Now I'm no gardener, but…

[StarCruiser]

When it comes to the garden, I do the grass and the heavy stuff, major works, that sort of thing.

So yesterday, after almost 9 years here, my wife finally decides the shrubs in the front garden that border, sorry, overhang our drive, have got to go. After dropping decreasingly subtle hints about this over the first 6 or so years, I've lain dormant on the subject lately and all of a sudden it's her idea. Oh joy of joys, at long last.

So today, I employed the biggest (and best) tool in the box to do the removal. Didn't want this new idea to go off the boil now you see.



This could be the beginning of a new project. There's more that have got far too big and should really go. Sadly the Star Magnolia right in front of the house is really far to big.

I await further instructions.

 

[clivehorridge]

Shame, I'm planting stuff like that these days

I imagine the cruiser hardly noticed those bushes.

Problem for me with a short-ish growing season, it's a bit hit & miss what survives.

After planting 7 magnolias, there's 3 that have sustained 3 winters.

I've just lost the Camellia (to drought) that had otherwise survived 2 winters, it's either one or the other that gets 'em here, until they're established.

 

[StarCruiser]

I know Clive. They were lovely bushes but too big and woody and just in the wrong place and difficult for Lynn to manage.

As it goes, the ground is so hard, the first one held the truck in low range and snapped the 1 tonne strop I had around it when I then took a run at it. The third just broke off until we dug around it and had another go. Wrong time of year really but had to strike while the iron is hot. They pull out much better and easier if it's wet soil.

 

[Pat]

When it comes to the garden, I do the grass and the heavy stuff, major works, that sort of thing.

So yesterday, after almost 9 years here, my wife finally decides the shrubs in the front garden that border, sorry, overhang our drive, have got to go. After dropping decreasingly subtle hints about this over the first 6 or so years, I've lain dormant on the subject lately and all of a sudden it's her idea. Oh joy of joys, at long last.

So today, I employed the biggest (and best) tool in the box to do the removal. Didn't want this new idea to go off the boil now you see.

View attachment 104979 View attachment 104980 View attachment 104981 View attachment 104982 View attachment 104983

This could be the beginning of a new project. There's more that have got far too big and should really go. Sadly the Star Magnolia right in front of the house is really far to big.

I await further instructions.

How big a section do you have?We love trees but are either planting or cutting
or cutting down and it does take time.Cheers

 

[clivehorridge]

How big a section do you have?We love trees but are either planting or cutting
or cutting down and it does take time.Cheers

I see Rich's dilemma wrong thing in the wrong place, I think that happens to us all at some stage.

I don't know about Rich's place, it looks like a fair sized garden.

Mine is 2,000 m2 of an old orchard, so we're replacing old dead trees with either new fruits, or more ornamental flowering trees and bushes.

We've got plenty of jasmine, forsythia and hibiscus going now so some colour in the spring and summer. Springtime is a picture anyway, with all the apple, pear, cherry and plum blossom. The japonicas are coming on, as they're in their 4th year, just settled in.

Most of the dead trees have been removed now, so the place is looking a bit more organised.

 

[flint]

Don’t know if it’s of any use, but if you need to trim lower branches, one thing I’ve found handy is a Silky pole saw. Very sharp and pretty effective up to about 20-25 feet. Not particularly cheap and you have to be a bit careful not to get it jammed (a decent undercut usually avoids this), but it will handle quite large stuff. LC and a long rope for anything that gets hung up.

 

[clivehorridge]

Don’t know if it’s of any use, but if you need to trim lower branches, one thing I’ve found handy is a Silky pole saw. Very sharp and pretty effective up to about 20-25 feet. Not particularly cheap and you have to be a bit careful not to get it jammed (a decent undercut usually avoids this), but it will handle quite large stuff. LC and a long rope for anything that gets hung up.

I've not seen that brand out here, but now I have a name, maybe I can get one on-line, photos look good on goooogle

 

[StarCruiser]

How big a section do you have?We love trees but are either planting or cutting
or cutting down and it does take time.Cheers

I think maybe a 'section' could be stretching things a bit but it is a reasonable size garden compared to the postage stamp gardens they give with a new build these days.

The whole plot's about 49m X 14m with 28m out the back and 8m from the front of the bungalow to the front wall. It's a decent sized bungalow for what it is.

Its very hard brick earth clay soil, so digging anything is a major undertaking. We landscaped the back garden and put a cabin on it making a nice patio area 5 years ago. Put a water tank under the cabin to catch the rainwater. 2750 litres but it still gets full in the winter and I have to pump it out. That on its own required a day and a half with a tiny Kubota digger.

