Does anyone know anything about gardening?

Also how the heck do you get that tree through a narrow Victorian terrace if it's felled?!

The answer to that question is filed under 'knuckle dragging labourer'.

That apple really, really needs the crown opening out so it can breathe, it would produce better quality fruit as well, particularly if you did some pruning of the fruiting spurs. It's something you could do yourself with a little tuition. Ideally, the main clearing out would be best done in Winter.

Ha ha, the low-tech approach.

Yes we'll give the apple tree some love this year. It produces absolutely loads of apples, more so on the neighbours side of the fence frustratingly.

He spends all day everyday tending his allotment, yet the garden has been completely abandoned to the foxes. Can't for the life of me understand why.

The high tech alternative is expensive, it's about to cost one of my punters £700 to crane a half ton hot tub over the house and onto the base I am building...

I persuaded my mum to dedicate half her greenhouse in 2015 to tomatillos. I remember they grew really huge, there was string everywhere to support them and they didn’t bare much fruit until November when the season had past. They were in no bigger than 10L, probably smaller actually. How big are your seedlings?

It was a hell of a pork chile verde.

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Don't want to sound like I'm having a go, but I feel really sorry for your neighbours. Honestly, it's not cool to have trees encroaching like that.

It's always a shame to cut down nice trees, but you should probably have a think about whether you have the time/ability/ resources/etc. to maintain them. If not then it would be best to remove them.

Garden time.

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Fair point, it would annoy me too. We've only been in the house 18 months and had other priorities to sort out before tackling this. Hopefully later this year we'll be in a position to do so

Regarding access, if there’s no side access it’s going through the house. If they’re pro they’ll sheet the place out and minimise the dirt and damage but realistically it’s a bit job to take a tree through a house like that.
Any negotiable access through another path is always welcome in these situations.

Careful sheeting by sensible person at slightly inflated price. Junior staff member (*muppet) under no-damage threat. Client pre-warned that painstaking removal will add to costs.

Apply the above to anyone with golf clubs or multiple Cervelos, what's not to like?

Just get a few consultations. They're free. Sometimes these folks can accomplish a lot of surprising things very very quickly. We had 5 trees taken down - 3 of which were hard to get to - in half a day. Really amazing how fast it was.

If it's helpful, your neighbors may be glad to allow access. Ask them. They'd probably leap at the idea.

Got some Ranunculus in yesterday. Haven't tried them before. Soaked in water before planting in pots.

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I've never succeeded with them. Good luck!

A little advice on shelving for an Apple store/ root cellar please? (Other vegetables may apply)

This was our side return, full of spiders and old garden chairs. I’ve roofed it over, it’s gonna have some insulation under that plywood, a front door, basic lighting and some ventilation. Its unheated but abuts the house on three sides - shielded from the sun, it’ll be frost proof and be relatively cool in summer. It’s 3M x 1m in plan.

What should I use to shelve one side? I was thinking Open dowels or suchlike but haven’t found an actual product.

Thanks in advance x

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Why the hell it rotates my photos when I resize I have no idea! Sorry

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I’ve PM’d you with the details of the only 3 firms in east London I’d trust to go through a house as you’re out of my mobs area really.

Yeah thanks so much, really appreciate that.

Totally understandable. Hope I didn't come across as too much of a self-righteous prick.

Good luck getting it sorted.

No probs, I think you've helped sway me towards getting it chopped down if I can afford it. Sorry nature.

To help assuage your guilt, I've planted almost 100 trees in the past couple of months, so we're still in credit.

Brilliant. So I can AstroTurf over the stump guilt-free.

Mine and my 2 next door neighbours lawn mowers have all shit themselves this week. This is how 5G works right?

Its the perfect time to buy a petrol mower.
The combustion engine is the very best it will ever be as we move to Leccy.

Got myself a Honda in the hope it will outlast me.

My other half can't start our petrol mower. She hasn't really got the arm strength or reach (short arms) to pull the cord properly.

If I was buying something new today I'd get a fancy battery one. Maybe a Bosch Rotak?

Or perhaps I should just go for a robotic mower.

I have just bought a robot mower, as we have two lawns at about 200sqm each, and the other half hates moving the petrol mower around, so plan is to buy a second charging station and cable and just manually move the mower front to back each evening so both lawns are constantly mowed.