Gardening - what is this?

[bod]

Any tips on stopping a squirrel digging up the grass ? .
found peanut shells next to holes but never saw it digging up

[greenlex]

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Any tips on stopping a squirrel digging up the grass ? .
found peanut shells next to holes but never saw it digging up

[Moulin Yarns]

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Any tips on stopping a squirrel digging up the grass ? .
found peanut shells next to holes but never saw it digging up

Grey or red? Where abouts are you?

[bod]

Gray,
Edinburgh

[Moulin Yarns]

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Gray,
Edinburgh

Shoot it. I don't think there's any control of greys in Edinburgh yet, up here we have landowners who trap and despatch.

[Jones28]

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Gray,
Edinburgh

Slingshot. Or pee? Don’t know if that works the same way as it would for cats.

[speedy_gonzales]

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Any tips on stopping a squirrel digging up the grass ? .
found peanut shells next to holes but never saw it digging up

Did you definitely see a squirrel commit the act?
I only ask as a couple of summers ago I woke to find holes all over my lawn with tufts of grass/thatch lying about. Checked my security camera and it turned out to be Magpies.
Magpies, like squirrels, will busy/store food for the future but they forget where so will peck away at familiar areas until it's found.

[speedy_gonzales]

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Shoot it. I don't think there's any control of greys in Edinburgh yet, up here we have landowners who trap and despatch.

Might be urban myth, but I was always told that if you capture a grey squirrel, it's illegal to release it, it has to be despatched.

[Jones28]

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Might be urban myth, but I was always told that if you capture a grey squirrel, it's illegal to release it, it has to be despatched.

You’re not a vegetarian are you?

Have a wee squirrel bbq, warn all the other squirrels off.

[Moulin Yarns]

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Might be urban myth, but I was always told that if you capture a grey squirrel, it's illegal to release it, it has to be despatched.

You're right, it's illegal to release a grey squirrel, once trapped it has to be dispatched with a shot to the head. Estates use their gamekeepers to control them.

[speedy_gonzales]

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You’re not a vegetarian are you?

Have a wee squirrel bbq, warn all the other squirrels off.

Veggie, how very dare you 😀
I'd definitely be up for scranning a squirrel, but like chicken wings, I think I'd need about 20 for just one sitting 😬

[Jack]

Elvis apparently ate squirrels as a boy.











Are you sure?

Uh huh! 😆

[greenlex]

Eventually got the seed down on Friday. Now it’s up to my hosepipe and Mother Nature.

[overdrive]

We've been digging borders in our garden and it has been quite tough with the quality of "soil". Our house is a new build although we aren't the first owners of it (it is about 6 years old I think). We've dug up slabs, bricks, massive planks of wood, assorted bits of metal, other bits of rubble and lots of rocks. In fact, there are more rocks than soil. No wonder we were having issues with drainage on the grass that was there before. I've been trying to dig in some manure and compost along with putting down some bought top soil to try to improve things, but there is so much crap in there I don't think it is worth it now. There was a bit we were hoping to plant an apple tree but I think its roots will have nowhere to go. We might need to admit defeat, lay down some gravel and just put some pots there.

We were also planning on laying a patio ourselves but given how long it has taken for us to dig two borders and the rubbish we've found under there, we are dreading the ground prep part of the job. I think we will just have to bite the bullet and get someone in to do it for us despite the astronomical prices we were quoted for it before.

[greenlex]

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We've been digging borders in our garden and it has been quite tough with the quality of "soil". Our house is a new build although we aren't the first owners of it (it is about 6 years old I think). We've dug up slabs, bricks, massive planks of wood, assorted bits of metal, other bits of rubble and lots of rocks. In fact, there are more rocks than soil. No wonder we were having issues with drainage on the grass that was there before. I've been trying to dig in some manure and compost along with putting down some bought top soil to try to improve things, but there is so much crap in there I don't think it is worth it now. There was a bit we were hoping to plant an apple tree but I think its roots will have nowhere to go. We might need to admit defeat, lay down some gravel and just put some pots there.

We were also planning on laying a patio ourselves but given how long it has taken for us to dig two borders and the rubbish we've found under there, we are dreading the ground prep part of the job. I think we will just have to bite the bullet and get someone in to do it for us despite the astronomical prices we were quoted for it before.

I’m new build too. It’s so much hard graft. Clay soil riddled with lumps of concrete, boulders and bricks. Drainage was my problem so bit the bullet and started over. Never again.

[danhibees1875]

How deep were you both digging? I dug out a flower bed area, lifting the existing turf and all I found were a handful of rocks and a 5p coin! To be honest, I actually thought they would help drainage - but I maybe didn't think that through...

