Joe_the_Gardener

The best multi purpose compost this year

blairs,

Is the Murphy's peat-free?

Schools

And what makes you think it would be cheap?

The best multi purpose compost this year

New Horizon peat-free seems to be reliable and consistent year after year, and doesn't seem difficult to water.

Beetroot and Water Voles--Keeping them away!

Water voles will feed on root crops and, should anyone think they're not capable of that, that they will also gnaw tree bark. I think you need to be fairly expert to read the signs that animals leave behind and give a definitive answer.

Beetroot and Water Voles--Keeping them away!

I suggest approaching your local Wildlife Trust. They will know if there are water voles locally and they will either have, or have access to, someone who knows all about water voles. They will be only too happy to look at the damage and tell you who the culprit is.

Schools

joslow,

You want to 'make' teachers work as childminders during their school holiday breaks?

Planting to disguise very large fence

As this is your fence, would it be possible to lessen its visual effect by slicing a couple of feet off the top of it?

Big Garden Bird Watch

If you know anyone who thinks the object of the garden birdwatch is to cheat on times to count as many birds as they can, please persuade them not to. A nil return is as valuable as any other.

Beetroot and Water Voles--Keeping them away!

Water voles are very much associated with water and don't move far from their homes. Are you near waterways?

sanity in need of restoring

I wonder if people's expectations of how quickly a garden can be sorted out are still subconsciously affected by Titchmarsh and his Groundforce chums apparently doing the whole job in a weekend, and by some of the copycat programmes that pop up from time to time. What viewers needed to realise was that a lot of this work was achieved on substantial TV programme budgets and hefty inputs of advertising freebies from suppliers.

The good advice on this thread is to pace yourself and enjoy your achievements while not worrying much about what's still to be done.

As to the two specific comments about work not being properly done by contractors, there is no better way to choose a gardener than by word of mouth recommendation. Talk to them about the job and get a quotation for the exact work required, but accept that when they start digging they might find unexpected problems, so they need to know that they can talk it through with you and come to an agreement about varying the price.

Hedging shears

Malvern