 

[Towpack]

I pulled out a stubborn Leylandi stump many years ago with my SJ413. It was supposed to be a miniature ornamental strain but it grew like a damn triffid so it had to go. Used a steel hawser borrowed from a neighbour but it took numerous attempts 'cos the stump was stronger than the SJ was heavy!

 

[clivehorridge]

I pulled out a stubborn Leylandi stump many years ago with my SJ413. It was supposed to be a miniature ornamental strain but it grew like a damn triffid so it had to go. Used a steel hawser borrowed from a neighbour but it took numerous attempts 'cos the stump was stronger than the SJ was heavy!

My sister planted a live Chrismas tree after their first Christmas in their house in the mid 70's. It's now over 40m (that's a conservative guess)

 

[Pat]

I think maybe a 'section' could be stretching things a bit but it is a reasonable size garden compared to the postage stamp gardens they give with a new build these days.

The whole plot's about 49m X 14m with 28m out the back and 8m from the front of the bungalow to the front wall. It's a decent sized bungalow for what it is.

Its very hard brick earth clay soil, so digging anything is a major undertaking. We landscaped the back garden and put a cabin on it making a nice patio area 5 years ago. Put a water tank under the cabin to catch the rainwater. 2750 litres but it still gets full in the winter and I have to pump it out. That on its own required a day and a half with a tiny Kubota digger.

I get stuffed up with metric and imperial measurements but was brought up on a city section of 1/4 acre and there was room for a big garden and during the war we even had 2 air raid shelters,hand dug off course,but the Japs didn't come.Always loved trees and when we got married the boss couldn't stop planting ,so we are on 10 acres and have trees galore.
My father was a Dalmatian and arrived in NZ in 1903 and Dally land was just rocks and steep hills so when they got here they found some crappy land a spade could go in and thought,this is paradise and so they planted orchards,forests etc all over the show and so the genes keep going.
So is yours about 800 sq.metres? About 1/5 acre?
In some big towns in NZ at this time,there an epidemic of tummy trouble caused by town water supply and folks like us who use tank water are OK
so do you use your water for drinking?
Sorry if I ramble on a bit but I'm interested in how folks handle things.
Cheers Pat

 

[StarCruiser]

I get stuffed up with metric and imperial measurements but was brought up on a city section of 1/4 acre and there was room for a big garden and during the war we even had 2 air raid shelters,hand dug off course,but the Japs didn't come.Always loved trees and when we got married the boss couldn't stop planting ,so we are on 10 acres and have trees galore.
My father was a Dalmatian and arrived in NZ in 1903 and Dally land was just rocks and steep hills so when they got here they found some crappy land a spade could go in and thought,this is paradise and so they planted orchards,forests etc all over the show and so the genes keep going.
So is yours about 800 sq.metres? About 1/5 acre?
In some big towns in NZ at this time,there an epidemic of tummy trouble caused by town water supply and folks like us who use tank water are OK
so do you use your water for drinking?
Sorry if I ramble on a bit but I'm interested in how folks handle things.
Cheers Pat

No problem Pat, enjoying it.
No, the tank is just for watering plants at the minute. We have an old cast iron hand pump that Lynn uses to fill the watering cans. I do have a pump I intend to put down in the tank and put a tank in our loft to flush the toilet with but we cannot use it for drinking. It's not permitted and we would need to treat it as it gets leaves in it and stuff off the roof.

Bit of a rainy picture.
I think it works out at 686 sq m which Google tells me is 0.17 of an acre for the total plot. That's considered a reasonable size here as there's many that are far smaller being fairly close to town. Any bigger gardens with any sort of access get built on round here, it's quite brutal at times. There's a section of land nearby that was the back ends of about 4 gardens that has an application to build 4 or 5 houses and knock one down for access.

 

[StarCruiser]

My sister planted a live Chrismas tree after their first Christmas in their house in the mid 70's. It's now over 40m (that's a conservative guess)

40m? 120 foot that's some Christmas tree!!

 

[Pat]

View attachment 105148
No problem Pat, enjoying it.
No, the tank is just for watering plants at the minute. We have an old cast iron hand pump that Lynn used to fill the watering cans. I do have a pump I intend to put down in the tank and put a tank in our loft to flush the toilet with but we cannot use it for drinking. It's not permitted and we would need to treat it as it gets leaves in it and stuff off the roof.

