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Gardening

ours is wilded back and front. It is great. The only work we do on it is to keep the brambles at bay.
 
My neighbour has wilded his garden, whether through sheer laziness or intent I don’t know, but a side effect is it is now wilding my aesthetically pleasing garden along one side making the fence disappear under a towering cascade of brambles and cutting down light. Anyone wilding should give a thought to near neighbours if any and design it accordingly.

Roundup on any bits poking through the fence should sort that out; get in now before all the leaves drop off for best effect.
 
My neighbour has wilded his garden, whether through sheer laziness or intent I don’t know, but a side effect is it is now wilding my aesthetically pleasing garden along one side making the fence disappear under a towering cascade of brambles and cutting down light. Anyone wilding should give a thought to near neighbours if any and design it accordingly.

What dweezil said, squirt a load of round up on all the leaves you can see and then repeat, if necessary, in a couple of weeks. Then cut off all the dead bits to the level of the top of your boundary wall. With a bit of luck it will kill the brambles, but if they come back next year you know what to do.

Note, when aplying glyphosate weedkiller, it gets into the plant's system through the foliage. So the more foliage you can cover with it, the better. I sometimes paint it on the reverse sides of leaves.

Of course it would be illegal to wait until your neighbour was out, or maybe asleep in the wee small hours, climb a ladder and lean over the fence, and give it all a good squirt on their side. So I wouldn't even think about doing it.

It is a very satisfying thing to do, because it works.
 
Ours is regularly cleansed of everything by the salty gales of winter; even the salt-tolerate plants the garden shop sold us. Only thing that remains thriving is Hottentot-fig and a bit of grass. Derek Jarman would not be impressed….
 
only garden advice I have is ‘do not plant ivy.’

Spent the last few years trying to get rid of the ivy I introduced to my garden decades ago.

re Rats - buy a cage with a sprung door, pressure pad activated.

like this >

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000QVSCH6/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

Bit of peanut butter on the pressure pad, place cage along a boundary, rats like to stay close to walls.

Bobs your Uncle.

I have caught many over the years. They don’t half squeak.

Is he ?
 
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only garden advice I have is ‘do not plant ivy.’

Spent the last few years trying to get rid of the ivy I introduced to my garden decades ago.

re Rats - buy a cage with a sprung door, pressure pad activated.

like this >

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000QVSCH6/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

Bit of peanut butter on the pressure pad, place cage along a boundary, rats like to stay close to walls.

Bobs your Uncle.

I have caught many over the years. They don’t half squeak.
I've planted ivy. On a North facing fence where nothing else wants to grow. There's a grid for it to c!imb, it's doing OK and not taking over the world. I like it. There's also some wild ivy coming up the fence. Fine by me. I can cut it back if it gets too much, for now I'm getting the romantic ivy on fence posts look.
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
I've planted ivy. On a North facing fence where nothing else wants to grow. There's a grid for it to c!imb, it's doing OK and not taking over the world. I like it. There's also some wild ivy coming up the fence. Fine by me. I can cut it back if it gets too much, for now I'm getting the romantic ivy on fence posts look.


I did let it grow along a rickety fence that must be 40 yrs old or more, after 15 yrs I chopped the root and it died, but the skeleton of the ivy remains and holds the fence together. Looks like I planned it :)


It has its uses, but can run riot.
 
Anyone wilding should give a thought to near neighbours if any and design it accordingly.

They obv. like walking on the wilded side. Brambles mean blackberries; yum yum and nutritional. Good for tarts (with apple)
 
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I did let it grow along a rickety fence that must be 40 yrs old or more, after 15 yrs I chopped the root and it died, but the skeleton of the ivy remains and holds the fence together. Looks like I planned it :)


It has its uses, but can run riot.
You do have to be prepared to show it who's in charge every now and then.
 
Update on the rat traps ,
I set 4 rat boxes and one has had 7 of the 8 poison blocks eaten ,
Others not touched.
 
Update on the rat traps ,
I set 4 rat boxes and one has had 7 of the 8 poison blocks eaten ,
Others not touched.
Normal. Rats are creatures of habit. Novel foods are treated with caution. That's why you use multi dose poisons. Day 1 they only eat a little bit, if they get sick they will never touch it again. If they feel ok, a bit more. Same again Day 3, by that time it's too late, curtains. The untouched ones are not yet trusted.
 
If you are using spring traps or cage traps,here's a few tips:
Place traps along known runs next to walls or fences,under cover of plants etc
Bait but do not set traps for a few days to let them get used to them (as said above they are creatures of habit and very suspicious of anything unfamiliar)
Soft bait (peanut butter is easily eaten without triggering the trap,ok as first bait to entice them in but use something firmer as the "main" bait that they have to pull on and trigger the trap i.e a toffee or chocolate ,look online for suggestions
Spring traps can be covered in leaves so as not to arouse suspicions (same for trigger plates for cage traps)they are better used in sheds etc so as not to harm none target species
They are not stupid ,when you think about it , that's how they are "successful"
 
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If you are using spring traps or cage traps,here's a few tips:
Place traps along known runs next to walls or fences,under cover of plants etc
Bait but do not set traps for a few days to let them get used to them (as said above they are creatures of habit and very suspicious of anything unfamiliar)
Soft bait (peanut butter is easily eaten without triggering the trap,ok as first bait to entice them in but use something firmer as the "main" bait that they have to pull on and trigger the trap i.e a toffee or chocolate ,look online for suggestions
Spring traps can be covered in leaves so as not to arouse suspicions (same for trigger plates for cage traps)
They are not stupid ,when you think about it , that's how they are "successful"

I am using the black plastic oblong boxes with a hole each end and a key lock to open the top, A stainless rod with the bait slid onto the rod, The one trap that was used was in the run where I noticed them coming from, I will have another look tomorrow , Looks like it's working " So far "
 


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