Arb talk with Target Trees

Our day-to-day gardening and allotment duties usually involves low-level maintenance of low level plants. The loftiest structures we have to deal with are the four year old apple trees that stand at a manageable 7 ft high and require little maintenance other than winter pruning and the plucking of fruits in the autumn. There comes a time, however, when all gardeners are confronted with larger arboreal tasks. Maybe a neighbouring tree needs a few minor adjustments (see below), or maybe that nice old lady down the road has asked you for a ‘little bit of help’ in trimming her 50 ft Leylandii.

There’s a large hawthorn on our allotment that has started to encroach on our magnificent, recently installed ‘hop dome’, and Nicks sawing fingers have started to get all twitchy. Before unleashing him and his frightening array of wood torturing equipment upon the poor unsuspecting tree, we hoist a few questions up to Ian Flatters of Target Trees for a spot of professional advice. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say…

Talk us through the process of felling and removing a large tree…
Firstly, how much room have you got on this page? In order to not bore you and send you to sleep I will keep this as simple as possible as all trees and sites are different and need to be assessed before hand. If it is safe to do so most arborists will fell the tree and process it on the ground. This is normally the safest option. If, because of space and size restrictions you cannot fell the tree, then its on with the ropes and harnesses before we start sectional dismantling the tree. For this we use ropes and a harness (along with all the Personal Protective Equipment to make us look like power rangers). Once we are up the tree we can see if it needs the use of rigging equipment to lower branches and sections of timber into our work area safely. After repeating this process, between bursts of clearing away the fallen debris, we either chip up the branches or load the timber onto our vehicles with the help of our Skid Steer. Once all the materials are down it is a simple clean up job on site, leaving it as tidy and clean as possible using very powerful blowers and the good old fork and rake.

If I needed to lop branches from a medium sized tree, what is the best way to approach the task without ending up in A&E?
The safest way is to get an arborist to do it. Why take the risk of spending time in A&E, when you can sit back and watch grown adults climb trees like squirrels! It is important to remember that looks can be deceiving and that a branch that appears small/medium in the air can be a lot bigger when felled on the ground, it is surprising how much material and weight can come off a single branch. That is why it is best to get the advice from a trained arborist as taking limbs off trees can destabilise them and impair their health.

Many of the big chainsaw firms are developing high powered, battery-operated machines. How do the current models compare to their petrol driven cousins?
They are actually very good especially the professional arborist top handled saws. Unfortunately the bigger end of our chainsaw arsenal in the industry hasn’t any battery equivalents yet, but I am excited for when they do!

And is there any room in today’s arborist armoury for the humble axe?
There is! Mostly for hammering in wedges when in the final process of felling a tree and to feel all ‘Lumberjack’ like. Also for splitting wood, nothing feels quite like the satisfaction of throwing that split log onto the fire which had hit you in the shins earlier!

What’s the best way to kill off a tree stump?
Ecoplugs are a safe way to kill off stumps as you don’t need to handle any chemicals, just drill the holes as directed and tap in the plug which then releases the chemical deep within the root.

Is there such as thing as ‘too much PPE’?*
The way I see it is, if your wearing it and something happens then it could be the difference between going home or going to A&E. Chainsaws are dangerous enough and when using them frequently they can cause some long term effects if you don’t protect yourself properly. We also work in some very tall trees anywhere from 20-80 meters, so good PPE, training, knowledge, attitude, knowledge on the tree, climbing equipment and your saws is extremely important.

Do arborists relish extreme, windy weather spells like the recently destructive Storm Doris?
Doris was a very damaging storm compared to the ones the previous year. Don’t get me wrong there is nothing like working out how to remove large, dangerous and partially collapsed trees, but when it is 10pm at night and your working under floodlight it can be very stressful with lots of emergency calls. We were working around the clock 7 days.

What’s your favourite tree?
Paulownia tomentosa – foxglove tree
For me it’s the flower it produces, on a semi-mature tree upwards its truly mesmerising to watch dance in the wind. It normally flowers in the first week of May.

And your least favourite to deal with?
Kapok – Ceiba pentandra
I was fortunate to go on an expedition with Canopy Spirit to The Gambia, whilst there we climbed one of the tallest trees in West Africa. These Kapok trees were vast with some of the largest stems at 80 ft I’d ever seen. The tree was 179 ft high and pretty much everything was covered in large rose-type thorns – more than a few words were said in anger during that afternoons climb.

