campanula

I apologise for arriving out of thin air to beg for advice....but anyway....... We have a little wood, well, a neglected plantation, really, of not terribly exciting poplar. Nonetheless, this is what we have so we must make use of it....so are looking to set up a little Alaskan mill kit. We have a 565 Husky and would like to be able to mill usable planking. However, this is all a bit new to us (we are gardeners by trade) so need some suggestions. What sort of set-up....and roughly how much will it cost,( bearing in mind what jobbing gardeners earn, we are looking for the budget option rather than de-luxe....so nothing new there)..... We kind of hope we can get summat doable for around 4-500 squid? What things are optional and what are essential?

David, I would be thrilled to see a yew hedge cut back to this - there is still structure and plenty of separation between the still limber branches - absolutely fine cutting.......and nothing remotely like the tragedy I have been looking at. Until pics, imagine, if you will, a huge upright column of trunk, lopped cleanly off at the precise point of initial branching leaving a monolith of lonely wooden column. Trying hard to suppress smirking (as said brief has got me out of a sticky spot on a couple of occasions).

Massive ranting and venting ahead....... Hey, lets run this crap economy on the back of a housing bubble! Worked once (for some) so lets chance our arm and try the same con trick again. Frankly, I find the smugness of those who are able to afford property to be quite appalling. All of my 3 children work extremely hard yet none of them have a rat's chance in Cambridge and with no social housing (which I live in) and a completely skewed market economy, the whole issue of housing, allied with energy issues, will, I fervently hope, hasten some radical political thinking instead of the disgustingly exclusive neo-liberal bollocks which is presently undermining a whole generation. On you go, Alex (we have a live-in vehicle too and now I am being hammered by the bedroom tax) and yep, it is going in my woodland.....where, one way or another, I will be making every effort to provide some security for my children and grandchildren regardless of nimbies (who often erroneously imagine they will never be in the position of being homeless themselves) and the pathetic little Westminster enclave of the priveledged. And you can absolutely guarantee any building I undertake will not be remotely like the tragic 'boutique apartments' and 'student accommodation infesting Cambridge for a bargain £200,000 (for a BEDSIT!)

mmmm, our log basket was buzzing after cutting our poplar (yeah, I know but it is what we have) leading me to worry our woodburner was about to combust (we are stove novices). Nowhere to hide in a tiny horsebox (wasp terror) - had to snivel in the cold till newspaper was wafted about.

Oh, I will, I will. Yep, a shafting is, I think, in the post.

These are not 20 year old striplings - they are (were) 24-30in diameter and around 18m high (although this is an estimate and could be a bit less, but tall, anyway) and at least 100 years old. Never had any work as far as I can see (festooned with ancient honeysuckle, gnarly, almost elm-like in silhouette). I don't think I am fully conveying just how dreadful these massive trunks with completely flat tops look - there is no branching nor any shred of green growth whatsoever, - my eye actually failed to recognise it as a tree and scittered past. I am going to have to have another long talk with my customer cos it is beginning to seem like he was quite complicit in this tree fiasco and was actually more concerned about the screaming evidence of his misbehaviour right on the front of the house than he was about the actual demise of the tree (although he did at least come to his senses and stop them having another 2 down). I certainly had wondered at his obvious misery and newly expressed love of trees, joining me in grief, but all is coming horribly clear to me. Sheesh - the public. Don't ya just love them?

nooooo, this gets worse and worse (as a few of you have already sniffed out) - there is no paperwork because there has been no application from what now appears to be complete cowboys. My customer is a solicitor ffs! And as far as I can see now, he is the custodian with a duty of care to 2 yews under a TPO and has utterly failed in that duty. Big fines on the way.....but worse, he has just bought this listed building.........18C and I am almost sure his 'builder' is from the same stock of utter amateurs. What to say - crazed idiots all round!

OK, I will suggest the well known method of 'averting ones eyes', much used on my allotment. For sure, I know how tenacious yew is but nonetheless, seeing such a characterful tree cut down to a single hefty trunk just looks.....wrong. I am anthromorphising but it just looks so helpless and vulnerable and I am really struggling to visualise how it can ever regain the grace and balance of a mature yew. So yeah, tell me again that it will not just grow back but not look totally ridiculous while doing so cos I have to convince my customer here (although I fail to see why he is not getting irate with the arbourists and strongly feel there are some chauvinistic forces in play which have inclined him defer to burly blokes with big saws while whining onto me - an aged female with mere secateurs.....

Thinking about the regenerative properties of yew, I am wondering if it would be better to reduce the trunk even more to create a densely shrubby silhouette rather than a ludicrous lollipop.

