campanula

Hmmmm, leaking fuel like a bastard (sort of a relief that it is not just us being crap)....but looks like we are going to have to get it looked at. Mr Camps is very very peeved because I bullied him to get a husky (I always hated our Stihls) so, after we have mopped up the kitchen floor, I guess we are going to have to get onto Arb&Forest.

I can hear roaring downstairs!! Avoiding adding my unwelcome girly input and leaving those alpha types to get on with it.

I emailed Forest &Arb (where it came from) and they got back fairly swiftly. Said we will wait for our arbourist mate and get back to them - so all-in-all, fairly encouraged (despite feeling a bit dumb). For the record, I can strip a sewing machine down to nuts and bolts and do any amount of endless tensioning and fiddling....so I am not really having it that we are complete nitwits....yet.....although we used to have an ancient strimmer which I had to position against my tool box, kneeling on it, holding the throttle halfway on to get going - there was always a lot of sweaty swearing.

We just bought a new Husky(365) and cannot get it started. True, we are novice chainsaw users but have plenty of experience with using power tools in general (Stihl, dammit) so don't think we are at fault. My main worry is that Ernest Doe, our nearest dealers, had the same model at eye-watering prices so we bought one from Winchester tools (or summat, can't lay hands on the paperwork at the mo).online. So, obviously, we don't feel we can just rock up to Does and say help.....or can we? Or do I need to send the bloody thing back to winchester (or Hampshire). Have got our young arbourist chumm coming round this evening so we might just turn out to be clueless arses.....but at £500+, this is a tad discouraging.

fingers crossed matey

1987 back again....if the MET office is to be believed. Currently loitering somewhere in the Atlantic, giant weather system approaching Sunday night/Monday morning. Sounds like plenty of work for you guys - although I am quivering in anxiety, thinking 'bout our horsebox in the (old) poplars.

A number of apple trees go into a biennial bearing mode (the Cox Pippin is notorious for this) where they will have a good year, then a non-fruiting year, in 2 year cycles. Looking at the trees, I think a bit of summer spur pruning would be in order (not hard winter pruning, that will cause water shoots and make the problem worse). In July or thereabouts, the small branches which do not end in a fruiting spur, need trimming back to around 3/4 leaves from the base of the shoot....which will form a fruiting spur for the following year. Spur pruning is a lovely, meditative job (I love to work on cordons or espaliers) and has effective results for a small amount of careful cutting.

Hmmmm, as a member of the general public, I have to say, some of you guys are coming across as a bit.....bitter. I dunno - I am a gardener (and obviously, have areas of overlap with arbourists, without the climbing but plenty of plant knowledge) and many of the same issues occur over and over....but why should I care what the public think. By far the worst issue for me to deal with involves fellow 'gardeners' or, more particularly, cowboys (and girls) without even the most rudimentary knowledge of their craft. BY and large, the general public are vaguely interested but often woefully misinformed...... but those dolts, with their 5 blobs of concrete, ignorant and abusive pruning and desperate plant choices (yep, 'designers', it's you I am talking about)....whose efforts have to be repaired,replaced or abandoned and started over....those are the times when I grind my teeth. Part of the problem lies in the freefloating designation of 'gardener', landscaper' or 'tree surgeon' (yes, I have seen some horrors in your industry too) which definitely affect how many of us are regarded - nothing makes me crosser than being compared to some of the floundering nitwits out there with zero knowledge (I know everyone has to start somewhere but at least read a book) but a massive sense of their own abilities.

OMG MS 150 - gorgeous! That's the ticket, absolutely (salivating already). Thank you so much Dan - have found it on the interweb for around £350 but suspect I can probs get it for a bit less (will have to consider travel and all)....but I would bite into my flower budget to make up the extra.

Oh noes, it's not the muscles (or lack of) - it's the terrifying roaring. Have avoided an angle grinder for same reasons....but I can dig all day and have done my share of landscape labouring for the last decade( altho' feeling a bit creaky now, specially after a night or 2 in the horsebox). Without falling over in hysterical laughter, can you think of a suitable saw which is not a raging beast (must be petrol tho'), which an aged 5foot female (and over-enthusiastic daughter) can use without cutting our arms off. If it comes in around £300, so much the better. Try to put your pro instincts aside but if this is not going to fly, them a really nice Silky should help me to keep up with my share of the work.

