"Gardening" advice please

[AES]

THAT'S the one BugBear. Not only Google (being marvellous) but that piece EXACTLY captures my sentiments about the "hobby" of gardening!

Most dangerous work known to man? Helping the wife in the garden!

Re propane torch: Yup, tried that and it works quite well. In fact we bought a little gizmo which is basically a smallish pressurised propane cylinder with a long "neck" to save you getting right down to it (saves the back).

2 problems - 1st, as with most things, the length of the neck is too short really (like most garden "torture" implements - why can't "designers" get that right?), so you end up in a half-crouch position - even worse for the back! 2nd, in reality my little butane gas blow lamp is FAR more effective (even hotter, despite being "only" butane?) so you end up on your hands and knees (actually better for the back ache, but NOT for the knees!).

I do think the watering can idea may be best. Again, anyone any ideas on the salt/water proportions?

Gardening!!!!! (I LOVE it - NOT)!

AES

 

[Chrispy]

For what it's worth, the problem with salt is in small quantities it's also a soil conditioner and makes things grow better!

 

[AES]

OK, thanks Chris. How about adding a bottle of bleach to a bucket of water, then pouring the lot into a 10 Kg tub of salt???

(Yeah, probably wouldn't spray too well out of the watering can)

AES

 

[morfa]

There's quite a few sites on google mentioning bleach as a weedkiller:

http://www.thriftyfun.com/Using-Bleach- ... ler-3.html

Bleach is nasty stuff and you don't really want to get it into the water table. Also any overspray will kill other plants. There is a suggestion of using vinegar.

As others have mentioned, weed barriers aren't amazing. Especially as small weeds are often 'top down' and not bottom up. The burner wands are ok, but again aren't often long enough. You can get 75cm long wands, which might be better.

To be honest, the best 'long term' solution is to get it paved over/concreted with very good drainage to cope with the run-off.

As for the bad back (which is really the issue here in a way) I can strongly recommend yoga or pilates as great solutions to dodgy joints.

 

[bugbear]

The burner wands are ok, but again aren't often long enough. You can get 75cm long wands, which might be better.

Another win for the town auction hounds...

The good old, nigh legendary, Sheen X300 flame gun!! A big ol' paraffin burner.

For the serious patio cleaner, there's a flame spreader and wheel kit, which turns the X300 into the X500.

BugBear

 

[n0legs]

Really? Any particular ratios/dilution? More than happy to give it a go, - bound to be far cheaper than any of the commercial brands!

Does it have a lasting effect?

We use 1kg salt to 4 litres of thin supermarket bleach, mixed together well and stirred during use.
We did Dads gravelled/slate area last year to get rid of Mares Tail and there's no return of it this year so far.

 

[sunnybob]

I grew up in london, in a row of terraces that are now called "victorian homes" and theres at least one lord and lady living there.
When i lived there (40's to 70's) they were called "condemned" but there wasnt enough space to build a tower block so they stayed.
They had a front garden of concrete about 3 ft wide across the front of the house. They had a rear garden of concrete 3 foot wide x 20 foot long, from the back door to the outside toilet. Dad never needed a lawn mower.
We had to walk a mile to the nearest park to see some grass, and when we got there, the place was littered with signs saying "keep off the grass". That was when I realised all gardening was completely pointless.

 

[bugbear]

... all gardening was completely pointless.

To misquote Jerome K Jerome:

I like gardening: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours

BugBear

 

[sunnybob]

That could be my epitaph quote. except of course it would then have to be converted into past tense.

 

[AES]

Thanks n0legs, ratios noted. Will try later and report back. May try vinegar too.

@sunnybob: We are completely of the same mind Sir. P.S. Was your Dad the Lord? (or was he the Lady?)



AES

Edit for P.S. Thanks for the point about yoga, etc, morfa. I had my 3rd back op late in 2014 (hope it was my last) and do special exercises with the hospital Physio twice a week and home exercises every day!

 

[sunnybob]

AES,
7 nights a week my dad was as drunk as one of them, Thats as close as we got.
Luckily he was a good natured drunk and provided for us.
But I'll never forgive him for not buying that place. In 1958 he was offered the house for £500 because, as I said, the whole street of 52 houses were condemned as below standard housing. But the street was so small that the planners at the time couldnt work out how to fit 4 high rise blocks on it, so the tenants were offered them.
My dad's reason for not buying? If I buy it, I will have to do all the maintenance.

That house is still there and the prices (I have just checked) go to just under £800,000. When he died my inheritance was £200.

Oh well.

