Pun

Yesterday I told you of the fence we,d found and my idea of cutting as much as possible of brambles etc down to ground level and then if we had any hands and fingers left we,d think about using our howard gem (rotovator) to get the roots out, now the reason we didnt want to employ a tractor to do this work was due to the fact we new the fos/tank was in this part of the garden but we didnt know the direction the pipes went, and using the tractor might have caused that sinking feeling should the huge wheels on such a machine sink and damage, and with doing the inside of the house up and watching a place in the sun we found most people went over the budget the wife finds she,s having a baby and so on and so on, Well  I didnt want to spend  any money I could save, and as far as having little ones ,?    well we both felt dead at the end of the days labour camp work. and fell asleep talking about that days work and woke up in the morning continuing talking about the new days work , But after two weeks of mixed weather we found that the end of the garden was feet away and then we found hope in a little red tin triangle fixed in the ground, "it was our boundry marker to say we,d cleared one side of the orchard and we could now  touch one of our  apple trees. we couldnt see much day light through the centre of the tree, it was that over grown and covered in mistletoe. So much dead and deceased wood was to be found and my wife said, "I dont think we will ever see any apples on this tree" After about three more weeks we,d cut the brambles etc down and found two large fallen fruit trees, these we chain sawed and put in the wet wood shed for burning in approx 3 years time when they are 100% dry (Tip, dont burn whats called wet/damp logs) you,ll get little heat out of them and cause your chimney to get lined  with a tar like stuff thats not only a fire risk but drips down the liner/chimney and it stinks. Now the good news for the people who have yet to clear the land , When it,s cleared you,ll find the gardens much larger than you ever thought it was when you first bought the place, Having cleared all the above ground brambles, barb wire fencing, old tin sheets, rocks, etc etc, " I was amazed we didnt find an old tesco trolly" but we didnt It was now time to clear the roots, it was no simple job and by the end of the day I  knew how those donkey,s felt, but to stand back and just look and smell the upturned earth, Well it was just smashing, I remember thinking, now Ive got all that overgrown stuff out of the way I wont get eaten as quick next summer by the bugs, they,ll have no place to live. In the next few weeks I,d made a start on the apple trees, first all the dead wood was removed and the deceased, I again found I was building up a good future wood pile for our fire, I made sure  by the end of every day that all the area I was working in was left clear , I think theres nothing more time wasting than starting the next day falling over yesterdays work, Once all the dead wood etc was removed I then sorted any crossing branches and opened the heart of the tree (middle) so light and air could get to this part, all wood was cut so as to both shape the tree and make it possible to harvest future crop, Now all this  work involves ladders chaine saw and bow saw, I myself never take a chain saw off the ground, it so simple to have an accident and end up with a pruned hand or leg, the bow saw is a hand operated saw,  and with the use of rope, you can scale the tree and  cut those thicker woods in a safer way, but be sensible dont over stretch or over do it, only work in good light, (NEXT TIME THE RESULTS OF THIS WORK)

Its been yet another very hot day, the sort your looking for the not so manual sort of work in the garden to do, "no spade work" thats for sure. So as Ive said in the past this garden is the largest Ive ever owned and the orchard again big (15) apple 2 very big cherry and 4 green gage + 3 nut trees, Now when we bought the house we thought the garden was big and very over grown and it was a task we really had to think about ref the future and the fact that like all folk we do age, Did we want to become slaves to our garden? But more important could we manage to (a) get it in order?  (B) keep it the way we wanted it to be without going round in a big circle.   Well ,the ans to question 1 is we,d like to enjoj the garden and spend at least 6 hours per day in it, yes is the reply. And  ref the could we manage such a large garden is I hope going to help people like us see how we are going about this task and why we feel we,re doing things the way we,re doing them from project to project, So when I put a view on this site its in the hope Im helping one or two people with a simular situation to come to a thought or two that may help, and thats all, In January/Feb, I started to try and clear away the over grown mess at the rear of our new home, It really was over grown and to add insult, we found an old 40feet long sheep/barbed wire fence that had long ago fallen to the ground and then nature had done its task and covered with earth/ brambles, we didnt know it was waiting for us,   but because we,d decided to us a scythe and hedge clippers (not electric ones) to cut away all we could at ground level and then rotovate the roots up, we didnt damage any machine when we found the wire and rotted wooden post. this is the first lesson, take your time, you dont know what is waiting for you when clearing land, the winter is I feel the best time to do this work if you can ,as (a) the grass/brambles,ect are not growing and the tempature is better when its cooler rather than a heat wave and after a days work like this a bath or shower and a nice fire side chair really do work while you plan tomorrows  continuation of the clearing task, More tomorrow.

