Regular readers will remember that a few months ago I had a brief
opportunity to prune the row of 25ft conifers growing along my boundary
in a neighbouring garden. Having pruned said conifers to 7ft high I
followed advice to hammer pure copper nails into the tops of the trunks
as an aid to disrupting the trees' hormone system and prevent them
resprouting.

The experiment appears to be in large part a success. There is no new
growth from the tops of the trees. There is some evidence of continuing
greenness from lower down but where this is accessible I am pruning it
back to the trunk.

It should be noted that over the years these conifers had been pruned
back several times by varying degrees and thus the row consisted not of
a neat row of large trees but a thicket of thick and thin trunks. It
would have taken a lifetime to have hammered a nail into every vertical
so I made a (variable) decision not to bother with uprights below a
certain size.


--
dave @ stejonda

in a neighbouring garden. Having pruned said conifers to 7ft high I
followed advice to hammer pure copper nails into the tops of the trunks

Maybe you should have hammered nails into just half of them .. and see if
there was a difference 6 months later.

- h

In article , "H" writes:
| in a neighbouring garden. Having pruned said conifers to 7ft high I
| followed advice to hammer pure copper nails into the tops of the trunks
|
| Maybe you should have hammered nails into just half of them .. and see if
| there was a difference 6 months later.

Especially considering that leylandii (like almost all conifers)
don't resprout at all well from old wood :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In message , Nick Maclaren
writes
In article , "H"
writes:
| in a neighbouring garden. Having pruned said conifers to 7ft high I
| followed advice to hammer pure copper nails into the tops of the trunks
|
| Maybe you should have hammered nails into just half of them .. and see if
| there was a difference 6 months later.

Especially considering that leylandii (like almost all conifers)
don't resprout at all well from old wood :-)

Ok, I confess, it wasn't an experiment at all. I hammered the nails in
as an additional attempt to doubly ensure a lack of regrowth. However, I
was asked by someone to report back so I have.

--
dave @ stejonda

In article , H
writes
in a neighbouring garden. Having pruned said conifers to 7ft high I
followed advice to hammer pure copper nails into the tops of the trunks

Maybe you should have hammered nails into just half of them .. and see if
there was a difference 6 months later.

And hammered placebo nails into another half...
Hold on that's 3 halves, that can't be right
--
David

Maybe you should have hammered nails into just half of them .. and see if
there was a difference 6 months later.

And hammered placebo nails into another half...
Hold on that's 3 halves, that can't be right
--
David


To be a true double blind experiment you should knock the nails in while wearing a
blindfold.
--
Drakanthus.


(Spam filter: Include the word VB anywhere in the subject line or emails
will never reach me.)

In message , Drakanthus
writes
To be a true double blind experiment you should knock the nails in
while wearing a
blindfold.

you can climb a stepladder on uneven ground wearing a blindfold if you
like but...

--
dave @ stejonda

In article , dave @ stejonda
writes
In message , Drakanthus
writes
To be a true double blind experiment you should knock the nails in
while wearing a
blindfold.

you can climb a stepladder on uneven ground wearing a blindfold if you
like but...

I've climbed Leeds climbing wall wearing a blindfold.

Interesting experience, actually. Felt more like crawling along a
horizontal surface. Much less scary than doing it with my eyes open!
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm