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Source: (consider it) Thread: Green Shoots: gardening thread, 2013
Firenze

Ordinary decent pagan
# 619

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Lifted all the potatoes last week - about 40lbs. A hot, dry summer seems to give you a lot of small tubers - now and again I would come on a large one, presumably the product of The Day It Rained. They are mostly King Edwards, but quite excessively floury.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001  |  IP: Logged
Sparrow
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# 2458

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I've had my best tomato year ever. Maybe because I took more care of them this year, feeding and watering twice a day during the hot spell. They are in fairly small pots so needed constant care. I have had around 12 lb from six plants.

I have picked most of them while still green because I mainly grow them for a friend who makes delicious green tomato pickle to sell for our church!

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For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life,nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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Roseofsharon
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# 9657

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My garden is very confused.
In the last couple of days, whilst out harvesting giant courgettes and basketsful of beans I have been admiring my speedily ripening pumpkins, and new buds and flowers on the ceanothus and clematis montana [Confused]

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Talk about books -any books- on our rejuvenatedforum http://www.bookgrouponline.com/index.php?

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Chamois
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# 16204

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My rhubarb looks very unhappy. The old leaves have fallen off, new leaves are sprouting but they are wrinkled and turning brown before they reach full size. Does anyone here know what could be wrong?

I've never had trouble with rhubarb before. I hope the plant is going to be OK.

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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases

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no prophet's flag is set so...

Proceed to see sea
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Garden is done. Two nights ago was our first hard frost, -3°C, and we took all the carrots, beets and potatoes out today. Dear little things in our 100 days of no frost. The leaves are falling, snow will be anytime. Which is good for other things, but not for the outdoor garden.

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Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
\_(ツ)_/

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jacobsen

seeker
# 14998

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I've just watched Martha Stewart's video on making hypertufa pots. Martha Stewart Has anyone tried this, and what was the result?

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But God, holding a candle, looks for all who wander, all who search. - Shifra Alon
Beauty fades, dumb is forever-Judge Judy
The man who made time, made plenty.

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jedijudy

Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333

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I picked the last two grapes on my vine yesterday. The flavor is heavenly! It's a muscadine (Ison) grape, and the flavor is similar to a concord grape, but without the bitterness, and a little sweeter, too.

I'm hoping with some TLC, I'll have a few more dozen of the scrumptious fruits next year.

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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.

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jacobsen

seeker
# 14998

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Well, I couldn't find peat moss in my local B&Q so I used ordinary compost which did contain some peat, bought a bag of perlite, and used quick drying cement powder left over from making the hole for my rotary drier. The internet instructions did say to play around with the recipe! Today the 48 hours initial curing time is up, and it's time to remove the pot from its mould (a plastic mixing bowl) and see if it is a pot or just a heap of crumbles. if nothing else, the process recaptured the pleasure associated with working with plasticene.

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But God, holding a candle, looks for all who wander, all who search. - Shifra Alon
Beauty fades, dumb is forever-Judge Judy
The man who made time, made plenty.

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Firenze

Ordinary decent pagan
# 619

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Is that the thing where you rub the end product with yoghurt or some such, to encourage lichen growth?
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jacobsen

seeker
# 14998

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I believe so. Will try to separate pot from bowl this evening. Lichen would be good, as would any kind of moss.

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But God, holding a candle, looks for all who wander, all who search. - Shifra Alon
Beauty fades, dumb is forever-Judge Judy
The man who made time, made plenty.

Posts: 8040 | From: Ębleskiver country | Registered: Aug 2009  |  IP: Logged
jacobsen

seeker
# 14998

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Well, the bowl came away from the mould in one piece, though very wet. No wonder it will take another two weeks for it to dry out. I'll post again. Fingers crossed that it doesn't crumble to its constituent parts.

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But God, holding a candle, looks for all who wander, all who search. - Shifra Alon
Beauty fades, dumb is forever-Judge Judy
The man who made time, made plenty.

