New lawn, any gardners?

ssray · Post by **ssray** » 18 Jul 2005, 18:02

I`m hiring a mini digger at the w/end to scrape the surface of our garden, as far as i can tell it has`nt been touched for at least 10yrs the grass is all rootbound and general crap, how far should i scrape to allow for the grass to take properly. i`m doing the scrape and putting down top soil, so i need to work out how much to buy.

madasafish · Post by **madasafish** » 18 Jul 2005, 20:21

imo you'll need 6 inches for topsoil as a minimum. If that is on top of rock or concrete, grass will dry out and go brown in a hot summer so 9 inches is better. If, however, you have clay and or soil then 6 inches will be ok. If you have loads of roots spray with a systemic weedkiller (Roundup?) and leave to die for 2 months before doing any seeding/turfing etc.. or your new lawn will have loads of weeds.

Dave Bamber · Post by **Dave Bamber** » 18 Jul 2005, 23:56

Was it a French mini digger?

Post by **martyhopkirk** » 19 Jul 2005, 02:07

Anything not included in the other forums. News, meetings, humour, announcements & general discussion on French car topics.
Not a Forum for non French car problems. Nonsense posts may be deleted!

vanny · Post by **vanny** » 19 Jul 2005, 03:01

And there was me thinking how amazing it was just what a wide range of hobbies all us French car owners had, that allowed us to source out information on any topic!
Though maybe thats a start for a new topic, 'other than the primary job of keeping the car on the road, what other hobbies do we all share'

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » 19 Jul 2005, 03:36

Isn't Ray preparing his lawn so that he can buy a monster Toro mower with a Peugeot 1905cc diesel?
jeremy

Forth · Post by **Forth** » 19 Jul 2005, 06:54

you have loads of roots spray with a systemic weedkiller (Roundup?) and leave to die for 2 months before doing any seeding/turfing etc.. or your new lawn will have loads of weeds.
If the weeds have not been sprayed to extinction already, just have to wait till they come up again through the new grass and topsoil, which they will unless all root traces have been wiped out.
But when they do, don't trim the area for a while, or there will be no leaves there to absorb a selectively applied weedkiller... if faced with hogweed, nettles, thistles or ragwort, Roundup seems to perform pretty feebly compared to the the likewise glyphosate "agricultural" version of systemic weedkillers. Of the non-agricultural weed eradicators, Fito or the own-branded concentrate from B&Q seem to be more effective than Roundup (and work out cheaper as well). And so they leave more time to do things with the Citroen.

Post by **martyhopkirk** » 19 Jul 2005, 23:36

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by vanny

And there was me thinking how amazing it was just what a wide range of hobbies all us French car owners had, that allowed us to source out information on any topic!<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">True - I myself used to keep chickens,- so long as it doesnt get silly (the topic that is, not the chickens).

Post by **CitroJim** » 20 Jul 2005, 03:50

I enjoy antique pendulum wind-up clocks, playing electric guitar and anything electronic that has valves in it, especially valve guitar amplifiers...

Post by **martyhopkirk** » 20 Jul 2005, 13:12

I have an old Murphy television you would love in that case. Fired it up a few years back using a variac to wind up the voltage slowly - and it still lit up (405 lines!).

Forth · Post by **Forth** » 21 Jul 2005, 02:11

Can replacement valves still be bought for old radios of late 1930s/1940s vintage? I've got one my grandparents used to have and it does work but its valves are a bit tired.

Post by **CitroJim** » 21 Jul 2005, 02:38

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Forth

Can replacement valves still be bought for old radios of late 1930s/1940s vintage? I've got one my grandparents used to have and it does work but its valves are a bit tired.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
More than likely Forth, there are loads of specialists out there who deal in NOS (New Old Stock) "bottles" (as we call them around here). give me a quick list of the valve line-up by e-mail if you like to save a real hijack of this thread and I'll check my sources. Certainly if they're the common Octal (6K7, 6K8, 6V6, 5U4 etc) then no problem. They often come up on e-bay too.

Post by **CitroJim** » 21 Jul 2005, 02:41

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by martyhopkirk

I have an old Murphy television you would love in that case. Fired it up a few years back using a variac to wind up the voltage slowly - and it still lit up (405 lines!).
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Ahh, the memories! I used to repair them when I first started out as a very young TV engineer. If I recall rightly they were unique in having an oil-filled line output transformer and exceedingly well built and a bit quirky. Somewhat the Citroen of the TV world...

Forth · Post by **Forth** » 21 Jul 2005, 02:57

Thanks! I don't have the old radio to hand down here but will check it out and e-mail you next week.

bxbodger · Post by **bxbodger** » 21 Jul 2005, 18:36

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">especially valve guitar amplifiers...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
I have 2 Mullard EL34's still in their 1960's boxes, 12'/6d each[:p] No, they are not for sale!!!