Does anyone know anything about gardening?

Could you put up a picture of the trunk, please, to aid ID. If it's a crab you're fine, have a little look back at my posts a page or two back. If it's a cherry I have always summer pruned, however, @edmundro says winter, he probably knows better.

Here we go

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Looks like a cherry to me and those should only be pruned when the sap is rising ie its too early ATM

Because it is a cherry. You and I agree on pruning time, but I don't want to annoy the tree man.

If you like it, I'd consider leaving it or getting someone in. They can be fickle and easily infected.

I've called someone in, just to be safe.

Although I did self prune a year or two ago, and didn't kill it.

I'm always just a bit nervous after my dad killed my favourite childhood cherry tree, and our ornamental one died.

Apparently, George Washington was good at pruning cherries.

Jumping in as a novice/idiot with a question:

New house has a (very) small area in front of it, facing north-east, for planters and one or two bigger pots; unsurprisingly the back yard (paved and walled, but paving will be redone with materials as yet to be decided) faces south-west.

Are there any go-to websites or guides for figuring out what grows well depending on direction?
I've googled it, but almost feel spoiled for choice/have option paralysis.

Bonus points for things that look nice and don't need much maintenance :)

On the subject of cherries, I feel like my neighbor's could do with a prune, not a bad shape but it's a bit lanky and overshadows us a bit. Just a little trim off the top maybe? (With his permission obviously)

Plum trees at the apartment badly need a trim so might be a time to invest in some long reach secateurs.

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Is it too early to lay turf?

Nope, it’s a good time, saves you having to worry about the bloody stuff drying out. Best not to lay it on frozen ground but the next couple of weeks look pretty mild.

Too late to move rhubarb?

Seem to think our rhubarb arrived early part of last year after the ground had warned a bit and not frosty. The thing I remember being told was not to harvest it in the first year after transplant

Cheers!

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/search-form

If everything is potted then you don't really have to worry about soil type as you can control it. But you might want to err on the side of things that will do OK if they dry out.

But yeah. There are a lot of plants.

The ground the kids Playhouse is on is sloped. It currently has wood and paving slabs to make it levelish as a place holder, but I need to make the ground under each footing the same height to put an Ecobase tile under each leg.

What is a good strategy for doing this?

Normally I'd use a long bit of straight timber. But in this case I don't need (or want) to level the whole area - just make each footing the same level.

I was wondering about getting a long bit of wood then screwing two smaller pieces the same length at each end at a right angle then put a spirt level on top.

Hopefully that makes sense.

Will that work? Is there another obvious / common method?

Cheers.

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Do you have a laser level or could borrow one? Your only problem with your suggestion is that you're relying on the wood being straight

A water level knocked up from a couple of bottles and a length of hose?

I do have a lazer level.

But how will that work?

Also it'll be on gravel as well.

We have 3 already in the ground (2 since last year, 1 the year before) just they are too crowded. Going to space them out a bit today 🤞

Does the laser level have a tripod?

Having come to the conclusion I can probably DIY my patio base I need to get the final levels on my dirt pit sorted soon. Worth investing in a landscaping rake or is there a something sturdier I should buy to tackle the rubble infused clay I have? Obviously I'll need to break up the bigger lumps with a spade first.

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A rake isn't the tool for the job, you need a proper builders digging shovel, NOT a loading shovel. The blade will be angled correctly for you to skim the base flat. Any builders merchant will stock them. If there are lumps that have to be prised out a mattock would help, Screwfix ones are good and cheap.

Nice one. Have mattock, will shovel.

This is the one I have, presumably that's a loading shovel?

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