Gardening questions and chat!

I’ve got quite a few ‘normal’ hibiscus and I have never given them a drop of water. This years drought plus the heat was, I think, the worst so far. They did struggle in August and the flowers dried up but if I’d given them the odd bucket of water I’m sure they would have done their normal wonderful flowering all summer long. As soon as there was a bit of rain they all came back. I have a couple of babies that have popped up, if you want I can post them to you. They are so hardy, I’m sure if you pot them over winter they’ll survive.

Those dishplate hibiscus love water, I think their natural habitat is swamp or marsh, I had 5 and have lost 4 to cold/drought/ black fingers.

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Your fingers sound like mine :rofl: ! I might try 1 just outside the door where I can dump the salad wash water each day! What do you find easy in our climate?

Trouble is the hibiscus have not yet got established and have been a bit disappointing. Probably due to too much pampering by the garden centre. So I think protecting the roots is best. As we haven’t got straw we might use cardboard and a grass mulch we’ve got plenty of both

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If you’ve got any trees I can highly recommend mowing on a high cut over fallen leaves, that way you get a superb light mulch which is a mix of grass cuttings and chopped up leaves which stop the grass becoming too manky

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I saw this in action just today. Walking down Clifton down into Clifton, which is a long, broad tree lined avenue, the council had a big machine which was basically shredding the fallen leaves and cutting the grass. Then a guy with a very powerful leaf blower was following behind spreading it out. Mulching in action is what I thought watching them.

Interesting I knew the area well, tomorrow is my 26th anniverary of living in France, a week before leaving I gave up my job as a driver of the number 8 and 9 Temple meads /Clifton down buses :grin: Do they still race each other at night :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

We have a massive hazel tree at the bottom of our garden and at the edge of a little wood but disappointed to see no catkins. Maybe coppicing might bring it back to life. It’s a fine healthy tree. This might be the right time of year for it, the middle of winter?

@geoffrey_Croshaw
How did it perform last year (2022)??
Did you get any nuts ??

This might help…

Given that you have no catkins pruning midwinter would be fine.

We’ve only been here since April of last year so we’re finding out all the time new things about the garden. It’s seems that the garden was well cultivated initially but for a long time it’s been badly neglected. Anyway there are lots of empty nut shells on the ground and looking more carefully there are catkins but they’re very grey looking and show no signs of coming out. So either they’re very late or they’ve been hit by the frost. The tree has never been coppiced so I think it’s time to add it our list of other trees that need cutting down. They include two dead conifers several ash trees and now the hazel. It looks like a good days work for a tree surgeon or just someone with a chain saw. We don’t have unlimited funds so we have to prioritise our jobs so what should we expect to pay? Is 200 euros too little?

You are ill advised to go the cheap route with the job you need doing. I’m assuming the conifers and Ash trees are standing. You need a tree surgeon, fully insured. That won’t be cheap. I won’t suggest a figure as someone else may have a better idea.
Bear in mind ash wood is the best of woods to burn. The wood from those trees is worth money.

Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year,
Chestnut’s only good they say,
If for logs 'tis laid away.
Make a fire of Elder tree,
Death within your house will be;
But ash new or ash old,
Is fit for a queen with crown of gold

Birch and fir logs burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last,
it is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould,
E’en the very flames are cold
But ash green or ash brown
Is fit for a queen with golden crown

Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke,
Apple wood will scent your room
Pear wood smells like flowers in bloom
Oaken logs, if dry and old
keep away the winter’s cold
But ash wet or ash dry
a king shall warm his slippers by.

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Best bet is to get a couple of quotes from Tree Surgeons and compare/decide what to do…
Dead conifers could be dangerous as they will topple in a storm, at some stage… so perhaps they’re your priority ?

Are the Ash trees a danger/too close to the road/house… what makes you think they need attention???
(Ash, as Sue says, is great for the fire and if you’re removing 'em totally, surely that can be done at any time of year, thus spreading the costs ???)

Re the Hazel… locally, the trees are very odd this winter. A neighbour reckoned Nature has gone mad…
Frankly, I’d leave the Hazel alone…

However, it’s your garden and only you know the details of what/why etc…

best of luck

Tree surgeons don’t come cheap. You will pay by the hour and whether you want them to deal with any trees or branches that are left when they have done their work.
We had one silver birch cut down and two others trimmed from the top. It was a lot more than 200 euros.
You should get estimates.

I would have thought you need to allow at least 200 euros per tree

Our arboriculturalist charges €400 a day. He gets a lot done in a day, so we tend to have him once every two years as we have a couple of trees that previous owners planted under high tension electricity wires and have to be kept unnaturally small. As well as other stuff that needs done.

Many hazels will only fruit well in company as they are completely or partially self sterile.

Goodness! I didn’t know that. Rather makes Hazel an unfortunate name for a girl :flushed:

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Well the trees in question are of no danger to anyone it was just a matter of improving the landscape so bearing in mind the cost they can wait a year or two but thanks for all the useful information. Our biggest priority is our fencing and entrance gates all of it is white plastic which seems pretty popular around here but they’re not a good backdrop for trees and shrubs. The fencing I can easily change
However I’ve only found one national company that supply wooden gates and the nearest branch is in Limoges which is okay and we will go to see them but it would be good to have a choice. There are plenty of wood based businesses but no hint of them producing wooden gates. The gates are for the drive way

I’m surprised you’ve had a problem finding a supplier. I’ve just googled portails bois and this is what I’ve got on google images. All the big brico places supply. Maybe you want something more special?

We had a big problem finding anything affordable that wasn’t softwood. We ended up getting a chestnut gate from Brittany.

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