JWK's Garden Destruction

Discussion in 'Garden Projects and DIY' started by JWK, Jul 15, 2008.

  1. Tropical_Gaz

    Tropical_Gaz Gardener

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    Sounds like some exciting times ahead.

    One thing to consider on the cordylines is they tend to do better longer term starting out as a smaller plant. I planted a few £2.99 ones in the garden and a few others i grew from seed. These have overtaken the 3' plants i bought for a bit of instant impact. As they have a tap root i think the smaller plants establish more quickly and then take off.

    Trachycarpus are a lovely family of palms, there can be a lot of variation, even with the fortuneii. Have you also considered Butia and chamaerops palms?
     
  2. JWK

    JWK Gardener Staff Member

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    Thanks for the tips TG, interesting about the size of cordylines, I wonder if I should buy a couple smaller ones now and nurse them for a year.? I will have to start visiting garden centres.

    Not sure what Butia and chamaerops are - will have to do a bit of googling as well.

    Cheers
     
  3. Tropical_Gaz

    Tropical_Gaz Gardener

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    John, re the cordylines, If you know roughly where they are likly to be going id be tempted to pop a couple of small ones in now. Give them this year to get started. They are very quick growers, from a small seed grown one i was given 3 years ago i have a 3-4' plant. Which is the same size as the larger ones i bought that size 3 years ago.

    Butias are anotehr good palm for the UK but tend to be more expensive than chamaerops or trachycarpus fortuneii - have a look at hardypalms.co.uk for some pictures etc, they ship them in from field grown sources in South America. chamaerops are readily available, Wilkos were doing some reasonably sized small ones for about £3. Again if not planting till next year they may be worth pot growing, especially if you can pop in your greenhouses over winter to keep the frost off.

    One of the other common ones to think about would be Phoenix caneriensis - Canary Island Date Palm. This is available all over from quite low prices, but small ones cant be regarded as reliably hardy, many will come through winter, especially if sheltered, once larger they are reputed to be hardy to -8 to -10 in the UK. A beautiful palm, but in truth not guaranteed to be sucessful.

    Finally a word or caution about palms in B+Q and other garden centres. The hardyness ratings are very optimistic. Some hopelessly tender plants have the advice protection needed in winter, which translated means - heated conservatory for winter. So if in doubt check on here or elsewhere first.

    There are a couple of tropical nurseries in your part of the world (depending on where in Surrey you are) check out www.architecturalplants.com or www.bigplantnursery.co.uk.

    Over on the hardytropicals forum one of the members has put together a map of tropical garden centres and gardens Map here
     
  4. cg360

    cg360 Apprentice Gardener

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    Hi John,

    Great project, but I wondered what your car was? Looks a bit like a Bristol...

    Cheers
    Craig
     
  5. Little Miss Road Rage

    Little Miss Road Rage Gardener

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    Excellent pics Loks like its gonna be sooooooo cool when its done
     
  6. JWK

    JWK Gardener Staff Member

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    Yes it was a Bristol 603 - made in 1976.

    Regards
     
  7. Sar

    Sar Gardener

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    Wow, what a fantastic job! You are motoring on despite the little unfortunate breakage! :thumb:

    I really look forward to seeing your continued progress :)
     
  8. cg360

    cg360 Apprentice Gardener

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    Lovely motor, lovely garden.

    Cheers
    Craig
     
  9. borrowers

    borrowers Gardener

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    John, that's really impressive. Well done. Keep the pics coming.

    cheers
     
  10. Pro Gard

    Pro Gard Gardener

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    Fantastic thread, I love bulding work!!!

    Some nice timber work with the roof, ive slated, tiled and helped set up trusses before but never yet done a cut timber roof.

    I always find big projects amazingly satisfiying, even though they apear daunting to start if you think about each individual element then things become do able.
     
  11. The Nut

    The Nut Gardener

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    Did you buy one of them dodgey spirit levels from B&Q cos I rekon that wall is slanted :)
     
  12. JWK

    JWK Gardener Staff Member

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    Cheers Pro, I've never attempted anything like this on my own and never done any type of roof before. I have found doing the rafters very satisfying, I think because the cuts don't need to be too accurate and once I had worked out the angles I seemed to be making visible progress every day. Also I really like the smell of wood and love visting the wood yard - that sounds daft re-reading it! Anyway I haven't enjoyed all the nailing though, cause I just plonked the rafters into those metal hangers to get the spacing rright. It took me 2 or 3 days to knock all the nails in fully and there wasn't much space to swing a hammer inbetween the close rafters - so I lost count of the numbe of time I've banged me thumb in the same place - the air has been a bit blue!

    Like you say the only way to deal with a large project on your own is to give yourself little targets that can be acheived every day.

    TG: Thanks for updating your post - and the links to the tropical suppliers - I need to really develop my plans for the back garden - I might not be using agaves having read capney's nose poking exploits in the other thread!

    Nut: I have got a set of el cheapo spirit levels from ebay of course, and they are rubbish compared to the brickies professional one - they are only any good as a set of straight edges! The wall is level, its my cr@p camera that is slanted!


    Thanks for the interest all!
     
  13. shiney

    shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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    John, a brilliant job :thumb:

    You have probably already worked out how you are going to make your walls that you will use as seats but just in case you haven't thought of it I capped my wall with paving stones. I had a building project last year and used ones that I used for my new patio so that they matched.

    Here's a picture. I'll delete it from the thread once you have seen it :thumb:. Just let me know.

    [​IMG]
     
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    • JWK

      JWK Gardener Staff Member

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      Hi Shiney, thanks for that. I have got an idea of how to do mine and want to use the same slabs for the seat as the patio, same as you. Mine design is slighty different as I will have a back to the seat, which will form part of the retaining wall. I have bought a couple of different sorts of slabs to see how they weather and if we like the colour. One type was slate but we have now decided against that because it seems to mark so easily.

      Leave the piccie its all good stuff.
       
    • shiney

      shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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      Hi John, slate can also be a problem because it flakes. You want to make sure that the seat is wide enough to take a cushion. Also, because you are having a back to it, good idea :thumb:, it needs to be even wider because most people don't sit with their bottom right up to the back.
       
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