The gardening thread

[two sheds]

yes spade seems a bit excessive for brambles and certainly creeping cinquefoil (did I mention they're evil little fuckers?) I tend to use garden fork but I will try one of those japanese things and perhaps attack them with oriental sounding war cries. I watched Drunken Master yesterday so I'll take my cue from that.

And will look for tool holder with flap I really do need one of them.

 

[campanula]

Has anyone come across a homi? Like a hori-hori, it is a (Korean) multipurpose digging/weeding tool. I am always interested in the culture and traditions of tool using - finding it staggering that European gardeners failed to adopt the oldest, most ubiquitous tool - the simple digging stick. The nearest equivalent is the Chillingworth hoe (which is a brilliant tool for bramble removal, two sheds). Same with hoes. I have never got on with draw hoes, much preferring the straight Dutch hoe. This is also on my list for my personal fabricator to make...but as a hand tool. Essentially, a hoe is just a knife on a stick...yet every manufacturer seems to sell them with useless blunt edges and usually at the wrong angle. So yep, I am wanting a short but lethal Dutch hoe instead of the irritating onion hoe I currently use. I also want a 2 pronged grubber...but one set at an angle which encourages good leverage. I have often been tempted to contact either Sneeboer or De Witt with some illustrated suggestions for useful tools since so many of them are either flimsy, badly designed or just ridiculously spendy. trendy crappy artefacts (such as the current craze for silly little bronze and copper trowels...which are either too soft, brittle or just poncy rubbish).
I am totally thrilled with my new broadfork - another tool which has been in common use for US homesteaders, as well as being used to break new ground for vineyards (grapes grow best in sandy, stony soil - not amenable for spade work and too slow for a standard border fork. Anyone who uses tools on a daily basis, usually has a very good idea what will work (or not), yet there seems to be a disconnect between manufacturers and users, with very different priorities.
eta - I would love a fork which had curved tines, but tapered from a flatter, broader shape at the handle end of the tines, tapering to a point at the business end.

 

[campanula]

It is. Got it coz I kept using my good pocket knife to dig and getting grit in the hinge, but that and secateurs are the only things I need most days now.

No promises but I think I saw one knocking around in a box of unused tools in a shed if you want me to check for you?

Yes please. Will sort out P&P or better still, could get my youngest to make a tool you design.

 

[Artaxerxes]

I've seen these guys advertising on Instagram and might get a few things in the new year.

Niwaki Digging & Weeding

Japanese designed tools for digging and weeding in the garden, including the Niwaki Hori Hori and Golden Spade

www.niwaki.com

 

[iona]

Yes please. Will sort out P&P or better still, could get my youngest to make a tool you design.

Will let you know if/when I find it (can't actually remember which shed I think I saw it in so might take a couple weeks...)

 

[iona]

I have several special digging sticks in the pile of Useful Bits of Wood Not come across a homi but I'd like an Indian kirpi hoe - kind of a cross between a patio knife and a billhook.

 

[two sheds]

Will let you know if/when I find it (can't actually remember which shed I think I saw it in so might take a couple weeks...)

you have two sheds

 

[two sheds]

Has anyone come across a homi? Like a hori-hori, it is a (Korean) multipurpose digging/weeding tool. I am always interested in the culture and traditions of tool using - finding it staggering that European gardeners failed to adopt the oldest, most ubiquitous tool - the simple digging stick. The nearest equivalent is the Chillingworth hoe (which is a brilliant tool for bramble removal, two sheds).

I looked up Chillingworth hoe and realized we've had this discussion before

The gardening thread

[ Couldn't see a reference to Chillingworth hoe though - Ah, that's because I am an idiot - it is, in fact, a ChillngTON hoe...and is a very heavy duty digging tool. The little daisy grubbe is great for dandelions but not terribly effective on brambles tbh. It's all about leverage...hence a...

www.urban75.net

I shall check because I half remember getting one from the ebay link you gave

If not I shall try to use my sis' garden token

Same with hoes. I have never got on with draw hoes, much preferring the straight Dutch hoe.

I've only ever known Dutch hoes. I should probably sharpen mine. I'm presuming sod-all use for brambles though because it would leave too much of the root in.

 

[campanula]

I've seen these guys advertising on Instagram and might get a few things in the new year.