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Ariel
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# 58

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A must for anyone short of growing space.
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jacobsen

seeker
# 14998

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Mowed back and front lawns (courtesy titles for weed patches), planted the pots with spring bulbs and winter pansies, and cleared a out the flower bed below my living room window. It now sports three Japanese anemones. they were looking rather discouraged, having spent too long in their pots, the last week or so unwatered. But after planting and generous watering they began to perk up. Apparently they are invasive I hope so! May they do battle with the bindweed and keep it at bay. [Mad]

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But God, holding a candle, looks for all who wander, all who search. - Shifra Alon
Beauty fades, dumb is forever-Judge Judy
The man who made time, made plenty.

Posts: 8040 | From: Ębleskiver country | Registered: Aug 2009  |  IP: Logged
jacobsen

seeker
# 14998

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And they look like this

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But God, holding a candle, looks for all who wander, all who search. - Shifra Alon
Beauty fades, dumb is forever-Judge Judy
The man who made time, made plenty.

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Firenze

Ordinary decent pagan
# 619

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quote:
Originally posted by jacobsen:
Apparently they are invasive I hope so! May they do battle with the bindweed and keep it at bay. [Mad]

Even with a nuclear arsenal I'm not sure that's possible. (Spent some of yesterday yanking great ropes of the stuff off every other plant in the border).
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Adrienne
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A question please for all you proper gardeners, (the which I am not, having only grown a bit of veg in the past). For the first time ever this summer I managed a couple of decent hanging baskets and pots that actually survived and looked nice. So flushed with success I want to plant something in them that will look reasonable through the winter. I don't mind if it's mainly green, and the pots could have bulbs for spring in I suppose. I have a very limited budget, but they cheered me up so much this year just being there, I don't really want to leave them bare. Any suggestions would be very welcome! [Smile]
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Firenze

Ordinary decent pagan
# 619

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According to the RHS...

Variegated ivy would be a nice element year round I would think.

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daisydaisy
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# 12167

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quote:
Originally posted by jacobsen:
?...It now sports three Japanese anemones.... Apparently they are invasive I hope so! May they do battle with the bindweed and keep it at bay. [Mad]

I suspect they will join forces with bindweed. I hope you like Japanese Anemones because once they get going you've got them for life. I guess on the plus side, if you've got the tall ones it gives the bindweed to climb up. In my current garden they are one of my regrets, along with ivy and passion vine, all lovely but not when there is limited space. All of these smother the other plants that I optimistically put in.
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jacobsen

seeker
# 14998

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I got them because they looked so good in other people's gardens. In fact, this particular flowerbed is about 18 inches deep front to back, which is the house front, and bordered along its length by a concrete path, so unless the plants burrow like bindweed, they should be held reasonably in check. If they are a weed, they're a very pretty weed.

@ Adrienne - bulbs below and winter pansies above work very well in pots.

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But God, holding a candle, looks for all who wander, all who search. - Shifra Alon
Beauty fades, dumb is forever-Judge Judy
The man who made time, made plenty.

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Roseofsharon
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# 9657

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quote:
Originally posted by daisydaisy:
I suspect they will join forces with bindweed. I hope you like Japanese Anemones because once they get going you've got them for life. I guess on the plus side, if you've got the tall ones it gives the bindweed to climb up.

That is my experience - I am currently doing half-hearted battle with an entire bed of bindweed-swathed, pink "September Charm" that is trying to expand into the lawn. I originally struggled for a couple of seasons just to get it established in one corner. [Roll Eyes]
It does depend on variety - I have a very well-behaved clump of the white "Honorine Jobert" in another part of the garden.

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Talk about books -any books- on our rejuvenatedforum http://www.bookgrouponline.com/index.php?

