A Funny Fencing Story

Farmers are a different breed.

During my life, I have met loads of farmers and have worked on several farms too - the one common denominator is that farmers are all the same. Is there a "farmers finishing school" somewhere that train them in funny ways as part of a final exam or something?

Why am I going on about this? Well this week we were working on an old farm house, which was sold off at some point and is not owned by the farmer anymore. I have met the two brother farmers a few months ago when I was doing a big hedge cutting job, and they were very pleasant and bemused by my hedge cutting platform as they had not seen this before - but very chatty etc.

This week we put up a new fence between the old farm house and the farm. We pitched up on Monday morning during the most horrendous rain seen for a long while and started to clear the old fence and trim the bushes to allow us free access for putting up the new fence. There were about 4 old fences behind the old panel fence we were replacing - all at different lines where various fences had been built over the years - we cleared them all to make sure the finished job looked great.

As we were doing this, both farmer brothers came and spoke to us, wanting to know what we were doing, how were we doing it, chatting about weather and farming and all sorts of stuff - very interested etc. We decided to call it a day for Monday as the rain got worse and we could not really do much more. They waved us off as we left.

Next morning, the weather held off so we attacked this job full swing, trying to make up the lost time. Again our farmer friends came over to see what were were doing and chat etc. The farmer brothers watched us mark out dig our first holes and set our marker posts. We then started on the panels - putting up 4 in relatively short time - with two teams digging holes and fixing posts etc you can really crack on.

Then the sting came. Brother 1 - the older one - drove slowly past and stopped. He wound down the window and shouted "You're doing a great job boys - shame its all got to come down".

I stood there laughing - a little nervously of course - then asked him why.
He got out of the land rover and came over. "That's the wrong boarder line" was his comment.

I said that we had followed the line of the old panel fence, he agreed that we did, but said that the old fence was wrong too! He then showed us a tiny post almost buried by dirt 3 inches back from our line "That's the boundary marker" he said. " You will have to take it all down and move it" was the last comment as he walked off chuckling to himself. To make matters worse, the ground in question was a dumping area of god knows what - digging holes in this stuff was a nightmare!

Normally I am pretty laid back and calm, but the boys knew I was about to launch so scattered in all directions. It is very difficult to argue with somebody when you don't know the facts - so we just took down the panels, managed to remove the posts - then set about re-digging the holes and starting again.

Why the farmer brothers didn't say something when they stood and watched us I don't know - that's the mystery about farmers - they all do it!

About an hour later, Brother 2 drove past chuckling and asked how it was all going - how I remained polite and courteous is still a mystery to me (and the boys).

As it happened, this incident re-doubled our efforts and we managed to erect the complete fence in the afternoon (and evening!) and it looked fantastic.

I told our customer the story yesterday and we did laugh about it after the event.
He is just delighted to have one proper fence to keep out the crazy farmers!

Great excuse for no pictures - I have lent my camera to my mate Richard to take on holiday....

Happy Customer

We have recently completed a really nice job which has been going on for quite a few months on and off over at Oxenwood near Hungerford. We have been working with our great friend Annie Nicholl of Annie Nicholl Garden Design who is simply brilliant at getting the planting and design schemes just right - She is so good, she designed my garden!

This job started about December and my first involvement was to dig a trench for a new Beech hedge and dig over some ancient flower beds which had not been touched for about 25 years - the digging was tough - but the weather was worse. Being on the edge of Salisbury Plain, we have seen some amazing extremes of weather including high winds, driving rain, snow and even blistering heat as well.

The customer was great, always on hand to assist and get feedback throughout the job and really hands on at every opportunity - with a project of this size sharing the pain and the success really make the whole job go so much better.

We used our friends at A4 Hire in Hungerford extensively for a range of diggers, rotovators, power harrows and god knows what else over the months and as always they were very helpful and had everything we needed.

Our final day was about a week ago when we did the icing on the cake - the turf. Rolawn Medallion turf is the best and we use this all the time - a bit more costly but nice turf which lays well and looks great from day one.