The quality is very variable Artaxerxes (and to be honest, the ludicrous £795 Hori-hori has relegated them to the 4th division for pretentious tosh. What I will say is: they are very good on bladed items such as shears, secateurs, topiary snips. Less good on anything forged (there are some weak aspects between metal and handle which will fall apart) and they sell some utter shite (such as the golden spade). Their labelling is a bit dubious too. For digging, I honestly recommend looking at the Chillington site - the prices are good and the quality is second to none. They do a few things well. I use Bulldog for all my spades (they sell a really very good trenching spade which has replaced my old border spade. They have been in business in Wigan for over 200 years although I think the forging is now done in India. Look for the premium range in green with ash handles - for the money, they are, to my mind, the best all round garden tools available. A whole load of wooden handled tools (Joseph Bentley, Burgon and Ball) have been on the market of late - all rubbish - as bad as Spear and Jackson and the useless Draper range - but they look nice. The handles will snap if you attempt anything remotely testing (such as moving rhubarb crowns or digging mallow). I went through several bulb planters before finding my current Bulldog one which, at £60 wasn't as cheap as others but I am in my 5th year of planting (all my others carked in the first season).
two sheds - again, check out the heavy duty Chillington double headed hoe. The flat side is good for turning and mounding up, but the 2 pronged end is the ne plus ultra bramble remover. Chop the bramble, leaving just an inch or so of wood, whack the double pronged hoe just in front of the root so the tines are buried, then lean on the long handle. Leverage will lift the whole bramble root from the soil (they are not deep, just tough). If you have hundreds of them, you can use a metal bladed brushcutter. Go down right on top of the root (which will be comprehensively shredded) then a quick blast of glyphosate. I cleared over an acre of bramble using my trusty Stihl brushcutter. What you will find is lovely, clean, friable soil underneath, so be prepared to sow something immediately or you will have nettles and cleavers next year. Ah soz, two sheds, I always get Chillingworth and Chillington mixed up (it is the latter)...and yep, I think I have raved on about these before.

 

[Artaxerxes]

The quality is very variable Artaxerxes (and to be honest, the ludicrous £795 Hori-hori has relegated them to the 4th division for pretentious tosh. What I will say is: they are very good on bladed items such as shears, secateurs, topiary snips. Less good on anything forged (there are some weak aspects between metal and handle which will fall apart) and they sell some utter shite (such as the golden spade). Their labelling is a bit dubious too. For digging, I honestly recommend looking at the Chillington site - the prices are good and the quality is second to none. They do a few things well. I use Bulldog for all my spades (they sell a really very good trenching spade which has replaced my old border spade. They have been in business in Wigan for over 200 years although I think the forging is now done in India. Look for the premium range in green with ash handles - for the money, they are, to my mind, the best all round garden tools available. A whole load of wooden handled tools (Joseph Bentley, Burgon and Ball) have been on the market of late - all rubbish - as bad as Spear and Jackson and the useless Draper range - but they look nice. The handles will snap if you attempt anything remotely testing (such as moving rhubarb crowns or digging mallow). I went through several bulb planters before finding my current Bulldog one which, at £60 wasn't as cheap as others but I am in my 5th year of planting (all my others carked in the first season).
two sheds - again, check out the heavy duty Chillington double headed hoe. The flat side is good for turning and mounding up, but the 2 pronged end is the ne plus ultra bramble remover. Chop the bramble, leaving just an inch or so of wood, whack the double pronged hoe just in front of the root so the tines are buried, then lean on the long handle. Leverage will lift the whole bramble root from the soil (they are not deep, just tough). If you have hundreds of them, you can use a metal bladed brushcutter. Go down right on top of the root (which will be comprehensively shredded) then a quick blast of glyphosate. I cleared over an acre of bramble using my trusty Stihl brushcutter. What you will find is lovely, clean, friable soil underneath, so be prepared to sow something immediately or you will have nettles and cleavers next year. Ah soz, two sheds, I always get Chillingworth and Chillington mixed up (it is the latter)...and yep, I think I have raved on about these before.

Its mostly a decent handheld grass/weed chopper I'm after I think, got everything else I need but no mower so theres a few bits I need to cut by hand, especially in midsummer.

 

[iona]

you have two sheds

I have many sheds but also none :inscrutable zen master face:

 

[SheilaNaGig]

Hello Gardeners. I hope you all got lovely garden gifts this Yuletide..

Could someone advise me on thIs idea please...?

I have quite low windows in a sunny room next to my kitchen. This side of the house is the best place to grow hot stony herbs, and I’d love to grow rosemary and sage in such a way that I can open the window to snip them for cooking, rather than going out the back door and round the corner.

