Starting work on a new garden: The Sock of Doom

Following on from last week's blog, I thought I would write a quick update. I'm going to leave mentioning the lawns from now on, unless there is something specific which I think may be of interest.So today, I got to working on one of the shrub borders. The shrubs themselves don't seem to be in too bad a shape but the spaces around and inbetween them are a bit of a mess. This (I assume) is partly a result of the burgeoning squirrel population which insist on burying all sorts of seeds and kernels in the border and then forgetting about them. The progression of time and the seasons leads to a vast array of tree saplings growing through the shrubs - mainly sycamore but with one or two horse-chestnuts for good measure and variety in the squirrel diet.One of these horse-chestnuts was a little too big to be uprooted by hand and the border is a little too dense for me to get in there with a spade or fork. Having read the discussion about getting rid of knotweed on this very site, I decided to try the 'Glove of Death' remedy. Unfortunately, I don't have any woolen gloves so I had to resort to the 'Sock of Doom'. It doesn't take much working out how to do it... I'm not sure how well it will work but I'll give it a couple of weeks and then have another try.I can't really say that the rest of the day's work was of particular note - I sprayed the patio & driveway to get rid of the weeds, pulled up a load of brambles, shouted loudly at some dead Berberis branches when they ripped my hands to pieces and got invaded by a pair of pea-hens (I think).Oh, and I got quite a nice email from the owners who had noticed the difference that my work is making on the garden.

"Others have ID ed it.
I chop them off at ground level with secutears then spray a drop or two of Praxys on the wound... if it doesnt killt he first time, it will the 2nd or 3rd"

At the Portugal Invitational, Kress showed turf professionals that unmanned mowing has moved from emerging concept to practical course-management solutionChampionship golf leaves no room for compromise. That's precisely why Kress chose the inaugural…

"If it has thorns it is likely to be a Robinia. I have a client who has a couple of trees 10 or so Metres away & this year they have been popping up all over the lawn. A nightmare tree for anybody who climbs!!!
I have a Gleditsia myself, (my…"

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Phil Voice July 5, 2008 at 2:39pm

I like it - The sock of death!

My kids will probably say that I would not need to add the weed killer to my socks to kill off weeds, or the odd passing cow!

BTW, if you need to link directly to an individual reply rather than the whole thread. look for the little chain link which is a permalink.

Here is the post from Mike Seaton on the 'Glove of Death'