Gardening - what is this?

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Originally Posted by Jones28

Looking good :aok:

I'm going on holiday in early July and want to top-dress before I go to give the stuff a chance to bed in without being trampled and chucked around by the kids.

Anyone used Caledonian Horticulture?

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Yup....I buy tons and tons off them every season for my business.

Top soil is a bit touch and go but the Top Dressing, Green Goodness and Bark are all top notch at a fraction of the cost of say B and Q.

As mentioned, delivery is a bit of a mare (2-3 weeks) just now as they have expanded to the West of Scotland and don't have the infrastructure to cope. If you have space it's worthwhile ordering bags and keeping them around the side of the house, minimum of 40 bags for free delivery. Or if you are near a depot you can pick them up, I assume you can at them all although I'm only familiar with the site at Turnhouse.

I don't think it's advertised on the site but generally there are deals on like 5 bags for the price of 4.

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Originally Posted by Wembley67

Yup....I buy tons and tons off them every season for my business.

Top soil is a bit touch and go but the Top Dressing, Green Goodness and Bark are all top notch at a fraction of the cost of say B and Q.

As mentioned, delivery is a bit of a mare (2-3 weeks) just now as they have expanded to the West of Scotland and don't have the infrastructure to cope. If you have space it's worthwhile ordering bags and keeping them around the side of the house, minimum of 40 bags for free delivery. Or if you are near a depot you can pick them up, I assume you can at them all although I'm only familiar with the site at Turnhouse.

I don't think it's advertised on the site but generally there are deals on like 5 bags for the price of 4.

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Thanks Wembley, is it a lawn business you run?

I'm quite near their Turnhouse depot but I need a fair bit. I think I'll get a couple of dumpy bags delivered.

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Originally Posted by greenlex

I used Caledonian Horticulture for my 70/30 sand soil mix. Goods were decent but delivery schedule for bulk bags was a bit sketchy. It did come within advertised time but don’t be in a hurry for it. Order now if you need bulk bags delivered and want to get it done in your timescale. Screened to 6mm but I did uncover a golf ball (titliest 3) in one bag. :greengrin There were occasionally a big lump in it bigger than the screen size but it seemed to be all compost stuck together and not particularly well mixed that was easily broken down. Assumed it’s stuck together after screening or during transport. I’d use them again. I’ll be getting small bags for top dressing for sure.

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Cheers :aok:

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Originally Posted by Jones28

Thanks Wembley, is it a lawn business you run?

I'm quite near their Turnhouse depot but I need a fair bit. I think I'll get a couple of dumpy bags delivered.

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I do yes. It's just a small local business, it's only about 7 years old and how I wish I started this 20 odd years ago. Great working away from offices!

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Originally Posted by Wembley67

I do yes. It's just a small local business, it's only about 7 years old and how I wish I started this 20 odd years ago. Great working away from offices!

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I don’t suppose you have a hollow core aerator do you?

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Originally Posted by Jones28

I don’t suppose you have a hollow core aerator do you?

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I don't I'm afraid, I usually go and hire them when required. It's not something that gets requested often so it's not really cost effective to buy one.

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Originally Posted by Jones28

I don’t suppose you have a hollow core aerator do you?

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Manual or machine? I tried to hire one from HSS, Speedy, Brandon etc but it was difficult to get them to tie down a date. Ended up buying a two tine hollow aerator from Amazon that came with spare tines. Worked a treat, managed to do my lawn (maybe 8M by 25M) in just over an hour. The plugs popped out the aerator with ease and it handled the buried stones without problem (I found the 4 tine models kept hitting stone and didn't get to the required depth).

Jardineer Lawn Core Aerator, Hollow Tine Aerator with Spare Tines, Grass Aerator Garden with Non-Clog Slot, Manual Lawn Aerator for Compact Lawn Soil https://amzn.eu/d/h3DyrJO

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Originally Posted by Wembley67

I don't I'm afraid, I usually go and hire them when required. It's not something that gets requested often so it's not really cost effective to buy one.

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No I don't suppose it would be, I was staggered at the cost of the things.

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Originally Posted by Jones28

I don’t suppose you have a hollow core aerator do you?

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I use the swardman professional. It’s excellent. I will admit the handle is not the greatest but the business end is first class. I’m sure there’s more comfortable suitable alternatives at better value out there. My grassed area isn’t huge so happy enough with it for now.

https://www.gardenimports.co.uk/prod...v=79cba1185463

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Originally Posted by speedy_gonzales

Manual or machine? I tried to hire one from HSS, Speedy, Brandon etc but it was difficult to get them to tie down a date. Ended up buying a two tine hollow aerator from Amazon that came with spare tines. Worked a treat, managed to do my lawn (maybe 8M by 25M) in just over an hour. The plugs popped out the aerator with ease and it handled the buried stones without problem (I found the 4 tine models kept hitting stone and didn't get to the required depth).

Jardineer Lawn Core Aerator, Hollow Tine Aerator with Spare Tines, Grass Aerator Garden with Non-Clog Slot, Manual Lawn Aerator for Compact Lawn Soil https://amzn.eu/d/h3DyrJO

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Thats looks great speedy, thanks :aok:

Bit the bullet and gone for one of those aerators, should be arriving today.

It’s quite sad how excited I get with this kind of thing.