That looks real beauty if my wife saw that she would tell me that we must have a hideaway like that.so it looks like you have plenty of space and as regards water we have a 5000gal Concrete water tank for the house and we have cleaned it out about 3 times in about 45 years but I did have the water
tested and it was purer than city water.I did that for a bet with the county engineer
who forecast doom for all who used their own water.I reckon all the things that go in the tank must build up resistance to nasties.

 

[Pat]

40m? 120 foot that's some Christmas tree!!

photo please Clive,that sounds good.

 

[flint]

When we first moved here in Wales 30 years ago, we had our spring water supply tested, it came through with flying colours, very low or no counts of anything nasty. The spring is above our land (we also have another source on our land, but less flow) and was channeled through an underground conduit which had been constructed many years ago with slate and rocks to form a triangular section. All was well until a new farmer took over and started using heavier and faster machinery, and the conduit collapsed. I had the right to sort things, so in came the JCB and a trench was dug across his field, 4” plastic piping went down and a new 5000 gallon tank put in. All was well for a while, clean supply restored. Then large amounts of slurry started to be spread (he has a 300 head never go out milking herd) and somehow traces were getting their way into the water. A bore hole was considered, but with no guarantee of purity (modern farming practises have affected the water table) or available volume and not inconsiderable cost, I installed a new filtration and UV treatment set up. We now have clean water again.

 

[clivehorridge]

It's

40m? 120 foot that's some Christmas tree!!

It's huge Rich, if I give it a hug, my finger tips just about equate to the semi circumference.

At our house, when Ana was born, we planted a silver pine in the garden, which at the time was 20cm or 8" in old money. Ana will be 8 on 1st September and it's about 2.5 meters now.

It's gonna be a beauty when it's bigger, and it has plenty of space. Garden water is a big issue for us in the summer, we usually get plenty up till June but then it's drought through to September. We dug a well, but we couldn't go down more than 12m it was too hard to dig.

In the wetter weather it has about 10m of water to go at, but that drops to 3 or 4m when it's dry. If I use it to keep the most sensitive plants going, it doesn't replenish well at all.

We're never short of drinking water these days, there's a newly built mountain catchment that feeds the village piped water supply, but I always feel guilty using it on the garden in summer, even though there's no official restrictions.

I'd like to put a rainwater tank at the top of the garden, were on quite a hill so it would give me some decent pressure even it was buried. Must look into a tough poly tank suitable for burial, you've given me an idea!

 

[clivehorridge]

photo please Clive,that sounds good.

Next time I'm in the UK I'll take a pic. Sis passed away last November, but she loved that tree, it will be a good excuse to visit my bro-in-law and take a photo, she would be happy too that it's getting some attention.

 

[Pat]

Next time I'm in the UK I'll take a pic. Sis passed away last November, but she loved that tree, it will be a good excuse to visit my bro-in-law and take a photo, she would be happy too that it's getting some attention.

Thanks Clive,Ana's tree looks very good.We grew hothouse tomatoes for some years and put a 5000 gal tank at the end of each house,3 g/houses ea about 7000sq.ft. and we rarely had to use pond water to top up because each one had a big catchment area.Grew for 20 years then leased them but I was not a good lessor,so terminated the lease and now we grow grass for the sheep.The water goes in the stream but I the summer use a Honda waterpump to irrigate the paddocks.I never ever want to be a landlord again.

 

[Pat]

When we first moved here in Wales 30 years ago, we had our spring water supply tested, it came through with flying colours, very low or no counts of anything nasty. The spring is above our land (we also have another source on our land, but less flow) and was channeled through an underground conduit which had been constructed many years ago with slate and rocks to form a triangular section. All was well until a new farmer took over and started using heavier and faster machinery, and the conduit collapsed. I had the right to sort things, so in came the JCB and a trench was dug across his field, 4” plastic piping went down and a new 5000 gallon tank put in. All was well for a while, clean supply restored. Then large amounts of slurry started to be spread (he has a 300 head never go out milking herd) and somehow traces were getting their way into the water. A bore hole was considered, but with no guarantee of purity (modern farming practises have affected the water table) or available volume and not inconsiderable cost, I installed a new filtration and UV treatment set up. We now have clean water again.

hello Mate,this has become a big problem here with indoor farming and the resultant problems with the nasties getting into the streams and groundwater.
Councils are trying to take a hard line but corporate farming is taking over large areas of the country.Money is all they care about.