Adjacent to my garden and several neighbours gardens is a road/lane
which once lead to a small factory which has now been demolished and
housing is now under construction, on the site. The developer has
built another access and has planning permission to build a wall at each
end of the road/lane. I am negotiating with the developer to buy the
bit adjoining my garden. I will need change of use planning permission,
which should not be difficult. I will probably dig out this and build a
garage and space to park the caravan there.

My next door neighbour will probably not be able to buy the bit
adjoining their garden, about 20 yards by 5 yards, about 3 ft above the
garden level. So I will probably end up getting it, to give myself an L
shaped bit of land. I hope to turn this into a wildlife garden at
minimum cost, which will also stop people getting onto my land. The
lane/road is covered with a layer of second hand tarmac from a public
road which was being resurfaced. Underneath is probably several feet
of foundry slag (the pretty green glassy stuff) and hardcore, very well
drained.

The present plan is to break up the surface with a JCB or road drill,
and spread a few inches of the cheapest soil I can get over the surface.
Then plant a row of prickly species roses as a barrier to people, and on
the rest other things to harbour wildlife, trees would be too big, bushes
up to 10 ft mature height would be OK.

Has anyone any other ideas?
Or things which will survive on these terrible conditions.
--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
Freedom of Speech, Expression, Religion, and Democracy are
the keys to Civilization, together with legal acceptance of
Fundamental Human rights.

On Sun, 05 Mar 2006 10:19:03 +0000, Dave Fawthrop
wrote:

|Adjacent to my garden and several neighbours gardens is a road/lane
|which once lead to a small factory which has now been demolished and
|housing is now under construction, on the site. The developer has
|built another access and has planning permission to build a wall at each
|end of the road/lane. I am negotiating with the developer to buy the
|bit adjoining my garden. I will need change of use planning permission,
|which should not be difficult. I will probably dig out this and build a
|garage and space to park the caravan there.
|
|My next door neighbour will probably not be able to buy the bit
|adjoining their garden, about 20 yards by 5 yards, about 3 ft above the
|garden level. So I will probably end up getting it, to give myself an L
|shaped bit of land. I hope to turn this into a wildlife garden at
|minimum cost, which will also stop people getting onto my land. The
|lane/road is covered with a layer of second hand tarmac from a public
|road which was being resurfaced. Underneath is probably several feet
|of foundry slag (the pretty green glassy stuff) and hardcore, very well
|drained.
|
|The present plan is to break up the surface with a JCB or road drill,
|and spread a few inches of the cheapest soil I can get over the surface.
|Then plant a row of prickly species roses as a barrier to people, and on
|the rest other things to harbour wildlife, trees would be too big, bushes
|up to 10 ft mature height would be OK.

Forgot to mention, the other side of the road is gardens with wall then
well trimmed leylandii on top of a 20 ft bank with new houses at the
bottom. So these houses are not interested in the land as they would never
see it from the house.

|Has anyone any other ideas?
|Or things which will survive on these terrible conditions.
--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
Freedom of Speech, Expression, Religion, and Democracy are
the keys to Civilization, together with legal acceptance of
Fundamental Human rights.

In article ,
Dave Fawthrop wrote:

Has anyone any other ideas?
Or things which will survive on these terrible conditions.

If you go in for walking, you will see that trees and shrubs have
no problem colonising old roadways as soon as the surface breaks
up enough to allow their roots to reach down. Your plan sounds
fine to me.

I suggest planting the odd sloe, which is prickly, has flowers in
spring and fruit in autumn. Otherwise any of the shrubs that
naturalise such habitat will do well - hawthorn, privet (native),
elder, and of course the various roses. Plus buddleia :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Dave Fawthrop wrote:
Adjacent to my garden and several neighbours gardens is a road/lane
which once lead to a small factory which has now been demolished and
housing is now under construction, on the site. The developer has
built another access and has planning permission to build a wall at
each end of the road/lane. I am negotiating with the developer to
buy the bit adjoining my garden. I will need change of use planning
permission, which should not be difficult. I will probably dig out
this and build a garage and space to park the caravan there.

My next door neighbour will probably not be able to buy the bit
adjoining their garden, about 20 yards by 5 yards, about 3 ft above
the garden level. So I will probably end up getting it, to give
myself an L shaped bit of land. I hope to turn this into a wildlife
garden at minimum cost, which will also stop people getting onto my
land. The lane/road is covered with a layer of second hand tarmac
from a public road which was being resurfaced. Underneath is
probably several feet of foundry slag (the pretty green glassy stuff)
and hardcore, very well drained.

The present plan is to break up the surface with a JCB or road drill,
and spread a few inches of the cheapest soil I can get over the
surface. Then plant a row of prickly species roses as a barrier to
people, and on the rest other things to harbour wildlife, trees would
be too big, bushes up to 10 ft mature height would be OK.

