Category: Gardening (Page 5 of 9)

All things to do with gardening

Dog shower

October 4, 2014 / stephen

Although we installed this a few months ago, we have only just got around to installed the glass side to the dog shower. The shower is in the boot room and intended for washing the dog and boots when the occasion calls. It is a normal shower with a shower tray that has a silt trap. This is intended to stop the shower outlet from getting blocked up with mud off the dog or any wellies that get washed here.

The challenge was the glass side that was required for the side. We didn’t want (or need) a screen that was full height. However, we do need a screen to keep the water from the electric sockets that are close by. The answer was to order some glass specifically for the job. Probably is, it isn’t cheap. We used 10mm glass that is tempered with polished edges and also has a radius on the top outer corner. All of this pushes up the price. This single piece of glass was around £150. To make sure that the size was exactly right, we cut a template out of cardboard. This enabled us to get the fit exactly right (as it turned out, the glass needed to be about 2mm out of square. Because the glass is tempered, it cannot be cut locally. It was ordered through Huddersfield Plate Glass who have provided us with our other glass and mirrors in the property.

To attached the glass to the wall, we used some specialist “U” channel. This came with silicone seals and is made to fit 10mm glass. We had to cut it to length, but it does the job. The metal strip is screwed to the wall and the glass simply pushes in. The back of the “U” channel has clear silicone applied to it and there is also a layer of clear silicone holding the bottom of the glass against the shower tray. The “U” channel had to be ordered. It was supplied by Kudos shower accessories. Cost was about £30.

The glass side has finally been installed. The red patches need to be cleaned off once the silicone sealant has set.

Here is a close of the “U” channel that has been used to attach the glass securely to the wall. This was supplied by Kudos shower accessories. The channel comes with silicone seals that help firmly hold the glass in place.

Modifying the outbuildings

September 15, 2014 / stephen

We have been wondering for a while about the best place to keep the new John Deere mower. We had thought about building a tractor shed – you don’t need planning permission as long as it falls within certain constraints – but to get one that was big enough and looked half decent was just too much of a challenge.

Then Jo came up with the idea of widening the door in the end of the existing outbuildings. This is only currently used to store logs and this could easily be moved to an outdoor logstore (and might be better off outside anyway). The building is probably a couple of hundred years old and is built of a single skin of stone. Bits of it look very precarious. However, we are in the process of widening the existing door and installing a new steel lintel above the opening. The steel will be completely hidden from the front thus maintaining the look of the building.

There used to be a normal sized door and window here. Once reinstated it will be a 6ft wide door capable of housing the new John Deere mower.

The new lintel consists of an I beam with a steel plate welded to the bottom. From the inside you will see the back of the I beam, but you will not see any of the beam from the front. The stonework will be replaced exactly as it was and the edge of the steel plate will be lost in the pointing between the courses.

Grass cutting

August 18, 2014 / stephen

Now we have re-seeded the top field, we seem to have an awful lot of grass to cut!

The bottom field has always been a bit of a challenge – it is fairly lumpy and has quite a slope to it. We have ended up borrowing a tractor and topper a couple of times a year, but this means that the grass only gets cut when it is 4ft high. The topper ends up flattening more grass than it really cuts.

The top field is fairly flat with some good grass on it. It was only sown about 6-7 weeks ago, so it will be next year before it fully thickens out.

These two fields are about an acre each. Then we have the orchard which is full of trees and the occasional tree stump. Up until now we have been using a mulching mower to cope with the grass in the orchard, but now with the top field re-seeded we have decided that it is time to invest in a ride on mower. Once we have a mower of our own (rather than having to borrow one), we suspect that the grass will get cut a little more often.

After quite a bit of research, we decided to invest in a zero turn mower. We haven’t been very impressed with the tractor and topper – it feels very unstable on the slope in the bottom field and the quality of the cut has been pretty poor. While a zero turn mower is going to be less versatile than a compact tractor, it is going to be quicker and make a better job of cutting the grass. It is also going to be a cheaper option.

We had a good look around and ended up on deciding on a John Deere Z425. Although John Deere kit is expensive, it is very well made and should cope well with the size of area that we are cutting. We have always opted for slightly more commercial equipment because of the size of the property. We arranged for a demonstration through our local dealer (Bob Wild in Hebden Bridge) and were so convinced by the machine that we decided to buy it there and then.

