Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:

Gelatine is a bit harsh. I could do the job for you using blasting
powder (black powder with a higher charcoal content than gunpowder)
without even covering-up your greenhouse with more than a sheet of ply
in front of it. (I used to 'lift' tree stumps using it, back in the
'fifties and 'sixties; and my party trick was to stand on the stump and
fire the charge while still standing on it.)

More farming than gardening, but high explosive has been used to
plant fruit trees. A bang, a hole with fissured sides excellent
for root penetration, and any fumes just provide fertiliser...
fast, too.

Victoria Clare wrote:
It's rock, but it's not what I'd call solid. It's nasty shaly flaky stuff
that cracks easily and I would have thought sideways leverage would
probably crack it in an annoying manner.

Sorry, I forgot where you are, now I know what your soil's like
- your best bet is a steel pole, 1" or so in diameter, sharpened
at one end, which you thump up and down in the hole. Remove bits
and pieces of rock as needed.

If you're putting a gate in a hedge, then if you connect the
top of the poles, you won't need to go deep at all; you could
put some sort of decorative top on:

/\
/ \
/ \
/______\
| |
| |
| |
| o |
| |
| |
=================================

Chris Bacon wrote in
:

Victoria Clare wrote:
It's rock, but it's not what I'd call solid. It's nasty shaly flaky
stuff that cracks easily and I would have thought sideways leverage
would probably crack it in an annoying manner.


If you're putting a gate in a hedge, then if you connect the
top of the poles, you won't need to go deep at all; you could
put some sort of decorative top on:

/\
/ \
/ \
/______\
| |
| |
| |
| o |
| |
| |
=================================

OK, that might work. How deep roughly would my hole-pounding need to go
roughly, do you think?

I guess if I put a paving slab or something in the archway (currently just
soil) that would help give the structure some rigidity too.

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--

Chris Bacon wrote:
[...]
More farming than gardening, but high explosive has been used to
plant fruit trees. A bang, a hole with fissured sides excellent
for root penetration, and any fumes just provide fertiliser...
fast, too.

I believe it's the standard way of planting in the port vineyards.

--
Mike.

The message 4
from Victoria Clare contains these words:

I like the 'make your own concrete post' idea best so far, though the
Kanga
drill also sounds like fun!

Well, combine the two. Kangos are heavy, though. (And rather like a very
big hammerdrill, not pneumatic.)

You'll still need to make a bit of a hole to stop the thing from keeling
over - but not such a deep one.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from bigboard contains these words:

*TUMP!*

Stump would twitch, smoke would ooze out all round it, then we'd drag it
out with a block and tackle. Somewhere between two drams and ten drams
usually did the job.


LOL! I've heard of people using this technique, but they never mentioned
standing atop the stump. I'd pay to see that.

The trick is to use just enough to break the roots, but not to launch it
au Blaster Bates.

I learnt how to do it from and old slate blaster, and applied it to a
lot of stumps in clearings on a new Scout campsite.

Some overenthusiastic and ignorant scouter had felled a lot of trees to
make clearings for camping in - leaving the stumps, thus preventing said
camping because there was nowhere a tent could be pitched.

Our lot (we later became a tree-felling partnership) would have got a
rope up the tree, dug round it and cut most of the roots, then pulled it
over, taking out the stump while still attached.

Still, it gave me scope for devilment - the campsite was bounded on two
sides by housing, and no-one ever knew. (Especially the Scout Insurance
company!)

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from Chris Bacon contains these words:
Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:

Gelatine is a bit harsh. I could do the job for you using blasting
powder (black powder with a higher charcoal content than gunpowder)
without even covering-up your greenhouse with more than a sheet of ply
in front of it. (I used to 'lift' tree stumps using it, back in the
'fifties and 'sixties; and my party trick was to stand on the stump and
fire the charge while still standing on it.)

More farming than gardening, but high explosive has been used to
plant fruit trees. A bang, a hole with fissured sides excellent
for root penetration, and any fumes just provide fertiliser...
fast, too.

The only problem with that is that your gelignite (or similar) doesn't
leave the spoil tidily heaped by the hole innit.

I say 'or similar', because while still at school I made a small
quantity of nitroglycerine - by remote control - and the hole that was
left after a few mililitres of it went off at the bottom of the garden
persuaded me that the stuff was Bad News.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from Chris Bacon contains these words:

()
/\
/ \
/ \
/______\
| |
(| ° ° |)
| " |
| o |
| |
| |
=================================

The message
from Victoria Clare contains these words:

If you're putting a gate in a hedge, then if you connect the
top of the poles, you won't need to go deep at all; you could
put some sort of decorative top on:

/\
/ \
/ \
/______\
| |
| |
| |
| o |
| |
| |
=================================

OK, that might work. How deep roughly would my hole-pounding need to go
roughly, do you think?

I guess if I put a paving slab or something in the archway (currently just
soil) that would help give the structure some rigidity too.

Molish a trellis arch and grow marrows/beans etc up it.

I made a sort of tunnel up my front path once, and grew runners,
marrows, cucumbers and tomatoes up it. (tomatoes had to be tied up).

I'd come in in the evening and pick the veg for dinner as i walked up to
the front door.

Can't get much fresher than that.

Hmmmmmm. It's not too late to do that here this year...