Has anyone any other ideas?
Or things which will survive on these terrible conditions.

Not much idea WRT shrubs and trees etc, but if you want to save money don't
bother with a JCB, get yourself down to a hire shop and get a large kango
and 110 volt transformer, it will break the tarmac up into handy sized
chunks for removal, and another tip is to do it before summer really sets in
or the tarmac will soften, better to do it while cold and it's more brittle.

I've used these to break up a similar sized patch of 6 inch concrete which
is a lot harder than tarmac [1]...another question is what are you going to
do with the chunks of tarmac afterwards? - if it's the soft, gravelly type,
you could put soil over the top, if it's thick, compacted (motorway type)
stuff, then I think it would be better to get a skip and get shut of it.

[1] It took me a (long) day, I'd have had two easy days but I had other
things to do, tarmac should take no longer than 6 - 7 hours to break up
using a kango meaning one day's hire of equipment.

On 5 Mar 2006 16:31:51 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:

|In article ,
|Dave Fawthrop wrote:
|
|Has anyone any other ideas?
|Or things which will survive on these terrible conditions.
|
|If you go in for walking, you will see that trees and shrubs have
|no problem colonising old roadways as soon as the surface breaks
|up enough to allow their roots to reach down. Your plan sounds
|fine to me.

I was hoping to increase the speed of colonisation and growth

|I suggest planting the odd sloe, which is prickly, has flowers in
|spring and fruit in autumn.

Sloes do not survive where I live. Yorkshire pennines :-(

|Otherwise any of the shrubs that
|naturalise such habitat will do well - hawthorn, privet (native),
|elder, and of course the various roses. Plus buddleia :-)


--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
Freedom of Speech, Expression, Religion, and Democracy are
the keys to Civilization, together with legal acceptance of
Fundamental Human rights.

On Sun, 05 Mar 2006 16:55:53 GMT, "Phil L"
wrote:


|I've used these to break up a similar sized patch of 6 inch concrete which
|is a lot harder than tarmac [1]...another question is what are you going to
|do with the chunks of tarmac afterwards?

Leave it, it will be thin, and hopefully it will not poison plants.


--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
Freedom of Speech, Expression, Religion, and Democracy are
the keys to Civilization, together with legal acceptance of
Fundamental Human rights.

In article ,
Dave Fawthrop wrote:
|
|If you go in for walking, you will see that trees and shrubs have
|no problem colonising old roadways as soon as the surface breaks
|up enough to allow their roots to reach down. Your plan sounds
|fine to me.

I was hoping to increase the speed of colonisation and growth

Your plan STILL sounds fine to me :-)

|I suggest planting the odd sloe, which is prickly, has flowers in
|spring and fruit in autumn.

Sloes do not survive where I live. Yorkshire pennines :-(

Yer whaa? Clapham, Tutin and Warberg say that they grow naturally
up to 1360 feet in Yorkshire, and as far north as Sunderland. If
you can't grow sloes, then you are going to have the devil of a
job finding much that WILL grow!

Yes, really. They will grow on nearly bare chalk, very acid soils,
rich soils, poor soils, dry soils and fairly wet soils, and are
as hardy as almost anything (but you lose the crop from late frosts).


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 5 Mar 2006 22:16:57 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:


|Sloes do not survive where I live. Yorkshire pennines :-(
|
|Yer whaa? Clapham, Tutin and Warberg say that they grow naturally
|up to 1360 feet in Yorkshire, and as far north as Sunderland. If
|you can't grow sloes, then you are going to have the devil of a
|job finding much that WILL grow!
|
|Yes, really. They will grow on nearly bare chalk, very acid soils,
|rich soils, poor soils, dry soils and fairly wet soils, and are
|as hardy as almost anything (but you lose the crop from late frosts).

That's interesting, I may try them.
--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
Freedom of Speech, Expression, Religion, and Democracy are
the keys to Civilization, together with legal acceptance of
Fundamental Human rights.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Dave Fawthrop wrote:

Sloes do not survive where I live. Yorkshire pennines :-(

Yer whaa? Clapham, Tutin and Warberg say that they grow naturally
up to 1360 feet in Yorkshire, and as far north as Sunderland. If
you can't grow sloes, then you are going to have the devil of a
job finding much that WILL grow!

Yes, really. They will grow on nearly bare chalk, very acid soils,
rich soils, poor soils, dry soils and fairly wet soils, and are
as hardy as almost anything (but you lose the crop from late frosts).


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

When did they write THAT?
Sloes thrive well north of Sunderland. We never had trouble finding them in
Northumberland, and over on the west of Scotland Easdale Island near Oban is
covered in them. Or are these deliberate plantings rather than growing
naturally? As the ones I'm thinking of are on abandoned railways and a
worked-out slate quarry, I somehow doubt it!