Posts: 3060 | From: Sussex By The Sea | Registered: Jun 2005  |  IP: Logged
L'organist
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# 17338

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I inherited a garden which boasts the following:

5 types of ivy
mombretia *
day lilies *
everlasting alstromeria *
bindweed
ground elder
wild strawberry
* - ALL with orange flowers

The ivy I've more or less managed to get rid of.

Digging out the day lilies and mombretia is a never-ending task: you can sieve a bed for any remaining pieces and get nothing but still it comes up in the spring; same problem with the alstromeria.

Bindweed and ground elder - its a war ...

The strawberries can, at least, be eaten, but they've managed to spread all over the garden and its getting beyond a joke.

On the other hand, all the "guaranteed" to grow and spread plants that I've had over the years - aquilegia, Japanese anenome, lupins, alchemela molis - have failed despite several attempts. And bulbs just seem to vanish.

I'm getting a bit disheartened

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Rara temporum felicitate ubi sentire quae velis et quae sentias dicere licet

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jacobsen

seeker
# 14998

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Tomorrow the two weeks is up, and I see if my home made garden pot hangs together or not.... [Ultra confused]

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But God, holding a candle, looks for all who wander, all who search. - Shifra Alon
Beauty fades, dumb is forever-Judge Judy
The man who made time, made plenty.

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LutheranChik
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# 9826

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I can't believe that I was able to harvest a final crop of snap beans -- enough for a couple of meals -- from my garden LAST WEEK. That's amazing for Michigan. (Climate change is real.) What is even more amazing is that, despite our not getting our fence up this year for various reasons, the deer left the garden alone. (Bean leaves are a particular favorite of theirs too.)

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Simul iustus et peccator
http://www.lutheranchiklworddiary.blogspot.com

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Chamois
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# 16204

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Originally posted by L'organist:
quote:
I'm getting a bit disheartened
Isn't it odd how gardens have a mind of their own? Like the Rum-Tum-Tugger "They will do as they do do, and there's no doing anything about it". Well, not quite. IME you can do SOMETHING about it but not as much as you might like.

My last garden would NOT grow violets, violas or pansies. Everyone told me they grow everywhere - not in that garden they didn't. In my current garden they grow like weeds. But my current garden WON'T grow lily of the valley.

As a not-too-serious recreational gardener I now try to relax and go with the flow. The trick is to find out what the garden likes to grow that you can also live with (and preferably like). There are always possibilities but it takes some trial and error and peering over fences to see what the neighbours grow.

Good luck with the bindweed and ground elder. I have bindweed persistently creeping in from the uncultivated wilderness garden next door........ [Frown]

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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases

Posts: 978 | From: Hill of roses | Registered: Feb 2011  |  IP: Logged
jacobsen

seeker
# 14998

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Woe, woe, the pot crumbled. Wrong compost? wrong cement? must try harder, and this time with the right ingredients.... [Waterworks]

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But God, holding a candle, looks for all who wander, all who search. - Shifra Alon
Beauty fades, dumb is forever-Judge Judy
The man who made time, made plenty.

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Chamois
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# 16204

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Harvested my potatoes. Quite a good crop, and not much pest damage.

Time to start the Big Dig!

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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases

Posts: 978 | From: Hill of roses | Registered: Feb 2011  |  IP: Logged
St. Gwladys
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# 14504

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Can anyone give me some advice about chillies/ Some months ago I bought a plant for a friend who was off work. The plant was lovely, has fruit on it which are turning orange-red, and he's back in work. I was going to give him the plant this week, but the leaves suddenly started to droop and fall off. Can anyone suggest how I might resuirrect this plant?

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"I say - are you a matelot?"
"Careful what you say sir, we're on board ship here"
From "New York Girls", Steeleye Span, Commoners Crown (Voiced by Peter Sellers)

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Firenze

Ordinary decent pagan
# 619

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Chillis are annual, are they not? Having fruited, it's maybe Mission Accomplished and time to die?
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the famous rachel
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I have, with great excitement, planted a couple of rows of Broad Bean Aquadulce Claudia this month, hoping for an early crop. I'm not sure if I'm going to need to fleece the seedlings or get cloches, or whether I can leave them to it. Anyone got any tips?

