Thread: Sorting the Garden

Originally Posted by Loombucket

Preamble and disclaimer

This is all based on my experiences. When I make sweeping statements like 'everyone, no one, anywhere' and 'nowhere' etc, I mean around my local commumity. I can't speak for all of LOS.

No matter where your house is, no matter how large your garden, one will, at some point, want to have somethings in it that look nice. Even if you do all the planning and have people round to do the actual digging, there will come a time when you need to get your own hands dirty. The soil in Thailand is something else and the western style Fork and spade, whilst available in some places, are not ideal weapons of choice.

Lets start from the begining. This is known as the Jod or back hoe and is used for just about everything from digging, weeding, mixing cement, raking chippings and cutting roots. Every home has one, farms usually have an assortment of large and small ones and some have holes in the back to let water drain out



The handle fits inro a 'D' shaped hole at the back and is secured with a simple wedge. The handle is missing here because I have just broken it! This is the side view showing the curve of the blade and the handy reinforcing bits on the sides, When new, the edge of the blade is blunt but this is quickly worn into something that you wouldn't want to cut your foot with.



Getting the handle length just right, for you, is a trial and error thing, because everyone is different. Once you master the art of swinging the thing, however, you realise that you can work quite fast with it. One word of warning is that you will be using a different set of muscles, as opposed to using a spade or fork, so start gradually , or your back will protest. As with all outdoor work, of couse, you will still need the hat, the shade and the water. The Thai 'hottie' with shorts and matching ice bucket is an optional extra, but I tend to find that they put me off my stroke.

Next up, we have the post hole tool, I never did find out the local name, more accurate than the Jod but time consuming and painfull on my palms. The small one is great for weeding the flower beds.



The next 'essential item' is a rake, to collect all those weeds and bits of grass. This one is made from rebar and is grafted onto a wooden handle. It's a tad heavy but should last for years.



Lastly, for this introduction, and regular readers will recognise, my first Isaan style tipping wheel barrow. It is not a big thing, but heavy enough when full of soil. The twin wheels take a bit of getting used to, but only round the corners.



Having borrowed the one that the Gardener lent us, for a few weeks, I just had to have my own.

Preamble over, where the heck do I start?

The tree line, down the field, had been great at the begining and provided suficient shade for lake, and pipe, workers and small picnics that I insisted on, to help me 'bond' with the place.



Unfortunately, they were Eucalyptus, grow like the blazes and suck all the water and goodness from the soil around them. The branches were soon sacrificed for scaffolding and the stumps looked a wee bit sad. There was no way I was going to dig the blooming things out though. Fortunately there was a handy digger in another thread.



He soon made some bladdy great holes. You can clearly see the area of the grass/weeds that the trees have affected.



This is one of the smaller roots.



With the last bits of root romoved, and the holes filled in, I decided to let Mother nature do her thing and let the ground recover. I knew that it wouldn't take that long.

So true what you say, I will enjoy reading this thread as much as Idid your housebuilding one. Best of luck and have fun.

Looking good LB, and have only just caught up with this thread. I forget where you are, but if you are within a reasonable distance of Phu Rua that would be a good place to get roses and any other stuff at about half the price normally paid. I got 20 roses bushes, some very nice, there a couple of weeks ago, 10 baht each with a couple thrown in free.

Originally Posted by Propagator

Looking good LB, and have only just caught up with this thread. I forget where you are, but if you are within a reasonable distance of Phu Rua that would be a good place to get roses and any other stuff at about half the price normally paid. I got 20 roses bushes, some very nice, there a couple of weeks ago, 10 baht each with a couple thrown in free.

Thanks Props, I will follow up on that.

More to come here but still missing some pix - Sorry everyone.

Another great thread ! Gimme more by the Bucket !


Nice thing the way you treated those eucalyptuses, not a better way to deal with those !
I love that rare animal paddling in the lake too, half plant, half human ! ^^


Will be following your adventures with delight !

++ ^^

Good stuff loomy- it will be nice to see how your garden develops over time.
Might even stir me into action to do something with my Ubon mess.

More time passes

Right, I'm still opperating with one hand, but I'm off the painkillers and daily making a nuisance of myself because I want to play in the garden. One day whilst er.. G/f goes to the Temple in Khorat, I sneak out and bash the old water pots with a hammer. This makes me feel that I am making a contribution, but leaves my left hand feeling useless for ages.



Inspired by this small success, I retrain the remaining fingers to hold the jod, and armed with some rope, a few stakes, a hammer and the usual sun protection, I start to make a path type clearing, down to the lake. The two poles mark the gateway in the wall. Note the handy, Issan style, wind gauge.