Finally, do you have any amusing tree felling anecdotes you’d like to share?
Recently I was carrying out a light crown reduction in the centre of Norwich. A cyclist was so focused on what I was doing that she unfortunately cycled straight into the kerb and fell off! Thankfully the only damage sustained was purely from embarrassment.

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Live in Norfolk? Need a professional arborist? Best call Target Trees

 

 

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* We’re PPE to the max. Ask Nick to chop some kindling for the fire and he’ll emerge from the shed looking like Gregor Clegane

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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from Two Thirsty Gardeners http://twothirstygardeners.co.uk/2017/05/arb-talk-target-trees/

Sit down and weed: tool and stool set review

We have both reached an age when our digging and swigging activities are becoming inhibited by creaking muscles and joints. Rich can no longer haul around the cider press without fearing for the rumbling of hernia trouble, while my back has become so wonky that I recently damaged it and was rendered ‘bed-ridden’ by over-reaching to evict a piece of toast from the toaster. Now any outdoor tasks that involves bending or lifting causes us to emit noises that makes the veg patch sound like a labour ward.

What would be really helpful for our weary limbs is a gardening stool to take the strain while pulling weeds.

Something else that would come in handy is a device to keep all our hand tools in one place as we haul them around from border to bed. We’re an untidy bunch and hunting for the trowel can be a frustrating activity, further damaging our knees through angry stomping.

So we are grateful for the good folk at home and garden retailer Andrew James for inviting us to review a product from their website that offered a solution to both problems. We’ve been afforded the opportunity to review their kit for the last few years, with a dehydrator proving to be a particular hit with us and our readers.

Scrolling through their latest product list we were tempted by the electric cultivator; we briefly paused at the telescopic pruners; but then we saw our dream product – a ‘tool and stool’ set featuring something we could not only plonk our arses on but also use to carry hand tools around the garden. The set was delivered a few days later and I had the honour of testing it out.

First, the stool part of the set. It’s of the small camping stool variety: a pair of sturdy metal rectangles, joined in the middle so they swing flat when not in use, with a tough cloth seat stitched around the top bars. Its only real requirement is to hold firm while supporting the weight of a middle-aged gardener, and it does so with aplomb.

But where this differs from most camping stools I’ve known is that on the four corners of the fabric seat are metal studs, to which are attached a square bag that fits neatly within the stool’s frame, showing off an array of pockets. There are open pockets suitable for trowels and forks; there are narrower pockets that might attract pruning knives or pegs; there are shallower pockets with breathable sleeves that show the contents, perfect for seed packets or plant labels; and there are two pockets that can be sealed shut for the gardener’s special, secret items. There are so many pockets that I can even spare a few for a crafty couple of cider bottles of cider for a bit of appley refreshment while hoeing between my onions.

And, of course, the item as a whole is one big bag, with handles attached, and a stool-sized void for filling (with more internal pockets for good measure). The Andrew James website blurb suggests this might be useful for loading with weeds as you go along. I think I’ll use it for more things to tidy away – balls of string, tape measure, some sandwiches, a novel, sun cream… I won’t need to return to the house all day.

If this tool ‘n’ stool combination wasn’t enough of a gardener’s bargain, they’ve even thrown in some hand tools for good measure: a fork, dibber, three pronged hoe and two different sized trowels. With wooden handles and everything.

Rich may still struggle to lift the cider press out of the shed and I’ll always be wary of over-reaching for anything, but at least I can potter around the garden in relative comfort and say goodbye to episodes of trowel hunting.

Buy now: The Andrew James Garden Tool Set with Folding Stool

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from Two Thirsty Gardeners http://twothirstygardeners.co.uk/2017/05/sit-weed-tool-stool-set-review-andrew-james/

Victorinox Swiss Army knife: the ranger in the garden

A few years ago I lost my trusty Victorinox Swiss Army Knife to a Moroccan customs official. After 25 years of service my prized tool was absent-mindedly packed in our hand luggage and the grinning security man gleefully announced “it’s mine” as he tucked it into his back pocket.

On our return to the UK my wife (the guilty tucker) kindly bought a replacement, but it just wasn’t the same, got misplaced, and can no longer be found.

