What could possibly go wrong?

[greenwoo]

Hands up, i'll admit it, i don't like gardening, i don't get that warm fuzzy feeling of achievement by pruning, tidying and the like. Nope, in my own sweet way i feel that i work during the week - and weekends are for fun ( well til our friends in China fucked things up)...

so of a weekend normally i'd grudgingly get the mower out and if need be, and i mean really need be - i'l fire up a powertool and tackle an imminent/immediate problem.

So i should have been surprised when i noticed that the pond was being held hostage by various reeds and grasses. Yeah i know, i walk past it 8 times a day, but hadnt noticed!
last weekend i decided it was time to clear and reclaim it from the clutches of these invasive reeds.

Mmm but how?
They'd basically formed a dense matted root system which in places is about 2ft deep, across a 9/10ft span and encroaching 6ft into the pond.

I grabbed a near mint condition pruning knife ( no idea when/why i'd bought it )...it seemed like the right tool. Well the only 'tool' was the operator....no frigging chance of cutting through that stuff....and with the pond being a 'liner version' i;d have to be careful.

After much thought i found the perfect tool online.....and it arrived wednesday......
a 10inch topping chainsaw. Yeah, what could go wrong?
liner, water......
3 hours yesterday, 3 more today and i'm halfway done ( and the pond isn't far off that either ).

Chain is now shagged....after hitting various rocks which sat on a ledge - which i havent seen for 5 years, so had forgotten they're there! But hey, a blunt chain has to be handy where a liner is involved - right?

Hoping to finish it tomorrow so that i can take the thing apart and clean/dry it....
oh, if my typing/spelling tomorrow is really bad, i'm either pissed after celebrating finishing the job or minus a few body parts - in which case, make me an offer for the Tiger.

[b33fy]

Is it petrol or electric? .. either way don’t forget the chain lube. Oh scrub that.. it’s water cooled..

[greenwoo]

obviously its petrol Mike, only an idiot would use an electric chainsaw in a pond...

[Wingco]

Interesting read Mark, I'm pretty sure if you tied a rope around the offending roots, you could use the Tiger to pull them out ? In doing this you will clear the pond and use the Tiger ?
Good effort though Mark, The Mrs will be pleased that you are doing your bit in the lock down situation, although you maybe still working ? Saying that tough M how is Sue getting on ?
Keep the faith, hopefully this will be over asap and we can get back to normality, and you won't have to worry about working over the weekend anymore.

[greenwoo]

I did wonder about using a car to try and pull the roots out Colin....
But if you can picture taking a plant out of a big plant pot - where the little root shoots are all over the place in that 'composty' type material?
well multiply that by the area i mentioned so approx 2ft deep x 9ft x6ft as i solid mass with a ton of fibrous roots AND horrible rhizome tube/roots as well......so one wacky idea was to try to fix some form of anchor point to that mass and attempt to drag it out with the Rav....

But i figured with my luck i'd likely have a lump of metal ( anchor ) break loose and come flying through the windscreen.

as for Sue...thx for asking; Eye still isn't right, due back to Hosp again later this month for another checkup. Technically at last check up its heading the right direction, but thats not evident in the real world...assuming it continues to improve (technically) then could be anywhere between now and early next year before she can appreciate the difference ( ie/ have clear/non blurred sight).

[DJ.]

I'm glad to hear she's heading in the right fires now, fingers crossed the improvement comes soon!

While using your car does have YouTube potential I think slow but steady is better bet! It sounds like a nightmare job. It might be a lot quicker to get a digger in, sacrifice the pond liner, whip it all out and reline it if you want pond or fill it in.

[b33fy]

What about using that fancy pump you bought, drain the pool and you can see what’s going on and hopefully clear it without damaging the lining?

[Tony C]

Best left to winter I'd say, likely to be loads of pi##ed off frogs and newts hunting you down now

[DJ.]

Best left to winter I'd say, likely to be loads of pi##ed off frogs and newts hunting you down now

Good point, I hadn't thought of that.

[greenwoo]

loads of pi##ed off frogs

yeah that's true, but luckily they have a travel ban over there too....

Have broken the back of it today, and mine too!
What's left is the bits around the edges, right by the rock sides.......i reckon my chainsaw is about 50x thirstier than the Tiger. Hopefully get the rest done tomorrow...