flora_etc

Making a cold frame and where to buy a manger.

You're welcome, SkyeSteve. I'm a bit like you, in the respect of not paying out silly money for some garden stuff, when one can make do with what one has got. Maybe keep an eye out for neighbours who are knocking out old walls, for bricks? It'd certainly use less mortar!!!

I decided not to line my cold frame, as have an army of slugs/snails here & they like a nice safe place to hide under, from birds etc., Then they just come out & nibble away on the nearest greenery.

My mum used to save her egg shells to use as a gravel type base for hers. But I'm not sure if it worked. I do recall her telling me we had some "very brave slugs, who didn't seem to mind the jagged edges of broken shells". I understand they don't like copper though, so am wondering if that thin copper sheeting is any good for a base? I use thick copper strips around the rims of some clay pots & they tend to not cross that line.

FloBear & rockette, those are some great suggestions. I hadn't heard of either before, so am off to have a look at those links.

Making a cold frame and where to buy a manger.

Hi,

You might have made it by now, as I see you posted in January. I am no expert, so couldn't say which is best. But I used some old bricks for the walls of mine, with a wooden frame on top of the brickwork & two old glazed wooden windows, rescued from the tip.

In one of the popular gardens near to where I live,  which is open to the public, they did it this way, so I just copied the way they've done it. The windows slope down toward the front of the brick framework. So the windows can be propped up a little when needed. These ones are on flat soil, which I'm guessing, is warmer than concrete base.

Hope that helps.

Any advice on hand-push lawnmowers?

Hi Cetti,

You may have got one by now, but since Qualcast seem to have stopped making their old rear roller style hand push mower, I too had the search for the a decent one. I managed to find one called 'Handy'. I actually got mine from The Garden Centre Group, for just under £60, but you can get them for an extra tenner, through Amazon (link) http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Handy-Hand-Roller-Mower/dp/B002AOYLNG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1335636793&sr=8-2

But have a scout around, as even my local garden machinery suppliers, said they could order a single one in for me!