Tag Archives: wickes

When the chips are down

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The back garden path was looking well worn what with weeds growing between the 1970’s inspired crazy paving, very loose slabs and all that combined with a sinister lean towards down the hill. Let’s say it wasn’t the most safest garden path to walk on so the other weekend we made a start on trying to improve it.

First job was to rid the path of the slabs and chuck them by the pond. It’s looking like a concrete jungle up there at the moment so it’s better we don’t show any pictures! The concrete underneath the path would take lots of work to get out so we thought we’d best leave it in.

Over a couple of evenings with 6 bags of woodchip (on offer on Wickes), some decking boards and a couple of lengths of 1″ x 1″ procured we had a go at a wood chip path, allotment style.

We remember a mate telling us a few years ago that there was a craze of people going around pinching estate agents boards for their wooden posts which were being put to better use at local allotments in the production of wood chip paths. We wonder if that was a real thing or were we having our leg pulled? Well anyway those 1″ x 1″ came in well handy for making that path safer and looking a lot better.

It was easy, it was cheap, GO AND DO IT!

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Jim_2A big shout to our good mate Jim N who sent us pics of these great planters he put together last month. All the wood was from Wickes, that at the time had a deal on decking boards (4 for the price of 3). The small planter cost just under a tenner for the wood, and the big one just over twenty pounds. The tin of paint was £13, which was enough to cover the above two planters plus a couple of others he had as well.

With the large planter, over loosely spaced slats across the bottom it was lined with weed suppressant membrane which lets water through. Into the bottom of that was a layer of crocks to help with the drainage then potting compost. As it’s raised off the ground a bit by the slats at the bottom, any excess water just drains out. They’re looking good Jim and we’re loving that blue!

Jim_3

Jim_1Have you knocked together any interesting planters, raised beds or the like of late? Send us your pics to stick up on the blog to onedeckpete (at) gmail.com

Never knowingly scabbed

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The dustbin incinerator I bought the other week has been brilliant as I’ve burnt off a load of woody stuff that has been piling up at the bottom of the garden. The only trouble is, that making fires is now getting a bit addictive. The other Saturday I was just going to burn off a small pile of waste but as the fire got on it’s way I was scouring the garden for sticks, prunings and whatever else that would burn. A couple of bits of 4 x 2 I was going for use for a gardening project got chucked in alongside wet leaves and freshly cut wood, sending thick plumes of yellow/white smoke out of the funnel at the top of the bin into the SE23 night sky. Jah Wobble mentions the same thing in his biography “memoirs of a geezer”, breaking up furniture at a friend’s squat he lived at to fuel a fire to keep him warm. What’s all that about then, a primeval thing perhaps?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8-YWYNTnrU&feature=related

Raise your beds, raise your beds

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I heard a great thing off a mate of mine yesterday, that estate agent’s signs were all the rage on his allotment with everybody on the hunt for them. It turns out the poles that hold them up are ideal for using as wooden stakes when making raised beds and they’re a lot cheaper than shelling out cash for wood at wickes. Another use for the damn things rather than making snow shovels out of them!

Talking of making do, old tight git here recycles all his plant ties and gardening wire. I get an old jam jar, stick the plastic plant ties in them and wrap my old gardening wire around the top (it’s a dual purpose thang, innit?) I used this highly sophisticated method yesterday when taking the sweet peas off the old apple tree prunings in the back.

I am fast becoming a man with no mates with my collection of jam jams, 2×1 off-cuts and old plastic margarine tubs from around the world. “Sorry I can’t come out for a pint tonight as I have a big box of used 2BA screws and panel pins to sort out into their respective jars.” Brilliant!