Beardie

The quick answer would be to cut your losses and plant something else. If the conditions are killing laurel, it is difficult to see what else could survive, though you do mention elder competition. This has an allelopathic effect on other plants.

For game, then other species tolerant of shade are Physocarpus and Spirea. These have berries, but are deciduous. For evergreen cover, then box and privet.

What do the guns pay for a days shooting?

Yes, I've been thinking that as I've followed this thread. Thousands of pounds for a day's shooting, and the beaters get a couple of twenties and a few freebies. I suppose they have to make in a few days what it costs to run the estate for the year.

she wants them quite tall so her dog cant jump over them

How high can the dog jump? Also no point making them higher than the adjoining fence/wall as the dog will jump over that instead.

The leaves in the OP are more irregular than the pics of Q. rubra. The overall growth habit does remind me of a really old hawthorn.

i would second that on the poplar front.

Is that the Judean Poplar Front?

Seriously, closeup pictures are helpful. Unlike my Life of Brian reference.

Unfortunately, a lot of it is too short. If you try and turn something from a ring cut from a log, it will develop a radial crack as it dries out fully. To prevent this, bowls etc are turned from pieces cut or cleft along the grain. So the maximum diameter of the bowl is set by the length of the billet, not its diameter.

With this in mind, go through the pile and set aside pieces long enough to turn something worthwhile, which don't have awkward side-branches. The rest will make top-class firewood.

Muslin? That'll catch the air too much. That stuff string vests are made of is much better for her purposes. You'll hardly know you've got wings at all!

A second flush won't ripen in our short summers. In fact, we barely have time to ripen the first. This may be the reason for the unripe state of the figs in the OP, rather than lack of pollination

If you mean 'why are they hollow?' it's to allow pollination to take place. Figs are basically inside-out flowers with the stamens and ovaries facing inwards. The wasps which do the pollination squeeze in through a tiny pore at the butt end. They lay their eggs which hatch into male and female wasps which mate immediately, the females fly off dusted with pollen to other figs and the males die.

So a wild fig which develops into a fruit will have the remains of several dead fig-wasps inside. Yummy! Fortunately, modern cultivated figs are self-fertile and the wasps aren't required.

 

What's the H word?

Carpinus betulifolia!

Seen the TV ads for winter tyres? Just the thing you need for the sort tof winters we've been having! Obviously they want to sell more products, but could part of it be a deliberate attempt at irony?

Only seems to cover tropical woods. I wasn't surprised to find no results for elder, but then I tried apple and finally oak. No results for any of them. Does anyone know of a comparable site for temperate woods?

Frost isn't a problem for hazel, as they flower in January so they expect it.

You say it is 20 years old, but how tall is it? And what is it likely to hit if it falls?

It's not for me.

I don't need a double cab.

I couldn't help but notice that the fancy designer's lamps were obliquely lit from the outside as well, to accentuate the texture of the cleft surfaces. Without this clever angled lighting, the light from the lamps on their own would not make such an impression.

The person who has tried it with a round log is onto something, but shows how important it is to have absolutely crisp edges and a good eye for the slice-to-space ratio. Perhaps some arty lighting would have saved it.

I did a load for a mate once.

 

Forstner works well but its slow compared to a hole saw that only cuts a fraction of the material.

 

Simply drill and pop the plug out

A hole saw would drill right through, then the tea light would fall out of the bottom.

They are not leylandii, some kinda Cypress or other

Uh, leylandii is a kind of cypress.

Had a load of the little scrawny ones in the office again today, and two of these big mothers, apparently they are an invasive Asian wasp!!!!!!

Really??

That is an asian giant hornet, most unlikely to be seen in Norfolk.

The little leaflike bracts behind the buds are most interesting and should be a diagnostic feature.Unfortunately, none of the photos I have of Sorbus, Ulmus, Zelkova or Nothofagus show them. And it's too late at night for me to go rooting through my entire library to settle the matter.

Might be an idea to check the location of services. You don't want to bash a fencepost through the electric cable or water pipe.

Can I put in a plug for the Wall's Feast? Much like a Magnum, but half the price and it has a core of chocolate inside.

The last paragraph in the Japan Times article blew it wide open. Japan feels that globalism is vital to maintaining its supply of commodities, which it cannot produce foritself. Consequently, they fear the outcomeof the Brexit vote,the possible collapse of TPP talks and the possible turning-inwards of American foreign policy.

My personal opinion is that TPP would benefit only big business and not the common man. Less involvement of the US in affairs outside its borders might be a good thing, just so long as we can stop other headstrong nations stepping into the vacancy. In fact, maybe countries should intervene less politically in other countries. Both world wars began as a consequence of countries intervening in each other's political affairs. Now, if Japan and China come to blows over the South China Sea, the US is obliged by treaty to back Japan. The battle lines for WW3 are already being drawn up.

Get rid of it. It's in the wrong place for anything that size, healthy or not. When it's gone you won't believe how much extra light you get in the house.

Poison oak (or poison ivy) has the scientific name Toxicodendron diversifolium. Due to its harmful effects it is unlikely to find its way from its native habitat in North America to the gardens of Britain. The only related species we are likely to encounter is Rhus typhina, the stagshorn sumac. But this looks nothing like poison oak and is harmless, though invasive.

According to Wikipedia, sensitivity is increased by repeated exposure, so jomoco's luck may run out one day. You may get more first-hand accounts by posting on a US-based arborist forum.