Could a raised flower bed be your answer? Build it and fill it with compost/soil (don't really know the difference ) which will give you a good head start for roots?

[overdrive]

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How deep were you both digging? I dug out a flower bed area, lifting the existing turf and all I found were a handful of rocks and a 5p coin! To be honest, I actually thought they would help drainage - but I maybe didn't think that through...

Could a raised flower bed be your answer? Build it and fill it with compost/soil (don't really know the difference ) which will give you a good head start for roots?

It’s right beneath the surface in some cases, a couple of cm. You could tell as when I’ve tried to fork the grass before, only the tip of the fork would go in in certain places.

I think I’m going to have to go with raised beds (already got some in another part of the garden for veg.)

[Jones28]

This is probably a cross thread issue here, but it seems to be such a new build problem that the gardens are full of crap, with compacted soils and all the issues that this brings up.

[Moulin Yarns]

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This is probably a cross thread issue here, but it seems to be such a new build problem that the gardens are full of crap, with compacted soils and all the issues that this brings up.

There are 2 new builds near me and that wasn't a problem with them, they were built on an old bowling green. 😁

My house is over 200 years old and I'm still finding big stones in the garden.

[overdrive]

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There are 2 new builds near me and that wasn't a problem with them, they were built on an old bowling green. 😁

My house is over 200 years old and I'm still finding big stones in the garden.

But is it the majority of your garden? Stones will push up over time but it is the level of debris from the build that is the issue with lots of new builds. The new builds near you might be lucky but even houses built on fields aren't exempt. They just bury any old rubbish from the build under a very thin layer of top soil. I was reading up and under NHBC guarantee they should be putting a minimum of 100mmm of top soil down. That's nowhere near the case with my garden. I'm up for getting the builder back in to sort it but my wife isn't keen on the hassle. I also don't know given the house is 6 years old now if they would say "prove the previous owners didn't put all that rubbish down there".

[Jack]

When my parents bought a new house, over 60 years ago, they discovered a cement mixer buried in the back garden! My dad and the neighbour dug it up. He was a mechanic and they cleaned it up, used it to build their garages then sold it!

Builders dumping stuff isn't a new thing.

[Jones28]

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There are 2 new builds near me and that wasn't a problem with them, they were built on an old bowling green. 😁

My house is over 200 years old and I'm still finding big stones in the garden.

Stones are a bit different to detritus left over from building works though.

[Keith_M]

Has anybody any experience of using non-toxic weedkillers?

I'm struggling with the amount of weeds in our new garden and could do with using some weedkillers, but don't want to use toxic chemicals... or anything harmful to the wee fox that wanders through our garden in the morning.

[Moulin Yarns]

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Has anybody any experience of using non-toxic weedkillers?

I'm struggling with the amount of weeds in our new garden and could do with using some weedkillers, but don't want to use toxic chemicals... or anything harmful to the wee fox that wanders through our garden in the morning.

Groundup is neutralised on contact with the soil. It translocates to the roots and kills only the plants applied to. It still toxic chemicals though. You could try salt solution.

[Jack]

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Has anybody any experience of using non-toxic weedkillers?

I'm struggling with the amount of weeds in our new garden and could do with using some weedkillers, but don't want to use toxic chemicals... or anything harmful to the wee fox that wanders through our garden in the morning.

You could try the vinegar, salt, soap option.

[Keith_M]

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Groundup is neutralised on contact with the soil. It translocates to the roots and kills only the plants applied to. It still toxic chemicals though. You could try salt solution.

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You could try the vinegar, salt, soap option.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

[greenlex]

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Eventually got the seed down on Friday. Now it’s up to my hosepipe and Mother Nature.

Unbelievably a week later and we have a good bit of germination and green shoots.

[Andy Bee]

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Unbelievably a week later and we have a good bit of germination and green shoots.

You sound all excited about that grass mate, if it's anything like mine you'll be cursing it come the end of the summer I'm seriously considering Astro turf for what's left of the lawn in my back garden and I'm going to attempt this resin and chips type surface to increase parking in the front.

[Jones28]

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You sound all excited about that grass mate, if it's anything like mine you'll be cursing it come the end of the summer I'm seriously considering Astro turf for what's left of the lawn in my back garden and I'm going to attempt this resin and chips type surface to increase parking in the front.

Please don’t do AstroTurf. It’s horrendous stuff. Dreadful for the environment.

[Jones28]

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Unbelievably a week later and we have a good bit of germination and green shoots.

Looks good - what seed did you go for in the end?

I’m a grass nerd so my interest is genuine.