Does anyone know anything about gardening?

It's been amazing grass-growing weather lately, I planted some new lawn where nothing had grown previously due to the shade from the tree, and I wasn't sure it would take because the topsoil quality is so poor from the amount of leylandii chippings in it. It's actually done really well.

Great job, happy growing!

Hope the slug eating frogs visit your pond :)

@tbc I was too lazy to even turn the soil so I was pleasantly surprised to see how much seed took, especially after the all-you-can-eat pigeon visits. These rainy days this weekend I’m hoping push the next batch of grass seed to grow.

@JWestland so much more to go yet, but keen to get the pond lined and filled soon as the stump grinding is done.

I’ve got some lavender in my front garden. It’s been there for about 30 years. Some of the branch’s are very woody and quite brittle, sometimes they snap and a big chunk of the plant dies.

Does lavender have a lifespan or there something I can do to revitalise it

It does have a lifespan. You could take a couple of dozen cuttings, stick them away in a corner, and replace it for free next spring?

What Sparky said. Take as many cuttings as you can and you'll be drowning in young lavender plants next year. They take a few years to get to a decent size so leave the existing one in place until you're ready to replace it.
Left over plants from the cuttings make good gifts

First garlic harvest of the year and I finally came up with a bamboo cane storage solution which wasn't just dump them on the garden path

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Guerrilla gardening 10 weeks on:

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That's got to feel good. What a cheery thing to create from nothing.

Put some salvia in today and they instantly got attention.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C8RzEyfsRQY/

Looking good! Well done. Next year will be a lot more fun I think.

I wouldn't worry or put any effort into the lawn for a couple of years. Just mow it and focus on the other stuff. It'll likely sort itself out.

You're lucky to have such an attractive back wall. I'd definitely try and keep it as a feature. If you can keep some of it more viable as you grow things up it, I think it would help to make a really effective backdrop.

What’s this?

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Looks like an ash tree sapling

I think you're right. I just read an old secondhand book about UK trees and it said that some species have several quiet years for seeds then, collectively, a bumper year. I've pulled three or four ash saplings out of the garden this month alone, and I see several in neighbours' gardens. There are lots of mature ash trees in this terrace and they must have all self-seeded at one point. I put a couple in pots just out of curiosity - something different for the patio, even if only for a few years.

Cool I might and turn it into a bonsai

Hi garden experts. Is this the right thread to ask about garden tools? Bought a new strimmer/brush cutter, the old one died. But unlike my old one, the line cuter function (it also comes with a steel triple blade) is not a spool, but a +/-30cm nylon line, with a crimped alloy bit in the middle that keeps it in place. I knew this when buying but didn't expect these to wear so fast when doing weeding on concrete patio... With my old auto feed spool I was using more wire but it was ok. These (Bosch) replacement lines are quite pricey and I'm not happy with it.
The shaft seems to be a left thread, M10, I need to double check the pitch. There's a lot of universal spools out there, using that thread, but they look like cheap stuff. I'd rather invest a bit more for something good. Stihl ones are like around £30 but as soon as you check specs they only tell you which models they are compatible with, haven't yet found the thread details... Also not necessarily wanting that brand, but anything reputable...
I guess also that if I use a spool I'll need to fit some metal cuter on the guard presumably?
This is for domestic use btw (probably obvious given my clueless-ness)
Thanks!

Thanks yea. I’ve been putting grass seed down just to try add some green to the miserable-looking ground. The overgrown trees definitely starved every other plant in the garden.

In the last two months, the roses I cut down to bare stems (not even a leaf on them) have all shot up to a nice height with a lot of foliage. There are a number of buds coming through so we’ll have a nice view in a month or so, and then I can dead-head and keep them from growing too tall and gangly.

Fingers crossed the contractors come on Thursday and sort all the stump grinding, then make a start on grading the front. Really keen to see progress out there too.

The wall seems pretty okay structurally, and there is a small gap between the stuff growing on the common land behind it.

My preference would be to get the fruit vines trained on the wall so we have something nice to look at that also bears edible fruit. We’ll see how successful that is in reality.

The pro looking solution is to put them in a rhubarb forcing pot

Too much of a snail magnet, I reckon

I have a Makita trimmer which came with the 197993-1 head. It takes 2.4mm line and has functioned fine for the last 3 years. M10x1.25 LH thread. I don't think a cutter is necessary if you are careful with your line feed.

Anyone got a RHD discount code for Hampton Court?

Cheers

Great, cheaper than the Stihl head too! Thanks!

This is very interesting to know. They look spectacular this year, but underneath the foliage you can tell things are deteriorating

where’s the best place online to buy a mixed native hedging pack ? is it just hedges direct ?

also what path material should I choose

Woodland Trust is brilliant for native hedging packs, plus your supporting a great charity. I have bought a few from them and they arrive quickly and all done well
Path- get woodchip from a local tree surgeon. Lowest impact you'll ever get. Will improve your soil and smell lovely