Does anyone know anything about gardening?

They won't tolerate waterlogging but as @ColinTheBald says, they will establish and grow better in a decent soil.

Lots of benefits from getting some organic matter into the earth.

If you would like some blood and bonemeal, I have a current labourer you could have part of.

They don't prefer poor soil,

...

RHS:

It prefers poor, dry or moderately fertile soil

rosemary but I may alternate with lavender.

Happy to be wrong, but I think lavender will get to a larger size faster. So when choosing plants it might be worth going for larger rosemary plants and smaller lavenders.

odd question maybe but I've been trying (for a while) to get someone to come affix some trellis screening to the back of a couple of planters... with no success. I've put some of the reeded screening down the back of the planters for the foreseeable which is doing the job but I'm worried that the bamboo in the planters will bow backwards when there are strong winds and eventually break the (quite weak/flimsy) reed screening

I was thinking maybe I could get some dried bamboo canes and just drive them into the soil along the length at the back of the planter to make a makeshift/stronger screen, equivalent to the reeded screening... reckon will this work ? annoying I can't just get someone to come do this simple job with the trellising

I'll probably just keep trying to get someone to add the trellis and/or buck up my ideas and do it myself...

Smack in some post spikes to support some uprights and the trellis?

@ColinTheBald, or indeed anyone else with knowledge on the subject, I want to put a round patio in a square garden, or at least not a dead square edge so no edge restraint as such. The whole area is already dug out to the bottom of the subbase level. Will MOT type 1 hold its shape if built up and compacted in the middle of the area, or do I need to backfill the edges to the same level at the point of compacting?

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My advice always begins and ends with 4" of concrete under a patio. By the time you add mortar and surface material that will be about 6" deep and going precisely nowhere.

Many 'professionals' will suggest compacted type 1, this is because it is easier and gives a better profit margin. They will tell you that it is going in 6" deep (which is the minimum needed on anything other than completely solid ground), in reality you will be lucky to get 2". The consequence is that the whole lot will move and crack, but they'll be gone and operating under a new company name by then.

If you do want to use roadstone, dig out a minimum of 8" below finished level (as opposed to 6" for concrete) and remember to compact with a Wacka plate every 2" of depth. If the soil isn't solid at 8", keep digging until it is!

Nice one, I was considering concrete on top of the subbase depending on the build up required, but you reckon it'll be ok going straight on the soil? It was my understanding that a subbase ensures even load on a concrete base but maybe that's just for high loads, this will be foot traffic only. It's fairly firm ground as I took away all the rubble filled crap, just needs leveling properly and the weeds killing off. I reckon I'm about 4-6" below where the slabs need to be currently, I need to get a grade rod and check.

Yep, you'll be fine for a patio, I would beef it up a bit for a driveway.

*Unless you've got a lot of very fat mates.

Can anyone recommend me a cordless mower?

My ageing corded one appears to have lost some structural integrity

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I accidentally got a Flymo cordless. It's really good but quite expensive (assuming that you don't get given the wrong model when you click n collect ;-))

Do you have anything else cordless or might you in the future?

Up thread about a month I was recommended a Spear and Jackson. £200, bit plasticky, but light and easy to use. Does the job for me :)

Got to shift a chunk of concrete base where previous owners had a henhouse. About 6’ x 2’ and maybe 3’ deep. Best option for breaking this up and getting rid? Get the biggest bit that will fit my hand drill and drill it to bits before taking a sledgehammer to it? Hire a big bastard drill? Or just pay someone to come and fuck it up for me?

Whereabouts are you?

3' deep with no steel in it should break up fairly easily with a sledgehammer. It's just hard work.

Two Polish blokes demolished a much larger shed base in my back garden in this way. Took them about a day. They did use a disc cutter at times but it had steel mesh in it.

Draper breaker is fairly cheap on Toolstation and looks ok from the reviews. Use it to death and return or sell on after?

Edit: probably worth hiring a full size one for a day actually

You should be fine with just a sledgehammer. Much quicker than trying to drill it. If it’s on a really solid compacted ground, sliding a breaker/crowbar under and twatting with a sledgehammer should break it up.

6 by 2 with 3 inch depth is a happy hour at most with a sledgehammer, thinking about your boss/in laws/accountant/Boris Johnson is helpful. Hit a corner about 6" in and work your way inwards.

If you are built to climb and not descend, a medium breaker of around 16kg will do the job efficiently in 15 minutes and cost about £20 to hire (use a chisel rather than a point).

Anyone looking to buy a breaker, I can recommend the Screwfix own brand one (Erbauer), I've had mine for 3 years of very frequent use and it won't die, currently £200.

Sledgehammer it is then, thanks all.

A prising bar will help too

I have Ryobi one + power tools already, and I’ll need to buy a strimmer at some point too, so my default was to go towards them, however the cheaper mowers here that come as a 4.0Ah kit I’m not sure the reviews are that great. So I was thinking of getting the more expensive skin only brushless mower and buying the strimmer 4.0ah kit

Worth noting I live in NZ, so we don’t get brands like spear and Jackson, Flymo etc.

I’m ok with a more plastic mower as our rear lawn section is a super awkward shape, so lighter is good (and it won’t rust in the shed)

'Tis done. I'll see how these Rosemarys fare. I'll consider some lavender in the spring perhaps.

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In other news, my rose is coming in for a second pass at flowering

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