Forum

Soil Testing & Analysis

Does anyone here know of any companies that provide soil testing and analysis by post?

 

I have found this company online (http://www.mrscrow.com) and they seem to provide exactly the service I'm after. Here is a link to an example report (http://www.m

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Best Mulch for Rose Gardens

Hi fellow LJ members. I'd be interested to hear your views/experiences on the best mulch for rose beds. One of my clients has a 400+ rose bed, and with the all the time I already spend spraying/weeding/feeding etc, I'd like to apply a mulch to help k

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Isn't there a quicker way to clear leaves?

The blower I have access to is rubbish and I am not able to purchase a new one at the min. Other than old-fashioned raking and picking up, is there a quicker way to clearing up leaves from a couple of acres of grass and driveway?Even any small tips t

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School gardening club - any suggestions

I am going to start a gadening club at my daughters primary school next week. We have had a really ethusiastic response with 25 kids keen to join (this is about 25% of the school!) We have little funds and are really keen to keep it free. I was wonde

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Reducing an overgrown Beech hedge

Hi, --- has anyone much experience with reducing overgrown Beech hedges, and what I could do with this one? - It had been kept at about 6' and the young couple now looking after it would like it back if possible.Most books say – cut top first year, o

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How much does -it cost to maintain a garden

I read this today on the BBC site, and whilst the whole row about MP expenses is one thing, the point made that '£1000 a year for gardening is adequate and £2000 a year for cleaning' gives a low impression of a professional service and is just furthe

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Turf prices

Checking around for best prices for quality turf & delivery as prices seem to be getting more expensive , have an area around 283 square metres to turf (allowing 5 % for wastage/cutting in) albeit up in NE Scotland one company quoted over a grand for

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How do I improve soil in congested beds?

Hi.Does anyone have any good techniques for adding organic matter to very congested beds where there is little soil not covered by plants.I thought the only wat i could do it is to sieve dry compost, apply this to the beds and try to brush in. I shou

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Restorative pruning of overgrown yew hedge

Hi guys - some advice please! One of the large gardens I work in has a large amount of yew hedging which over the last 100 years have gradually grown far bigger than they should be. When is the optimum time of year for me to cut them hard back (reduc

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Cowboy landscapers

Just got back from a one off front garden tidy up, just weeding and neatening a load of shrubs but while i was there a landscape firm were replacing the rear lawn. When i arrived the client showed me the back garden where said company had made a star

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Online Garden design Classes

Hi Green Friends, I just found this site today and joined in. I am a professional gardener in the United States and was wondering if anyone could recommend some really good Garden Design classes offered online. There seems to be quite a few, and some

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Hello one and all

Hi there,Just discovered this site and after a few mins of zipping though it, I signed up because it’s great.Im Gibz and am looking to turn my weekend gardening into a career as my company is going under and am looking at any kind of advice I can lay

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Customers helping out - do you mind?

Hi All.I have a few customers that like to garden but just cant manage to cut the grass and hedges but like to do the boarders. I supose what I am saying is do you mind if they still do a bit in the garden or do you prefer to do the whole garden your

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The choice between a pivot hedge and some nice evergreens which flower for my front garden

i have a 20ft border between my grass and pathway in my front garden. as the hedge planting season is coming i have been toying with the idea of either plating a pivot hedge that can be cut to a nice square shape of plating a mixture of evergreens th

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elderflower (i think) - and would you keep it?????

I have posted a discussion on "the best way to prepare the ground for laying turf" but the next milestone is the 3 large elderflower (i think) bushes, hedge,tree? covering a length of 15ft and at a height of 8ft i have growing in my back garden. they

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How much?

Hi folksBy way of comparison, how much would you guys charge to tidy up this mess?Its 27m long by 12m wide. Brief is to cut grass, trim all hedges, cut back all shrubs, weed paths and around about all shrubs and leave tidy, taking away all waste...yo

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Hedging

Hi everyone,I have been asked to give a ball park figure for a hedge to screen a public footpath.They want something quite instant I think but costs might scare them.The length is about 20 m and there isnt alot of room for planting as next to drive w

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Ideas for maintaining bare earth

We've just bought an orchard / veggie plot in central France. The fenceline sits some distance inside the boundary, and between the two has been maintained as bare, rather stony earth. At the front it is a band at least 1.5m wide and 30m long. Around

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what is this plant?

in the pot ,... thanks

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How do I grow Sweet Potatoes?

I would really like to grow some sweet potatoes this year and wondered if anyone else has tried and succeeded?Helen

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