A quick check from the balcony, revealed that it was not quite in the right place and needed to go left a few yards. At least now I can get the barrow down to the lake without going the long way round. Next up, was a little repair work to the edges of the lake. This was a, relatively, simple job of clearing the soil back from the planks, checking the stakes to see how they had been broken, replacing the stakes and then shoving the earth back.



Many of the supports had been broken by the builders, who were making up cement for the improved water runoff on the lake side of the land drain. I ended up redoing about six metres of the edge and made a mental note to keep any future workmen, well away. What really annoyed me, was having to use up all my path making stakes, for another job. The finished job pix have been lost/renamed/deleted so will will check back another time.

I needed some white paint, of any description, to highlight the drain planters, so that they stood out a bit. Don't ask me why but we had kept all the dead tins, under the watertank roof. Working on the principal that it was all water based, I found enough my mixing the dregs from six tins of ceiling white, one of wall white and some solid stuff from the base coat tub. The smell was indescribable but the concoction worked a treat. From a distance, the whole tree garden starts to look ok but the length of the grass is starting to hamper progress.



Not to worry, it will soon be party time and after we have picked up all the rubbish, the guy with the strimmer will be coming back to spend a day or two. I am quite looking forward to that first bonfire.

so, sorry if i missed something old chap but whats up with your hand?

Originally Posted by sunsetter

so, sorry if i missed something old chap but whats up with your hand?

I had a m/c accident in the construction thread. Well, not actually in it, but whilst I was doing it. This thread is running a little behind. I am fine now but I mislaid all the later gardening pix, so I am still catching up.

Glad you are OK now LB. Nows the time to settle in and work that garden

Don't forget we want to see a picture of them calloused hands and blisters

ahh yesah!! vaguely remember it, to be honest i was soo busy following the build that i kinda missed that bit, hope your healing ok mate, gardencoming on ok, take it easy!

Originally Posted by Propagator

Don't forget we want to see a picture of them calloused hands and blisters

Don't worry, I will dig out the tri-pod specially.

It's time now to check on our Saak trees. Some have grown better than others, but this one is the best, at about 16/17 weeks old. As you can see, it has made it over the top strand of wire.



The Bananas and the Sugar cane are also doing well.



Time, also, to cut the grass down a bit and do some marking of paths, borders and boundrays. The time, we have the entire family in to strim, rake and gather the grass. They will dump it over the fence to feed the Cows. Na starts on the strimmer,



...and is rapidly joined by his missus on the rake.



The two young boys collect the grass in a large basket and, later, heave it over the fence.



There are two four legged beasties on guard duty, but I can't quite work out what they are protecting.



Ah ha, this must be a Daughter that is just too young to be married off. No wonder the Dogs won't let me get close.



By the time the Cows come along, for their morning constitutionals, there is a veritable feast laid out for them. There is some jostling, to get a good place.



This lucky girl, will have the best meal that she has had for ages.



Meanwhile, back in the 'kitchen garden', it starts to look like somebody cares. All of this grass is self seeded.



At this point, we all stop for lunch, petrol and some sharpening of blades.

More tomorrow.

Sorry, that was a bit of a long break for lunch, but I was hungry.

Na starts the afternoon with a spot of maintenance,



...rapidly followed by a tank refil.



Last, but not least, the all important sharpening of the blades. Na seems to be using some sort of file for chainsaws, but it does the trick. This is not a plastic line that breaks at the mere sight of a thick bit of bush. A nip from those teeth will take your toe off.



Suitably sorted, the team start on the prairie down by the lake.



The four legged, Isaan style, securety team, flop under the last of the trees.



Meanwhile, back at the house end, I take the hammer to the 'dunny' and try to recover anything of any use.



I then spend far too long with a length of rope, trying to work out where the front part of the wall will go. I have to give it up, in the end, and it is quite late when I start on the first of many fires. I'm just burning the stuff that the Cows won't eat, but it makes lots of nice smoke. I tie one small worry to each branch and feed the fire long into the night.



Next day, Na pops back round, to finish. He does a good job at the back and, to the right of the fence, you can see the beginings of my secret garden, behind those bushes. Later, with the aid of some careful planting, and a couple of solar panels, I will build a secret shed.



With just the edges to go, and no other action going on, I let Na get on with it,



..and I manage to get one white stake in the ground, in the right place, to mark the edge of the boundry wall. The blue pipes mark the new feed for the water supply and the meter.



Now we are up to date with the house thread, so we go down to Hua Hin for a few days before the plane home. We will be back around the end of January, but for now...



Cheers.

Just wanted to say I really enjoy this topic.

Have a good trip!

Yes, I am really enjoying it too LB except you are going too bloody slow for me.
Let me know if you would like a hand. Food and board only.

Originally Posted by WhiteLotusLane

Just wanted to say I really enjoy this topic.

Thanks, there will be more to come, when I get back there.

