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- Thread starter Claymore
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Brian, I know you want to keep her memory alive in her garden, but with your limited abilities I suggest you get some large raised beds made from sleepers, transplant as many of her plants as you can, and just lawn the rest.
That way you would be able to manage fairly easily by yourself and the place would only need a lawn mower to look after the majority of it.
That way you would be able to manage fairly easily by yourself and the place would only need a lawn mower to look after the majority of it.
flying haggis
Established Member
+1 for weeding with a long handled tool, i can recommend a "swoe" made by wilkinson sword which cuts through the weeds on forward and backward strokes. other similiar stlye are available but the original swoe is nice and light.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wilkinson-Swor ... B0076YMCTU
if you can find an old style one with the bent top part of the handle they are very nice to use(car boot)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wilkinson-Swor ... B0076YMCTU
if you can find an old style one with the bent top part of the handle they are very nice to use(car boot)
AES
Established Member
Glad to hear you're getting "up and about a bit" Brian, and completely understand that you want to keep Ruth's memory going by getting the garden back in shape.
I can't really help on the gardening (definitely NOT my forte) but in addition to the above suggestions, I (more accurately said "she"!) has a tool called "Grandpa's Weeder". It's on a long, single wooden handle/shaft, so no problems to use it
Down at the business end there's a small 2-pronged "fork" affair with a moveable lever sticking out at 90 degrees to one side, just above the fork. To use it you just push down onto the handle then stand on the lever while pushing the handle over to one side. The lever "closes" the space between the 2 fork prongs and, IF you got the prongs in the right place to start with(!) the lower part of the lever and the 2 prongs grip the body of the weed firmly while you're pushing to one side on the handle. It lifts the offending weed straight out of the ground roughly vertically, roots and all. It's ideal for bigger weeds with deep roots such as dandelions.
It's a bit slow (you can only attack one big weed at a time, and it's not much good on smaller weeds), and it does tend to leave a fairly big hole in the ground where the weed was, so not ideal on a lawn for example, but it's physically easy to use and very effective at what it does.
My better half has been away for a while and I've been using it to clear a lot of the dandelions etc, which have sprung up in profusion with all the wet, stormy, and humid weather we've been having lately.
I bought ours in the local DIY Emporium so I guess you'll find it up there in "kilted land" too. Not much money either.
HTH
I can't really help on the gardening (definitely NOT my forte) but in addition to the above suggestions, I (more accurately said "she"!) has a tool called "Grandpa's Weeder". It's on a long, single wooden handle/shaft, so no problems to use it
Down at the business end there's a small 2-pronged "fork" affair with a moveable lever sticking out at 90 degrees to one side, just above the fork. To use it you just push down onto the handle then stand on the lever while pushing the handle over to one side. The lever "closes" the space between the 2 fork prongs and, IF you got the prongs in the right place to start with(!) the lower part of the lever and the 2 prongs grip the body of the weed firmly while you're pushing to one side on the handle. It lifts the offending weed straight out of the ground roughly vertically, roots and all. It's ideal for bigger weeds with deep roots such as dandelions.
It's a bit slow (you can only attack one big weed at a time, and it's not much good on smaller weeds), and it does tend to leave a fairly big hole in the ground where the weed was, so not ideal on a lawn for example, but it's physically easy to use and very effective at what it does.
My better half has been away for a while and I've been using it to clear a lot of the dandelions etc, which have sprung up in profusion with all the wet, stormy, and humid weather we've been having lately.
I bought ours in the local DIY Emporium so I guess you'll find it up there in "kilted land" too. Not much money either.
HTH
Selwyn
Established Member
Don't be afraid to cut some plants back or get rid. At the end of the day better to have a few well looked after plants than a morass overgrown
whiskywill
Established Member
flying haggis":1prcwrhv said:
I have the original aluminium handled version. Extremely light and very efficient at chopping the weeds.
Brian, I wonder if it is time to fundamentally re-evaluate how you look at your garden and how you relate to that space.
Safe to say you don't want to make major drastic changes to Ruth's garden (if I'm right in assuming that?) but I'd say it's better to keep elements of what she grew and meld them into something that you can manage in a realistic and sustainable way that wont bankrupt you physically, mentally and financially than end up turning it all to lawn or similar.
Turn it into a haven for bees, birds and wildlife and relax in the knowledge you're doing a good thing with less and less effort over time. What's not to like?
Here's a simple article to give an idea: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/g ... ening.html
2 years from now you could have transformed your garden into a maintenance free area (within reason) that makes you happy without all the hard work.
Safe to say you don't want to make major drastic changes to Ruth's garden (if I'm right in assuming that?) but I'd say it's better to keep elements of what she grew and meld them into something that you can manage in a realistic and sustainable way that wont bankrupt you physically, mentally and financially than end up turning it all to lawn or similar.
Turn it into a haven for bees, birds and wildlife and relax in the knowledge you're doing a good thing with less and less effort over time. What's not to like?
Here's a simple article to give an idea: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/g ... ening.html
2 years from now you could have transformed your garden into a maintenance free area (within reason) that makes you happy without all the hard work.