Can I plant rosemary and sage hard up against the house, or will the roots become a problem?

My idea is that as they become mature and woody, I’ll have a kind of framework under the windows,and around the call, maybe up around the outer edges of the window, which can then be used by nasturtiums and maybe tomatoes too (and possibly in time a dog rose etc.) In winter, I’ll have fragrant evergreens at the window, with the framework for fairy lights. I can keep the growing edges in place by harvesting and snipping.

Is this foolhardy or workable?


ETA
It’s an Edwardian building. No idea about foundations myself, but I’m guessing it’s whatever the Edwardians normally did .

 

[two sheds]

I have many sheds but also none :inscrutable zen master face:

all ex privvies like two of mine eh?

/the sound of one hand wiping

sorry

 

[campanula]

Its mostly a decent handheld grass/weed chopper I'm after I think, got everything else I need but no mower so theres a few bits I need to cut by hand, especially in midsummer.

I have become a bit of a battery fan (am investigating a battery powered mower) but I also have a silly little MaCallister strimmer I bought from Homebase, for cutting the allotment paths. I bloody love it. It didn't cost much - around £60 - each battery (I bought an extra) gives me 20 minutes of cutting and recharges in 40 minutes or so. It weighs hardly anything and is a zillion times easier to use than my petrol tools. The thing with hand cutting grass is space. Although I have a couple of hand scythes, they are no use in a confined area (such as paths) so I found a strimmer has been my top tool for grass cutting in small/uneven areas. If the ground is flat, you can often find a Qualcast hand mower for very little £££ (mine was £5 from the local tip.) The cylinder blades will always give a far better cut than a straight rotary cutter (and if you sharpen them, they are just fantastic) Only good on level ground with grass which has been kept mowed short...and no good at edges (which is where a strimmer beats everything else hands down)

 

[campanula]

Rosemary will grow well as a wall shrub, SheilaNaGig...and the larger types of lavender too (look for l.intermedia aka Dutch lavender). All the sages are good (not just our common sage), summer savoury, hyssop too. None of these maquis shrubs have large and invasive roots...in fact, they will flourish with the reflected heat of masonry.
Get the smallest plants you can so they establish easily. And grow some thymes, organo (there is a really good flowering oreganum 'Hopleys'.

 

[Artaxerxes]

I have become a bit of a battery fan (am investigating a battery powered mower) but I also have a silly little MaCallister strimmer I bought from Homebase, for cutting the allotment paths. I bloody love it. It didn't cost much - around £60 - each battery (I bought an extra) gives me 20 minutes of cutting and recharges in 40 minutes or so. It weighs hardly anything and is a zillion times easier to use than my petrol tools. The thing with hand cutting grass is space. Although I have a couple of hand scythes, they are no use in a confined area (such as paths) so I found a strimmer has been my top tool for grass cutting in small/uneven areas. If the ground is flat, you can often find a Qualcast hand mower for very little £££ (mine was £5 from the local tip.) The cylinder blades will always give a far better cut than a straight rotary cutter (and if you sharpen them, they are just fantastic) Only good on level ground with grass which has been kept mowed short...and no good at edges (which is where a strimmer beats everything else hands down)

I'm in tiny flat at capacity so really hand tools are about my limit, no storage at the plot site either so not looking to hoof battery tools around.

 

[campanula]

I'm in tiny flat at capacity so really hand tools are about my limit, no storage at the plot site either so not looking to hoof battery tools around.

Then have a look at the Niwaki shears. I bought some for my eldest - they keep a great edge, are balanced and beautiful enough to have them proudly displayed. Will check which ones I got for him (think they were around £75 but they are very good shears).

 

[campanula]

Niwaki Garden Shears - Used All Over The Garden

All round garden, hedge, shrub and topiary shears. Perfectly balanced for a bit of topiary, and able to tackle woodier garden pruning

www.niwaki.com

These ones, Artaxerxes. One of the best things on the Niwaki site, I think.

have some ancient long-handled grass cutting shears where the blades are at the correct orientation for cutting grass. I have not seen any others - just edging shears where the blades are facing the wrong way. Bit while I have cut my paths using shears, it is a bit uncomfortable. Quite a few of the allotment people have avoided any grass on their plots (but I love my grassy paths and they stay weed free). For sure, grass cutting by hand it is one of the trickier chores on a small plot. There are short hand scythes to be had but I have not come across any which have a really good blade (have had a few rusty, flimsy ones which can never be sharpened. Will try to find out.