Originally Posted by Johnny Longprong

Yes, I am really enjoying it too LB except you are going too bloody slow for me. Let me know if you would like a hand. Food and board only.

Sorry, but as I have said, I am not there to do any more work. Let alone take any decent pix. I am hoping to dust it off and get going again, in about three weeks. Thanks for the offer of help, but I want to tackle this project myself. When it comes to garden construction, like building walls, waterfalls, lookout towers, model villages and any other follies, I understand there are lots of local 'helpers', desparate to find out just how crazy I really am.

Another terrific thread Loom. Green sent.

Originally Posted by Loombucket

Quote: Originally Posted by Johnny Longprong Yes, I am really enjoying it too LB except you are going too bloody slow for me. Let me know if you would like a hand. Food and board only. Sorry, but as I have said, I am not there to do any more work. Let alone take any decent pix. I am hoping to dust it off and get going again, in about three weeks. Thanks for the offer of help, but I want to tackle this project myself. When it comes to garden construction, like building walls, waterfalls, lookout towers, model villages and any other follies, I understand there are lots of local 'helpers', desparate to find out just how crazy I really am.

Yes, OK. I will be following the activities of the crazy farang.

Here we are again, for another helping of sun, soil and suffering. We have added a little more soil, around the house, in readiness for the garden wall. This ruined my nice patch of grass, but it was well brown anyway. You will notice that the spirit house plinth, blends in a bit more





We have had five, or six, people round to give us a quote to build the wall. The prices ranged from 150K to over 600K, regardless of how big it actually was. This was Issan style thinking, and beyond me. Only one chap wanted to know, precisely, what length we were talking about, so I decided to mark the corners with a stake or tway. This proved to be a little difficult, as the ground was 'a bit hard', but I borrowed a method that I had seen whilst watching the house build.

Firstly, gather everything that one might need and bang something hard and sharp into the ground as far as one can.



Next, whip it out and pour some water into the hole.



After it vanishes (about one minute),



.....dig out the slurry.



Repeat untill the handle of the trowel dissapears.



Next, bung the post in and squige the rest of the water out by hammering soil in, with the hammer.



Leave to dry. In the morning, it will be strong enough for me to lean on and I will rope the area, to give the illusion of a single strand fence and to see how it looks from the balcony.

A green for the fine detailed descriptions of what you do.

Great work.

Thanks, we are having some technical problems here. I keep loosing the update before I can post it. Just popping out to vent my feelings in a less public place and I will try again later.

Here we are with posts in and rope suitably strung. Unfortunately, the poles are not quite in the right place, but at least I have had plenty of practice getting them in the ground.

Time to make a spot of decent soil, as I want to get a few more baby trees in before the rains come. First we take some decent clods and place them in our handy, Issan style wheel barrow.



Then we add a little water, to start the process.



Test prodding with the trowel, revealed the true nature of the hardness of the soil,



...so it was out with the Jod for a few minutes bashing.

About 10 minutes, produced some smaller lumps and some impressive looking slurry. Now is a good time to remove all the rooty bits.



Next, we turn, add a little more water and repeat the Joding untill it looks like this.



There are, of course, easier ways to do this. You could pay for someone to do it, you could chuck all your lumps in the pond or paddling pool or you coul wait for the rains to come. I do it for fun, to work out a little anger, bearing in ming that I don't have a handy Mini bonnet hanging from a tree and the mandatory club hammer. Where was I?....um. Now if you are in Blighty, it is a simple matter to get in some Pony droppings, to add to your soil mix. The best Issan alternative, that I have found, is Buffalo droppings.



These come dried, by the bag and will get put in at the last moment. They reactivate with water but tend to float on top so they have to be contained. Last one for today, is Khun Plaa (Mister Fish). He has won the contract to build the garden wall and will start in about three weeks. This will give me ample time to sort my poles out and make a few drawings.

Many people came an tried to undercut Khun Plaa's price. Here is one such Gent, a Khun Markh, using the old, write in on a piece of paper on a hot bonnet method. No doubt this speeded up ink flow to his pen, but did nothing for his quote.



All those lovely trees, along the wall line, have to be moved because they are too close to the edge. Not my favorite job, at the best of times, and here is LOS, before the rain..... I decided to start by replacing a few 'unhappy ones', at the end of the garden. Here is a good example. Too far from the lake, let alone the house and I suspect that it was forgotten, the moment I stepped through the gate.



First we needed a suitable hole, preferably one with decent earth around it.



Using a technique that I had observed during the house build, I wet the area and started with the jod and the post hole tool. Both tools bounced on the hard earth, but we were soon down to the red stuff beneath, where the going was a little easier.



Most of the morning later, I was kinda hoping this was deep enough. Partly due to a complete lack of shade and partly due to the fact that my arms were ready to drop off.

Sorry, not a good connection day today. I will try again later.