We missed out on a small woodland plot at auction when the guide price actually trebled at the auction. I started checking back through past auction results to see how the catalogue and actual prices compared...and found 2 lots which had been at auction for £25,000 but did not make the reserve (£32,000)and had not sold. I contacted the estate agents and eventually bought 5.22 acres in Norfolk for the 32thou. There are several nearby lots which had been sold through Woodlands.co.uk for considerably more money (although they are not woods but 'meadow') so although I don't know how restrictive their covenants and such are, they certainly charge a premium - 5 acres of fairly wet reed and sedge - £42,000! We were looking all over for a year (even ebay) and numerous auctions and avoided going through a land agent. The conveyancing cost another £900 - we considered doing it ourselves but it was a massive amount of money to mess up so we opted for the solicitor. The only covenant is to not split the land into smaller parcels and we have all shooting and mineral rights (not that I am going to be shooting or mining). We have a converted horsebox (and if the bedroom tax continues to be so onerous, we will make a run to the woods). Also, all my children are struggling in a crappy housing market and I would be lying if I said that living in the wood, at least for them. would not be a future option. There is a river just across the water meadow so I guess they could try a houseboat too. It has been the best thing we have ever done (apart from the kids) and we were amazingly lucky to have got a £40,000 inheritance from Mr.Camp's dad - not enough for our own house....but enough for space and a horsebox and mostly, a garden.

How about Pawlonia - faster than hybrid poplars even (I am going to plant a couple because they are so insanely fast)..... Apart from that, I am sowing sweet chestnuts, hazel, some black locust (for the rustic look), laburnum (for the flowers and the turning timber), fruit trees because the wood is lovely and the fruit and blossom is a plus - in short, if you just want firewood, them alder and poplar (not the best but is being upgraded and the yield is high). We concluded that our 5 acres was not big enough to justify growing wood just as a fuel resource and decided to look for other trees for multiple use, including the aesthetics and pleasure of growing (so we have rowans and flowering dogwoods). We are more inclined to grow woodland plants and run a small nursery rather than going solely down the firewood route.

We bit the bullet (thanks, guys) and bought the husky 365....which I know I am never going to use (terrifying). However, the withering comments from my family (although I would take any of 'em on in a grafting knife battle) are more than I can stand....is it at all realistic to look for a small, less fearsome saw which doesn't weigh a ton ......or should I just ignore them and get a new silky instead?

OK, thank you for all the suggestions - we ended up torn between an Echo 420 and the husky 365 and went for the husky because it was just more familiar to us. Please don't tell me we have bought a duffer - we got the 18inch bar to whip through the poplar on our (ahem) plantation. Again, many thanbks for the time and effort you guys have spent educating this fearful nitwit. Cheers, Suzy

OK, getting seriously confused about CS models. Must stress, there will be NO climbing (up the tatty elderly poplars) and any chainsaw work we need is essentially something to fell a 2foot (max) diameter poplar - there are around 200 of them to remove over a few years. More importantly, we need to be able to cut them up for firewood and usable timber and also, a real plus would be to be able to use some jig which will cut planking rather than just across the grain (obviously, it must be clear I am a novice). Power issues less important than safety (I can insist but will fail to prevent my adult daughter from trying it out). We have a top budget of £800 (but am seriously nervous about committing our entire budget - not least because it depletes my garden budget to my £2 stash in an old teapot). Once again, I am truly grateful to you for making the effort to educate this forestry dimwit -although spouse and sons (and daughter) more likely to be doing cutting etc as I am only truly happy with a pair of Felcos (and a sharp Silky at a stretch).

So, based on a long (impassioned) post from TGB, we are probably going for either a Stihl 241 or a Husky 555. Have found a couple on the interweb but am not opting for secondhand because I just don't like buying tools without trying them (so ebay is sort of out). We will probably rock up to Ernest Does (or Wrights) and have a good look and feel and then sneak off home and get online. Any thoughts about either option, bearing in mind we won't be using it daily but we will use it for extensive periods of time (so weight, handling, vibrations and robust quality all count for more than sheer power).

shop around where? Sorry to be a bit dim but generally, we tend to avoid online buys cos we usually want to see (and hold and even try) what we are buying. I did just type in Husquvarna - local stockists - should I be looking elsewhere, then. Usually, we have to buy second-hand (being perpetually skint) but on a decent bit of kit, am prepared to stump up for new especially with a warranty (but again, I could be hopelessly naive and truly appreciate the time and effort you guys are making to educate me). Obvs, we can look anywhere between Cambridge and Norfolk (take the pick-up for a ride) so inspired suggestions always helpful. I did notice a dealership just outside Acle....

Really very glad I posted here before spending our (limited) cash....but I do feel bad for young Chas, our tree surgeon friend, who has just bought the 261. He was employed for a couple of years and has recently been laid off (is this a familiar story in treework, guys because it surely is regarding general hort.). Trying to build up a business from scratch is difficult, scrabbling around hand to mouth, so a bad investment of expensive kit can be crippling (it took us weeks before parting with money for a chipper). We have a reasonably local dealer, Ernest Doe, who stocks huskies (and Stihl) so will trot along there on Saturday. Am trying not to be baffled by the extensive mentions of clutches, sprockets, cranks and such (being deeply non-technical and obviously the last person to England to be unable to either drive, text or manage the most basic digital camera). This is a great forum, by the way - have spent hours perusing fungi and knots!