Compost making: any good tips? We’ve gone for the “throw it all in method”, 2 bins on the go so planning to turn it in to the currently empty bin late summer and start 2025’s bin at the end of this year, does that make sense?

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Originally Posted by Jones28

Compost making: any good tips? We’ve gone for the “throw it all in method”, 2 bins on the go so planning to turn it in to the currently empty bin late summer and start 2025’s bin at the end of this year, does that make sense?

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Nettles. Despite doing the suggested brown to green mix, it just wasn’t cooking. Cut some nettles from the walkway opposite our house and chucked it in. They are really high in nitrogen so acts like a natural accelerator. Wish I’d done it sooner.

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Originally Posted by overdrive

Nettles. Despite doing the suggested brown to green mix, it just wasn’t cooking. Cut some nettles from the walkway opposite our house and chucked it in. They are really high in nitrogen so acts like a natural accelerator. Wish I’d done it sooner.

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Excellent shout, thanks overdrive

I love this time of year when things in the garden are coming to life.

Anyone got any big plans for this year?

I planted some asparagus in 2023 and this is the first year we can actually start to take spears from them. Planted 22 crowns so come may and June it will be asparagus central.

We have old railway sleepers that will need replacing this year, not sure if I want to replace like for like or do something different. A company called Solway recycle farm products and make them in to things like boards for cattle sheds. I was considering using these and covering them with thinner wood panels to finish them which will hopefully last longer than sleepers. Price wise it would be a bit more expensive but they will last longer than we will!

Aerator coming next Friday from HSS. I’m a wee bit excited. First hollow coring getting done since I laid the new lawn round the back. Hollow core, scarify, overseed and top dress. Hoping for big results as it’s looking a bit sorry for itself.

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Originally Posted by greenlex

Aerator coming next Friday from HSS. I’m a wee bit excited. First hollow coring getting done since I laid the new lawn round the back. Hollow core, scarify, overseed and top dress. Hoping for big results as it’s looking a bit sorry for itself.

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Fantastic stuff, I scarified my back lawn on Saturday and the difference already in the just getting rid of loads of thatch is tremendous.

Managed to give the front a first cut yesterday, took it as low as I can without totally scalping some of the mounds and chucked a load of 4-in-1 down, can already see the lines where the fertiliser has gone down.

Once the moss is killed off on the front that will get a really hard scarify.

Glad we’re getting a real drenching tonight, everything around me looks like it could do with some. Forecast from Sunday onwards looks good for sunshine as well.

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Originally Posted by Jones28

Fantastic stuff, I scarified my back lawn on Saturday and the difference already in the just getting rid of loads of thatch is tremendous.

Managed to give the front a first cut yesterday, took it as low as I can without totally scalping some of the mounds and chucked a load of 4-in-1 down, can already see the lines where the fertiliser has gone down.

Once the moss is killed off on the front that will get a really hard scarify.

Glad we’re getting a real drenching tonight, everything around me looks like it could do with some. Forecast from Sunday onwards looks good for sunshine as well.

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I scarified in October and it’s helped it to be less full of moss now. Front doesn’t get much sun in the winter and it’s a riot. It’s the original turf the builder put down thus the aerator coming into play. Ive actual cut twice already in the last couple of weeks without taking too much off. Just the tips really. It’s been fed and moss killer been on since last cut and turning nice n black.

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Originally Posted by greenlex

I scarified in October and it’s helped it to be less full of moss now. Front doesn’t get much sun in the winter and it’s a riot. It’s the original turf the builder put down thus the aerator coming into play. Ive actual cut twice already in the last couple of weeks without taking too much off. Just the tips really. It’s been fed and moss killer been on since last cut and turning nice n black.

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Have you ever tried Mo Bacter? Breaks the moss down into feed for the grass roots. The new growth is excellent. No blackening of the moss and no raking out needed. My front garden is north facing and doesn’t get any sun reaching the grass in winter. Gave it a cut on a good day in early December and its looking good with much less moss. The Mo Bacter will go on next week.

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Originally Posted by tamig

Have you ever tried Mo Bacter? Breaks the moss down into feed for the grass roots. The new growth is excellent. No blackening of the moss and no raking out needed. My front garden is north facing and doesn’t get any sun reaching the grass in winter. Gave it a cut on a good day in early December and its looking good with much less moss. The Mo Bacter will go on next week.

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I haven’t but funnily enough the other day I saw a video of someone using it but I had already applied my usual a couple of weeks ago. I will give it a try next time.

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Originally Posted by greenlex

I haven’t but funnily enough the other day I saw a video of someone using it but I had already applied my usual a couple of weeks ago. I will give it a try next time.

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Good stuff. They recommend a spring and autumn application so doing towards late Sept should set you up for the winter. 👍

The best thing I ever done with my gardens was employ a gardener 😀. I like the benefits of having gardens but hate gardening and don’t really have the time to keep them both up to scratch so the gardener is ideal.

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Originally Posted by tamig

Have you ever tried Mo Bacter? Breaks the moss down into feed for the grass roots. The new growth is excellent. No blackening of the moss and no raking out needed. My front garden is north facing and doesn’t get any sun reaching the grass in winter. Gave it a cut on a good day in early December and its looking good with much less moss. The Mo Bacter will go on next week.

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Ahhh just spents a day raking today and very nervous how bare it is. Wish I saw this yesterday ha