In message , Jon Green
writes
"dave @ stejonda" wrote:

I like the idea of being sure. What size copper nails do I need to head
out & buy for a surreptitious hammering session this afternoon?

Heh-heh! Dunno; I guess any size that's pure copper.

....and they, I discovered, are not so easy to find - especially with
tiny heads.

You'd want to
have nail-heads small enough that they don't show, I s'pose, and bang
enough of them in to be sure.

It's probably considerate not to nail them in at a height that's likely
to be attacked by chainsaws, though: if the chainsaw blade hits metal,
it could cause injury to the chainsaw operator, although copper's softer
than steel, of course.

I've just returned from a successful foray out this morning to bang the
nails in. Decided to do it before the workman (who seem to be ripping
the insides out of next door) arrive. Quite an interesting experience
that - creeping around at 0430 in the pouring rain banging copper nails
in trees - made me think of banging stakes into the hearts of vampires
g - this episode has brought a new aspect to my gardening life!

I decided, since I could only find Copper 'Clout' nails which have quite
large heads to go the easy route of banging them in around the perimeter
of the tops of the severed larger trunks. So I've made no attempt to
hide the evidence to anyone who's 8ft tall and looking. I just really
didn't fancy trying to fight my way through the thick lower growth to
find the trunks lower down. Hell, I'm surprised no-one called the
police, me sneaking around with my ladder in the dark.

Not that I'd suggest doing this to someone else's leylandii, of course.
Strictly to nobble your own trees....

Of course g. Well at the moment I'd argue they're nobody's trees - I'm
quite sure the land owner wouldn't want them if given the choice.

Thanks for all your help folks. Now, can anyone tell me *why* copper
nails are going to work?

--
dave @ stejonda

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