Jobs for the weekend,what's yours??

Cut down a Hebe to the roots last weekend - it was too big and was 'woody' when cut back.

Now trying to get the roots out and wondering if there's an easy way!
 
delgirl said:
Cut down a Hebe to the roots last weekend - it was too big and was 'woody' when cut back.

Now trying to get the roots out and wondering if there's an easy way!
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You use a long handled bypass lopper to cut out the roots.These bypass loppers will cut to a diameter of 40-45mm and with a little effort you will quickly cut through the remaining Hebe roots,
They cost around 15-20 euro in a builders providers,a garden centre or a diy store.
A 5 foot long concrete breaker bar or a Mattock are also both very handy for removing roots that are well in there.Both will make quick and easy work of the remaining roots.
You will pick up each tool in a builders providers for 20 euro.
 
Thanks Flowerman - I have a lopper and will try to cut the roots and see how I get on from there.
 
I dug out a bed of conifers to turn the plot in to a vegetable patch. I had to dig down about 18" around the roots in order to get at the shoots. I used a hand axe to chop my way through the roots to separate them from the main trunk. I found it very useful not to cut down the trunk above ground down to the quick. If you leave about 18" of the trunk above ground you can rock it back and forth to loosen the roots.
 
+1
Works well with small trees and large conifers.
Did that myself many years ago with a 15 foot tall cordyline tree that didnt want to budge,so with the help fo Mr Spade and Mrs Loppers I got the tree trunk and main downward root out.Think I lost about 1 kilo in weight that day too.
 
Well done flower man. My job for the weekend is my one day of employment .... was made redundant in my job after working there for two years ...lost the job in 2008 solely because of the recession ... unfortunately that company went into liquidation year or so later. I went into bit of a down time as you do in following few years trying to scrape enough for bills etc with my hubbys small wage and my dole which I had never been on in my lifetime (I am now 56) and which I hated queuing for and collecting in my local post office but at same time delighted to get it cos it was needed to buy food. So I now have a job....one day every second weekend...it was two its been reduced to one but I love it and am delighted with it....its raised my sense of self and has been so good for me and to see a wage no matter how small landing in my poor red bank account is utter bliss. I am hoping against hope my job will improve or I may get anyther I will enjoy as much that has more days offer. I love the feeling that I am employable and not need to be fearful of not being good enough or able to do the job. I am upbeat enough now and my confidence is up so I am currently looking for a free course that I can do to upskill so I am ready when/if another job appears. I never thankfully went into a depression but I did go down and thats natural for everyone when you lose a job and there are no jobs there in recession. I am so grateful to the parents I had who raised us in tough times and made do and taught us skills to manage on very little, how to bake hot to make a stew last for longer filling up with veg, how to gut fish and freeze for later date...etc etc. How to look in the fridge and cupboards and see what I can make with what is there...huge lessons we were taught which stand to us today. But with all that life is good cos we are healthy and alive so thats a huge thing to be grateful for. Enjoy your time in your garder flowerman.....nature is what we need when things are tough in the economy....nature keeps going on no matter what so enjoy the fresh air and the land.
 

What a sincere and from the heart post that is.

Sometimes its the small simple things in life that keep us going. and actually make us stronger people for it too.

I used to be amazed by what my mother could make for dinner from what looked to me (as a 10 year old kid) like an empty fridge and cupboard.But like you said yourself,its the simple things that our mothers and fathers teach us and show us as kids that get us through our own hard times and keep us on the right path later on when we are adults.

A breath of fresh air and also the colour of the various flowers and plants have a great effect on the body and on the mind and it gives the brain good feelings and nice/positive thoughts too.
 
I still have lettuce, curly kale, spinach, cabbage, turnip and chard growing away nicely in my raised beds. One or two of these is added to my meal everyday and a soup is also made from the unused cooked bits. I also have quite a bit frozen in the freezer.
This weekend, starting today, I will be raking my garden leaves and adding them to my compost heap, together with all the scraps of paper and cardboard that have accumulated over the past number of rain days.
I still have lots of flowers still growing around my garden. I will also have a walk here over the weekend to see the last of the autumn colour.
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And all for free.
 