A few weeks back I was contacted by online retailer FFX Outreach to see if we could feature one of their products on this blog. Scrolling through their site I noticed a huge range of Swiss Army knives at bargain prices. Enough time has elapsed since that Moroccan mishap and I was ready to treasure a new one. So I suggested a users guide to each of the tools on the ‘Ranger’ model, the best option for garden and shed, and the FFX team agreed.

The Ranger is now in my possession, being as treasured as that original knife, so here’s the guide…

Uses for tools on a Swiss Army Knife, Ranger

1 Large blade
Swiss army knife blades are great and this will get loads of use cutting and carving. No greater explanation necessary

2 Small blade
This blade is mostly reserved for sharpening pencils

3 Corkscrew
Many home made wines have begun their journey from bottle to mouth with the use of a Swiss Army corkscrew. Simple but effective

4 Can opener with small screwdriver
The can opener isn’t the easiest to use, but it does work, and that small screwdriver is perfect for the fiddly little screws in power-tool plugs

5 Bottle opener with screwdriver and wire cutter
Possibly the most used tool on my last knife, although I never realised that the little nook in the side was a wire stripper. Next time I need to strip wire I’ll know where to look

6 Reamer / punch
A reamer is a tool for widening drilled holes and comes in surprisingly handy in shed-based construction products. Also useful for picking soil out of fingernails

7 Tweezers
One of the things I missed most after the Moroccan incident. Since then I’ve never been able to locate tweezers for splinter removing. Has also been used to rescue bees from cobwebs

8 Toothpick
Picks teeth

9 Scissors
Seed packets. String. Parcel tape. Finger nails before using the reamer. All cut with Swiss Army scissors

10 Multi-purpose hook
I have never previously had a Swiss Army knife that features a multi-purpose hook and am not sure when I would use it. Pulling stubborn pegs from the ground? Hooking string to fence? Untangling netting?

11 Wood saw
You’re unlikely to be able to fell a tree with this mini-saw but it’s handy for pruning smaller branches and can also be used to cut notches into bits of wood, should you ever need a bit of wood with a notch cut in it

12 Chisel
You’re unlikely to be able to carve an eagle into the tree you haven’t been able to fell, but the chisel is handy for digging grooves into bits of wood, should you ever need a bit of wood with a groove dug in it

13 Nail file with metal file, nail cleaner and metal saw
Another tool I’ve hardly ever used but it’s good at smoothing out scraggy bits of metal and cutting metal wire

14 Fine screwdriver
Another new one for me but looks quite handy for when the bottle opener’s screwdriver is too big and the can opener’s screwdriver too small. Would’ve preferred a Phillips screwdriver but there’s not one on this model. And if you want everything you’ll have to upgrade to the Swiss Champ

If anyone has any handy gardening uses for any of the tool mentioned, drop us a line

Check out the full range of Victorinox Swiss Army knives at www.ffx.co.uk

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from Two Thirsty Gardeners http://twothirstygardeners.co.uk/2017/05/victorinox-swiss-army-knife-ranger-garden-tool-uses/

How to make the perfect Greyhound cocktail

Purple is this year’s most fashionable cocktail colour. At least according to gin makers Tanqueray who offered to send us a bottle of their export strength gin if we made and published one of their purple cocktail recipes.

But Tanqueray Export Strength gin is the perfect booze for our latest cocktail corner recipe, The Greyhound, so we took the goods and made that instead. And it’s not even purple.*

The Greyhound Cocktail

Brief History

The Greyhound needs only two ingredients, gin and grapefruit juice, with the first mention of these two drinks appearing in The Savoy Cocktail Book from the 1930s. Back then, the recommended fruit was grapefruit jelly, with juice coming off the subs bench for one of its first revisions.

Another revision that kicked in later was to switch gin for vodka, with the latter increasingly becoming the norm in cocktails of the 1960s. This was down to vodka’s post-war marketing as manufacturers looked to boost the drink’s popularity. Lots of classic gin based cocktails were given a vodka make-over with glamorous celebrities promoting their sophistication, and for plenty of drinks the trick worked. Order a greyhound now and the chances are your bartender will automatically reach for the vodka. However, we’re keen on reversing that trend and recommend the use of gin.

