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Yeah, I've been reading quite a lot about the application / curing times etc etc. It's quite a in-depth art. Hopefully using NHL I can't go too far wrong as long as I wait for the winter frosts to pass. Getting the cement/plants out of the wall is going to be a much more painful task I fear.
Polygon-
i recently rendered a brick wall with a NHL 3.5 mix and repointed/resecured a lot of loose bricks. not sure i did it correctly but generally it was super easy to work with and a lot nicer than cement. i had a go with one of those mortar guns too which was kind of fun.
i have a couple of bags going spare if you're north london (Highbury) way.
terlg
You can mix with a mixer (if you have one).
I used a big drill & paddle.
As with cement, you don;t want it too wet. Grabbing a handful of it, it should hold it's shape reasonably well.
Re: hot lime & lime putty - As I understand it, they're both calcium hydroxide, but hot like is stored dry & mixed with water before use (creating an exothermic reaction), whereas lime-putty is stored wet (and needs to be stored wet for ages to pre-cure it).
Which is why I've only used NHL / hydraulic lime, as it's easier to store & work with.
Then there's the whole keeping-the-pointing-damp-until-it-goes-off that you need to worry about.