DFB's Gardening Thread

[Balr14]

Those roses are beautiful! Do you grow them for your own pleasure as well as for sale?

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[DFB5.0]

Those roses are beautiful! Do you grow them for your own pleasure as well as for sale?

I used to have my own roses, but removed them a couple of years ago, I just don't have the time to tend to them. I get my fix at work.

Confession - I LOVE PRUNING ROSES! I can almost do it with my eyes closed. I subscribe to the prune them HARD method. My favorite trick is to have someone watching me as I go to town on them, the shocked look on my viewers face is priceless.

I work for a retail nursery, but we pot and grow our own rose stock. This stock arrives during the winter as bare root plants, ordering enough to pot up in late winter to be able to sell during the rest of the year.

Bare root stock is grown by a wholesaler and arrives in boxes, ready to be labeled and bunched into holding pots.

Customers can then buy these at discount because they don't have a pot and soil included in the price.

During the winter months, the left over potted stock is then pruned back, my favorite job of the year!

At the end of winter, the left-over bare root stock is potted and put out for sale. This is a big job, lots of double handling, lots of sore backs!

 

[Balr14]

That's one hell of a lot of pruning! We have to cover rose bushes in the winter, as well as lots of other plants. The object is to prevent sunlight from getting to them, so they can't grow when it's below freezing. I assume it doesn't get that cold in Australia?

 

[DFB5.0]

That's one hell of a lot of pruning! We have to cover rose bushes in the winter, as well as lots of other plants. The object is to prevent sunlight from getting to them, so they can't grow when it's below freezing. I assume it doesn't get that cold in Australia?

That depends on where you live.

I'm in northern Victoria, a southern sate. Summers are dry heat up to 45 degrees c / 133 degrees f. Winters get down to -4 deg c / 24 deg f, meaning some plants need to be covered. It's a hard climate to cater to, especially for those who like a more tropical style garden. Some plants that enjoy the heat end up being frost burnt if not protected adequately.

The west and north of the country are milder in terms of winter temps, have higher humidity and more heat. The Victorian and New South Wales high country areas get snow through the winter.

 

[Balr14]

We can have temps between -30c and +35c but -10c to +30c would be a more normal; not good for tropical plants. We had our first snow today. It sucks!

My son has been to Australia several times, but mostly to Sydney and Melbourne for business. So, he doesn't provide a lot of information. I have always been curious.

 

[DFB5.0]

Researching chainsaws over the last couple of weeks, I spotted guys using a no-spill fuel containers for refueling. A few minutes on Amazon and I found what I was looking for -

https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product...age&th=1&psc=1

Why on earth did I not find something like this years ago!

And joy of joys, I got use my new chainsaw today!!

First, this semi-weeping cherry did not re-shoot this spring. It's a very old specimen that needed some savage pruning a few years ago. The tree re-shot with vigor after that. However, I think a prolonged period of being in wet soil this past winter and spring did it no favors. So, down it came...........

It was then onto an Albizia that had been slowly dying over the last few years. Seeing as I had the chainsaw on site, down it came too!

WOW! What a beast! Now, this wood was super soft, but with a brand-new chain, it ripped through it with ease. I have NEVER had a saw cut like this, like butter! On the thicker timber, I got to play with some full throttle and let the thing sing!

Like any machine, there is always a period of getting to know it. The starting process is a bit finicky, needing some throttle to warm it up for 30 seconds prior to letting it idle.

I joked to my client today that I probably shouldn't charge them for today, I was having far too much fun playing lumberjack.

 

[Balr14]

The area I live in has lots of big mature trees, so we see a lot of tree trimming services at work. They are not cheap! I'm spending $3500 this year to trim 4 trees. Some neighbors have spent $2000 on a single tree!

 

[DFB5.0]

The area I live in has lots of big mature trees, so we see a lot of tree trimming services at work. They are not cheap! I'm spending $3500 this year to trim 4 trees. Some neighbors have spent $2000 on a single tree!

Yeah, similar prices here. It’s dangerous, heavy and skilled work, the prices will reflect that.

 

[DFB5.0]

More chainsaw action today, this time the little MSA 140C -

This was a cleanup of a neighbor's garden, trimming and removing larger material that she can't deal with. This included removing the remains of two ancient fruiting grape vine. Access to make the cuts was limited, so the smaller MSA 140 was ideal for this job.

I also used it to trim back a neglected Ligustrum hedge, the saw slicing through branches too thick for a hedge trimmer. For smaller jobs like this, the smaller, lighter and run-on-demand battery saw is brilliant.

 

[DFB5.0]

One of my favorite tasks at the nursery is potting plants up to grow into advanced specimens. For the most part, we are a retail nursey, buying in the majority of our stock from wholesale growers. There are some exceptions, our range of advanced trees and roses are all potted up by us at the end of winter, but the plants themselves are propagated elsewhere. And as mentioned, we grow-on a selection of plants to value add.

The nursery has a large section behind the scenes where we do this, taking a lower cost plant and growing it on so that customers can buy more advanced specimens to fill gaps or cheat time. The area is set up to be self-sufficient with automated watering and the plants are secured to wires to hold them in place. Occasional inputs include applying slow-release fertilizer, light trimming and in some cases, adjusting the staking to ensure they grow straight and even.

I love this work, the repetitive nature of the task suits my personality. For the most part, we take stock in 6 inch pots, in this case I have selected stock in 8 pots. These are then planted into large 12 inch pots with a high quality potting soil and a dosed amount of slow release fertilizer. The date and variety name are abbreviated on the pot.

