Current Affairs - 2. Non Covid.

[Manoverboard]

Our experience with trees was, we thought, quite interesting and certainly educational.

So ... we had four trees that needed sorting out in our front garden, two of which were well established pine trees.

Enter the tree surgeon. He advised that the pines were blue spruce that could potentially grow to approx 100 feet and that they were presently in the region of 65 feet. Also that they shouldn’t even be in a domestic setting and that If they were blown over in a storm one could come straight through our lounge window and the other would either crush our neighbours caravan and take out his garage else demolish the bungalow opposite. £650 seemed expensive at the time but these two trees were stripped of their branches and dropped on a sixpence ... had Paddy and his mate done a foreigner goodness knows what would have happened.

I asked about the resale of the wood and he advised that they had no value on the basis that Garden Centres can only sell so many windmills and bird boxes. The wood cannot be sold for use on log burners and certainly not during a period when oak was as cheap as chips due to a disease that was rampaging at that time. Commercial paper manufacturers and the like imported pre pulped pine / conifer fibre from Sweden and that was that but they did thankfully tidy up and take it all away.
.

[Stephen]

I'd have been more concerned about the roots coming up through the floor and walls. I suppose someone before you thought 'that'll look nice in the garden' without thinking about what they were buying.

[Manoverboard]

I'd have been more concerned about the roots coming up through the floor and walls. I suppose someone before you thought 'that'll look nice in the garden' without thinking about what they were buying.

They were on the lawn at the furthest points from the house and approx eight feet about the level of the road so no real concerns about walls and drains etc. No idea when they were planted but they could have been there for many years given the height of them. The conifers were deffo planted by the previous owner and they were faster growing than the pine tees.

[Stephen]

I hate conifers. They grow like wild fire. They would be the first thing that went if we ever moved house. My chainsaw would be just a blur

[Manoverboard]

I hate conifers. They grow like wild fire. They would be the first thing that went if we ever moved house. My chainsaw would be just a blur

Good plan, one of ours had ( unknowingly to us ) bored through the brickwork into an external drain route .

[Onelife]

I hate conifers. They grow like wild fire. They would be the first thing that went if we ever moved house. My chainsaw would be just a blur

Good plan, one of ours had ( unknowingly to us ) bored through the brickwork into an external drain route .

When we purchased our second house the survey picked up tree roots in the sewer pipe…. there was a large willow tree within 4 meters. In the end the then owner had to fork out two grand to get it sorted.

[Manoverboard]

I hate conifers. They grow like wild fire. They would be the first thing that went if we ever moved house. My chainsaw would be just a blur

Good plan, one of ours had ( unknowingly to us ) bored through the brickwork into an external drain route .

When we purchased our second house the survey picked up tree roots in the sewer pipe…. there was a large willow tree within 4 meters. In the end the then owner had to fork out two grand to get it sorted.

When house hunting ; if there's a willow tree anywhere we simply up sticks and move on to the next property

[Onelife]

Yes! I'm sure there have been a good many people left 'weeping' over their willow trees

[towny44]

Any tree roots will find their way into sewer pipes, we had 3 silver birch in our front garden , quite small when we first moved in but after 20 years they were getting out of hand despite routine pruning, so we had them chopped down about 10 years ago. About the same time we were finding that the bathroom soil-pipe which the kitchen waste pipe connected into and ran under the front lawn was starting to back up, fortunately my set of rodding pipes came to the rescue and I extricated what seemed line tons of fibrous roots from the sewer pipe.
Since then we have had no further problems, and it is amazing just how much more lush the front lawn is now.

[Manoverboard]

Any tree roots will find their way into sewer pipes ...

They will indeed but although not wishing to get into a ' My root is bigger than your root ' type discussion us country boys believed that willow was originally planted throughout the great Estates of England because of their water absorbing qualities and the extent to which their rooting system could travel ... very important given that such Estates were always built close to a river and flooding at that time was a real risk.
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[david63]

very important given that such Estates were always built close to a river and flooding at that time was a real risk

Ah - good old flood plain technology! Perhaps there is a lesson to be learnt there!!

[Manoverboard]

very important given that such Estates were always built close to a river and flooding at that time was a real risk

Ah - good old flood plain technology! Perhaps there is a lesson to be learnt there!!

There is indeed ... don't move into a house in a road called ' Willow Rise '

[screwy]

Or...if you already have a nice house and don’t need to move..don’t.

[Onelife]

I remember as a teenager an old gardener friend telling me that willow has medicinal uses…just looked it up and he was right…willow bark has the same properties as Aspirin

[Manoverboard]

I remember as a teenager an old gardener friend telling me that willow has medicinal uses…just looked it up and he was right…willow bark has the same properties as Aspirin

It may be easier to eat a small pill than to bite a chunk of bark off a willow tree ... just saying

[towny44]

I remember as a teenager an old gardener friend telling me that willow has medicinal uses…just looked it up and he was right…willow bark has the same properties as Aspirin

It may be easier to eat a small pill than to bite a chunk of bark off a willow tree ... just saying

And it would require a heck of a lot synthesising to provide the same efficacy as a little Bayer tablet of aspirin.

[Stephen]

I remember as a teenager an old gardener friend telling me that willow has medicinal uses…just looked it up and he was right…willow bark has the same properties as Aspirin

Your a right little bundle of knowledge Magnus aren't you

[Onelife]

I remember as a teenager an old gardener friend telling me that willow has medicinal uses…just looked it up and he was right…willow bark has the same properties as Aspirin

It may be easier to eat a small pill than to bite a chunk of bark off a willow tree ... just saying

And it would require a heck of a lot synthesising to provide the same efficacy as a little Bayer tablet of aspirin.

It would indeed John...but without the chewing first you probably wouldn't have had the knowledge to produce the bayer Asprin

[Onelife]

I remember as a teenager an old gardener friend telling me that willow has medicinal uses…just looked it up and he was right…willow bark has the same properties as Aspirin

Your a right little bundle of knowledge Magnus aren't you

Joseph Buchner if you don't mind

[Onelife]

https://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/ ... Pass=false

[screwy]

Who’s going to join the protests today.? Anyone going to kneel and wear red.? Or, should we not get involved in what was a US issue.? Yes there is racism here but these protests are being called in the name of George Floyd. My cousin who has lived in California for 54 yrs says other countries should not get involved in things it knows nothing about.

[Manoverboard]

Red isn't my colour, the grass is wet ... and it's sweet FA to do with me.

There have always been racial issues in the USA and for obvious reasons so when you have a President who, allegedly, has sympathy for the ‘ KKK ‘ then riots are bound to occur ... like I said it’s got sweet FA to do with me.

[Onelife]

What happened to George Floyd was despicable and heart breaking. The powerful voice of the world should ensure this crime doesn’t go unpunished…even in America.

RIP

[Manoverboard]

What happened to George Floyd was despicable and heart breaking. The powerful voice of the world should ensure this crime doesn’t go unpunished…even in America.

RIP

One's World Policemen and down trodden persons saviour ... I give you General layabout Onelife

[Stephen]

What happened to George Floyd was despicable and heart breaking. The powerful voice of the world should ensure this crime doesn’t go unpunished…even in America.

RIP

One's World Policemen and down trodden persons saviour ... I give you General layabout Onelife