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from "Mike Lyle" contains these words:
Chris Bacon wrote:
[...]
More farming than gardening, but high explosive has been used to
plant fruit trees. A bang, a hole with fissured sides excellent
for root penetration, and any fumes just provide fertiliser...
fast, too.

I believe it's the standard way of planting in the port vineyards.

Would that be gun ports, or re ports?

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
The message
from "Mike Lyle" contains
these
words:
Chris Bacon wrote:
[...]
More farming than gardening, but high explosive has been used to
plant fruit trees. A bang, a hole with fissured sides excellent
for root penetration, and any fumes just provide fertiliser...
fast, too.

I believe it's the standard way of planting in the port vineyards.

Would that be gun ports, or re ports?

The ones any of which is comforting when there's a storm outside.

--
Mike.

Victoria Clare wrote:
Chris Bacon wrote:
If you're putting a gate in a hedge, then if you connect the
top of the poles, you won't need to go deep at all; you could
put some sort of decorative top on:

/\
/ \
/ \
/______\
| |
| |
| |
| o |
| |
| |
=================================


OK, that might work. How deep roughly would my hole-pounding need to go
roughly, do you think?

You've still got to stop it falling flat on its face, or, erm, the
other way. Backwards. I should have thought 18" would be enough,
if you're ramming in stones or filling it up with concrete....
In really stony ground I have resorted to making a hole only a
little bigger than the post, using a pointed bar, and vacuuming
out the debris. I've seen a grave dug, in North Cornwall, that
seemed to be in solid rock-as-you-describe. I don't know how they
dug it!

I guess if I put a paving slab or something in the archway (currently just
soil) that would help give the structure some rigidity too.

The thort strikes me that you could either use four posts, and
add some trellis as decribed in another thread, for a "doorway"
effect, or have some angled bracers near the bottom Depends on
the hedge, I should thing.

"Jupiter" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 19 May 2005 10:52:49 +0100, Victoria Clare
wrote:


Janet's Metpost thread reminded me that I really need to put a couple of
gateposts in myself. Thought I'd start a new thread for it rather than
hijacking hers.

My soil is even more stony than Janet's (or I suspect, anyone's!) and I am
fairly sure that the bottom of the hole actually needs to be below the
point where the gravel starts to join up into large chunks and may even
count as bedrock. The stone is cacky splintery stuff, but no way can you
get a spade in more than one spade's depth, and that is horrible enough.

Is my only option to hire a pneumatic drill? Can they be operated by
normal people or do I need to hire a man wearing earmuffs too?


Victoria

***********
STOP! BEWARE! on no account use a pneumatic drill. Especially if you are a
'female lady of the opposite sex'.
Only a trained hefty man should operate one.
Thirty years ago I broke up a pavement at my daughter's house, using such a
drill.
When the job was almost completed I unfortunately lifted the drill with my
finger still on the trigger. It nearly shuddered my head off. I was in bed
for three days.
I still get twinges sometimes in my neck.
Doug.
**********

--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall

I'd be thinking about concrete posts in that situation. They don't
need to be set as deep - you can make the holes wide rather than deep
and the stones and rock join with the concrete you use for the post
base. My substantial close-boarded fence is now on its 3rd
incarnation on concrete posts which have not moved in about 35 years.
They're not slotted, but drilled for the arris rails to be bolted to
them. When we had it replaced about 10 years ago the contractors
wanted to remove the concrete posts and use wooden because the bolts
had rusted in. I refused to let them. No way would wooden posts last
like concrete.
.

On Thu, 19 May 2005 11:31:14 +0100, Jupiter
wrote:

On Thu, 19 May 2005 10:52:49 +0100, Victoria Clare
wrote:


Janet's Metpost thread reminded me that I really need to put a couple of
gateposts in myself. Thought I'd start a new thread for it rather than
hijacking hers.

My soil is even more stony than Janet's (or I suspect, anyone's!) and I am
fairly sure that the bottom of the hole actually needs to be below the
point where the gravel starts to join up into large chunks and may even
count as bedrock. The stone is cacky splintery stuff, but no way can you
get a spade in more than one spade's depth, and that is horrible enough.

Is my only option to hire a pneumatic drill? Can they be operated by
normal people or do I need to hire a man wearing earmuffs too?


Victoria

--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall

I'd be thinking about concrete posts in that situation. They don't
need to be set as deep - you can make the holes wide rather than deep
and the stones and rock join with the concrete you use for the post
base. My substantial close-boarded fence is now on its 3rd
incarnation on concrete posts which have not moved in about 35 years.
They're not slotted, but drilled for the arris rails to be bolted to
them. When we had it replaced about 10 years ago the contractors
wanted to remove the concrete posts and use wooden because the bolts
had rusted in. I refused to let them. No way would wooden posts last
like concrete.

The other day Lidl had these amazing screw-in metal posts. Never seen
them before. They were specifically for mounting washing lines, but
could have been used for many other purposes. They came with a bar to
turn and thus screw them in, like an auger, and were about two feet
long with a tapered thread.

MM

The other day Lidl had these amazing screw-in metal posts. Never seen
them before. They were specifically for mounting washing lines, but
could have been used for many other purposes. They came with a bar to
turn and thus screw them in, like an auger, and were about two feet
long with a tapered thread.

MM

My whirly gig has stood up to tremendous winds through the winter whilst
mounted into one of these - cannot recommend them highly enough
--
Sue Begg
Remove my clothes to reply

Do not mess in the affairs of dragons - for
you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!