I also remove the small stake and install a taller one in anticipation of the coming growth. A coir weed control mat is then applied and the pots watered thoroughly.

Pallets of freshly potted plants are then lined up on the irrigation lines and secured to the wires.

Some plants take only a couple of months before they are then ready for sale. Some require longer. These Magnolia's will likely need 9 to 12 months before they are ready. Our level of standard means we don't put stock on the shelf without a fully developed root system. So while the plant may look big enough in the pot, the real test is if the roots have reached the bottom or sides of the pot. Only then will it be prepared and released for sale.

 

[DFB5.0]

Oil change, filter clean and deck clean out on the Bushranger.

The last oil change for this unit was back in May. To be honest, I don't have a specific oil change period on my machines, I just get to them when I can. Sometimes it's every four months, sometimes its every six months, sometimes its every 12 months for a mower that I don't use as often. On this unit today, it was certainly "time".

This was the first time I have used this mower service stand. Bloody brilliant thing to have for someone servicing mowers often like I do.

The blades on the Bushranger still have life in them, but I could see a lot of built-up grass under disk around the drive shaft and cooling vents. With an impact wrench, it's easy enough to whip the disk off to get proper access. These Bushrangers use the Rover design disk with a central bolt and three smaller locating bolts.

With the Bushranger now ready for better days, I took the opportunity to replace the blades on the Atom. I have seen these go longer without problem but I had the time and parts in stock to just do them today.

I don't use the Atom regularly on jobs, mainly for the occasional overgrown lawn or at home for razor straight edges. This set of blades lasted just over two years.

 

[DFB5.0]

When I was growing up, I had a neighbor that always seemed to have all the coolest things. He was like me in a couple of ways, never doing things by halves when it came to gadgets and tools.

He had a wood fired heater for the winter months, and that meant he needed a chainsaw. I remember my Dad and I tagging along to help him collect firewood for his and our garage potbelly stove. We supplied the big Mazda T3500 and labor, meaning he could collect more than the little box trailer he normally used. He supplied the chainsaw. We then split the load, he taking 2/3 and us 1/3.

I always wanted a chainsaw like he had. To a 12-year-old boy, it looked and sounded so big and powerful. This is that saw, a Stihl 028AV Super -

From what I can gather, this model was made from 1979 to 1990 and in Super guise, used a 51.5cc engine with 3.2hp. The "AV" designation refers to Anti-Vibration, a feature most saws have as standard these days. It also has a full magnesium case, rather than the plastic used for most modern saws.

As you can see, she is in need of some attention. While it may look dirty and unloved, he looked after that saw very well so I have no doubt it would still be a very good machine. It's likely not been used in ten years or more and now hangs unneeded on a hook.

Well, this chainsaw is now mine!

There is a longer story to this, so here goes.

Overnight, the neighbor across from me had all of his carpentry tools stolen from his locked toolboxes. Chatting to my next-door neighbor about this, I told her that she should probably put that Stihl chainsaw somewhere more secure, it's been hanging on a hook in an open carport for a year now. Before he died, her husband always had this thing locked in a secure cabinet. While it's old and beat up, it's certainly still a valuable item.

She nodded in agreement and then asked if I wanted it. In no way was I wrangling to buy it, or have it given to me, so I was a little surprised by that. There is a sentimental element to this saw, it's what got me mad about chainsaws in the first place. I would have hated for it to be thrown away, stolen or given away to someone who wouldn't appreciate it as much as I will. Or put the effort into recommissioning it.

Yes, it needs a lot of work to bring it back to working order. I have not even bothered to crank it over. I pulled the air filter cover off and noticed a perished/disintegrated fuel line so that will absolutely need attention before I even think about having it running again.

I will pull the thing down and clean as much of it as I can, replace the bar and chain, sprocket if necessary. I may even touch up some of the lost paint, although there is some charm to that.

I will then have to decide if I strip and rebuild the carb myself or take it to the Stihl dealer and have them take care of it. After past experiences, I'm not sure I want to do that. (Different dealer to the one I have had trouble with.) At least it will be clean for them if I do go that route. I'm going to watch some video's on this model and see what I'm up for and make a decision soon.

I love the muffler design on these, from memory it had a very stout bark to it.

It would also be nice to find out the age of this machine, hopefully I can find some identification markings or numbers along the way.

So, I have another chainsaw, not that I needed it. However, I'm really excited to have this old girl running again, it's a special saw with a special place in my heart. It's funny how humans become attached to machines.

 

[DFB5.0]

Today's project, getting these display frames back into shape.

These frames were constructed to grow Chinese Star Jasmine on, a great way of providing height without width. As they put on growth in spring and then flower in early summer, they lose their crisscross design. After flowering, they are pruned and trained back into shape.

This is a time-consuming job, one that takes patience, finesse and a good eye for detail. No hack jobs here! Sure, they have had a LOT of material removed, but within a month or so, these will flesh out again a touch while maintaining the same diamond pattern.

I love this sort of work, I had an audience a few times too.

 

[Balr14]

I tried Chinese Star Jasmine a number of years back and it didn't survive the winter... too cold. The way things are going, I may try again in a few more years.

 

[DFB5.0]

Sharpened the hedge trimmer with my new rotary tool today, wish I invested in one of these a long time ago!

Used it on a job shortly after and was very pleased with the cut efficiency.

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