So how did it get its canine name? My google spies tell me that would be down to the serving of a grapefruit cocktail recorded in a 1945 edition of Harper’s magazine that was served at Greyhound bus terminus restaurant.

How to make a Greyhound cocktail

Difficulty level: Easy

What you’ll need:
3 parts grapefruit juice
1 part gin
Ice
A slice of something to garnish

Seeing as there are only two main ingredients in this drink, both had better be good. We’ll start with the grapefruit and fresh is best. Not from concentrate, not grapefruit jelly and not pink. Golden grapefruit juice please, as freshly squeezed as you can get it.

For the booze a punchy, London Dry gin works best. Grapefruit is a strong flavour, both sweet and sharp, which can overpower subtler gins, so finding one that leans on the stronger juniper flavours is advised. Tanqueray’s Export Strength is an ideal choice. It contains only four botanicals – juniper, coriander seeds, angelica root and licorice root – and has a traditional gin purity to it that works especially well in citrus-laden cocktails.

An actual greyhound (Lottie) checks out the Tanqueray for suitability. Approved.

Instructions

To make simply drop some ice into an old fashioned glass or tumbler, fill three quarters full with grapefruit juice (or a little higher if you’re concerned about the strength of your booze) and top up with gin. If you’re one for a garnish then add a slice of lemon, lime or grapefruit. Give it a stir, then drink.

Variations

The Greyhound is one of many drinks that has been treated to the salt-on-rim trick. If this appeals to you then you’ll have to stop called it a greyhound and start using ‘salty dog’ instead.

Home grown customisation

The simplicity of this drink means a single extra ingredient can provide a noticeable twist to the original. Adding a pungent herb, such as rosemary or basil, to the glass works particularly well, or if you’re out on a spring foraging mission a few spruce tips are worth experimenting with.

 

*The purple recipe they sent was for ‘A Berry Nice T&T’, served with berry infused purple ice cubes. And very nice it looks too. If you want to have a go at making it yourself you can find the recipe here.

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from Two Thirsty Gardeners http://twothirstygardeners.co.uk/2017/05/cocktail-recipe-perfect-greyhound-tanqueray-gin/

Win! Tickets for the Official Super Bock UK Launch Party

Like Portugal? Like Beer? Like Portuguese beer? Like parties? Like Portuguese-themed parties? In London? With Portuguese beer?

Yes?

Fancy winning a pair of tickets for the Official Super Bock UK Launch Party at BEAT London?

Of course you do!

Join us (Super Bock, not us…we can’t make it) for a night of celebration at BEAT London, the iconic private members club just off Oxford Street. In its 50+ years of opening, BEAT has housed some of the great music legends of our time including David Bowie, Jimmy Hendrix and The Sex Pistols.

There will be live music from special guest, Portuguese DJ Moullinex who has performed in venues and festivals across the world and is now bringing his electronic vibes to BEAT London for the first time.

When: 24th May 6pm-11pm

Where: Beat London, 48 Margaret Street, London W1W8SE

How to win

To stand with a chance of winning, simply log into Twitter, make sure you are following @thirstygardener, and retweet our Super Bock competition tweet with the hashtag #SuperBockUK

All names successfully completing the criteria above will go into into our ‘cauldron of caldo verde’ and the winner will be picked out randomly on Monday 22nd May 2017.

Check the Ts&Cs below, adorn your bedroom with pictures of Cristiano Ronaldo and GET TWEETING!

Terms and conditions
Competition open to UK residents only. Entrants must be over 18 years of age. Entries must be submitted by midnight, Sunday 21st May 2017. The winner will be selected at random from all entries fulfilling the criteria as stated above. The decision of the judges is final and no correspondence will be entered into. The winner will be drawn at random from all entries received by the closing date. Should the Promoter be unable to contact the winners or should the winners be unable to accept the prizes, the Promoter reserves the right to award the prizes to an alternative winner, drawn in accordance with these terms and conditions. The prize does not include travel between the winner’s home and Venue, accommodation, food and drink, personal expenditure or incidental costs. Two Thirsty Gardeners are responsible for the first part of the promotion, which is the publication and adjudication of the prize draw. All other facilities connected with the provision of the prize are the responsibility of Way to Blue.

