Very nice whatever it is and a beautiful place to live. I have 6 acres to main so I'm quite envious!
Very nice whatever it is and a beautiful place to live. I have 6 acres to main so I'm quite envious!
Lovely property Jon, I'm very jealous. I'd happily give up everything and move to Thailand/Bali/Vietnam as I'm a sun worshipper.
Lovely house that is.
I remember as a child in Saigon in our first home we had a small garden. It was a mixed blessing because of the snakes. And the gardener never hurt them (metempsychosis) so just threw it in the garden next door, whose gardener probably did the same...
But the bougainvillea were fabulous.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Jon, lovely property.
What’s the blue glowing light / fan / speaker to the right of the bbq?
Hope you’re doing well.
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There seem to be a lot of people on this thread who know their gardens - could I request a bit of advice? Is now a good time to overseed my lawn? Not sure the weather warm enough yet. I'm in London and this recent spell of sunshine is tempting me to get it started now...
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
As mentioned here in this thread: grass starts to grow above 12C. However, I spotted a type of grass that germinates from 6C when I was in the garden center. Someone told me that it's grass suitable for meadows etc.
There's nothing wrong with overseeing now, late March, early April. But there's a fair chance that birds will have plenty of time to pick up the grass seeds before they start growing. Late April, early May will give you higher temps (hopefully) and grass seeds that germinate quicker.
I used feed, weed and moss killer on my lawn about a week ago so with the weather being so nice today I gave the lawn a cut. My mower has a collection box on the back so it collected the grass as I was cutting it. I then went over it with the electric rake.
This is the battle I have every year with moss. The amount that comes out of the ground is staggering.
After raking up the cuttings I changed the roller on the rake to the scarifier and then started to scarify it only to catch the submerged washing line post and break the bloody thing. I’m going to strip it down and have a look myself before consigning it to the tip and buying a new one.
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Thanks, Alex. It's a bit of a goldfish bowl, but we are working on that. Not that it's very busy, but as the only westerners in the community, we tend to garner a bit of attention... especially when the BBQ is in full swing!
Oh, and it's rather too hot at the moment. It can hit 40+ this time of year. Not ideal when you're a factory worker.
Last edited by Jon Kenney; 31st March 2021 at 00:31.
When it comes to snow: same here. Not one day, but three in a row. Hard to imagine when writing this: sun, no wind and 16C already here in the back garden.
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Busy weekend in the garden laying block pavers in the greenhouse
Followed by 10 barrow loads of moss after dethatching the lawn!
hopefully things will improve!
Aeration, seeding and top dressing and levelling to follow.
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Just take the pictures from the same angle in one and two months time. Let's see what happens.
I de-thatched my lawn 12 days ago, after that I threw a lot of fertilizer on the grass. The grass is growing already and it looks a lot greener than before! I still need to sow a little grass on the open spots, but temps will be below 12C for the next 10 days or so. Parts of my lawn really need 'shadow grass' and the former horse box in the back with it's iffy soil(...) needs very strong meadow grass that will grow on poor soil. Luckily, that's a lot cheaper than lawn grass seed.
Not a garden but our allotment
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Was in the garden yesterday and started a little bit of weeding on this 2014 collected Lonicera when it started blowing a blizzard, managed to finish the weeding, Didn't get the chance to give it a clip as I walked in looking like a snowman!!
Went out to give it a haircut today, When i'd finished I went down the steps and slipped!, This is a bit of a weight, The pot is 21"x16" and 6" deep, I was heading for another tree on the lawn and had to sort of throw it over that one but kept a hold, Somehow I didn't hurt myself, Or the trees/pots!!
I also collected the Cotoneaster on the left at the same time from the same derlict school in Barnsley, I made a box to plant it in but got it in to the 16"mica drum pot three years later, It was a twin trunk originally but the right hand trunk died back last year so I carved it heavily!, A few of my mates and me went, The school was being demolished and the grounds were overgrown with shrubbery, A friend who lived close by obtained permission and we gave the excavator driver a couple of quid for each tree he lifted with his bucket!, It really saved the back!!
John![]()
That's absolutely beautiful!!! And a very skilled job. I won't mind seeing more of these 'before/after pics!
When writing this, I now remember seeing a piece on television of a (British?) rockband drummer with a back garden filled with bonzai trees. Gravel on the ground, large teak/oak trees on the gravel and on top endless rows of bonzai. Was it Gardener's World? I don't remember where I've seen it.
This was the Lonicera when I brought it home, Luckily I had the pot spare so planted it straight in then left it for a couple of years before I did anything to it!
This was the Cotoneaster on the left of the garden swing, It had a large root/semi submerged branch, I had to make the box big enough to take it, I removed it the following year as it was in the way for potting it eventually!
I started carving the tree a couple of years later!
As it was with two trunks (I prefer it as a single slanting trunk!)..
The carved dead trunk..
And after the first coat of Lime Sulphur, It's had a few more coats but needed doing again as it fades away!
John![]()
When I see trunks like that, I remove them and throw them away. Not knowing that there's beauty inside! And one needs to be skilled to (a) recognise it and (b) get it 'out'.
Beautiful work there John.
You are the Bonsai master!