The customer wrote some kind words which he has allowed me to use as follows:

"We have recently undertaken a significant "makeover" of our largish garden. The team from Garden4You were major contributors to the success of the project. Excellent planning and high quality, cost-effective solutions from a team who were a pleasure to have on site and for whom nothing was too much trouble."

DH of Oxenwood

The Team really liked working here - I can't wait until the next project!

PS Pictures to follow......

Grass & Hedge Cutting in full swing

As well as loads of grass cutting being tackled, we are also flat out on hedges too.

You know when your grass is long when you have to hire a tractor and a paddock swipe to get in the gate! We did two jobs last week where we were confronted with jungles - one was Yogi's owners who needed the front paddock cutting down to size as well as strimming off Yogi's run - the other was a new customer who wanted a first cut.

We hired a tractor and swipe from A4 Hire in Hungerford as Paul and his team are very helpful and priced right and set off to do the jobs. Yogi's house was pretty easy really, but then the other one made up for it. When a 40hp tractor in low range first gear still can't get through the grass you know you are in trouble.

We did manage to finish it and then cleared 2 huge trailer loads of hay off the garden.

As for hedges, one of the best tools I have bought has been the chipper. I devastates all manner of vegetation and reduces the mass to a more manageable level as well as making clearing up much quicker - also it produces really good compost material or wood chips for the garden.

My chipper is a Jobeau, acquired from Neil and Kalehurst Garden Machines in Hermatige (see picture). This machine caters for the mid range chipper market and really does a brilliant job - maximum capacity is about 4" of Leylandii or Willow but in bang for buck terms, really kicks arse against the more costly chippers out in the market.

We have put most stuff through it and I have had no problems to speak of - the blades are a little difficult to change but this only needs to be done about every 30 - 40 hours of use - unless the guys put stones in it!

Before we bought it, Neil said "Bring in a few branches etc and we will show you it working". Rather foolish thing to say when you are half way through a tree clearance job - so we turned up at the shop with trailer loaded up to the brim.

After the shock, Neil wheeled out the chipper and we all set to work chipping the trailer load. I was impressed to say the least and ordered one the next day (Neil said I would!). Since then, its been pretty much in constant use - a good investment.

Building patios

This week has been a real tough one - we are all completely done in.

The week started with a patio in the middle of Newbury. Not only did we have to cope with the normal problems of working in town, but then the added problem of parking and site access added to the trauma!

I recently bought a really great all round flat bed trailer with all the cage sides etc and ramps to cater for just about every eventuality from Reading based Indespension.

I must say, the manager Ron was really brilliant - he knew exactly what I wanted as a gardener/landscaper and also did a good deal. I literally drove to Richfield Avenue, looked at the stock he had (which was pretty impressive I must say), then did the deal. I had to wait about an hour for the PID to be completed but then hooked up and away with it. Great service chaps!

Anyway, before I went off on one, the only issue is reversing into impossible gaps with a trailer....God it drove me mental so I was stressed before the start!

It had been a few weeks since I had seen the site, but I couldn't believe how much it had grown - trees and bushes seemed to be everywhere..so we set about clearing the area.

All went reasonably well but as with all these jobs, things happen to change this once you get started. The main tree we wanted to save as a feature ended up having such shallow roots that we decided rather than dig down to get our area level, we needed to add a small retaining wall to raise the level instead.

This meant getting some bricks. There was no way I was going to attempt the reversing again so decided to send one of the lads up to Jewsons with a wheelbarrow....how they laughed and took the Mickey as Rick trundled through the security barrier with a barrow loaded with bricks! If only I had more time and less stress we all could have had a load of fun at Rick's expense - I could have sent him back for a long weight, a left handed screwdriver, some sky hooks etc.

As it turned out, the patio looked great, we had a few late nights getting it finished on time but the customer was delighted.

I didn't remember the camera for the before - but the after shot looks pretty good.