Does anyone know anything about gardening?

Used the same weed puller to tackle the dandelion infestation in my lawn, loved it so much got one for my father in law :)

I hear they favour the thong down under. Ba dum tss!

One of my cherry blossom trees has developed a nasty fungus on some of the branches. I’ve been breaking the fungus off and douching with bleach but fear the branch’s will needs to be chopped off

Can I do it now or do I need to wait until spring

It's a risk, cherries don't like winter pruning, but maybe a risk worth taking. @edmundro might have more information.

Does it look like this?

Here it is

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I'm going to need to retain some beds off the side of the deck I'm building at some point, the beds will be more or less level with the deck, so O need to maintain an air-gap so the frame doesn't rot.

Do we think these mesh panels, lined with weed membrane and spaced off the frame would be up to the job? I'm struggling to find examples of this done elsewhere, possible because it's a massive ballache.

@Colin_the_Bald will surely know!

This is not really the right thread, but I can't think of anywhere better to summon @edmundro.

A low loader truck arrived outside my neighbour's house the other day, filled with tree surgery labourers and equipment.

Mrs Mashton was dumbfounded at the level of stupidity displayed by the grunts as they tried to unload the van, set up equipment, pull open a push gate, etc etc etc.

I nodded knowingly and thought of Ed's many tales about former colleagues.

In a word 'no', neither will a thick plastic membrane before you ask. What you need is a few bricks mortared together, otherwise known as a wall... If it is retaining the raised bed nobody will be able to see how shit (or good) your brickwork is. Brick is cheaper and better than sleepers, which also rot. A gap of 1cm to the decking is plenty.

Speaking of decking, here's one I made earlier (finished it last week).

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Do you think it's feasible to hang the joists from the retaining wall then? That was my other idea, although damp ingress into the joists could be an issue, DPM behind the hangers might be enough to solve that?Otherwise it's retaining wall and posts inside, which will be a big old foundation but probably ok. The deck boards will be composite so I don't think damp should be an issue for them.

Joist hangers would be fine, forget the dpm it always gathers moisture behind it, just give the end grain of the joists a good soaking in timber preservative. This does mean you would have to build a proper 9" retaining wall to support the decking. If the wall isn't retaining much, build a 4" (single brick) wall with posts inside, it is much easier. The posts don't go into the same foundation as the wall, just use a trenching shovel, dig them in 2' deep and ram 4:1 dry mix concrete around them with a broomstick or similar.

Thanks for sharing the knowledge. It sound like keeping the frame separate is the sensible way to go. One more thing, if you don't mind, I was thinking of using concrete blocks for the retaining wall, because I assume it'll work out cheaper and quicker. Is there any reason that'd be a bad idea?

None whatsoever, except the look of a block wall. If that doesn't work for you, you can always brick face the parts of the wall that can be seen like this (pictured before backfilling).

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That looks great, and makes me think maybe I should stop trying to hide the retaining wall.

Sorry, didn’t see this sooner.
Almost certainly Ganoderma, if it’s on the main trunk it’ll eventually be terminal. If it’s on a branch then cut it off neatly and perpendicular at the branch junction and hope for the best.

If it’s not gonna be a hazard if it dies then let nature take its course and munch it down like an old twix.

Started to clear and rake one very neglected wall today. Most of the coping stones completely loose and some replaced with huge lumps of concrete or granite ( I think). Those will be quickly taken to the tip tomorrow and the rest set aside until it's warm enough to use lime mortar. Also a forsythia growing right through it and similar further down means some parts will need rebuilding. Started to get a better idea of how it could look once repointed. Not perfect due to the ad-hock repairs in its history, but hopefully much better than it was.

If the budget allowed I'd like to use the stone from the other side to build it up to 6ft and then replace that run with a new fence. Emailing photos to a very talented local stone-waller but it'll likely be a beyond our means.

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I have a slope on which I want to plant fruit bushes, including blueberries. The soil is slightly acidic, but will need supplementing. Is it better to plant the blueberries at the top (supplement may wash out and run down?) or at the bottom (won't lose acidic material, but water will percolate through the less acidic soil before it reaches the shrubs?

I'm leaning towards planting at the bottom, as they're also less likely to dry out that way.

The best wild blueberries I have ever eaten were growing by a stream on Exmoor. Answer enough?

Somewhat oblique...

At the bottom they shall go!

Sorry, didn't mean to be, Exmoor is entirely on acid soil, next to streams is the dampest place. In short, bottom it is.

Wish the ground would thaw so that I could get to planting. And that my online seed orders would arrive! Am really hoping to get started early this year (my first with a garden)!

Also bought a hotbin on impulse, and am now hoarding food and garden waste in anticipation of its arrival.

re-siting a shed. advice?

I want to move our existing bog standard 8'x6' shed to the bottom of the garden for a couple of reasons. mainly that it takes up one of the sunniest parts of the garden right now, and the shady bottom of the garden makes poor use of space.

There are a few mature shrubs/bushes/mini trees down there, at least one of which will need moving or nuking to fit the shed in. below are pictures and a plan, which is about 90% based on real world measurements.

top left corner of the plan makes the most sense, but that would mean removing the tall holly and rhodedendron in front of it. putting the shed slightly to the right of that corner would mean moving the big bush in the middle (no idea what it is).

long-term plan for that end of the garden is a more heavily planted, shady, almost wooded area.

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more...

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