Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Black_Cat2

Farway said:

I had tree / road problems years back, along a country road here, it was hire car& I was travelling on work business at the time, but managed to stop OK

A lorry had passed going opposite way just before and I think must have clipped the hanging boughs & down it came without driver being aware

Narrow road with high banks so turning round not an option.

Luckily some motor cyclists appeared from the opposite direction & between us we managed to get this lump of a tree back into woods

I thought afterwards those motor cyclists were very lucky, a few minutes earlier & behind the lorry & they could've been under the tree

BC2, those sculptures at Wisley, there are four located around the gardens, the four seasons. I saw the start of the frameworks before lock down in March, all now completed

https://www.rhs.org.uk/press/releases/Philip-Haas-s-The-Four-Seasons-to-go-on-show-for

Didn't realise the scale of them F!  and embarrassingly thought they were made of real veggies etc 😸

Wisley looks like a place to add to my 'places to visit after lockdown' bucket list and it's growing fast. 

Black_Cat2

[Deleted User] said:

Evenin' all 😉
Rain for about 24 hours now, localised flooding soon methinks 😯

Evening C.  Same here although it has just stopped🤞 Typical seeing it's not gonna be long til it's dark so can't do anything outside now... grrrrr! 

Davesnave

Catsacor said:

Davesnave said:

My Screwfix order was actually screws for some trellis I'm supposed to be making, having had the wood sitting there since April. I nail the trellis together with galvanised nails, but often need to do a bit of 'working out' for the spacing first, and it's easier to remove screws than nails when I make the inevitable mistakes.

On Monday, her outdoors and I took down 82' of Cotoneaster simmonsii to base level and stuffed it all into the back of the van somehow, so now we have a heap larger than the van to dispose of. Bonfires are OK here when the wind is right, but it probably won't be sensible to attempt to burn our autumn stuff till December anyway. Ideally, I'd chip it.

The cotoneaster was a huge disappointment, as it wasn't even partially evergreen, the birds weren't that keen on the berries and individual plants died in summer droughts, leaving bare bits. I know now the only reliably evergreen cotoneaster is 'lactea' but it's hardly any use for a low hedge.

Wow, that's a lot of hedge to dispose of !
Cotoneaster franchetii is my favoured one for a hedge and the berries are definitely liked by the birds, had a long hedge of it in the last place.
The worst hedging decision i made was escallonia, in my soil and conditions it got black spot each year and looked really horrid.
I think if i was going for hedging i'd go for a beech hedge now.

I chose simmondsii because I only wanted a low hedge, but who knows, franchetii might have survived better. In the winter, the road drain often blocks, so we get a puddle 30'-50' long and all the spray from vehicles goes over what's planted there. Then, in summer, it dries right out, being about a foot above the road. Tough conditions for any plant.

We have a beech hedge between us and nearest neighbour and a hornbeam down by the nearby commercial yard. They're both good doers; a bit too good in the case of the hornbeam!

Our favourite hedges are the yew ones; great wind breaks. Our longest hedge, apart from the road one alongside the top field, is elm and pretty uncommon these days. It's our least favourite, but we keep it going as a single species oddity. A bloke with a tractor cuts one side and the top, but I get the joy of the other side.

As for disposal, I'm glad there is no major section of hedge needing renovation this winter. For the past 4 years I've ended up with a bonfire the size of a single decker bus. However, get the day right and it all goes in a matter off a few hours!

[Deleted User]

Morning D 🖐
Oooh yes, Yew is a favourite tree of mine, bought an established Irish one late winter, along with an Italian Cypress and Thuya ......love them all 🌲 

Talking trees still .....I have a little 15cm high oak romping away in a pot, found it in the (root bound) pot of a Cistus i rescued from the Clearance section of garden centre, when i had it home and repotted it i found a little twig with a miniature oak leaf attached - prized it out of the hosts roots and potted it up ...... had no idea oaks grew so quickly 😆

Apodemus

Catsacor said:

...... had no idea oaks grew so quickly 😆

I've got two oaks and a birch planted in part of a boundary, all are the same age and the oaks are the taller at present (approx 9 or 10 years old). This is despite one of the oaks getting badly broken last autumn and "repaired" with a splint and bandage! However, I think something must be holding the birch back as it really should have taken off faster.

[Deleted User]

Interesting,i really didn't realise oak was such a fast grower !
I also have a birch, that too is a speedy grower 🌲🌲🌲 

Definitely a couple of degrees cooler today, after the crazy mild temps since the weekend this is not welcome 😆
Hey ho, it is what it is .....xmas here soon 😆😋🎅

Farway

Catsacor said:

Apodemus said:

Farway said:

Rain's arrived as forecast, the only garden related activities today are waiting for my T &M seeds to arrive, according tho the post tracker they are "out for delivery"

Ha! T&M told me that twice and the stuff never arrived! T&M had such a disastrous year that I really can't trust them any more. Even the soggy red geraniums that I nursed back to health after they arrived in a state of decay, turned out to be pink when they finally flowered!

Agree, hopeless company 🤨

Yes, I was dubious as well, but not ordering plants so chance taken at the price, and my seeds arrived this morning

They've chucked in a free [unasked for] packet of Chilean Glory Vine, or maybe it's part of someone else order?

I did grow some decades ago and was not impressed, but I'll give them a go, nothing to lose for free

Apodemus

Farway said:

Yes, I was dubious as well, but not ordering plants so chance taken at the price, and my seeds arrived this morning

They've chucked in a free [unasked for] packet of Chilean Glory Vine, or maybe it's part of someone else order?

I did grow some decades ago and was not impressed, but I'll give them a go, nothing to lose for free

Glad to hear that you've had a success with T&M. I'm just really sad to see a once reputable and reliable company go to the dogs. You would think that they would at least be reliable for seeds, but it took till June for them to manage to find me courgette seeds - which didn't exactly do wonders for crop yield this year! ...and don't get me started on the seed potatoes - planting in July was not part of my plan! It's local, privately-owned garden centre for me next year!

Davesnave

Catsacor said:

Interesting,i really didn't realise oak was such a fast grower !
I also have a birch, that too is a speedy grower 🌲🌲🌲

Oak self-seeds everywhere here, like hazel and, to a certain extent, birch. Oak throws down a straight tap root and grows quickly at first, maybe slowing-down a bit later. However, oaks we've retained here as relatively small trees have become reasonably impressive in 10 years. We let one grow to create a shady area of garden close to our bungalow, but it's coming down this winter as it's sitting astride the septic tank inlet pipe!

Don't worry, we've planted many more.

Farway

Davesnave said:

Catsacor said:

Interesting,i really didn't realise oak was such a fast grower !
I also have a birch, that too is a speedy grower 🌲🌲🌲

Oak self-seeds everywhere here, like hazel and, to a certain extent, birch. Oak throws down a straight tap root and grows quickly at first, maybe slowing-down a bit later. However, oaks we've retained here as relatively small trees have become reasonably impressive in 10 years. We let one grow to create a shady area of garden close to our bungalow, but it's coming down this winter as it's sitting astride the septic tank inlet pipe!

Don't worry, we've planted many more.

Maybe that's why it's thriving? Like tomatoes at a sewage pant?

Sun's out for a bit and the birds have discovered the pyracantha for this year.

Still has a good crop of yellow berries shining in the sun but once the birds discover them the majority  are normally gone within a week, not that I mind, all part of nature

Pyracantha seems to be such a nature friendly all rounder, the insects love it in flower, the smaller birds hide in among the thorns while awaiting their turn at the bird bath, berries now feeding the birds, and even next door's cat likes summer snoozing in the shade underneath