Gardening Advice

ImBetterThanShaun said:

Any suggestions on how to remove this from garden lawn (previous owners work).. the screws won’t move. Sledgehammer ?

Gotta be worth a few quid

If that is cast iron, just get a hammer and bolster/chisel on the brackets.

Raith_C_Chattonell said:

Elthamaddick said:

never really been a gardener at all, my grass is absolutely shot to pieces from the kids playing football on it, got a big trampoline and too many other toys and things - had a new patio done a few years back and there were a dozen slabs left over so have now finally decided to put them to good use and lay a little patio for the kids outside their playhouse at the bottom of the garden.

have got the sand/cement and currently halfway through digging up the turf....beginning to wish I hadn't started

I did exactly that with 8 slabs.

Looked it all up on youtube and thought I'll do it properly (for once).  Couldn't believe the amount of spoil, sub-base and sand involved.  By the time I laid the last slab I could hardly move.  I reckon if a neighbour spotted me they'd have rung for an ambulance.  Respect to those who do it for a living.

I laid 65sq meters of Indian sandstone a few years back. I drew up a plan of how I wanted, looked a at various YouTube videos and got a slab layout plan from the Paving Expert website, (which is was a real time saver and probably the only way with 4 different size slabs). It took me 3 weeks. It has to be the hardest physical work I have done or likely to ever do. Literally tons of materials manually moved by hand. Once you start though you have to finish it which is a bit daunting but 4 years on I’m sitting on having a beer so it was worth the pain. 

Just caught up with the latest Gardener's World.

RIP Nigel 😢. 

LargeAddick said:

clb74 said:

Getting fed up with cats keep sh!tting in my front garden any legal ideas

Pave over your front garden?

I need you large.
Ive not stopped indoors the last 6 weeks.

All sorted - cheers for the advice. I chose the easy option... listed it on marketplace and within a couple of hours it was out of the ground and into someone’s van 👌🏼 

clb74 said:

Getting fed up with cats keep sh!tting in my front garden any legal ideas

Squirt them with water whenever you see them. This works for a short time, then the furry shitting machines come back and start all over again! 

You can try hissing at them as they don't like it. A boot aimed towards their backsides also works well. 

My neighourhood cats have now realised that I'm a complete nutter and run as soon as I start to open the front door as they just never know what's going to be heading in their direction. They must absolutely hate that I've been working at home for ages. I spot them from my seat by the window as soon as they slink over next door's fence and I'm off out the door. I'm sure they have constipation by now! 

Elthamaddick said:

Raith_C_Chattonell said:

Elthamaddick said:

never really been a gardener at all, my grass is absolutely shot to pieces from the kids playing football on it, got a big trampoline and too many other toys and things - had a new patio done a few years back and there were a dozen slabs left over so have now finally decided to put them to good use and lay a little patio for the kids outside their playhouse at the bottom of the garden.

have got the sand/cement and currently halfway through digging up the turf....beginning to wish I hadn't started

I did exactly that with 8 slabs.

Looked it all up on youtube and thought I'll do it properly (for once).  Couldn't believe the amount of spoil, sub-base and sand involved.  By the time I laid the last slab I could hardly move.  I reckon if a neighbour spotted me they'd have rung for an ambulance.  Respect to those who do it for a living.

sounds just like me...have got everything I need in the garage, luckily it's at the bottom of the garden and will only be the kids playing on it cause I'm not sure the 'patio' will withstand too much weight by the time I've finished. The slabs weigh a bloody ton

back is in absolute pieces today....christ knows how anyone does that for a living !

Splashed out on a couple of Trachycarpus palms, two large Phoenix palms and a couple of cotton palms, my lad has some big holes to dig when this turns up.

orpingtonRED said:

clb74 said:

Another cats sh*t in the garden

Have you tried any infrared motion sensors?

There are a few reliable ones on the market now and quite small and discreet, easy to just fix on a wall or stick in the ground. Ive used PestBye and it reduced the amount of cat shit within a week id say. I set up a pair on my mums front drive aswell as she was having issues and they worked a treat.If it dont work in the first week, set the frequency level to its highest and try another location for a week. It should deter most cats apart from maybe the older more deaf ones. You can send it back within 30 days i think and get money back if its not working anyway.

The only downside id say is that its battery operated so rechargeable batts are a good idea.

Not yet orpington.
Last night was the 1st night i tried the urine test.
No more sh!t this morning i shall not try anymore tonight will have the bladder full up tomorrow just in case.

ImBetterThanShaun said:

All sorted - cheers for the advice. I chose the easy option... listed it on marketplace and within a couple of hours it was out of the ground and into someone’s van 👌🏼 

Now to keep the cats from shitting on the new patch and the birds away from the seed.

Worth putting some clear plastic over the patch after saturating it with water and staking it down to keep the birds off. I've done several patches on my grass and that gives the seeds half a chance of germinating quickly and the birds leaving them alone.