 

[bugbear]

AES,
7 nights a week my dad was as drunk as one of them, Thats as close as we got.
Luckily he was a good natured drunk and provided for us.
But I'll never forgive him for not buying that place. In 1958 he was offered the house for £500 because, as I said, the whole street of 52 houses were condemned as below standard housing. But the street was so small that the planners at the time couldnt work out how to fit 4 high rise blocks on it, so the tenants were offered them.
My dad's reason for not buying? If I buy it, I will have to do all the maintenance.

That house is still there and the prices (I have just checked) go to just under £800,000. When he died my inheritance was £200.

Oh well.

And we should all have bought Micro$oft shares in '86!

BugBear

 

[sunnybob]

In 86 I couldnt have bought penny shares in the great west railway, even if they were at a two for one offer.

 

[graduate_owner]

I haven't read all these posts so I might be duplicating comments, but for what it's worth:-

1. Membrane. Comes in different qualities, and decent quality should certainly withstand the weight of a loaded wheelbarrow. But some weeds still manage to perforate it, so it is not 100% effective. What it does do is stop the stone from mixing with the subsoil so I always use it under gravel if only for that reason.
After a few years there always seems to be a thickness of organic matter that accumulates on the membrane and supports weeds. However most do not penetrate through the membrane so are shallow rooted and easy to pull out, if your back is up to it. I often just sit on an old plastic beer crate - nice height, easy to move around, and saves bending down all the time.

2. Flame guns. I read a report years ago saying propane based ones were expensive to use and not very effective. The Sheen on the other hand really gives a serious flame. I wouldn't part with mine. It takes a few minutes to heat up but that is not a problem. I haven't tried the wheel and shield kit but it looks useful as the Sheen can get a bit heavy after a while, and I find myself changing hands regularly while using it. I don't know whether Propane ones may be vastly improved these days- I have no experience of them.

3. Weed killer. Glyphosate is absorbed by the plants' leaves and I believe it works by preventing the roots from taking up moisture etc. It can take 2 - 3 weeks before the weed is dead and dried up, but you can often see a change after a few days, the green is less vibrant. Glyphosate is supposedly neutralised on contact with the soil - so say the makers, Monsanto, but there has been an emerging body of evidence that suggests damage to soil organisms for several years after application. Either way, it is not any use as a preventative to stop future weeds from appearing.

Personally, I use glyphosate on deep rooted weeds such as dock and dandelion. I hand weed shallow rooted weeds where the area is small enough to make it feasible. On our larger areas of chippings I still hand weed if the weeds are sparse, otherwise it is out with the Sheen. You don't need to completely fry them, just enough heating to rupture the cell walls.
Having said all that, it is still a battle to keep on top of things but then we do have a lot of area covered in chippings.
Once again, apologies for the ramblings.

K

 

[graduate_owner]

Final point - I have seen brand new Sheen flame guns from China for £22, or best offer including postage. Personally I think that sounds very suspicious, and I would not like the idea of pressurising a gallon of paraffin in one of those.

K

 

[nabs]

one other suggestion, from Bob Flowerdew (Radio 4's Gardener's Question Time), is to use boiling water to kill of any stragglers that pop up after any poisoning attempts. He uses whatever is left in the kettle after he has made a cuppa.

 

[AES]

One again gents, thanks for all the replies. VERY helpful, and BTW graduate-owner there was no real duplication, just good solid info, thanks.

Thanks also for the tip about boiling water nabs. We seldom drink tea (only when I've been to UK and have "proper English tea!!) and the coffee machine does all it's water boiling and bean grinding all on it's own).

That flame gun looks interesting but not for me - not even a real one, let alone a 22 quid Chinese version! Was using my little blowlamp on my hands and knees yesterday, on the drive-in which are stone slabs, no gravel (we have visitors this weekend and SWMBO has given me a whole list of "honey do's"!).

Sunnybob, your Dad was dead right about 1 thing - owning your own house means a LOT of maintenance, but it does NOT make you rich!

I'll be using salt and bleach (or vinegar, we have a variety called "cleaning vinegar" here), no plastic underlay, and will report back the results later this year (if anyone's interested).

Meantime, thanks for all the advice once again, your replies have helped a lot, AND it seems has created a certain amount of amusement for some.

Cheers

AES

 

[andersonec]

You should still be able to find it even though it's nearly summer, if you can then what you need to apply is road salt, just sprinkle a good layer all over, keep it dry and if anything germinates next year and survives just do it again. Your other remedies will incur a lot of expense and a couple of them will not work.

Andy

 

[bugbear]

Final point - I have seen brand new Sheen flame guns from China for £22, or best offer including postage. Personally I think that sounds very suspicious, and I would not like the idea of pressurising a gallon of paraffin in one of those.

K

Are they actually fake branded Sheen, or just similar paraffin flame guns?

BugBear

 

[MusicMan]

The classic 'kill everything' weedkiller is sodium chlorate. The effect will last a while, too.