Over the weekend we have cut the grass in the bottom field a couple of times. We have raked the grass in-between each cut (don’t forget it was 4ft high a couple of weeks ago) and hope that we will get this into a decent state before the summer is out.

Adrian from Bob Wild Grass Machinery demonstrating the John Deere Z425 on the slope in the bottom field. This machine is a lot more stable (and a lot quicker) than a compact tractor and topper. Adrian actually demonstrated that it is possible to cut along the slope with this machine. The slope doesn’t look much in these photos, but it feels steep when you are on it!

If Daleks could mow grass, this is what it would look like! It feels a bit like driving a large motorised wheelchair. We need to shoot some video and post it.

First cut for the top field

July 24, 2014 / stephen

Well, it has been almost a month to the day that we sowed the grass seed in the top field. Today’s the day to get the lawn mower out. According to most of the gardening books, as soon as the grass gets to about 3 inches long, you should cut it taking just about 30% off. This works well with our lawn mower on the highest setting.

It took a good couple of hours to cut the grass. The lawn mower is only small and although the field is largely flat, there is still around an acre to be cut. Today, the temperature is around 28C, so it is hot work pushing a lawn mower around. I can’t helping feeling that a push along lawn mower is not the right tool for the job! But it is the only one we have. Ideally, we could now do with some rain, but I think we are going to have to wait until Sunday for any rain.

We have just run the lawn mower over the new grass. It was about 3 inches long and we just took the top inch off. It was sown 4 weeks ago to the day.

The grass is starting to thicken out. We are not short of sunshine at the moment, but a drop of rain would be handy. There is some forecast for the weekend.

Winter cabbages planted out

July 24, 2014 / stephen

And this time, I have planted the cabbages under some netting. The last lot of cabbages (and broccoli, for that matter) were eaten by the wood pigeons. They made quick work of polishing off a dozen cabbage plants and about the same amount of broccoli.

We have planted these cabbages where the early potatoes were planted. We have harvested these and are now onto the main crop of potatoes. We have also planted more leeks and sown some carrots. We have just about finished all of the carrots that we grew earlier in the year in the polytunnel.

The onions seem to be doing well, but not as well as the weeds!

Now the early potatoe crop has been harvested, it is time to plant out the winter cabbages. There are two varieties here:

This time we are going to try growing cabbages under netting. The pigeons ate all of the summer cabbages. Last year, the cabbage fly ate most of the cabbages in the polytunnel (which was the wrong place for them anyway). Hopefully, we will have a bit more success with these.

In there, amongst the weeds, are 6 sweet corn plants. We would have had more, but for some reason I had problems getting the seeds to germinate. Goodness, whether these will flower, but we shall see.

Update on the vegetable patch

June 10, 2014 / stephen

The vegetable patch seems to becoming on in leaps and bounds. No doubt due to some of the (very) wet and (slightly) sunny weather we have had over the past few weeks.

The weeds and grass seem to be doing particularly well.

In terms of vegetables, we have potatoes, onions, cabbages (although the pigeons seem to have had these), cauliflower, broccoli (the pigeons like these too), sweet corn and some leeks. We haven’t attempted to grow anything in this soil before, so it will be interesting to see how the vegetables do this year.

We have also planted out some tomato plants in grow bags. While there are a couple of plants in the polytunnel, we have put the rest against the wall outside my study. This gets a fair amount of sun, particularly in the afternoon, and having tomato plants both inside and outside will hopefully spread the harvesting season. We will have to see.

We have only planted from the other side of the piece of wood down towards the end wall. We haven’t got around to clearing the last patch. I guess we will as we start to need the space.

All I can say, is that they must be desperate!

MMmm….without exception, the pigeons have managed to munch their way through all the cabbages that I planted. They are probably so fat they can barely fly!

Final toppings added

April 22, 2014 / stephen

Yesterday (Easter Monday) we managed (with help from Gordon and Liam) to get all of the toppings on the remaining end wall. With all of the toppings in position, we have the opportunity to have a bit of tidy up. The remaining toppings are put to one side and the left over pallets are stacked in the back field. We do have some left over walling stone and this woo will be stacked in the backfield.

