Reply With QuoteVery nice whatever it is and a beautiful place to live. I have 6 acres to main so I'm quite envious!
I’d guess porcelain.Originally Posted by Halitosis
Very nice whatever it is and a beautiful place to live. I have 6 acres to main so I'm quite envious!
Not sure what the material is (already there when we moved in) but they are very hard wearing tiles. They’re actually in a couple of the bedrooms, so must have been a job lot!
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Yes, Vietnam. Binh Duong to be precise. About an hour outside of Ho Chi Minh.
I couldn’t justify a place like this in the city. It would be about $8000 a month
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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.
Blimey, be careful going near those cubs - that mother fox would appear from nowhere and rip your face off if she thought you were threatening them.
Lovely to see the little ones though!
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...
It's a throw of the dice. Historically we are likely to get cold spells in April. How cold is the wager you take; But I agree it is tempting. I have no lawn to seed but I will take the laurel out, because it's (backbreaking but) straightforward to take back inside.
'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.
Looking on my phone it says there is a 50% chance of snow on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week down here in South Wales.
I’ll be holding out a few weeks before I seed.
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.
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.
Haha. We often see neighbors lobbing leaves back into each others property. Fortunately we have a lovely older couple that clean the yard daily.
And yes, some of the flora is beautiful.
Thank Matt. We're doing great ta.
That will be one of many mozzy zapper contraptions we have all over the place. They love the pale skin
We bought a scarifier. I'm sure it somehow creates matter, it's the only explanation for the huge amounts of moss that appear from it!
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Yep, what looks like a clean lawn soon looks like a cut hay field after it’s been scarified.
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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“Don’t look back, you’re not heading that way.”
Just take the pictures from the same angle in one and two months time. Let's see what happens.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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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.
Will update. Bad year for moss this year!
Manually de-thatched so my body is feeling it now!
Last edited by Chinnock; 4th April 2021 at 19:40.
I rented a petrol-powered (Eliet with a Honda engine) machine. 30 euros for a whole day. I'm glad I spent it on that machine!
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'.
Agreed!
I never thought / knew you could do this, although logically it makes sense as when you heavily prune larger trees, they usually grow back.
I may try it!
Beautiful work there John.
You are the Bonsai master!
Cheers,
Neil.
I think this is my favourite time of year in the garden when the the Quince tree comes into flower.
Nice lawn. Are they olive trees at the bottom?
The lawn was levelled (ha!) and re-turfed a week or so ago. It's been growing really fast and needs a trim, but not all the turfs have rooted yet, so I'll have to hang fire for another week or so. I really don't want to see the next water bill.
Yes, the trees in the lawn are olives - but of an ornamental variety and don't fruit.
We make quince vodka from ours!
Last November, we moved house. From our too large townhouse to our own forest with a modest house in the middle. One of the first things we did was hiring a professional tree surgeon to have all the trees adjacent to our neighbour's land checked, cut when needed and some had only branches cut off.
Since then I've been busy cutting the pieces of wood on the ground into 35cm /13.5 inch logs. But I didn't want to haul all the wood with a wheelbarrow! Next job was to set out a path between the trees, wide enough for the CRV + trailer to reach the various spots where I'd stashed the cut-offs. That took me a few days: cutting away dead trunks hidden under the thick layer of dead leafs, replanting some shrubs and marking my route with a special marker used by tree surgeons. I didn't want to get lost in my own forest! (That would be more my stupidity than the size of the forest...)
Then the loading started. Oak and birch. First, I started weighing the logs and I found out that I'd be safe when I would cover the complete floor of my trailer: about 500 kilos of wood and I needed add the weight of the trailer as well. This hybrid version has an allowed towing capacity of 750 kilo here in the Netherlands.
With the ground very dry - it's the 4th week without rain, towing with the hybrid was easy. It even ran in EV mode with the trailer packed with logs!
Last edited by thieuster; 26th April 2021 at 13:04.
Surely the weight limit is only valid (and enforceable) on public roads, not inside your own property?
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
I've considered that. Our previous CR-V with the 2.2 diesel engine was allowed to haul 1800 kgs. This hybrid is restricted to 750 kgs, knowing that it's only valid for Europe. In the US and Can, one is NOT allowed to pull anything with the car. There: void of warranty when you put a trailer behind the CR-V hybrid. Those two added-up... well let's say I stay on the safe side.
Next job is splitting the wood into pieces suited for the log burner. A friend who owns a TR (a TR5!) heard about my adventures and offered me his electric wood splitter. Tomorrow is The King's Day overhere and I'll pick the machine next Wednesday. TBC.
Good luck with that and hopefully, the damage will be limited.
At the same time, on this side of the North Sea: I’ve won an online auction: a US-built Locke reel mower. Normally for golf courses.
I won that (working!) machine for next to nothing.
You can never have too many mowers, look forward to seeing the stripes you achieve with that
My precious...
No-way that this machine was ever delivered with a 8 hp Honda engine! Someone has installed this after the original engine gave up. The protection over the rear wheels had to go to fit the engine. That Honda engine is idiot-proof. When the mower fails, there's always the route of building the engine into a DIY hurricane-force wheeled leaf blower!
I sent you an email with a short video.
Last edited by thieuster; 5th May 2021 at 20:17.
That looks epic @thieusterLast November, we moved house. From our too large townhouse to our own forest with a modest house in the middle. One of the first things we did was hiring a professional tree surgeon to have all the trees adjacent to our neighbour's land checked, cut when needed and some had only branches cut off.
Since then I've been busy cutting the pieces of wood on the ground into 35cm /13.5 inch logs. But I didn't want to haul all the wood with a wheelbarrow! Next job was to set out a path between the trees, wide enough for the CRV + trailer to reach the various spots where I'd stashed the cut-offs. That took me a few days: cutting away dead trunks hidden under the thick layer of dead leafs, replanting some shrubs and marking my route with a special marker used by tree surgeons. I didn't want to get lost in my own forest! (That would be more my stupidity than the size of the forest...)
Then the loading started. Oak and birch. First, I started weighing the logs and I found out that I'd be safe when I would cover the complete floor of my trailer: about 500 kilos of wood and I needed add the weight of the trailer as well. This hybrid version has an allowed towing capacity of 750 kilo here in the Netherlands.
With the ground very dry - it's the 4th week without rain, towing with the hybrid was easy. It even ran in EV mode with the trailer packed with logs!
Do you have some photos of the house?
I am intrigued to see a house in the middle of its own forest
Yes! Beautiful
Pics from the sales brochure last July
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What a difference a month makes!
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“Don’t look back, you’re not heading that way.”
That is quite a difference! I guess this rather variable weather is helping
Been perfect sowing weather combined with lots of aeration, seed, top soil, weed and feed.
That's great!!!What a difference a month makes!
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I used my behemoth Locke mower for the first time.
Last edited by thieuster; 19th May 2021 at 16:09.
How did you manage that - whats the secret?
ive postponed due to extremes of the weather, hailstoning one minute and sun beaming the next!
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