hypercharleyfarley

Best and worst

I'm fighting a losing battle!  have been for years.............  part is shaded by a high hedge, so very mossy.  Very odd shape, so few "long runs" & lots of stop/start/negotiating bends ets.  Trilions of rabbits + resulting damage e.g. bolt holes, latrines etc.  Moles.  Voles.  Their tunnels - which collapse after winter frosts.  Rubbish lawn mower to boot!  Am seriously thinking about paying someone to do it, then I can do all the rest of the stuff, which I enjoy - including tidying-up & weeding.  It takes me about an hour & a half, so what do you reckon I'd have to pay?

Best and worst

Am I the only one who hates mowing the lawn?

Opinions wanted

Another sad tale.  However, if for example, they'd chosen to paint the interior in shocking pink with black stripes (if they wanted to, and chose to do it) I don't suppose they'd imagine the landlord would be exactly thrilled if they left it like that, no matter how well  the paintwork might have been done.   I'm sure they'd understand, and would agree, that they'd have to re-paint it in colours which the landlord would find acceptable before vacating the property, so I suppose the garden can be compared with this.  Let's not forget that the landlord - during the whole of their tenancy - would have been responsible for the maintenance and insurance of the house and they would only have been expected to leave the garden in the same sort of state as it was when they first moved in, unless their tenancy agreement stated otherwise.

Jean Bailey

Hello again GG - I think part of the problem is the "need" for cheap food here in the UK, though the majority of people have grown used to what is seen by people in other parts of the world as as relatively high standard of living.  Supermarkets & their profits have surely made a big difference to things as far as UK farmers are concerned - we've only to think of the recent horsemeat scandal I suppose, as I suspect that the horseflesh was cheaper than beef, so that's why it was used (even unwittingly) by the supermarkets in order to make those particular products more competitively priced.   Although the EE regs are supposed to apply throughout Europe, there are all sorts of tales about non-compliance, especially as far as livestock farming is concerned - horror stories about the way pigs & poultry are kept, for example - all to make things cheaper.  I think I've already said several times that if there are laws/rules in force, I believe they should be adhered to - but if it is the majority view that these rules are unacceptable, then people can and should make their feelings known.  As far as lots of imported foodstuffs are concerned, we can't compete on price - partly due to labour costs and our taxation system here - especially if we stick to the Rule Book when others don't!

Front garden very uninteresting

Just a thought, if you're going to increase the size of the bed & might add more topsoil - best to make sure that the house's damp-course is well above soil level.  As far as shrubs go, what about Pieris "Forest Flame" ?

Weeds

Could you perhaps give more of a clue as to what your driveway's made of?  I'm not sure what you mean by "stones".   Is it gravel?  Is there a change of level from the road/street to the house or parking area?  More info, please, & I'm sure you'll get some help & ideas to choose from.

Jean Bailey

Hi GG - two of your recent comments/points puzzle me a bit.  Why should any land which is privately owned become "accessible as a leisure amenity for others"?  Although a public footpath crosses my land, I don't consider it to be public property.  I own it.  I bought it.  It's mine.  Folks can - and may - cross it, on the footpath, but I don't agree with the idea that it's a "leisure amenity" for them!   The farmer who rents it from me wouldn't be too pleased either if people allowed their dogs/children to run around annoying and upsetting the cattle when they are grazing there during the summer months, and neither would I!

The other point you made about only 10% of our farming potential is utilised puzzles me too.  Just exactly what did you mean by that?  I suppose it might just be that the majority of the total acreage/land area which the UK consists of is not actually put to farming use because it's mountain/forest etc. and therefore unsuitable for arable or dairy farms, but there are lots of folk who use hillside/mountainous areas for sheep, so I can't quite see where your "10% of the potential" comes from, given that parts of the landscape simply couldn't be "farmed" anyway.  The changes to farming in my lifetime (my Pa was a very successful farmer) have been astonishing, not only as regards efficiency and productivity but also as regards the attitudes of people who are in authority but know virtually nothing about what it takes to make a living from the land.  I still have some connections - somewhat tenuous now perhaps - with the farming industry, and am saddened by the fact that my neighbour cannot now compete with what you'd call "the major players" when it comes to milk production, the income (loss, in his case) from which is driven by the major supermarkets' ever-increasing pressures to bring  down the price on the supermarket shelf to satisfy their customers. 

Jean Bailey

Hi Gardening Grandma - if nothing else, at least it's getting people to talk about it and discuss whether or not certain planning laws ought perhaps to be changed.  However, you'll have seen that my point of view is that if there's a law, we should abide by it - and then do what we can to persuade The Powers That Be to see things differently if that appears to be the majority view.

Jean Bailey

I can only assume that most people who post here have no direct experience of the problems people can have with the planning authorities, ref use of agricultural land.  My neighbours and I have - and are continuing to have - a huge problem with what's happening on the land which adjoins their land & house, and (a few yards away) mine.  Some so-called "portable" sheds have been erected in connection with a poultry business - the sheds are not in any way portable, and some now have a permanent mains power supply.  The person concerned contravenes all sorts of rules & regs ref housing/movement of livestock and in spite of a court case (which he lost) continues to do so. Although various agencies have been involved - from the  RSPCA & Trading Standards etc to other government departments, so far he's still getting away with it.  For this reason, if no other, I believe that we must try to insist that the various laws are complied with, whatever other so-called "mitigating circumstances" might seem to apply.  As I said in an earlier post, I feel sorry for the lady in question if she has inadvertently contravened planning laws - but whatever laws are in place, they should apply/be adhered to by everyone - and I wish they were being fully enforced here!

Jean Bailey

Although I feel sorry for the lady if she has in fact inadvertently done something which is against planning regulations, it's still necessary to comply with whatever is the law in this regard.  There's a saying something along the lines of "ignorance of the law is no excuse" and I suppose this applies here.  Just because you own land - however little - it doesn't always mean that you can do just what you want with it.  I agree that little or no harm seems to have been done in this case, but her actions could however create a precedent, which her local council should take seriously - otherwise they may well find that other landowners do the same, using this precedent to back up their case.