sandspider

I've got one that looks just like that over my drive. I was hoping it would thicken up, but not so far- and other ash in the area have. I fear it'll have to come down, but hopefully not for a while...

I notice that my (4 stroke) lawnmower seems to lose fuel in a hot shed, unless I close the fuel feed before I leave it. I assume as it gets hot and pressure rises it leaks out of the carb somehow? Shed certainly smells of petrol.

Lots of stick insects to feed?!

Could be I suppose, but woodland / gardens on most sides, nearest agricultural field must be a mile or more away, and behind trees at that. We have lichens and things growing, so the air can't be too bad!

Hi all Still looking for processed / unprocessed / part seasoned wood? Cheers.

It does look similar. My eucalyptus saplings got a bit of frost burn too, but I thought larger and more native sweet chestnut would do better. It's also in a slightly more sheltered area and the leaves came out much later. Fingers crossed all our plants recover in sustained warmth!

Hi Chessa Thanks for the reply. Yes, my best guess at the moment is frost burn, though these trees should be UK hardy (perhaps when they're older). Fingers crossed they'll bounce back. I suppose that cold winds & frosts when the leaf buds are out could impair the leaves later? But they seemed to develop as normal then go crispy rather than forming in a damaged state... I've got two stretches of SC, one protected with the plastic woven fabric you can see, and one without - these trees originally had a cardboard mulch. The one without plastic has the leaf browning too, so I don't think the plastic is blocking water from getting to the roots. (Though I don't think it lets as much water through as the manufacturers claim - I did wonder if this might be a problem). Both sets of trees are from a tree nursery, yes. But planted in two batches in different years.

Not scientific, but I season some wood outside and some in a (well ventilated - side vents open, one door fully open, one door open a bit) polytunnel. The wood in the polytunnel seems to dry much faster. Silver birch that I put in the polytunnel in October or November was around 14% by March - much dryer than the seasoned logs at 25% plus I was buying in.

Hi all As above really. See photos - the leaves on my sweet chestnuts are dieing at the ends, drying up and curling. I can't see any lesions or cankers on the bark so I don't think it's SC blight or Phyopthora. Could it be just frost nip / wind burn? It hasn't been that cold here recently, but it was quite chill a month or so ago (before the trees were in leaf), but the trees only seem to be showing these signs now. I planted one set of these saplings in Feb 2017, and the other set in Feb 2018. Both sets seem to be affected. Any thoughts? Is it just a matter of leaving them to it and seeing if they perk up? They do seem to be producing new leaflets but some of the new leaflets are browning too... Thanks.

I use walnut oil on my chopping boards on a regular-ish basis. Darkens the wood slightly and seems to work well. Unless you have a nut allergy!

I think there's a least one person on here who bought one direct from Poland. I also think the gist is they work well, but the product isn't that saleable apart from for charcoal making, chimineas... Sure someone more knowledgeable will be along.

Thanks. Even the woodland track style would be an improvement over my current drive!

Better than my drive, that! Out of interest, can I ask what sort of cost per metre are we looking at? (For something that will support a reasonable amount of car and van traffic...) Thanks.

Hi Steve Any news on this? Is the patch installed? I still don't get individual topic notification emails, but do seem to get more in the daily digests now. Anyone else having trouble with gmail addresses? Thank you.

Nice work. How long did that take?

Not scientific, but my neighbour has 5 or 6 chickens, and they roam our garden (and the neighbours) on a regular basis. When they start scratching at an area, they like to keep scratching at it. They tend to target moss rather than healthy grass, which I don't mind. Also mole hill soil and other areas of disturbance / easy scratching. I've not seen them targeting any of my bulbs / roots / underground plant bits, but I don't have bluebells specifically. I'd guess they're roaming over an area of a couple of acres, and apart from the odd patch they've grown attached to, there's not much sign of them being there. When the grass starts to grow again and the soil dries out I hope the new vegetation will cover their scratch patches and they'll target new areas. They do lay delicious eggs!

Like that, my sort of table!

Hopefully...

Thanks, but I've tried boiled linseed on outdoor wood before and never found it last very long. Would prefer something that requires fewer applications and lasts well!

Thanks HK, will look into those.

I don't know at all, I'm guessing! Hence asking here. Someone suggested frost or wind chill, but the tip leaves on the plants which aren't fully brown look to be healthy and green, new leaves growing etc. The seed supplier said they're fully cold hardy (though Ben makes a good point above), I'll get back in touch and ask their advice. Could be two different problems affecting the two different species I suppose...

Just to add to this - some of my eucalyptus seems to be suffering from wind burn / frost nip. Browning of the leaves. Hopefully not terminal, but not looking great at the moment. Something to bear in mind, as the varieties I planted (E. nitens and E. neglecta) are all supposed to be hardy to -15C or lower, and it hasn't been that cold. Also, I'm in a valley, so I don't think it's been that windy!

Hi all As above really. I've got a shed and some decking that I'd like to coat with something this summer to keep them going. Shed is fairly old and the wood is dry, so I'll just sand it back and brush something on it. Osmo stuff? Or is that really paying for the name? I don't mind paying a bit more if it'll last longer, but not if it won't! Ducksback? Rustins? Think I've got some creocote somewhere, but IIRC it's watery and rubbish. It needs to look reasonably nice so real creosote is out! Might also have some 5 star anti woodworm stuff, but imagine this is more to kill beasties than to protect the wood? It's the latter I need. Second task is some aged decking, wet and mossy, bit rotten in places. Once it's dry I'll give it a scrub and brush something on it. I'd like it to last a few more years if possible and I don't want to have to dismantle it to patch it up before I have to! Decking oil? Or are there better things these days? (Anti algae would be nice as the decking gets soggy in November ish and stays soggy until March). Chances are I won't have much time for really good prep work, so something that doesn't require really good preparation would help... Thanks for any thoughts.

Your oil bills must have been horrendous! Our house is 5 bed and old, but 24k would keep us in oil for 20 years or more, and I don't grow enough wood of my own yet to feed a boiler. Even the wood burners can get through a fair amount.

How much wood do you get through a year? I'd consider a biomass plant of some sort (we currently have two wood burners), but the cost and complexity to install makes the wood burners a lot easier and cheaper in the short term at least.