Rachel.

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A shrivelled appendix to the body of Christ.

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North East Quine

Curious beastie
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This is half gardening problem, half social dilemma.

Our front garden measures approx 20 feet deep by approx 40 feet wide. In the middle there is a flowering cherry which was well established when we moved in, ten years ago. It must be at least 20 years old, possibly 30. At some point before we moved in it was pollarded, and we've had a couple of the thicker branches thinned out since. But it's still far too big for the garden, and we now have a crack in our front garden wall, caused, I think, by a root.

So I posted on Facebook, asking if anyone local to me could recommend a tree surgeon / gardener to look at it with a view to removing it. And someone has very kindly offered to remove it for free, as a kindness to us.

I don't want someone unqualified / uninsured doing anything to that tree. It's as tall as the house, and I'm worried about a falling branch hitting the roof, dislodging tiles, damaging the guttering etc. Or landing on the already cracked front wall. Or ending up in my next-door neighbours' garden.

How difficult is it to remove a tree from a fairly small garden? Am I being unduly anxious about a well-meaning, but unqualified person doing this. I don't want to hurt his feelings, and if I say no, then pay someone else to do it, he'll be hurt when he sees the tree gone.

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L'organist
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# 17338

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First you need to check that it hasn't got a TPO (tree preservation order) on it.

The scope of these was widened some while back so that ANY tree with a diameter over 3 inches in a Conservation Area automatically has a TPO.

And that's bad news because (a) you'll have to apply to the council for permission to do anything to the ree; (b) on the whole they don't like people removing trees so they're likely to say pollard again; and (c) to have any hope of getting permission to remove you're going to have to get a report from a tree surgeon, possibly also an engineer to say categorically that the tree is causing damage to the wall.

Good luck.

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Rara temporum felicitate ubi sentire quae velis et quae sentias dicere licet

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North East Quine

Curious beastie
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It definitely doesn't have a TPO.
Posts: 6414 | From: North East Scotland | Registered: Oct 2007  |  IP: Logged
Firenze

Ordinary decent pagan
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Has your offerer form as an urban lumberjack? I have a friend whose hobby this is: it's not something you can do casually - you need an arsenal of chainsaws, plus protective clothing - gloves, goggles, vest, boots etc.

Ask him how he intends to tackle the job. The way my friend took down a conifer in my back garden was to climb it (with proper safety gear) and take it down in sections. The going straight in at the bottom is not how your tackle it in confined spaces.

In short, if he has the proper kit, and can explain how he intends to manage the risks, then I would trust him to handle it.

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North East Quine

Curious beastie
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I'm not aware of him having form as an urban lumberjack. He does enjoy his own garden, but there is nothing larger than blackcurrant bushes in his garden. I would be astonished if he had the proper gear himself, though maybe he's got someone who could lend it.

I estimate the tree being maybe 30ft high at its highest point, On the east side it's only 7 feet away from our (cracked) garden wall, and then the pavement and road on the other side of the wall. Anything falling onto the wall, or into the pavement / road would be bad.

On the south side, it's about 10 foot from another garden wall, with our neighbours' driveway on the other side.

On the west side, it's about 13 foot from our house.

So I assume someone would have to trim the top down by about a max of seven feet first, which would involve them being twenty feet off the ground. And then take it down another seven feet.

Posts: 6414 | From: North East Scotland | Registered: Oct 2007  |  IP: Logged
North East Quine

Curious beastie
# 13049

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He's also said that if the main problem is the tree root and the crack in the wall, he could just remove the root. Would removing one large root destabilise the tree? I don't want an unstable 30ft tree 13 ft from my house.
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Ariel
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# 58

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I was wondering about that. A large tree will have large roots: you need to be confident that whoever extracts it won't damage your wall any further.

