Low hedge

OMG ...... they are certainly very expensive on that site !!!

Would someone seriously buy something they have to dig out on their own off ebay ??

Have sold various bits and pieces over the years on there, garden furniture, patio heaters, fish tanks ..... all good condition stuff that we have just replaced with bigger.

But "used" plants ??

 

"they are certainly very expensive on that site !!! "

I researched well before buying. That is a KEEN price!!

"Would someone seriously buy something they have to dig out on their own off ebay ?? "

Sure. I would if it was reasonably close.

You would get a better price it you sold it in a pot and it had stayed alive for 6 months already ... and if you grew it into a defined shape. (I bought some undefined-but-roughly-conical Buxus last year, they were much cheaper than well-formed cones. By the end of this year they should be pretty-well-formed-cones :thumb

Anything that you will have to hire a skip to get rid of (OK, that doesn't include your Box plants!!) you should put on eBay. Someone will come and get it.

Saw someone selling split, cracked scaffolding boards on eBay the other day. These must have been thrown away, or more probably burnt, in olden times - it would have been too difficult to find buyers locally. They have, literally, thousands of such boards - clearly they are making a business out of recycling them :thumb: and at £2 for a 13' board its a good price for the buyer too ...

 

Digging it up in one piece, potting it, looking after it, and then shaping it .... is probably beyond my will to do, if I am honest. I know from past experience it would end up me snapping it to get it out, or then neglecting it and it dying anyway!

I do tend to put anything not worth much on 'freecyle'. Recently we had an old BBQ that other half said was to go to the tip. Advertised it on there and was so suprised how many people emailed to ask for it, even after I included a photo to show what a state it was in!!

Anyway - will have a look about the ebay thing. Might be worth a try

 

Yes, like Kristen says, if they're close enough and determined enough they will. Over the years, I've gone to collect motorbike leathers bought on eBay and driven absurd (some would think) distances to collect chickens I've bought. And got up at 5am to attend the infamous Salisbury poultry auction.

People will do all sorts if it means there's a bargain in it for them.

 

200 quid for a bush in a container? That's crazy. Do people pay that really? I have 3 acres of former farmland doing very little at the moment (apart from growing a few spuds and a couple of apple trees) while I decide what to do with it. Maybe my decision is now made:gnthb:

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Pair-of-stunning-Buxus-box-topiary-plant-spirals-3ft_W0QQitemZ160343776222QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_HomeGarden_Garden_PlantsSeedsBulbs_JN?hash=item25553bdbde&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1686%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Buxus-semperv...66:2|39:1|72:1686|240:1318|301:0|293:1|294:50

Incredibly, yes they do.

 

I bet they take a few years to grow, and regular clipping I imagine.

 

Its all the regular clipping that I wouldnt be bothered with !

But I certainly can find better things to spend money on than £200 on a plant ... however nice it looks!

 

Just seen the eBay post ... so 60cm ball is about £100, 90cm ball is £250? Blimey!

Box take a while, but you don't need to clip them all that often. In fairness the plants I got looked like they had been ball shaped for donkey's years. They hadn't "just" got to that size & shape, they were very dense, and mature looking.

I think the best money return for an area of ground is Instant Hedge. I calculated (from memory) £20,000 per hectare for plants and stuff, and a "harvest" of £750,000 what? 4 or 5 years later? :thumb:

I'll see if I can find the thread ...

Well I found these snippets:

"[Yew plants are] about 1.75 for 30-40cm, but ... get this ...60-80 cm = £3.44, 2M = £72.85, 2.5M = £204.45, 3M = £893.00"

"Then there is "Instant Hedge" from the likes of Practicality Brown (cool name though!) [assume 3 / metre for a single row] which works out at £ 285 / metre - and that is not including VAT"

"I did some sums when I was trawling for prices. I can't remember exactly, but I think it was something like £10,000 - £20,000 to plant a hectare with hedging plants (6' between the rows, say), and then if you sold them, say, 5 - 6 years later as "instant hedge" at £200 / Metre you would get about £ 750,000 per hectare. I very nearly planted up the veg patch on the spot!!"

 

Thanks for that Kristen. All I need to do now is do lots of studying about root prunings, live plant packaging, shipping, marketing etc. Much to learn but I could do with a change of career. For now I'm stuck in an office all day, which gets a bit tedius after years and years of the same old same old.

 

If you get seriously interested in it I would be interested too. Practicality Brown charge a lot of money for their plants, but I am sure there is a market and they do a good service.

I think using a barrier fabric in the planting trenches would do the root pruning for you (I researched a material, which seemed to be ideal (DuPont I think) but I then couldn't find any for sale, so don't know if it is no longer made, or only available through bona fida trade suppliers.)

 

Have emailed the Lavender company again this morning to see when I need to place my order by to receive them on Wednesday (dont work wednesdays), so waiting for a reply from them now and still trying to decide which ones from their availability list to order.

Havent a clue what to do with the Buxus plants yet. I guess it would be worth a try sticking them on ebay ...... but like said, they would only be worth what someone local is willing to pay for them which might not be much at all really. Not really sure how to even start listing them so will need to have a think about that one.

On a more depressing note .... I have to go into work today (on my week off!) My techno-phob boss is struggling on her own so need to go in to sort some stuff :( Spent a couple of hours sorting something out from home yesterday but the images I need are at work and she cant email them to me ...... I will need to teach her all this stuff at some point !!

Then off out to lunch with my mum who is just back from visiting family in Ireland, so dare say I will have millions of photos to sit and look through ..........

Right best go and get suited and booted, so to speak. No jeans and scruffy hair today lol

 

Sam, before you try listing the Box, take a wander through others for sale on there (and look at the completed/sold items as well) for not only a price to start the listing off at (or buy it now) but also what other sellers are charging by way of postage. You could take a pic of it in situ (leave it there too!) and offer "pick up only" and a delivery charge. Many a time I've been asked if a buyer can collect if they win.

 

I would also recommend Cash only (even though you are obliged to offer PayPal I believe, I see plenty of auctions saying "Cash Only - No Paypal" in the description).

Reason being that I have heard of some people paying by paypal, collecting, and then making a claim that you never delivered - and thus getting their money refunded by PayPal :(

Having looked at eBay completed listings maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree though

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380129673381 - 90cm x 70cm - did not sell at 99p

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130314687760 - dig your own palm tree - started at 99p ...

 

eBay don't monitor auctions, leaving it up to members to report anything against the rules instead...and they withdraw auctions without checking all the details first - the "act first, think later" mentality :(