A STICKY SITUATION
Duct tape is great. For those of you not familiar with this life changing product, it’s a bit like Sellotape but silver and has cotton strands running though it for strength. Known also as Duck tape, it was developed in the second World War for fixing military equipment such as ammunition cases, jeeps, firearms, tanks and aircraft where it earned another nick-name “100 miles an hour tape”. NASA have even used it on the moon. I have been familiar with it for years as a variation of it called Gaffer tape, this was the slightly less tacky stuff that live bands used to stick the miles of electrical cables safely to the floor at concerts. It was put in place so us teenagers wouldn’t trip over ourselves and spill the watered down lager we had just bought in the plastic pint glass.
I have stuck with it over the years though and Duct tape now holds most things together in the house.
My computer has lengths of it holding the USB cables in place and the wires are neatly stuck to the floor and walls near the plug sockets. (I walk over them occasionally to relive my memories of going to Genesis concerts) The shredder that I recently bought and lovingly cared for is now covered in the thick, strong tape as the machine fell over when I was moving it in the garden, smashing the protective plastic casing. There really should have been a protective bar to protect the protective case but as there wasn’t, the front of the machine ended up in thousands of fragments on the driveway. The big gaping hole where the shredders innards were spilling out have been sealed up and made safe … with a few feet of Duct tape.
The handle came off the bird feeder today and when my lad came to me so I could fix it, I thought of only one thing that was up to the job (spilt lager at a concert proved that) … Trusty duct tape. “It’s waterproof too.” I tell him.
There is one thing in the garden that the tape hasn’t held together though. A seat. The seat was originally a two in one chair with a small table in the middle for your drinks. They are a bit like those courting chairs of old, but you are both facing the same direction and can kiss easier. Anyway, one of them fell apart some time ago at a rather over zealous children’s party, leaving the remaining chair and the table, which also looked as though they were destined for the fire. So out came the Duct tape. It worked quite well too, and had that industrial look to it with the silver reflecting in the winter sunshine. Until that is, I sat on it today… My lad was taking a photo of me, supposedly relaxing and extolling the virtues of the tape when the inevitable happened. The photo says it all…………There are things that even duct tape won’t fix……
MOSS
Help I have loads of moss on my lawn and the wet weather hasn’t helped…What am I to do ? Thanks DM Malin
Guide to moss control
The most effective moss control is best achieved by having a healthy grass. Increasingly mild and damp weather is adding to this troublesome moss problem in lawns. There are three types of moss - upright moss, trailing moss and cushion moss and they all thrive when conditions are detrimental to healthy grass growth.
There are four main factors:
Waterlogged soil because of poor drainage.
Low fertility. The soil might be dry but a lack of nutrition prevents the grass from being healthy thus allowing moss to flourish.
Moss thrives when grass is under stress. Large trees and high hedges create moss conditions. Deep shade, with excessive moisture dripping off the leaves is contributory factor. In addition the root system of the trees and shrubs extract nutrient from the soil depriving the grasses of the plant food they need to thrive.
Soils, which have become over acid, again favour moss as grass loses its vigour and ability to out compete the invader.
Moss is a direct result of low plant vigour, low fertility, poor soil conditions or lack of available nutrient. All conspire to favour the growth of moss rather than of grass.
Organic treatment of moss
Lawn Sand. This effectively burns off the moss while providing a boost to grass growth. Sometimes more than one application will be required.
Feeding. A good long-term strategy for moss control is through regular feeding to keep up the vigour of the grass.
Careful mowing. Removing excessive amounts of green foliage, more than 20% at any time, places the grass under great stress. Leaving the grass excessively long will create a damp microclimate on the surface and will weaken the finer grasses.
Chopping back. If possible open up the area by cutting back shrubs, trees and hedges to let the light in. Mechanical treatments. Scarifying will remove large quantities of moss and if carried out in the spring and early autumn will be very effective. This coupled with surface aeration designed to improve the surface drainage will go a long way to combat the problem.Top dressing. The use of good quality top dressing helps to create a drier, freer draining surface.
Reducing acidity. The application of lime should be undertaken very cautiously as it may result in other problems. The use of a product such as calcified seaweed would be a safer form of moss control.
Good drainage. If all else fails then you might have to put in some serious drainage…. or, like the rest of us, learn to live with it…...Best of luck.