Duncan

In article ,
Duncan wrote:

Sloes do not survive where I live. Yorkshire pennines :-(

Yer whaa? Clapham, Tutin and Warberg say that they grow naturally
up to 1360 feet in Yorkshire, and as far north as Sunderland. If
you can't grow sloes, then you are going to have the devil of a
job finding much that WILL grow!

Yes, really. They will grow on nearly bare chalk, very acid soils,
rich soils, poor soils, dry soils and fairly wet soils, and are
as hardy as almost anything (but you lose the crop from late frosts).

When did they write THAT?
Sloes thrive well north of Sunderland. We never had trouble finding them in
Northumberland, and over on the west of Scotland Easdale Island near Oban is
covered in them. Or are these deliberate plantings rather than growing
naturally? As the ones I'm thinking of are on abandoned railways and a
worked-out slate quarry, I somehow doubt it!

Oops. Mea culpa. Sutherland :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Dave Fawthrop wrote:
On Sun, 05 Mar 2006 16:55:53 GMT, "Phil L"
wrote:


|I've used these to break up a similar sized patch of 6 inch concrete which
|is a lot harder than tarmac [1]...another question is what are you going to
|do with the chunks of tarmac afterwards?

Leave it, it will be thin, and hopefully it will not poison plants.


Janet suggested gorse, yes it will grow on poor soil, it is trying to
colonise the poor part of my garden. The problem is that it is very
invasive, and takes over everything, also rabbits love the protection,
and they will ruin most plants and small trees! If you have ever seen
gorse lined slopes you will know what I mean.

--
Please do not reply to this Email address,
as all Emails are deleted before opened.

On Wed, 08 Mar 2006 09:17:52 +0000, Broadback wrote:

|Dave Fawthrop wrote:
| On Sun, 05 Mar 2006 16:55:53 GMT, "Phil L"
| wrote:
|
|
| |I've used these to break up a similar sized patch of 6 inch concrete which
| |is a lot harder than tarmac [1]...another question is what are you going to
| |do with the chunks of tarmac afterwards?
|
| Leave it, it will be thin, and hopefully it will not poison plants.
|
|
|Janet suggested gorse, yes it will grow on poor soil, it is trying to
|colonise the poor part of my garden. The problem is that it is very
|invasive, and takes over everything, also rabbits love the protection,
|and they will ruin most plants and small trees! If you have ever seen
|gorse lined slopes you will know what I mean.

Not gorse, or brambles they are much too invasive.
--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
Freedom of Speech, Expression, Religion, and Democracy are
the keys to Civilization, together with legal acceptance of
Fundamental Human rights.

In article ,
Dave Fawthrop writes:
| On Wed, 08 Mar 2006 09:17:52 +0000, Broadback wrote:
|
| |Janet suggested gorse, yes it will grow on poor soil, it is trying to
| |colonise the poor part of my garden. The problem is that it is very
| |invasive, and takes over everything, also rabbits love the protection,
| |and they will ruin most plants and small trees! If you have ever seen
| |gorse lined slopes you will know what I mean.
|
| Not gorse, or brambles they are much too invasive.

That is a common myth. Note that gorse dominates only in a few
conditions, and those are usually when little else will grow.
In particular, even small trees will shade it out.

Similar remarks are true about brambles, though those are very
invasive in rich soils where trees are prevented from growing
and there is no grazing, mowing etc. They will grow in shade,
but not take over.




Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 8 Mar 2006 12:42:26 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:

|
|In article ,
|Dave Fawthrop writes:
|| On Wed, 08 Mar 2006 09:17:52 +0000, Broadback wrote:
||
|| |Janet suggested gorse, yes it will grow on poor soil, it is trying to
|| |colonise the poor part of my garden. The problem is that it is very
|| |invasive, and takes over everything, also rabbits love the protection,
|| |and they will ruin most plants and small trees! If you have ever seen
|| |gorse lined slopes you will know what I mean.
||
|| Not gorse, or brambles they are much too invasive.
|
|That is a common myth. Note that gorse dominates only in a few
|conditions, and those are usually when little else will grow.
|In particular, even small trees will shade it out.
|
|Similar remarks are true about brambles, though those are very
|invasive in rich soils where trees are prevented from growing
|and there is no grazing, mowing etc. They will grow in shade,
|but not take over.

In our area there are huge patches of both brambles and gorse. When
established they will shade out absolutely everything. I would never
deliberately introduce them anywhere near my garden.
--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
Freedom of Speech, Expression, Religion, and Democracy are
the keys to Civilization, together with legal acceptance of
Fundamental Human rights.

In article ,
Dave Fawthrop writes:
|
| In our area there are huge patches of both brambles and gorse. When
| established they will shade out absolutely everything. I would never
| deliberately introduce them anywhere near my garden.

That is unlikely, to put it mildly. The reason that trees don't
establish in such thickets is far more likely to be the rabbits.
By all means avoid them, as they could well be problems in your
conditions, but please don't propagate myths.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.