'The investment was repaid years ago when my youngest asked me if he'd be able to bring his kids there (he's 17 now) ' Absolutely - it seems such a fantastic thing to hand down to our younger ones (having bequeathed them a world of **** in so many directions). We seem to be on the same page, Logrod (I misread that and thought it said 'Longrod'). All my children garden and are capable woodworkers. Rowan, my eldest, has been working in greenwood and they all think we can earn a bit of money to reinvest through plant sales. The river Yare is just across a strip of water meadow and the location is heart-breakingly beautiful. Paddy, our nearby farmer, has been really helpful, offering us barn storage for our chipper and gennie, as well as a mains water source. All-in-all, this is the best thing we have done since having our kids.

Oh, cheers for the advice guys. Training - obviously, we are not idiots but cannot stump up for us all to do a course(4-5 adults) but we are paying a tree surgeon (many years of experience) to come and spend the day in our woods and take us through basic safety issues (not that I am planning to use it - it's strictly Felcos, Silky and my Tina knives for me). Howard, yep, I think gloves are worth having - the whole wood is a bramble patch and I grow briar roses!

Mmmm, yep, that's an appropriately wide range of priorities, Woodyguy. Have to say, I feel ours change on a daily basis (well mine do but other family members are fairly clear (youngest immediately bought gigantic cargo net and is planning insane zip lines - the poplars are tall), while there has been much sharpening of chisels and such, sawhorses, pole-lathes et al (for which I have even less interest than I do in using a chainsaw). I confess to wanting to garden on a heroic scale although obviously, since the whole thing is being grown from seed(the garden budget consists of saved £2 coins in a teapot) it will be slow and stuttering. Nonetheless, 5 acres is 40times larger than our allotments as well as being 60miles from where we live so I will be adapting any gardening to this insane difference of scale. Have managed not to become overwhelmed, planted narcissi, bluebells, foxgloves, wood anemones - it has been helpful to go right through a season mainly just looking and thinking. I also suspect water deer are going to be somewhat problematic (since I hope to grow many wild rose species, and fruit - totally delicious treats for deer. and I do wrestle with the dilemma of native, naturalised or exotic. It is like a last adventure before we get too senile and decrepit....plus there is something quite dementedly epic about growing a whole new wood from tiny seeds to grow throughout our grandchild's life.

Urk, thrown into confusion now. It was recommended by a tree surgeon friend (who has just bought one himself) - so what are the issues (we use Stihl brushcutters and generally like them but chainsaws are new to us)? Swinny, the poplars are between 18-24inch diameter - hybrids (Serotina, I think). I have a longer (rambling) post with a bit more background and, as we lack familarity with chainsaws (although we have used them) - ease and simplicity, as well as toughness, is probably more of a priority than obscure technical niceties.....oh yeah, we also can only stretch to £800 tops (and, although we have trousers, hats, ear defenders, we wanted to get gloves too, so £800 is pushing our budget but.....)

Hello tree people We bought just over 5 acres of neglected poplar wood in Norfolk (we are gardeners and wanted to make a woodland garden, do a bit of green woodwork and have a space for our children and grandchild). The plantation has been neglected since the late 70s and is more or less completely overgrown with bramble, nettle, silene and various umbellifers. We have spent the last year fitting out our horsebox and cutting a couple of rides and several looping paths - mostly using a brushcutter then our not very poky lawnmower. So far, we have cut 2 bisecting rides from through the tree rows (they are planted on 8m centres) and will be looking to start some felling this winter to open a couple of glades (and also, some of the poplar is looking a bit iffy, losing limbs etc. Across the site, there are a few gaps where poplar has fallen, and a couple of dead trees - with elder, hawthorn and a few pedunculate oaks, We have reseeded one of the rides - the canopy is high and light so grass will be fairly simple to establish once we have gotten on top of the bramble. So, we are very ignorant in the use of major plant but would be looking at buying a small tractor (not new, obvs, as we are now officially skint and since part-time jobbing gardeners are not traditionally minted, we are likely to have to do a lot of work by hand and simple drudgery.....which is why I am posting here - to hear advice from those with more experience than us....plus we are not young, fit striplings either. Also, living in social housing (completew with sodding bedroom tax,) we are not averse to the future potential of permanently living in our woods, albeit in a converted horsebox - believe me, that is quite terrifying but the space, the soil......when greedy developers are circling around our allotments and our garden is minute - this was a fabulous use of a small inheritance for our whole family. Van-life (or houseboats) are options which my children are seriously considering, in common with many, so the woodland is, though tiny, something very precious and we want to do the best we can to restore diversity, create a garden and maybe even make some money doing so - at the very least, the nearby villagers (Postwick, Norfolk)will buy firewood or employ us in their gardens. So, thoughts? suggestions? advice? - recieved in gratitude.

looking to buy a chainsaw - have been advised that the Stihl 261 would be good for us. Any suggestions as to where we might get the best deal for this.....or alternative suggestions. We are not tree workers but do own a small poplar plantation which we are hoping to regenerate - hence the chainsaw will not be in daily use but will have to be able to cope with felling and logging around 2-300 poplars.