I should state that there is NO greenery left at all apart from a few low laterals at the very base. I simply cannot envisage how the tree can recover from only a single 24inch diameter trunk without looking ridiculous for decades

My customer went through the council for permission to pollard these yews - he was actually reticent to do much at all but was 'advised' by the arbourists that pollarding was the way to go (we would have merely cleaned out the honeysuckle and raised the crown slightly to let in more light but, not being tree surgeons, we didn't volunteer). For a savvy solicitor, he is being a bit shocked and useless at the moment and putting it down as a learning experience). I am suggesting a fast disguise with a scrambling himalayan musk rose or one of the sempervirens ramblers, but am more worried by the completely flat and wide top of the main trunk - which is really all that's left. I have no idea how this will go down when the council sees these trees (as my customer is disheartened enough to request complete removal now).

OK, I am just a gardener and only have tree experience as a ground pruner and fruit worker but I walked into a customers garden today and almost burst into tears. 2 enormous and venerable yews, under TPOs have been 'pollarded'.....but like nothing I have ever seen. Essentially, they have been chopped off, completely flat, at the point of initial branching leaving 10foot trunks. I was too speechless to even take a photo but surely, this cannot be right. Every instinct screams murder - not even bothering to slant the cuts to avoid water collection - these are never coming back as decent trees. What to do? My customer is also horrified at the gung-ho destruction of 200 year old yews and, against my advice, has paid up (to some insane effing cowboys who do not deserve to call themselves arbourists in their wildest dreams!).

Yep, those insole things are the ticket (Cos I think there might be laundry issues with the socks) - a rechargeable battery is a must too. I often have to wear wellies and they are an absolute swine to stay warm....and steelies are bad too. It is game over for me once my feet turn into white corpse slabs...and that's when I am likely to cock up too cos all I can think about are my poor feet. Always takes a month or so to get acclimatised to winter because I am still in denial and haven't broken out the base layers yet.

try not to snicker - I need some electric insoles because I swear, this is the last winter I intend to spend snivelling in pain with chilblains and miserable cold feet. Has anyone tried these...or can recommend any, including where to buy. I don't need to hear about these boots or those socks cos I have tried 'em all including sheepskin and microwave gel thingies....and now want summat hard core Mmm, I realise how rough and tough you all probably are but years of wearing giant boots with numerous socks are, I hope, a thing of the past....and since I don't care how silly these might look, or the ridiculousness of wires creeping up my thermals - I just want a winter of toasty feet

Noooo, stop it - the bloody saw was started outside (once.....and it never went into idling along - had to keep giving it constant throttle). Chas and Reubs just took it in to have a good look at it in the kitchen.....and there was fuel coming out, everywhere. I repeat, this is not just because we flooded the engine - I do that all the time with one of the mowers - there is something broken. Am waiting, right now, to speak to the guy who passed it at A&F.

Yeah, well I thought so too, gardenkit....which was why I asked initially and was reluctant to take it to Does. I am not doing any more fiddling because there is no doubt that there is something horribly wrong - and nothing to do with any misuse on our part. Also, to be fair, A&F responded promptly to an e.mail and I certainly expect them to put this matter right since I could be convinced that I might be at fault somehow, for seeking a bargain, but feel completely blameless for the utter failure of this saw.

ah, am forgetting my manners - thank you - all those helpful and encouraging responses. This really is a very good forum (loving the fungi).

um, we are not at all keen to do any more mucking about - it is obviously brand new and will be under warranty but as soon as we start dismantling this and that, there is every chance our warranty will be voided. We don't actually need it for a couple of weeks (waiting for leaf drop on the poplars) so it can go to our local dealers or back to A&F.

and nope, they did start it(or not) outside, the kitchen floor mess was from the dismantling - what a fiasco.

Nah - its going back - there is fuel coming out everywhere(even bubbling out of decompression switch), and its not clean either. Think that either some necessary grommet is missing or there is a crack somewhere. Complete disaster (obvs, we tried the throttle business cos I had a really crappy old McCulloch which I had to hold the throttle on while starting)....and it was just about doable with the husky. Outside the house looks like a garage forecourt.....but at least we are not exposed as total amateurs (much). Will ring Andy at A&F tomorrow. Have my work cut out persuading Mr Camps to stick with same model but it was a dispiriting experience all round.

OK, waiting 15minutes, nervously eating biscuits.

No, I got it from Arb &Forest who sponsor Arbtalk, amongst others, and it is not some cheapo knockoff (unlike a couple of our mowers). Not that £511 is cheap either (well not for a jobbing gardener). Knack....or lack of it, doesn't seem to be an issue since I can hear dire mutterings from Chas (outside).

really hoping to avoid the patronising remarks from Does (although I have offered to take it in to save Mr Camps manhood being impugned).

Yep, for sure it was flooded but we were really reluctant to fiddle around in case we voided the warranty. I have been sent out and told my (ahem) suggestions are not useful (if in doubt, bash it about - the usual northern method of fixing things).

Aah, the whole house reeks of petrol but Chas/Henry, our young mate, seems to know what he is doing, waffling on about the 'oiler' whilst I am busying myself making tea.