Gardening.

Mudgie

Well-Known Forumite
Ajax? The king of push mowers.

I have a couple.
Yes, an Ajax, and as a child I was fascinated by the large royal coat of arms from the royal warrant on the bin.
I think my father got it in 1958 because the box it came in became home to the puppy we had then.
I'm not sure if proper mowers like that are made nowadays.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Yes, an Ajax, and as a child I was fascinated by the large royal coat of arms from the royal warrant on the bin.
I think my father got it in 1958 because the box it came in became home to the puppy we had then.
I'm not sure if proper mowers like that are made nowadays.
If they were, you would be paying real money for one.

The split drive off the fastest half of the roller always impressed me. I did have one of the front roller castings crack, but I had one cast in brass at the GEC foundry, the only repair ever necessary.

For the uninitiated.

e5e2f7801d4572268f94064a202334b7.jpg
 
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Mudgie

Well-Known Forumite
If they were, you would be paying real money for one.

The split drive off the fastest half of the roller always impressed me. I did have one of the front roller castings crack, but I had one cast in brass at the GEC foundry, the only repair ever necessary.

For the uninitiated.

e5e2f7801d4572268f94064a202334b7.jpg
Yes, that's it, nicely evolved from the 1830 invention and we had lower fuel bills and fewer obese gardeners before they were largely replaced by electric mowers.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
There are two remarkable rose bushes here - they flower profusely for months on end, with virtually no attention being required. I fancy the idea of a few more "competent plants" scattered about the place - so, in August, I cut a few small bits off and stuck them in a pot, outdoors. They were left alone until the start of November, when I moved them into the greenhouse. At that stage, the best that could be said was that most of them were not definitely dead.

However, seven of the ten did slowly start to produce new growth over the winter. I've given two away, so I still have five left. I've been putting them outside in the daytime, so it isn't too much of a shock when I plant them in their final locations.

One day, they may also be doing this.

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The cuttings are still small, so it might be a while yet.

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The two cuttings at the front are from an Escallonia hedge up the road - there's only two of the ten left - and one of those may only be in the 'not dead yet' category - we shall see...
 

kyoto49

Well-Known Forumite
Planted a pear tree in my sisters London garden. We should all be planting trees wherever possible and ones that produce food are especially valuable. It was 6 quid from Wilko but a nice healthy specimen. I am going to teach her how to espalier train it so it takes less space!
 

Cirrus

Well-Known Forumite
I've been thinking of planting some apple trees, maybe pears too. The small type to go along a fence line.
Not sure what they're called, i will have to research.
 

kyoto49

Well-Known Forumite
I've been thinking of planting some apple trees, maybe pears too. The small type to go along a fence line.
Not sure what they're called, i will have to research.
Worth a look at Wilko. Apples and pears can be pruned to whatever shape you want, pretty much, even if you don't buy dwarf stock. And even if you do buy dwarf stock they don't usually stay dwarf once in open land. I know this as I planted some dwarf trees on the allotment and they are now enormous. The standard stock trees I have espaliered quite severely and they are nice and orderly, size wise!
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
I've been thinking of planting some apple trees, maybe pears too. The small type to go along a fence line.
Not sure what they're called, i will have to research.

That sounds like espalier - put yourself down for lessons.

Planted a pear tree in my sisters London garden. We should all be planting trees wherever possible and ones that produce food are especially valuable. It was 6 quid from Wilko but a nice healthy specimen. I am going to teach her how to espalier train it so it takes less space!
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
I've never been hugely keen on this tree. It's not very decorative or even useful - and it makes sighting the mower stripes a bit awkward - plus the fact that it is starting to 'brown off' now.

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The plan was to replace it with one of the rose cuttings, if they worked, which they seem to be doing. So, the end of the rain today was the signal to bite the bullet.

As with any tree, despite cutting three quarters of it off first, it was still twice as big as it was after I finally got it out.

DSC_0257.JPG


The brash can dry off through the summer for tinder and I'll attack the stump at some 'convenient' moment.

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There's a lot of wood in there, it was as much as I could get into the barrow on my
own.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
As with any tree of this type, there was a lot of dry debris lodged in it.

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This was hoovered up with @Carole's blower/vac and will be in the fire over the next few days.

The soil under the tree was powder dry, even after a few very wet days on the trot, so I've left the crater open for the time being, and the Robin was also keen to inspect the site, as well.
 

Trumpet

Well-Known Forumite
Blackbirds had a treat yesterday, as well as lurking under the feeders hoovering up bits that the finches dislodge I gave the lawns a second cut and decided to rake a section afterwards, they were on it straightaway.
 

timmo

Well-Known Forumite
Thirteen horse chestnut and (for the first time ever) three sycamore saplings all burst forth this week 😊 thirty saplings from four years ago ready to go in the ground and making space to plant my field maple at the top of the garden.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
The southern plot here is a bit more shaded than the northern one, even more so in the winter half of the year, so it is colder and wetter. The other plot has had the winter shreddings stirred in regularly, but the southern one has been too claggy.

So, yesterday, I forked it over, to break it up and let some air in. This I managed to do as potential snow showers went past on both sides, but I got away with it.

Plot 35.JPG


I planned to leave it for a few days, then run the tiller through, but there was a long sharp frost here overnight and it looked doable this afternoon - so, the tiller was applied and minced it up nicely. From here on, I can apply shreddings and clippings to both plots.

DSC_0292.JPG


The idea was to be planting some stuff this year, but I never got around to doing anything and I've been housebound with plague a lot of the time. Next year, maybe, or there might be some salad stuff yet.

This is the first time I've noticed that they're not the same length...
 

Glam

Mad Cat Woman
The southern plot here is a bit more shaded than the northern one, even more so in the winter half of the year, so it is colder and wetter. The other plot has had the winter shreddings stirred in regularly, but the southern one has been too claggy.

So, yesterday, I forked it over, to break it up and let some air in. This I managed to do as potential snow showers went past on both sides, but I got away with it.

View attachment 12252

I planned to leave it for a few days, then run the tiller through, but there was a long sharp frost here overnight and it looked doable this afternoon - so, the tiller was applied and minced it up nicely. From here on, I can apply shreddings and clippings to both plots.

View attachment 12253

The idea was to be planting some stuff this year, but I never got around to doing anything and I've been housebound with plague a lot of the time. Next year, maybe, or there might be some salad stuff yet.

This is the first time I've noticed that they're not the same length...
I bet your 'lodgers' enjoyed the freshly turned soil too?
 
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