 

[SheilaNaGig]

I think I’ll leave the lavender for a sunny bench I’ve got planned further along the garden.

My garden faces SE so I’m very blessed with a range of full sun, through dappled shade (under the ash tree) to mostly shade at the base of the old brick wall that gets the dawn sun and then shade for the rest of the day, a real blessing in a heatwave!

Hyssop is a great idea, I’d not thought of that.

Okay, so I can grow a billowing skirt of fragrant sun loving shrubs against my wall without damaging the building.... Great! Much to look forward to here.




(I’ll have to manage the ash tree for sure. It’s the perfect size and shape right now for a city garden. A friend has a much larger ash in her garden, and her garden is so so dry, and of course shaded. I don’t want to lose the benefits of my garden, or the ash tree either. I think there’s a TPO on the tree tbh, so in a way, I’m taking care of it for the whole community.)

 

[campanula]

Fingers crossed it doesn't get chalara. Ash trees are becoming a bit of a rare site in E.Anglia. If you tree is not already mature, consider pollarding. Ash responds well to this - it increases it's life expectancy and may have some implications regarding disease control (although will have to check re.chalara)

 

[iona]

all ex privvies like two of mine eh?

/the sound of one hand wiping

sorry

Rotten leaky knackered shed in the garden I share with 30-odd other flats technically belongs to the housing association although I don't think anyone else uses it

Wonky leaky knackered shed on the allotment is technically my mum's now since it's officially her allotment

Gonna order a new allotment shed which'll be MINE but still won't *have * that shed till it's delivered and no vehicle access to site before April

Few other sheds I have access to through work/volunteering and sometimes borrow things from or leave my stuff in

Also other non-shed storage like the empty compost bin in the park where my riddle lives atm

I sort-of-have 14 compost bins/heaps too

 

[two sheds]

I sort-of-have 14 compost bins/heaps too

compost bin envy

Only have a wooden three-compartment bin that I built which is nowhere near big enough plus two compost bins that I've never really emptied but we'll see who rots down first. Plus a leaf mould pile.

 

[SheilaNaGig]

Fingers crossed it doesn't get chalara. Ash trees are becoming a bit of a rare site in E.Anglia. If you tree is not already mature, consider pollarding. Ash responds well to this - it increases it's life expectancy and may have some implications regarding disease control (although will have to check re.chalara)

Looking around, I’ve not seen any local Ash trees with chalara. Fingers firmly crossed for continuing good health.

I think my tree is adolescent, maybe early adulthood.

It’s form is currently so elegant and balanced that I’m reluctant to pollard. I guess I’ll take advice from others on what I should do for the best. If I can manage it’s growth starting now, I should be able to keep it right for my garden. Leaving it another few years would be problematic, I think.

Interesting to know that pollarding might offer some protection. Is it the same for standard management or is pollarding especially protective? Do we know this yet?

I suppose that’s because trauma promote innate self protective responses?

(stressed plants often provided more potent medicinal compounds... it’s standard practice to keep certain plants thirsty etc in certain circles)

 

[two sheds]

Fingers crossed it doesn't get chalara. Ash trees are becoming a bit of a rare site in E.Anglia. If you tree is not already mature, consider pollarding. Ash responds well to this - it increases it's life expectancy and may have some implications regarding disease control (although will have to check re.chalara)

I planted some ash about 15 years ago and one in particular is doing reeeeeally well - must be about 30 ft high and 3ft round the base by now. There's an ash down the road that looks like it's got die back but this one still seems ok. I was originally planning to coppice - is coppice as good as pollard (not keen on how pollarded trees look)?

I was hoping to use the ash wood if I do cut it back for structural type construction.

 

[BoatieBird]

I've seen these guys advertising on Instagram and might get a few things in the new year.

Niwaki Digging & Weeding

Japanese designed tools for digging and weeding in the garden, including the Niwaki Hori Hori and Golden Spade

www.niwaki.com

Mr B got me some niwaki secateurs for Christmas

 

[campanula]

I planted some ash about 15 years ago and one in particular is doing reeeeeally well - must be about 30 ft high and 3ft round the base by now. There's an ash down the road that looks like it's got die back but this one still seems ok. I was originally planning to coppice - is coppice as good as pollard (not keen on how pollarded trees look)?

I was hoping to use the ash wood if I do cut it back for structural type construction.