I think you do need professionals on this one, tbh.

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Curiosity killed ...

Ship's Mug
# 11770

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Even without being in that enclosed a space, getting trees down safely means that sort of chopping down in sections. I've helped remove a Lawsoniana hedge at 20 odd foot with very little around it. That hedge was grown to provide a barrier whilst the slower growing beech hedge took hold. To do that we had to remove the Lawsoniana in sections using ladders, ropes and chain saw, and it entailed heavy duty gloves, protective gear and one or other of us on the other end of the rope to lower the sections safely.

Having also dealt with the results of trees being blown down, they can do the most amazing amount of damage coming down.

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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat

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North East Quine

Curious beastie
# 13049

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Thank you. The consensus agrees with me - this should be done by someone qualified whom we pay to do it.

He's coming round on Tues to discuss the tree; I have until Tuesday to think up a way of refusing his kind offer without hurting his feelings.

Posts: 6414 | From: North East Scotland | Registered: Oct 2007  |  IP: Logged
Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528

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Tell him quite frankly that the thought of one of your friends handling this has been giving you nightmares; that you know it's silly of you but you'd never forgive yourself if some terrible accident happened, or even a minor injury; that you know he's good but you can't convince your irrational mind to stop worrying about a dear friend and let you sleep properly; and therefore you've decided to hire a stranger and let him take the risk. The whole thing should be said apologetically and shamefacedly, as a charming confession of weakness on your part. Preferably before Tuesday, when he lays eyes on the tree and turns argumentative.

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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!

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North East Quine

Curious beastie
# 13049

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Thanks, LC. He already knows our tree; he lives a couple of streets away, and walks past our house occasionally, so he knows the size of our garden etc.
Posts: 6414 | From: North East Scotland | Registered: Oct 2007  |  IP: Logged
Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528

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Ah heck. Well, in that case have a look at your homeowner's insurance, as I suspect they require professionals or else any claim is void.

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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!

Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004  |  IP: Logged
Firenze

Ordinary decent pagan
# 619

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If he talking of taking out a root definitely don't let him near it!

When my 40ft odd cherry blew down, my friend came, sawed it up and took it away. But even he wouldn't tackle the root bole. Roots come with impacted soil and stones and will ruin a chainsaw very quickly (and dangerously). It had to be chewed up with a specialised diamond drill (and you have to pay for the diamonds, so it comes expensive).

Tell him kindly but firmly that you've looked into what's involved, and understand that it needs a level of equipment and expertise only professionals have access to.

Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001  |  IP: Logged
Ariel
Shipmate
# 58

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You could say that FB wasn't the only place you'd posted a query on, and you had some answers back (which you have now), the gist of which were that this was likely to be a particularly time-consuming and tricky job, and a potentially dangerous one, and you didn't feel you could reasonably ask him to undertake this. But let him know you're grateful for his kind offer of free help, and for his input and advice (because he will have some when he comes to see the tree).

Meanwhile, tomorrow morning it would be worth ringing some professionals to come round and assess the tree. The appointment doesn't need to be before your friend comes round on Tuesday, but I'd suggest getting a date sorted so you can legitimately tell him that you're getting a second opinion on this.

There remains the small matter of what to do with the chopped-down tree, by the way. If you don't have a use for it, ask if your professionals might be able to dispose of it for you. I imagine your friend might not be able to cart it away as easily for you.

[ 08. December 2013, 14:48: Message edited by: Ariel ]

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Firenze

Ordinary decent pagan
# 619

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Anyone with a wood-burning stove or firebowl would kill for cherry wood. It burns beautifully, with a blue and gold flame and a lovely scent. Don't waste it.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001  |  IP: Logged
North East Quine

Curious beastie
# 13049

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D, who offered to remove it, said that he had a mate with a van who would take it away. D has a real fire, I think (at least his house has a chimney) and I rather assumed that our tree might keep him in firewood this winter.

