have a tarp I put over the boot and back seats down to get rid of the bigger stuff I can't shred, everything else gets composted along with the kitchen stuff.


you can pick up weedkiller cheap for the patio again at end of season Tesco often have it really cheap if wilko has sold out, I get the concentrate in tubes to dilute into a spray bottle

Thank you, luckily we have a weekly garden waste collection and a nice big wheelie bin for it! How long do you leave your compost before using it? Where/how do you use it when its ready?

I've been to Wilko today but they hardly had anything in, the garden section has become the christmas section! Managed to get a hand trowel and fork and a pair of pruning thingies (secateurs? They're only little) for a couple of quid each though. Might need a trip to a B&Q or a Wickes at this time of year. I want to get most of the clearance work done before spring so I have a fresh start when things are ready to start growing again!

Thanks for the mattock tip, I had no idea what that was but a google tells me they can be bought relatively cheaply and it looks they'll make digging up the pesky hollies much easier!

Davesnave

I'm short and I find the bigger 5lb mattocks hard work and overkill, so I opted for one of these:

https://www.bloomingtools.com/brands/compass/visquie-3-5lb-head-with-42-handle

I thought I'd also get a new handle for my larger mattock, but I found this lighter model so good I've not bothered to do so.

glasgowdan

Yep, I find the main facet of mattock work is in the swing, not the mass.

getmore4less

Red-Squirrel wrote: »

Thank you, luckily we have a weekly garden waste collection and a nice big wheelie bin for it! How long do you leave your compost before using it? Where/how do you use it when its ready?

just keep filling the bins(one gets the kitchen waste more a wormery) and take it out from the bottom in the spring to spread on the raised beds in the greenhouse and veg patch, the more woody stuff used to mulsh. if you have a collection you might not bother if you have some space then a good way to recycle goodness back into the garden.

I've been to Wilko today but they hardly had anything in, the garden section has become the christmas section! Managed to get a hand trowel and fork and a pair of pruning thingies (secateurs? They're only little) for a couple of quid each though. Might need a trip to a B&Q or a Wickes at this time of year. I want to get most of the clearance work done before spring so I have a fresh start when things are ready to start growing again!

Thanks for the mattock tip, I had no idea what that was but a google tells me they can be bought relatively cheaply and it looks they'll make digging up the pesky hollies much easier!

Wlko is very seasonal and that's why summer/garden stuff goes cheap , to clear the space for the next lot, they keep some basics over the winter.


I went with a heavy mattock some of the stuff I was taking out had 20year roots.

Those light weight ones look fine, you might even get away with a digging hoe if the stuff you want out is quite young.

Red-Squirrel_2

getmore4less wrote: »

Wlko is very seasonal and that's why summer/garden stuff goes cheap , to clear the space for the next lot, they keep some basics over the winter.


I went with a heavy mattock some of the stuff I was taking out had 20year roots.

Those light weight ones look fine, you might even get away with a digging hoe if the stuff you want out is quite young.

Thanks, there's plenty of space for a compost bin, so I'll definitely start doing that once it warms up a bit, anything I put out there now will just freeze and preserve!

According to the neighbours the garden was last properly maintained about 10 years ago, with sporadic clearing occasionally. It was an older couple who lived here who had taken great pride in it (hence some nice hardy shrubs still doing well) until they were too old to manage. It was completely neglected while they were in a care home, cleared a bit to sell to me in 2015 and then maintained but not really 'cared for' as such by a cheap gardener since then.

There are some pretty mature self seeded shrubs/small trees that need to go and a lot to be pruned. I really want an almost fresh start. I might need a tree surgeon for the Rowans because they're pretty tall but everything else is reachable for my 5'6" height!

Everything will be on the cheap! Future plants will have to come from cuttings from the gardens of friends and family!

glasgowdan

How tall are the rowans and how thick are the trunks?

getmore4less

Red-Squirrel wrote: »

Thanks, there's plenty of space for a compost bin, so I'll definitely start doing that once it warms up a bit, anything I put out there now will just freeze and preserve!

I have blackwall 330ltr daleks the one used for kitchen waste is still active with worms even with the cold weather.
(I don't put meat, bones, fat in, but probably could)

It goes down quick so if we don't have enough scraps(just 2 of us) it gets other garden shredded stuff and some shredded newspaper.

check your local council if they have a deal on compost bins and water buts etc.

or make your own bins from scrap wood/pallets.

if you have the space you can probably just keep most of your bigger cuttings logs etc. in a pile for wildlife and bugs.

Red-Squirrel_2

glasgowdan wrote: »

How tall are the rowans and how thick are the trunks?

Hard to say, too tall to measure! Probably about 4 metres tall, trunks are pretty thick, size of a side plate in diameter I'd say.

They're nice trees, and they seem to attract the birds so I want to keep them, they just need a bit of tidying/pruning.

getmore4less

You can get a good idea looking out an upstairs window.

Red-Squirrel_2

getmore4less wrote: »

You can get a good idea looking out an upstairs window.

The problem is more that I'm rubbish at estimating!

Hmm, they are up against a 6 foot fence and that comes about a third of the way up their full height. The last few feet are straggly though, the bulk is lower.