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from Two Thirsty Gardeners http://twothirstygardeners.co.uk/2017/05/win-tickets-for-the-official-super-bock-uk-launch-party/

10 top tips for growing cucumbers (including their favourite choice of music)

Last year, cucumbers were one of my garden’s biggest successes. Thanks to years of practice, and my ace new greenhouse, the two cucumber plants I grew from seed clambered all over the rest of my indoor crops and pumped out so many tasty fruits that my family (and my neighbours) were slicing juicy segments for weeks.

Just as I was thinking it about time I started this year’s cucumber sowing, we received an email from top gin makers Hendrick’s asking if we wanted some cucumber seeds. Cucumbers are one of the key ingredients that gives Hendricks gin its unique flavour, and it’s one of the best gin garnishes going, so they’re keen to help spread a little more appreciation of the popular cucurbit. (They also sent a bottle of their gin, just so we could remind ourselves of the magnificent combination of booze + cucumber).

To help improve the nation’s cucumber growing antics, they also contacted a cucumber boffin to run a few tests and find out if there were any new ways to encourage cucumbers into more fruitful activity. Graham Brown, of the University of Sydney, is one of the world’s leading cucumber experts and some of his findings are quite bizarre, but we’re willing to put them to the test.

Our seeds have been sown and successfully germinated – mine moving from a pot in the conservatory to a patch of compost in the greenhouse; Rich’s from a windsowsill to the allotment  – and we’re going to see who can produce the best results. For anyone planning on growing their own cucumbers here are our ten top tips, with some additional advice from Graham Brown thrown in for good measure…

“Turn that bloody jazz off…”

10 top tips for cucumber perfection

1 Sow indoors
Cuces like a cosy start to life, so sow them in wet compost indoors. A warm windowsill or on top of a freezer works a treat (the freezer’s cooling energy gives off a small but consistent amount of heat).

2 Let there be light
Once germinated, your rapidly growing cucurbits will thrive best in good, even light. If they have to strain to find the sun they may get a bit ‘leggy’ and not sufficiently bulk out. A greenhouse is ideal, failing that your sunniest window location.

3 Patient planting
Frost is a deadly cucumber killer so wait until all risk of the freezing stuff has passed before planting out any outdoor varieties. And even outdoor varieties will perform better under glass.

4 Rock on
According to Graham Brown, cucumbers love a loud blast of rock music. The Sydney scientist subjected plants to a variety of music styles (along with a control test of silence) and the sound of heavy metal thunder produced larger and jucier fruit. Like most youngsters, they hated jazz.

5 Scent-a-mental
Despite cucumbers lacking in the nose department, Mr Brown also subjected plants to three scents, spritzing dill and sage in their direction while leaving another group scent free. According to the star scientist “plants can sense chemicals in the air, such as volatiles released during grazing by herbivores and respond by increasing production of protective chemicals”. In the trials, their senses twitched in delight to the spritzed dill, resulting in tastier fruits, while the sage induced a bitterness to their flavour.

6 Sleep tight
Graham Brown’s final trial involved tucking up some cucumbers into miniature sleeping bags which resulted in softer skins and sweeter flesh. He explains “it would appear that by protecting the growing skin from the drying atmosphere and light, the fruits are tender and sweeter”. In the absence of custom made sleeping bags, we suggest a large sports sock will do the trick.

7 Hungry, thirsty…
Cucumber plants like good meals of nutrients and are thirsty beasts. To help keep them sated, plant in compost (or directly into a grow bag) and water regularly. Continue to offer them scoops of manure every week or two, which they’ll readily accept, and once the fruits have set you can nourish them some more with a tomato feed or liquid seaweed.

8 Climbing fame
Cucumbers are avid climbers, so give them some sticks to wriggle up, encouraging them to keep to the right path by tying their stems to the sticks with string.

9 Feel the pinch
When the central stem of you cucumber plant can climb no more (due to roof obstruction) or develops seven leaves if planted outside, pinch out the tips to concentrate growth to the fruits. For side shoots, allow one fruit for each shoot, snipping off the subsequent growth

10 Gin time
Finally, make sure you save some of your harvest for gin. The salad crop is a perfect cool garnish to a G&T and, as soon as our summer harvest is underway, we’ll be plunging slices into that bottle of Hendricks…

A cucumber’s dreams are made of this…

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from Two Thirsty Gardeners http://twothirstygardeners.co.uk/2017/05/10-top-tips-growing-cucumbers-science-favourite-choice-music/