Why Buy It When You Can Make It? The Shredder.

I invested in a great bit of kit. With a long hedgerow and several trees, plus all the shrubs I’ll be growing, I figured a wood chipper would be a sensible bit of kit, enabling me to make my own bark chippings for mulch. After all, why buy it if you can make it? Each bag of that stuff needs carting from the shop to the till, paying for, carting home, carting round the house into the garden, unwrapping, the plastic disposing of and of course you’re out-of-pocket especially as woodchips break down and disappear.

So here’s my latest kit.

My new Bosch shredder

It’s very quiet compared to last one I had ten years ago. And it is more powerful. In fact it does a great job, eating all my prunings easily and safely.

The results are quite pleasing, and the first of them have already been used to mulch a newly planted clematis.

Shreddings

This is a very close-up photo. The size of the shreddings are perfect for making a good mulch, and nothing will be wasted. I’ve got a nice little pile growing to be used as I plant out my new beds, still as yet being dug and cleared.

Shreddings ideal for mulch

The shredder I bought was from an auction site and is reconditioned with a twelve month guarantee, saving me over £100 on the normal retail price. Bargain! and I’ll never have to go and buy bagged and carbon heavy bark chippings again. Ecologically sound, environmnetally friendly and easier for me. A sound organic principal if ever I saw one-recycling at its best.

The one I bought and can thoroughly recommend is the Bosch AXT 2000 HP Quiet Garden Shredder.

April Snow Blizzard Stops Progress

April 4th 2012. A date I won’t forget in a hurry. Not only was it the day my son finally moved into his own flat, it was also the day I woke to see cherry blossom and willow trees in leaf in a blizzard of snow!

Snow in April

So of course all my gardening plans went on hold. The trellis I had started to construct for my flower bed lies unfinished, my greenhouse is still a Meccano set and my veg bed is covered by fleece and a snowy, icy layer. I was very grateful for the log burner! That was yesterday. But having spent the day helping my son move and re-arranging the house after he moved out his furniture, stored here, I’m now tired but happy, and the garden is having to wait.

Of course, extra rations went out for the wildlife, especially the birds. I hope it didn’t cause too many problems for the bees and other insects I’ve seen flying around recently!

Snow in April Cherry blossom

Today I must catch up with blogs, email and others such sedentary tasks. But the tomatos I sowed back in February are in bud, and the french beans sown in pots in the conservatory are in flower. I’ll show you them in my next post. We’ll be eating french beans before any UK ones are ready, and while they are still expensive. Success!

The weather should warm up again in the next couple of days, and once I’ve rested I’ll be back out there, fixing, digging and progressing.