But failing that, my FB post resulted in someone with a wood burning stove who would like the wood and can collect.

Posts: 6414 | From: North East Scotland | Registered: Oct 2007  |  IP: Logged
North East Quine

Curious beastie
# 13049

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Plus it is entirely bare of leaves just now, which means less mess to clear up.

We have made two tips to the council tip with its fallen leaves - 16 packed full bin bags plus as much as we thought feasible on the compost. (Another reason I won't be sorry to see it go.)

Posts: 6414 | From: North East Scotland | Registered: Oct 2007  |  IP: Logged
Roseofsharon
Shipmate
# 9657

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We had our flowering cherry taken down a year ago. It took three men. One up the tree, with a chainsaw, one guiding proceedings from below, and one cutting the lopped branches into manageable (but still very big) sizes. It was a bigger tree than yours, but we have a very big garden - even so the job took up an enormous amount of room. They took away most of the timber, leaving us a trailer full of smallish branches, but needed a lorry, not a van, plus a shredder for the twiggy stuff. We have still got the stump (couldn't afford to have it ground out and couldn't face the amount of ground that would be disrupted by pulling out) and have to cut off the suckers. We could have used a stump-killing chemical, but it was diseased anyway, and is already rotting from the middle.
Photographs here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/53782729@N00/sets/72157638517064175/

[ 09. December 2013, 17:03: Message edited by: Roseofsharon ]

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Talk about books -any books- on our rejuvenatedforum http://www.bookgrouponline.com/index.php?

Posts: 3060 | From: Sussex By The Sea | Registered: Jun 2005  |  IP: Logged
Ariel
Shipmate
# 58

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This is the thing: taking out a tree isn't really a one-man job. Let us know how it goes, NEQ.
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Carex
Shipmate
# 9643

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We recently moved into a new house, and one of the first steps was to remove the two largest trees. (The neighbors took down the tree between our driveways about the same time due to problems with the roots.)

I've taken down trees down before. I have climbing gear and a chain saw. I've worked in logging camps. I certainly could do it myself - and I'm really glad that we hired someone else to do it instead.


This was right beside the neighbor's fence by a corner of our house. There was about a 60 degree angle of allowable space for everything to fall into. Yes, I could have trimmed the tree up to about 20' so the branches wouldn't hit anything on the sides, then dropped it out into the lawn and hoped that it didn't take out a corner of the house by mistake. As it was, the professional crew barely missed that corner of our house with the final chunk. But at least they had insurance that would cover the damage if anything went wrong. They also chipped the branches, ground the stump, and hauled all the debris away.

If there is enough space around the base of the tree for stuff to fall onto it makes thing much easier, and in that case a helpful neighbor may be adequate to the task. But once you have to start worrying about removing one branch at a time so it doesn't hit something, and the more constrained the target area, and the ungainly the shape of the tree (for example, if it is already leaning over the house) then the professionals become an increasingly attractive solution.

Posts: 1425 | Registered: Jun 2005  |  IP: Logged
North East Quine

Curious beastie
# 13049

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D came round looked at the tree and said it would be easy to remove. Likewise the roots. So I concluded he didn't know what he was talking about, and demurred, said I was worried about the roof etc etc, insurance, blah, blah.

He then said that he'd done a lot of tree removal about 14 years ago, and though he's only removed one tree in the last decade, it was a tree belonging to someone I know slightly, and she'd vouch for his tree removal capabilities. Although I only know this person slightly, I know one of her neighbours very well, so I should be able to follow this up easily.

I'm going to get a proper quote from a professional, but I'll also check out D's previous tree-removing credentials.

He is very well meaning, but I really wish he hadn't offered.

Also, another person has expressed an interest in taking the wood away for firewood. There's a lesson here on the power of Facebook - I post a simple request for someone to recommend a tree surgeon, and the word is out - free firewood is in the offing!

Posts: 6414 | From: North East Scotland | Registered: Oct 2007  |  IP: Logged



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