Hi   cathy Very good piont, but the french did use thier head in the big game didnt they. regards,

Hi  k.k.k. thanks for your reply, now get your self over here "now" befor prices go like the U.K. Ive noticed the shops, and big stores are now printing info ref goods for sale in english and the estate agents are employing more english/french speaking staff. this says something dont you think?

Hello Gastines, I couldnt have put it better myself, my one missing link so to speak was my visits to a huge garden centre called Bridgemere,(just outside of nantwich cheshire) But other than that  as I was telling the person who asked the question, Im more than pleased to have the chance Ive now got, and thanks to the Internet/living france I can both pass on and learn new skills with the new friends Im talking to now, many thanks.

Hi Phil, your not seeing double it was me helped by my p,c. I must have pressed the post key twice"sorry about that.

Cassis, Try making a square piece of wood to act as a spacer, if you want a triangle shape just use one pin/nail for every cross piece of wood when you,ve finished just push the complete frame inwards and you,ll see your triangle shape appear, Ive used a 4x4inch square piece of wood, it looks good. Happy gardening.

I was having a glass of wine with some friends last night and a new comer to France wasnt sure if they liked it better than the U.K. or not, I was asked ,"What I thought was better here in France than the U.K. I dont have to pay hospital parking fees, road tax wine, some foods are cheaper house rates cheaper house insurance cheaper elec,s cheaper and due to the summer being longer we dont use as much, heating our home cheaper "due to long summers we dont burn as much fuel. the house we have in france we couldnt afford in the U.K. the people in the stores/shops etc have much better manners, the weather we do get a summer, inspite of paying medical top up fee I do know if Im in need of medical attention Its given then, without having to wait for anything from months to years, knowing Id paid N.I. all my working life and then told unless you go private you,ll have to wait 18 month for a hip operation done by the same surgeon.[Www] We feel safe in our beds at night. and in this area we,re not choked up with litter every place you look "inspite of a market every friday. and people do have time for each other the layed back style and last but not least a better life stress free/ that get up in the mornings thinking its a new day.   anyone got anymore to add to the list?????

I was having a glass of wine with some friends last night and a new comer to France wasnt sure if they liked it better than the U.K. or not, I was asked ,"What I thought was better here in France than the U.K. I dont have to pay hospital parking fees, road tax wine, some foods are cheaper house rates cheaper house insurance cheaper elec,s cheaper and due to the summer being longer we dont use as much, heating our home cheaper "due to long summers we dont burn as much fuel. the house we have in france we couldnt afford in the U.K. the people in the stores/shops etc have much better manners, the weather we do get a summer, inspite of paying medical top up fee I do know if Im in need of medical attention Its given then, without having to wait for anything from months to years, knowing Id paid N.I. all my working life and then told unless you go private you,ll have to wait 18 month for a hip operation done by the same surgeon.[Www] We feel safe in our beds at night. and in this area we,re not choked up with litter every place you look "inspite of a market every friday. and people do have time for each other the layed back style and last but not least a better life stress free/ that get up in the mornings thinking its a new day.   anyone got anymore to add to the list?????

