What have you done today in the Garden?

Discussion in 'Fruit and Veg Gardening' started by razyrsharpe, Jan 20, 2014.

  1. Growingpains

    Growingpains Young Pine

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    Doghouse Riley, looks like a great job, but all Greek to me!
     
  2. Doghouse Riley

    Doghouse Riley Young Pine

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    I came home from golf this afternoon to find the half-full "green bin" had not been emptied by the refuse collectors. This is the first time any bin has not been emptied. There was a pre-printed note attached to the handle explaining that the bin had not been emptied as it "contained either contaminated or non-recylable waste."
    A phone call to the local council environmental department was necessary to put them right, "that naffin' moss on my garage roof in my garden, was neither contaminated, nor non-recyclable and you didn't have to have a degree in horticulture to be aware of that fact."

    I've been assured it will be collected next week.
     
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  3. Dirtmechanic

    Dirtmechanic Young Pine

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    Get'm Dog!
     
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  4. Cayuga Morning

    Cayuga Morning Strong Ash Plants Contributor

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    @Doghouse Riley , your town collects compost makings from the "green bin"? What does the town do with it?
     



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  5. Doghouse Riley

    Doghouse Riley Young Pine

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    We have a refuse collection service. Trafford is the area of South Manchester and formerly part of North Surrey. It's a suburban area, small by USA standards. So the weekly refuse wagons don't have long journeys.The local authority collects the household and garden refuse. We pay for it as part of our "rates."
    We are provided with four "wheely bins."
    A black one for bottles, plastic and metal, emptied four-weekly
    A blue one for paper and cardboard, emptied four-weekly
    A green one for garden and food waste, emptied weekly
    A grey one (half the size of the others) for non-recyclable waste emptied fortnightly. So the green bin and one of the other three, get emptied every week.

    We also have this, off the A56 in Stretford on the way into Manchester, wher you can take stuff down in your car and dispose of it without charge. (some councils in other counties charge). It's all segregated like the bins, they also accept old domestic appliances, TVs, motor oil, clothes, shoes, etc.,
    It either gets recycled or goes to landfill


    1136686_c776b508.jpg

    Sometimes I have to take some non-recyclable stuff down to this "tip" as there's too much for the grey bin, but it's only a couple of miles away. It's always busy at the week-ends.
    I went down last Sunday afternoon with a couple of refuse bags and I was behind about thirty cars, but the queue moves quite quickly.
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2020
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  6. Jewell

    Jewell Incorrigible Gardener Plants Contributor

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    Love seeing your garden and buildings. Just found your post. Maybe you could start a topic on your garden? Looks like you have an amazing yard, garden and buildings. With such a professional koi pond what facilitated letting the koi go? Love that you created a private space for yourself. Can’t wait to see and hear more about your gardening endeavors in the forums. You’ve really worked out all the engineering for electrical and hydro.
     
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  7. Doghouse Riley

    Doghouse Riley Young Pine

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    Thaks for the kind words.

    Rather than start a topic, perhaps you'd like to look at some of my videos?

    This was our garden and koi pool from 1986 to mid 2019.



    The liner developed a serious leak. To replace it would have meant removing all the perimeter rocks, part of the waterfall and the immitation bridge over the filter return. Too much work. So I had it filled in.



    The fish went to a friend two doors away who has a koi pool, so they are well cared for.
    We moved them round three at a time in my big fibreglass skip on wheels so they weren't stressed at all. Two of these were over two feet in length

    [​IMG]

    The pool was around 3000 galls and five feet deep, so it took 20 tonnes of hardcore to fill it before it was paved over. The fountain came from Massarelli in America. It's described as "stone" I think it's concrete and weighs 71kilos and I had to lug it round from the drive on my sack truck and drag it onto the plinth I made over the former pump sump.



    I've a lot of videos on my channel of my hobbies including how I built our tea-house and lanterns. There's also some of the six fox cubs that were born under the tea-house.
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2020
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  8. Jewell

    Jewell Incorrigible Gardener Plants Contributor

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    Beautiful garden and definitely years of dedication and thousands of hours of work and play have gone into your space. Very nicely done.

    Do think about putting some links to your YouTube videos in the forums so everyone gets a chance to see your amazing space. I almost missed this golden opportunity since I’m usually browse Village Square and Members Gallery or more specific forums. I can tell that many members haven’t seen your posts. Great job and guess I will be sure to dig through here to see more of your handy work.
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2020
  9. Growingpains

    Growingpains Young Pine

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    WOW! I thought I had lots of flowers! You have put in lots of labor and TLC.
     
  10. Cayuga Morning

    Cayuga Morning Strong Ash Plants Contributor

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    I second and third and fourth those compliments Doghouse. Beautiful place you have!
     
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  11. Doghouse Riley

    Doghouse Riley Young Pine

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    Thanks for the kind words.

    Our garden is very much a "spring garden."
    Once the wisterias, quinces, clematis, hebes, azaleas, camelia and rhodos have flowered, there's not a lot in the borders. It's all then very "green."
    We do have a couple of fuschias and a few dahlias.
    There's also over a dozen giant lilies along the fence at the back of the border.

    [​IMG]

    Since we got rid of the koi pool, we've added to our dozen roses in ceramic pots on the patio and new paved area, I bought five bare root roses from David Austin's in November and new pots for them. They are all doing nicely. Just hoping for no really cold weather.
     
  12. Cayuga Morning

    Cayuga Morning Strong Ash Plants Contributor

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    Your garden has such good bones that without the lilies in the summer or roses in the pots, it would still be beautiful.
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2020
  13. Doghouse Riley

    Doghouse Riley Young Pine

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    Thanks all again for the kind words.

    I've been busy today.
    The steel racking I ordered from eBay on Thursday for the garage, arrived this morning.
    It's quite versitile, you can have it tall or long, these images give you the two options.
    For £26 post free, it can't be bad. It's not as strong as Dexion but good enough for what I want.

    s-l1600.jpg

    It was easy to assemble, it just slots together. They even give you a pair of cotton gloves, in case you've delicate hands. It's well finished, some people use it in the house.

    Anyway, this end of the garage, now looks much tidier. It fits neatly under the old kitchen cabinets I've got on the wall. The polystyrene boxes are those in which the fresh and frozen food arrives, that my wife orders on line. They are also handy if you need to send a parcel anywhere as they are very strong and weigh next to nothing.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2020
  14. Cayuga Morning

    Cayuga Morning Strong Ash Plants Contributor

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    Looks very neat and organized. Those boxes are great!

    Going back several "paragraphs" in this thread, does anyone use the compost from everyone's green bins that the town collects? Does the town use It for fuel?
     
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  15. Growingpains

    Growingpains Young Pine

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    I too am curious about the use of the compost.
     
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