After the great weather over Easter, it has started raining today and it is due to rain for most of the rest of the week. Ah well, at least we made the best of the good weather.

Placing these large topping stones is definitely a two man job. They vary in weight, but are probably in the 50-75Kgs each. These is me and Liam carrying one into position.

These stones are heavy and often it is difficult to get two sets of hands on them at a time. This is my and Liam placing one of the topping stones – the sawn side is put to the back of the wall so that it cannot be seen from the sunken garden.

The back of the stones are chocked to ensure that the top of the stones are level (or nearly level). Occasionally, we chock the stones from the front, but we have to be careful as these can often be seen. You can see one further down the wall on the right. The chocks at the front usually run the entire width of the stone or even two stones.

When it comes to nudging the stones into their final position there is no substitute for brunt force. Gordon is pushing this one into it’s final position.

The stones are placed in position (they are not cemented into place). They are chocked to ensure that the tops are (more or less) level. Steel toe cap boots are a bit of a must. Liam is nudging this one.

Although it is wet today, we managed to get all of the toppings on the end wall yesterday. With enough time for a few drinks in the pub.

We have not built up part of the wall in the back garden. This is to allow access to get the flagstones into the garden. It is going to be a couple of months before we get around to laying the flags.

Finishing off the garden walls

April 22, 2014 / stephen

All ready for the topping stones tomorrow.

The walls now in the sunken garden are now at the correct level and are all ready for the toppings to go on – just as with the other wall in the garden. The weather has been kind again to us today, so we managed to get it finished by lunchtime!

You can see the large topping stones in the background. Once the sand and cement has set, we will have a go at getting this into position. Rain is forecast overnight, hence the plastic bag over the cement mixer.

We had some sand and cement left over, so this went into the top of the wall to help keep it together. Although this will be hidden underneath the topping stones, we left our mark!

We had another good day, so it was time to get the end walls up to the same height as the rest of the walls in the garden. Then there are only the topping stones to go on!

Some more photos from placing the toppings

April 21, 2014 / stephen

Courtesy of Jo……

Yes, I did say the weather was good on this day. By mid afternoon, the sun had come out. I even took my hat and coat off and got a sun tan!

Me and Gordon trying to work out the best way of placing the toppings. They aren’t all the same shape, so some of them have to be chocked at the back to make the tops level (hence the yellow spirit level and the bit of string).

The boss. Under a blanket. Zep has selected these stones personally and they are now under guard. Soon long as he doesn’t fall asleep!

Walls in the sunken garden

April 20, 2014 / stephen

We have made the best of the good weather over the Easter Bank holiday and have been finishing off (or attempting to) the walls in the sunken garden.

We now have the large topping stones on the upper wall. This is a two man job as many of the stones are too heavy to be lifted by one person. Many thanks to Gordon for his help in getting this is place. And no flatten fingers or toes in the process!

We are going to use reclaimed flagstones to pave this area, but this is going to have to wait for a little while. We looked at new Ashlar flags (they would look too new) and Indian sandstone (really, what in Yorkshire!), but we are going to hang on until we have the money to put down reclaimed local stone. At £50-60 a square meter it isn’t cheap and with around 100sqm in the sunken garden, it all adds up.

And while we are on the subject of money, we decide to invest in our own cement mixer. We bought a second hand one on eBay for £150. If we sell it in 4-6 months time for £100, it will have cost us £50. In contrast to the £40/week it would have cost to hire. It was a bit of a no-brainer.

We now have the topping stones on the upper wall in the sunken garden. The smaller ones are just about manageable by one person, the larger ones require two to lift. The end stone is a monster and two of us struggled, but we got there in the end.

The upper wall complete with toppings. These topping stones are 30cms high x 20cms wide x 40cms deep. There are cut from old stones in one of the local quarries. Many of them are old steps, window heads or door cills.

You can see the topping stones on the upper wall in the background, we are still working on the remaining walls. Hopefully, these will be finished in the next couple of days.

We still need to get the end wall up to the same level before we can put the topping stones on. We decided to invest in a second-hand cement mixer.