Watering the garden border /veg plot can be very time comsuming (I my self do enjoy the job) but you can save time by blocking off the end of an hose pipe (fold the end over and apply a jubilee clip) and then drill holes all around the length you want the water to come out of, lay the hose in the border you want to water and turn the supply on, "dont for get to time how long you feel the area needs that your watering, Hence using this method you can both water a big area and do other jobs at the same time, also you can control the water coming out of the hose pipe by the water supply tap, full on and you get a lot of water pouring out, a little turn of your tap and you get a trickle, Happy Gardening.[I]

Hi Cassis, My self Ive just finished painting them with wood preserver the same colour as the barn and stable doors , It looks nice and I didnt want the trellis to stand out but the clemitis to take its place and look the part, the colour is a oak brown, Im going to put it up later this evening when the heat drops a bit.   It really is a cheape way to use the battens, even for wall climbing tomatoes, and the trellis last for years. good gardening.[:)]

Hi cassis, have you ever walked through a village or town in France that has no window box,s or hanging baskets? Ask your self if you arrived at a gite you,d booked and befor you even got out of the car that wow, factor hit you because the owner took the trouble to ensure you recieved a welcome of refreshments, a garden you want to spend time in and every window had a display of geraniums hanging from it.   Or no effort made and a feeling that the gite was nothing special? I know the one I,d want to be at.

Hi all you garden people, Ive been in the garden all day again today and my nearest nieghbour gave me a nice clemitis (rooted) so I decided to plant it in my gsrden under the kitchen window but as Ive no trellis off my wife went to buy some only to nearly pass out at the well over the top prices the Brico etc are asking for the smallest ones. Now only a few month ago I had reason to repair the old wood store,its made of rock with a tiled roof and I needed a few roof tiles and the wood to hold these tiles in place (these wooden strips are the same as the trellis you pay a fortune for) Roofing battons will cost you approx 17 euro for a pack of 20, thats enough to make a lot of trellis, It,s simple enough job to make this trellis and very cost effective.  

Hi IONDONEYE, I had the same problem as you except ours is one and a half acres that hadnt be touched for at least 15 years and as Im sure your in the same boat as most of us "we also had to keep going with doing work on the building side of things, But the answer is simple (we,ve done it this year so I know it works) Now like you we are waiting to have a pool put in " we hope in sep/oct and the complete land was covered with not only brambles/weeds/ect but trees that had fallen branches and all needed sorting out, I have one of the best rotovators ever made "Howard gem" the same as seen in the good life t.v. show, and at first I tried using howward to clear the area but because of so many young off shoots of trees trying to grow all over the place, I found inspite of my diesel 3 forward and 1 backward geared " howard I was getting next to nowhere So I h ired  my farmer nieghbour and within a couple of hours he,d turned the lot over roots and all, we had both big bon fires of brambles and found the complete area was so much larger than we ever thought it was now it,s cleared, that was some 3 month ago and last week I spent the day with "howard"turning the now simple task of ground over. Im still clearing the ground but at least I can do something ref the borders and plan the way we want the garden to look. So the simple and quick way and easy on the eye way is to get a farmer to turn the lot over for you to at least be able to see the light of day. , and Im sure the cost would be in the cheaper region, expect to pay around 100 euro. good gardening.[;-)]

Hi Pads, It just goes to show you never know with gardening, most plants would really welcome a good regular feed but not the grape. Ive just come in for a nice coffee, Ive been collecting the seed off our Lupins and Delphiniums its a pity really lupins only last a short while, but back to the grape saga, I,ll keep on learning and who knows I may see some fruit by the end of the summer, have a nice day and good gardening.

Good morning to you chris, many thanks for your help ref grape vine, all,s taken in and Im learning. Im one of these people who like to learn a new thing every day, no matter how small, the Info Ive been reading is from R.H.S and a few small write ups in the verious gardening mags and as you say the grapes in france are proberly grown in a different way to the english weather system etc, Ive got into this grape thing through finding  one in the undergrowth. many thanks chris a really good bit of info.