Nice sunny day today so planted some more allium bulbs.Also gave 2 sections of the garden flower beds a nice mulch with a home made leaf mold and horse manure mix
 
Picked out our 2 Christmas trees today from the local garden centre in Howth.They got us in a lovely 8 foot tree and also a 15 foot tree too.So thats my job for this weekend comming,to put them up in the living room and garden and decorate them with my young daughter.

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https://www.flickr.com/photos/127582733@N07/15882741791/
 
This weekend's jobs:

Plant some bulbs.
Plant out the cyclamen I bought 2 weeks ago.
Fill in dents in plasterwork on walls with polyfilla and repaint, in 2 rooms.
Get out long ladder and replace non-functioning downlighter.
Sew back buttons that popped off coat.
Go swimming.

That's all! Oh, apart from grocery shopping and organising the last few Xmas presents.
 

Not that much to do then?.


What bulbs are you planting out?
 
I wish I knew! They've been hanging around a couple of years, with good intentions. And no, they're still not planted

And I had to get an electrician out for the light, as it wasn't the bulb (lightbulb) that was gone.
 
Gordanus said:
I wish I knew! They've been hanging around a couple of years, with good intentions. And no, they're still not planted

And I had to get an electrician out for the light, as it wasn't the bulb (lightbulb) that was gone.
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Seeds and bulbs tend to have a shelf life of around 2 years,so check the dates on the packets and if over 2 years then I would chuck em out.

Also feel the bulbs and any soft or mushy bulbs need to be thrown away too,as they are rotten and wont grow.

Happy planting.
 
My job for this weekend comming is to plant some lovely white "Christmas Rose" hellebores that I bought the other day and to plant some New Zealand dwarf ferns in a freshly dug and mulched part of the garden.I will also be using large Yew Tree stumps and a cut up Yew Tree trunk.Im going to create a small natural looking stumpery garden with this patch of the garden.The tree stumps,helebores and ferns will add contrast,greenery and winter colour to this part of the garden.
 
Gosh what lovely gardens you all seem to have. I envy you, I wouldn't know which end of those bulbs to put in the ground. Mine consists of well kept lawn (large area) and well trimmed hedges, a few shrubs and a couple of pots.

My weekend job!
2 pairs of slacks sitting on the "good intention chair" for the past 3 weeks awaiting alteration
 

Im guilty of planting around 30 bulbs in the ground upside down,my wife then showed me the correct way to do it.She watched me and was trying to keep a straight face as I planted them upside down.

She also showed me that fritillary bulbs are actually put into the soil on their sides so that they grow and flower.If you put them into the soil like a normal bulb then they just rot away.
Your garden sounds lovely and the main thing is that you like and love it like that.Every person has different tastes and likes in gardening and thats also why gardening is so nice and enjoyable too.

Good luck with the alterations too.
 
So now thats its 2015,whats your job or jobs for the weekend?

Mine is to get up off the sofa and get some more bulbs planted this weekend,also give the patio and driveway a blast with the pressure washer and do a bit of tidying up after those strong winds last night.Good way to get a bit of exercise and work off all that Christmas cake and stuffing.
 
Well Ive more bulbs to plant out tomorrow and also alot of Blechnum Penna-Marina ferns to be planted too.
All the snowdrops that I planted there last month have poped up and are starting to flower under the hedgerows and trees.Im delighted that all of them are flowering,as sometimes new snowdrop bulbs can take 2-3 seasons before they will actually flower.
I also plan to chop up one of the large felled oak trees into firewood for 2016 and 2017.Got the trunk cut down into smaller rings,so just have to chop up all those rings into smaller pieces of firewood for the stove.
 
flowerman said:
Mine is to get up off the sofa and get some more bulbs planted this weekend,also give the patio and driveway a blast with the pressure washer g.
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Do you recommend putting a sealer on the patio or driveway to protect them??
 
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