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#1
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Oppressive garden
"sweetheart" wrote Sorry to barge in posting but I need some advice. I have a large garden with some large trees and tons of hedges - mostly hazel. I would like to cut the lot down . If I did , will it all come back? Do you want it to grow back? I'm unsure what you actually want. If you "prune" it hard mature trees and shrubs usually do grow again, there are exceptions and those that simply give up but as a rule they do survive to grow/flower again. How can I get rid of the rubbish. The garden is becoming one bug weed and rubbish patch already with stuff to burn. Hire/buy a good shredder, this will reduce drastically the bulk of the waste and the shredding can be used as a mulch to suppress weeds and conserve moisture or composted to make a good soil improver. I have an apple tree, looks about 30 years old and must be 20 ft high. It flowered profusely but I haven't has a single apple. Can I chop this back or should I just have someone take a chain saw to it? It can be dramatically reduced in size but it's a job for someone with knowledge of such pruning if you are not to permanently damage the tree. Do you know if it's a tip bearer for example? I also have a ceanothus ( sp)? Can I cut this back and will it start again. It seems half dead, probably from the icy winter we had. Then there is one more bush/ tree. I am not sure what it is but I think it is a verbena, It flowers before it puts on leaves and the flowers come sometime early spring . Little pink clusters. It also looks a bit dead. Its 15 ft high. Could I cut it back or do I have to loose it and start again? I once pruned a very large and overgrown Vibernum with a chainsaw, I cut it down to a single stump about 2ft tall, it grew back into a beautiful bush after a few years. Finally I have another bush which has white flowers in summer. Someone told me it was a mock orange. The leaves are umbel and it smells like cats pee to me. Again its leggy and dead in the middle. How much can I take off and it will still live? I think you can also be quite drastic with Philodelphus. One more. not on plants. I need a good heavy duty electric strimmer . I cannot handle a petrol one. I have seen a Flymo 600 HD. Has anyone used one of these - are they any good? Before you buy an electric one do try a small petrol strimmer, you may find it no heavier than a heavy duty electric one and it will be much better at the job. If it's weight on your arms you are concerned about then get a shoulder strap. -- Regards Bob Hobden W.of London. UK |
#3
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Quote:
Could it be Choisya (Mexican orange blossom)?
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getstats - A society in which our lives and choices are enriched by an understanding of statistics. Go to www.getstats.org.uk for more information |
#4
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Oppressive garden
"Bob Hobden" wrote in message ... I would like to cut the lot down . If I did , will it all come back? Do you want it to grow back? I'm unsure what you actually want. If you "prune" it hard mature trees and shrubs usually do grow again, there are exceptions and those that simply give up but as a rule they do survive to grow/flower again. Well, put it this way, I would prefer some plants but if they do die I wont be gutted. I will be miffed because I may have to do extra work digging them out. How can I get rid of the rubbish. The garden is becoming one bug weed and rubbish patch already with stuff to burn. Hire/buy a good shredder, this will reduce drastically the bulk of the waste and the shredding can be used as a mulch to suppress weeds and conserve moisture or composted to make a good soil improver. I have a shredder. I have never sued it though. I have had it four years now, still boxed. Do the stems have to be dry to but them through. or can I cut and shed almost immediately? Sorry to ask but once I unbox this thing I have to find somewhere else to store it as where it is , its parcelled in well. I have an apple tree, looks about 30 years old and must be 20 ft high. It flowered profusely but I haven't has a single apple. Can I chop this back or should I just have someone take a chain saw to it? It can be dramatically reduced in size but it's a job for someone with knowledge of such pruning if you are not to permanently damage the tree. Do you know if it's a tip bearer for example? I dont even have a clue what sort it is. I know the apples are sourish and I have used them last year as cooking apples. They are red/ green and small ( just like all apples really ;-)) But since it flowered profusely this year but didnt give up a single apple, I think it needs something doing. I would be sorry to loose it, as its a nice feature where it is. One more. not on plants. I need a good heavy duty electric strimmer . I cannot handle a petrol one. I have seen a Flymo 600 HD. Has anyone used one of these - are they any good? Before you buy an electric one do try a small petrol strimmer, you may find it no heavier than a heavy duty electric one and it will be much better at the job. If it's weight on your arms you are concerned about then get a shoulder strap. I have got a petrol strimmer - a stihl . Its too heavy, the petrol is messy. It vibrates too much for me and frankly its big and I dont like engines on ends. Besides it has to be filled. At least electric is plug and go. I did have an old flymo strimmer but it faded away this year ( shaft broke). It used a heavy duty blue string and tended to do the job reasonably . There doesnt seem to be an equivelent to replace it with in the stores. Hence the HD which I saw on Amazon. |
#5
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Oppressive garden
On 15/09/2010 08:00, sweetheart wrote:
"Bob Hobden" wrote in message ... I would like to cut the lot down . If I did , will it all come back? Do you want it to grow back? I'm unsure what you actually want. If you "prune" it hard mature trees and shrubs usually do grow again, there are exceptions and those that simply give up but as a rule they do survive to grow/flower again. Well, put it this way, I would prefer some plants but if they do die I wont be gutted. I will be miffed because I may have to do extra work digging them out. Simplest pruning rules are take out all dead wood, any weak, and crossing branches until the shape looks roughly like a goblet. This works for most things (although there are notable exceptions). Your local library will have suitable illustrated books that will help. A few vigorous things like dogwoods and buddlea react quite well to chopping everything off at near ground level (or replacement pruning of one third of the oldest wood). And certain well known hedging conifers will never grow back from old mature wood so you can damage them by cutting back too far. Hire/buy a good shredder, this will reduce drastically the bulk of the waste and the shredding can be used as a mulch to suppress weeds and conserve moisture or composted to make a good soil improver. I have a shredder. I have never sued it though. I have had it four years now, still boxed. Do the stems have to be dry to but them through. or can I cut and shed almost immediately? Sorry to ask but once I unbox this thing I have to find somewhere else to store it as where it is , its parcelled in well. If you have the space I would not bother with the shredder. Leave the cut woody material to dry for a few weeks in the autumn sunshine and then have a bonfire. The ash is good for fruit trees and bushes. And the onions seem to like any charcoal left over. I have an apple tree, looks about 30 years old and must be 20 ft high. It flowered profusely but I haven't has a single apple. Can I chop this back or should I just have someone take a chain saw to it? It can be dramatically reduced in size but it's a job for someone with knowledge of such pruning if you are not to permanently damage the tree. Do you know if it's a tip bearer for example? I dont even have a clue what sort it is. I know the apples are sourish and I have used them last year as cooking apples. They are red/ green and small ( just like all apples really ;-)) But since it flowered profusely this year but didnt give up a single apple, I think it needs something doing. I would be sorry to loose it, as its a nice feature where it is. If you let an apple tree overcrop one year then you get almost nothing the next. Try thinning the fruit out early on next year to break the habit. Some trees tend to go biennial fruiting left to grow wild. Again prune weak, dead and crossing branches. And be careful not to cut a bit off every branch since if it is a tip bearer and you did prune carelessly that might also explain your lack of fruit this year. If you could identify the variety you could always get it a companion tree (or a grafted family tree). Fruit set is a lot more reliable if there is more than one tree for pollinators to visit. Regards, Martin Brown |
#6
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Probably not. Ceanothus is something, a bit like leylandii, that often doesn't regrow if you cut it back beyond where it has leaves. Once a ceanothus is a mess, it is hard to get back to being something nice again. Fortunately, they are often fairly easy to dig out if you need to replace it.
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