peds

Yes, it delays it significantly. Not for as long as painting it with creosote or engine oil or whatever other shite people like to spread all over the place, but if you are into growing veg with a minimal impact on the environment, "shou sugi ban" is one of the options available to you. Different people claim different results, but there are bits of wood in Japan that have been around for long enough to make the procedure seem worth the effort. Even if it only brings you, say, six or seven years instead of two or three before the boards rot away, I'd say it's worth it. Now, depending on your reasons for wanting raised beds (I needed them to get above the level of farmyard waste and tractor parts) and how you look after the soil in them, by the time the timbers have rotted away the soil might be of a quality and character that you can just take out the timbers, top up the paths with chip, and switch to simple beds, which are even more on trend right now.

Go on then, what's the story with it up until now... who took off the lower branches since we last saw it?

Yo, Singe the soil contact sides with a blowtorch or, if you've got the time and the gas, both sides. Edit: looks bang on trend too.

There was a video on here not long ago of a hung tree being taken down with two complete sets of felling cuts, one about 80cm above the other and facing the opposite direction, with a rope just below the upper cut, tugging in the direction of the lower cut. Give the rope a tug and the two cuts fold, pulling the tree backwards before it completes the forward flop. Maybe someone can remember what thread it was in and find a link. Looked pretty cool.

I would have thought Plecotus auritus myself on account of the aures grandis, but there is a certain resemblance to Inonotus from some angles I suppose.

Found this wee fella on his own, wedged in a nook in a mauldy ould goat willow earlier today. Definitely keeping this tree now.

Yep, but it shouldn't be thrown about the place with such gay abandon that it drives the pH out of the comfortable range for those fruit trees, rendering more nutrients unavailable. Also, adding too much at once to either your compost system or directly to the earth gums it up horribly, and kills a lot of the soil biota. Adding it to a great quantity of woodchip and ignoring it for two years sounds perfect. Mine goes through the chicken coop with woodchip and straw (to discourage parasites), then composted for about 3 months, before going onto the garden.

No, you absolutely don't. Most vegetables don't prefer alkaline soil, the tolerate it, and some better than others. They generally perform best between 6 and 7. Don't be too trigger happy with the ash if you're already around 6.5.

I second this. Put a doughnut shape of brown cardboard (or don't, no big deal) around the stem, and cover with mushroom compost, seaweed, or aged manure, or at the very least aged woodchip or leaf mold. Take care not to pile the mulch up against the stem. Great job, good to see. Best of luck with it.

That's what's good about this forum, lots of different takes on the situation. Thanks all for the advice. The neighbouring fields are owned by a farmer from whom we just bought a narrow strip of land adjacent to our access lane so we can widen it, part of the deal was to replace the hedge and fencing that we removed so we could get the work done. The ramshackle fencing around the property wasn't touched, but it's in need of repair anyway. I'm grateful for the sheep and donkeys that have been on the property for the last few years, they've kept the weeds down, and I'll be letting them stay on it this year too, until we can start building. It might well be his responsibility, but graveyards are full of people who had right of way. We had the digger clear out his ditches whilst on site too, and I've scattered a bit of rye and clover seed on the few bits of land the digger mashed up. No big deal, and we want to stay friends with the neighbour because I'd like to buy a couple of acres from him in a couple of years time. Anyway, I should have mentioned that all the best trees are already studded with wire and staples, so the damage is done. I wouldn't bother putting wire on any of the hawthorn small enough to lay, just the chunky ash and willows. I did a full check of the border today, it's about 30% that needs replacing, the rest just needs tacking up a bit higher, a few new posts and another strand of barbed on top. Photo is an example of dozens of similar.

Long term I'll be laying what I can, gradually removing the goat willow and replacing with something nicer (except for the ones pressed into service as fenceposts), and planting new hedging from cuttings and air layering over the next few years. A quick fence is needed because the neigbouring sheep are returning in a couple of weeks. Not that bothered about the aestheics of it, and I actually quite like the look of a gnarled old hawthorn growing over the wire attached to it. If any of them do come down eventually, the lower bits of stem with shreds of wire in them are destined to be habitat creation rather than firewood. Sure I'll crack on then, thanks for the advice.

The neighbours are moving back in in a few weeks after spending the winter downvalley, so it needs to be sheep and donkey proof by then. I'll definitely be trying to hedge some of it long term, great idea.

...is obviously a pretty bad idea. But what if I really want to? I've got to fence in three sides of my property, which is bordered by mature trees and the next in line, waiting for their turn. Goat willow, ash, alder, hawthorn, a few birch, every two to four metres, with a few bigger gaps. About 200m in total. Obviously I can plug holes with posts, but having just spent another 200m of fenceposts, I'd rather keep costs down. I do have access to a load of hazel sticks. Could someone tell me exactly why I'd be a fecking eejit for considering it. I'm not short of firewood, and I'm happy to cut around the staples anyway if they ever need to come down.

Given the choice, I use fresh as possible for paths, and aged for mulching beds and trees. But it's no big deal, fresh chips turn into aged if you just wait a while, and any nitrogen theft can be mitigated by feeding the soil with nettle tea. Conifer and beech chips are great for mulching fruit bushes, particularly blueberries, to keep the soil acidic.

Three (or more) large rocks, one at each end on one side and a third in the middle on the other side. Won't rot away like driven fenceposts, the right kind of rock looks lovely, and it adds another feature and potential habitat from a biodiversity point of view.

Please see other posts about my aversion to unnecessary burning due to being a smelly hippy. Anyway, I hired in a proper chipper for the day. Still got my pocket chipper on call, but I'd have been there for weeks clearing everything, especially after the excavator dragged my neat rows of lined-up butt ends into a few tall heaps. Money well spent.

Physics and safety aside, don't forget that you get a cooler photo for your social media presence if you leave a nice fat top above your anchor, and launch it away from you when it breaks free as you snip it. This is assuming your groundie can get a decent camera angle and doesn't have fat fingers.

If it takes a month to work... just cut the stem and walk away, put the poison back in the drawer, and do your local ecosystem a huge favour.

I understand... that's very helpful. Thanks. The whole fence is in line with the new lane so that could easily be a solution.

We've got a digger on site doing drains and a new lane right now, he's tapping in all posts on his last trip down the lane to the road. But yeah, I've got shoveholers as well, and a few other tools. I know a few folk with livestock, and I was planting forestry a while back with a pair of lads who do fencing, so I'm sure I can borrow some tensioners from somewhere. Interesting to hear your opinion on barbed wire at ground level, I suppose fencing is like beekeeping... ask 10 beekeepers for advice and you'll get 11 different opinions. If I end up doing a shit job I'll get my two fencing friends to have a go, and they'd probably toss it out in an afternoon, but at the moment I've got more time than money and it's a skill I'd like to learn.

Roger that, all understood. Barbed wire on the ground instead of straight? I guess that'll stop even the most determined of wee beasties trying to tunnel out. I've already got loads, that'll actually be cheaper than buying a roll of straight. I'll find a tensioner from somewhere then. Cheers.

If anyone wants to take a break from the pointless needling in this thread, I'd be grateful for any advice to a first-time fencer. I'm doing 150m for my neighbour next week, with a couple of gates, one in the middle, one at an end. I've just read about diagonal struts, they seem simple enough to do. Will I need to borrow a tensioner for this distance, or will I manage it by hand? I'm thinking it'll be a strand of plain wire just above ground level (or not), 5 strand sheep wire, then two strands of barbed wire. Any dos or don'ts are much appreciated.

If you are in no major hurry, just cut the stem and walk away. Wait a month, then pull it down. If you need it done now, then cut the stem a month ago. Using chemical is pointless, but I would say that because I'm a smelly hippy.

In other news... I have 20-odd blackcurrant and redcurrant cuttings taken last year just about to wake up. This morning I fed the overwintering things in the tunnel with a splash of seaweed and nettle tea, seeing as we've got about a week of good weather predicted for here I figure they'll make the most of it. I have garlic, leeks, chard, salads and a few oriental leaves, and a patch of 3-cornered garlic.

Don't worry, they've got enough going on in their lives. They had the run of the vegetable garden for the winter until a few weeks ago, and as well as everything in their run, they have a few dedicated chard, spinach, and brassica plants to themselves, and they get everything that is manky, bolted or otherwise finished. Plus any weeds and slugs. (Their run covers 3 sides of this little polytunnel too, so they are on constant slug patrol for me, which is very kind of them.)