Hi pads sounds smashing, and dare I say it "food for thought" How are you on grape vines? We,ve a small one we found hidden away under a broom plant that had way over grown itself and grass that just finished the job of hiding the vine, Ive given it a prune and from january Ive been reading what to do and what not to do, at the moment it,s looking good, no sign of pest and Ive thined the indivisual bunches out so they have room to get air around them and I feed them once a week with tomatoe feed. any tips? I dont know what kind of grape they are as they dont have any colour just now and they are about the size of a fully mature black currant.[+o(]

  Hi Gastines, Just had my dinner and called it a day ref the garden I  was going to give a very light prune of the wisteria, "If I do this now I,ll get a second flower showing around september) But having read your reply I thought I,d try to get you not to chop your apple trees! All you need do in the winter when the tree is resting "the sap is low down the tree" is have a look at any prunning that may need sorting, make sure all the dead wood is removed and any crossing branches are removed, the heart of the tree need light and air, and the use a tar-oil spray and last but very important a grease-band around the tree trunk, this band helps stop the  bugs etc getting up the tree to the branches that have leaf and stops bugs nesting and leaf curl. you may have to do this a couple of years but it will save your tree and by prunning the fruit should be a good size rather than lots of small apples. Ive got trees that hadnt been touched for 15 years when we bought this place and I read and read about prunning and didnt expect to see any fruit for at least 3 years and I thought one or two trees had gone way passed giving me fruit, but as Ive said befor we have some apples we,d never tasted befor so dont give up,

Ive been in the garden all day  picking black currants, Now for the people who are new to gardening and intend growing black  currants the best way to pick your crop is to cut the complete branch off with the currants still on the branch, You,ve now not only made the picking of the currants easy, but youve also pruned your bush, as the currants grow on last years new branch, so all the new branch you see in the bush now, will be next years fruit, Now having got all these juicy black currants ready to be removed from the branch, get a bowl for the currants and a bin for the little storks and strip the fruit from the branch, Your not finished yet, having taken the fruit off the branch, you can use these branches as cuttings for new bushes, It,s a really simple thing to do, just remove all the leaves from the bottom of your branch up until your at the top of the branch and leave the top set of leaves (2 or 4) now cut the branch from the bottom  about third of the way up just under a leaf bud, find a place in the garden you wont need for a couple of months and just make sure the ground is soft enough to take the branch being pushed in(about3inch) by september you,ll see new leaf growth and a good root system ready for transplanting to its future site, and all from a cutting, Ive only ever bought one black currant bush years ago, using this method Ive given more away to friends etc I care to remember and we enjoy Jams/cakes/crumble, sauces,  We even leave two bushes uncovered "old net curtains" for the birds to get thier share, thats how simple and cheap this method is. a good cheap tip well worth trying. Happy gardening.[I]

Hi Pads, I hadnt thought of this method but it on the top of my list, we feel by the time we.ve done the cleaning and change of bedding ect if the weather isnt kind to us and we cant get the lawns cut etc, if this was to be repeated on the next change over and again we couldnt cut the lawns, it wouldnt be long befor the place looks un loved for the people arriving for a nice holiday with the place looking at its best, and this being France, window box,s full of geraniums all looking good is a must, hence our concern about how do other folk deal with this issue. many thanks for your valued help, ps we are getting there[;-)]

Hi JHC, Many thanks, youve given me a lot of good ideas, It might have sounded like a real daft question, but we,ve done hell and all to make this place have that wow factor and this includes very much the outside area, but plants etc dont look after themselves particuarly hanging ones, As we dont know anyone who has a  gite, and the gite site have,nt given any reply, my only hope of getting any expert on the job help was from that likes of you and Pads, sometimes after you,ve been pointed in the correct direction you think "why didnt think of that one. once again thanks.

Hi Sid, Many thanks for your valued reply, Its one of those questions your faced with if your thinking of having a gite, we are doing a place up now and have been for nearly a year and it was a question we needed a little help with as the future gite has a large garden and we do want that wow factor for the customer, hence the question, and very well answered, once again thank you.

Thank you for your reply, I asked what other people did, and the grass grows  slower in the heat but we do have rain! and I do understand the ownership of the hanging baskets, the question was how did people with gites arrange watering, I wanted an experienced reply, but thanks for yours,

I have put this same question on the gite thread so please dont think Ive misplaced it here, Question what happens ref watering hanging baskets/cutting the lawns ect when customers are in the gite , do you the owner have a visit to do these jobs,? it,s been in the 100, here dept 23 today and Ive had to water three times.

whats the score ref the watering of hanging baskets /the garden etc when people have rented the gite for a couple of weeks etc, do you have an arrangement to go and water/cut the lawns ect ?