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spandit

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Everything posted by spandit

  1. I'd take them if you could drop them onto a suitable habitat pile
  2. Very kind, thank you! You're not far away either... Can always plant more hedges
  3. Fair point but they were free and better to try rather than let them go to waste
  4. A good friend of mine has a load of little hornbeam coming up in his garden, which isn't huge. It's one of my favourite trees so we uprooted a dozen or so this morning for me to plant here. The largest was about 2cm in diameter and about 2m tall, maybe a bit more. I'm hoping they'll all take but wondered if anyone had done a study to see if trees transplant better if they're replanted facing the same way they were dug up? Too late for mine, it was an idle musing as I had nearly finished planting them all, but I wonder if trees are confused to find that suddenly they're the other way around? On that note too, if a tree is leaning due to light from one direction, I wonder if digging it up and turning it around would straighten things?
  5. Just jab the willow into the ground - if it's cut at an angle it'll go in and they're such voracious rooters - mine grow roots all the way along if you just leave them on damp ground for too long. Any time from now should do but I generally wait for a bit longer to make sure they're properly dormant
  6. Try leaving your hands out in the rain for 6 months
  7. Doesn't matter how viscous it is if it's water soluble. Anyway, let's not argue about it. Wood needs to be dry to burn and dry wood will burn.
  8. If the resin was being washed away then it wouldn't accumulate below. Yes, it's seasoning on the rare days it doesn't rain. It's mainly because I lack the space to put it all inside straight away
  9. I think it washes some of the resin out. Might be wrong.
  10. I get almost unlimited amounts of leylandii given to me (from being a registered tip site on here). It's not what I'd choose, but beggars can't be choosers and it kicks out a lot of heat. The branches are really dense. It's best left out in the rain for a year or so before seasoning in the dry - when it's bleached and/or grey, it's great fuel
  11. When you hang the washing out does it dry? Like washing, logs need airflow and heat to dry, the former more than the latter, I think.
  12. Laurel is good - grows quick, quite dense, although there is cyanide to contend with. Leylandii is also good, although I prefer to season it for 2 years otherwise it can be a bit resinous. It's fairly rot resistant too, so if the logs get wet whilst seasoning, they're generally OK. Any wood will burn once dry, they just dry at different rates. That said, I wouldn't bother with horse chestnut again as it goes incredibly light and doesn't give you much return for the effort.
  13. Dry willow burns as well as any other dry wood. I find it dries quickly too - probably because the tubes full of water that make it up are larger diameter than, say, oak. Burns quite quick but certainly wouldn't dismiss it like that. I use it for cooking on. Haven't bought charcoal for years. Gives a nice flavour to the meat.
  14. You'll probably find that splits at the fork - it's one of the ways they propagate (the fallen branch touches the ground and takes root) but mine will, in a good year, put on about 12 feet of growth. The pieces are broomhandle thickness and great for firepits or outdoor cooking (once dry)
  15. Oh, I'll have a look - didn't see an obvious way to lock it so I can get some torque on it
  16. Looking at the head of mine (Castor Power 26), it has a c.20mm square drive to the back of the bump head - haven't seen blades that will fit this, unless there's an adaptor out there
  17. I haven't tried that but don't think it would make it cut through clumps of sedge. It's not breaking the line, just shrugging it off. I bought a Jet Fit head for my smaller strimmer but since inheriting the bigger, straight shaft one, I haven't used it Anyone used the swing type blades? 6 Teeth Blade Trimmer Cutter Head Tool Steel Grass Lawn Mower Garden Strimmer UK WWW.EBAY.CO.UK Shape: 6 Teeth. Ice Cube Mold. Material: Manganese Steel. Height: Approx. Product Information. Sofa Cover...
  18. Do these blades fit most strimmers? I have one with a bump head and it's pretty good but I never get to bump it as tend to hit something that just snaps the line off (and it's fairly thick c.4mm stuff). Got a ditch full of pendulous sedge and although the top leaves are no match, where they get clumpy, the plastic line does little
  19. Personally, I'm thrilled as it means I can ditch the L-plates and tow the small trailer (c.1 tonne) behind the Hilux without "supervision" from my wife who passed her test a few months before I did in 1996. Can't believe the no reversing HGV test, though, that seems a bit foolish.
  20. My robinia trees are about 7 years old and mostly doing quite well but I've never had any flowers from them. Is this because they're not old enough? I also have some sea buckthorn that has never produced berries. I notice my almond is bare of fruit this year...
  21. Lit mine yesterday just to cheer things up a bit. Crazy weather.
  22. I lit mine this morning. Cheers the room up and helps dries the dogs. We have to have the windows open to lessen the smell from my elderly incontinent father's room 🤢 and it's bloody cold
  23. I didn't in the end. Realised that I actually like the gorse - it's a good barrier, evergreen, flowers all year round and after cutting it back, it's growing bushier. This is on the top bank of my pond, South facing. Petals are browning off a bit but the foliage is still green. Despite the council's assertions, natural regen seems to be my preferred route - plenty of birch, oak and willow coming up, with the occasional alder (spread from trees I planted, as there were none here when we moved in). All good for wildlife, as far as I can see. I have plenty of habitat piles around too, although the mother-in-law would rather I just burn it all and have the grass clipped to look like Astroturf.
  24. My gorse is looking pretty splendid around my pond - it's all naturally regenerated and providing good dog-proof cover so hoping some of the wildlife the pond attracts will actually stay. It has been really cold and wet this year so far but it's pretty tough stuff so should bounce back, I hope

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