O aye, ash is excellent when coppiced. Personally, as an absolutely maniac meddler, I love coppicing, pollarding, espaliering (not sure that is a verb), inosculating, grafting and generally fiddling about. I am cutting my 12 year old hazels back to stools (hopefully this week). Best to do it earlier in the winter than later, I think, but I probably convinced myself to do it now because the entire rest of the winter is a blood and gore fest of rose pruning.
The theory behind coppicing and pollarding is to keep the trees in a permanent state of juvenile growth (which is vigorous and abundant - don't be surprised to see 5 feet in a season. They never mature or reach senescence, so can live for hundreds (thousands) of years.

Which reminds me (thinking of stooling)...the coupla weeks after Xmas is one of my key propagation times for hard to propagate shrubs such as cotinus, hamamelis, daphnes, rhodies and even rambling roses. It is a sort of layering and incredibly easy to do. Simply chop the plants down to soil level and pile a generous heap of soil on top, making a little hummock. Form it down, then walk away. In spring, there will be an explosion of new stems...all of which will have made their own roots. A quick chop in autumn, with a sharp spade and you have half a dozen (at least) new shrubs/trees, ready to be transplanted where you want them to grow away. For a lazy (and negligent) gardener such as myself, any plants which can be encouraged to increase with no supplemental effort from myself, is ideal.

It's also worth doing hardwood cuttings of easy stuff (dogwoods, willow, forsythia, species roses directly in the soil where you want them to grow. I try to avoid cuttings which must be nurtured in separate pots because I have too much on with seedlings...but you can take hardwood cuttings and keep them in (large) pots...but you will have to be very vigilant over the summer as they need a season before transplanting. For me, cuttings have a much better chance when kept in the biggest pot of all (the ground).

 

[campanula]

Mr B got me some niwaki secateurs for Christmas

O, I think you will enjoy them, Boatie Bird. You might consider taping the handles - makes them easier to see, and a bit warmer in your hands. I bought some for my eldest a few years ago - he loves them. Have you got a sharpening stone? I use a really simple and cheap little Bahco thing for mine - set at the right angle, fits in my pocket.

bahco sharpener - Google Search

www.google.com

 

[BoatieBird]

O, I think you will enjoy them, Boatie Bird. You might consider taping the handles - makes them easier to see, and a bit warmer in your hands. I bought some for my eldest a few years ago - he loves them. Have you got a sharpening stone? I use a really simple and cheap little Bahco thing for mine - set at the right angle, fits in my pocket.

bahco sharpener - Google Search

www.google.com

Yes, I think taping the handles would be a good idea!
I don't personally have a sharpening stone, but there's at least a couple of them knocking about in the garage.
My boy is doing a welding and fabrication apprenticeship so I too may have access to custom made tools (eventually)

 

[campanula]

Yes, I think taping the handles would be a good idea!
I don't personally have a sharpening stone, but there's at least a couple of them knocking about in the garage.
My boy is doing a welding and fabrication apprenticeship so I too may have access to custom made tools (eventually)

O excellent. That's what mine did/does. He has mended no end of garden tools, made me an apple press, logging arch, treadle lathe, rocket stove, firepits, rose supports, tomato cages and my latest tool, a broadfork (amongst loads of other useful things). Never out of work and has just been hunted by a gallery owner to design and build garden sculptures. He is, I think, totally convinced he can make anything at all (out of metal) and has been messing with chemical patinations, plasma cutting, casting.. the possibilities are endless - hope your lad loves it as much as mine does.

 

[two sheds]

O aye, ash is excellent when coppiced. Personally, as an absolutely maniac meddler, I love coppicing, pollarding, espaliering (not sure that is a verb), inosculating, grafting and generally fiddling about. I am cutting my 12 year old hazels back to stools (hopefully this week). Best to do it earlier in the winter than later, I think, but I probably convinced myself to do it now because the entire rest of the winter is a blood and gore fest of rose pruning.
The theory behind coppicing and pollarding is to keep the trees in a permanent state of juvenile growth (which is vigorous and abundant - don't be surprised to see 5 feet in a season. They never mature or reach senescence, so can live for hundreds (thousands) of years.

Was just reading that coppicing/pollarding does stress trees somewhat which might not be a good idea with ash dieback fungus around. I did wonder whether (if I cut it this year) I should paint it with liquid pruning sealer. The previous occupants seem to have sealed cut limbs with something or other religiously but I read that it doesn't matter that much so I've not bothered.

Also read though that there's less chance of causing problems if the cut is made during autumn/winter, so not quite sure what to do.