WIND TOLERANT TREE

Metrosideros Thomasii. A hardy Australian tree,great for coastal areas.

There are lots of great trees that can stand the wind,even our coastal ones. Check out a few at Coillte

The Backyardgardener has a good list too. (if the link works)

TREES WHICH WILL FORM GOOD WINDBREAKS

DECIDUOUS



Acer Ginnala
Amur Maple
Acer Negundo
Box Elder
Cratxgus mollis
Downy Hawthorn
Maclura pornifera
Osage Orange
Morus alba
White Mulberry
Populus alba
White Poplar
Populus balsamifera
Balsam Poplar
Quercus palustris
Pin Oak


EVERGREEN



Juniperus virginiana
Red Cedar
Picea alba
Canadian Spruce
Picea excelsa
Norway Spruce
Picea rubra
Red Spruce
Pinus nigra
Austrian Pine
Pinus ponderosa
Western Yellow Pine
Pinus resinosa
Red Cedar
Pinus rigida
Pitch Pine
Pinus Strobus
White Pine
Pinus sylvestris
Scots Pine
Pinus thunbergi
Japanese Black Pine
Thuya occidentalis
American Arborvitoe
Tsuga canadensis
Hemlock

Check out windbreaks for the coast

Gardenweb forum for more choice

ME AND MY MOTOR-TERESA FULLERTON

ANGEL POWER

Teresa Fullerton is going to get plenty of use out of her ’99 Suzuki Vitara 2.0 this week. Teresa is the proprietor of Angels Above in Buncrana and she is in the process of moving to larger premises on the Main Street opposite the Town Clock. The car is ideal for moving all of the stock as it has plenty of room in the back. Teresa has previously worked in the Health Service and in Inishowen Woman’s Outreach but has recently set up her own business. Her shop sells cards, books, angel figurines, chakra jewellery, incense, crystals, books and she is getting lots of new stock in for Christmas. Teresa is also a Reiki practitioner and you can contact her for an appointment on 087 052 3611

How long have you had the car?
Only three weeks. Before that I drove a 1998 red Rover my “Wee hedgehog”. I loved the old car but it needed a lot of work doing to it. I feel a lot safer in the new Suzuki now.

Any plans to change?
No. I am just getting used to the size of it. It is a lot bigger than anything I have ever driven. I initially found it very awkward.

Is it reliable?
It’s early days yet but so far so good! There are some bolts to tighten on the alternator but that’s about it.

Best (and worst) thing about the car?
You can carry plenty of stock in the back. I also need a lot of space to get all of the packaging from the shop to the recycling centre. The worst bit about the car is judging the narrow roads, especially if there is a lorry coming the other way.

How often do you wash it?
I have only washed it once. That was the Hallowe’en week when some lads decided to egg the car as I drove down the Cockhill road!

What would you do to help motorists given the chance?
Regulating the speed of the vehicles by tuning engines down. Cars are unnecessarily powerful, especially for younger drivers.

What would you really like to be driving around in?
I have a 1970 BMW Convertible in the garage at the moment which is being renovated as we speak. When I bought it there was no power steering or indicators, but I loved it from the minute I set eyes on it. It should be finished in early spring. I would also like a Harley Davidson motorbike!!

PRACTICAL UTE

We have quite a few practical motors on our roads. We have the MPV to get the kids to school, the hatchback to bring home the knock down furniture from the shops and the off road vehicles to clog up the car parks in town. One machine that would prove very versatile here is the Ute, or more commonly known as the Utility vehicle. Unfortunately we don't see this type of work horse in Ireland but if we did I'm sure it would be a great hit with plumbers and electricians who still like to be seen in something sporty whilst carrying out their daily jobs. The Ute originated in Australia and is one of the most used vehicles on the roads there. It all started in 1932 when a farmer's wife from Gippsland, Victoria, wrote a letter of complaint to Ford Australia, saying that her husband wanted a car that could carry her 'to church on Sundays and pigs to market on Mondays'. In response, a 22-year-old engineer named Lewis Brandt designed and successfully pushed the concept of a passenger/load-carrying vehicle, and the first Ford 'Coupé Utility' rolled off the production line in 1934. This vehicle was a huge success, and spawned many similar cars worldwide. However, most of the overseas pickups were more truck than car based, and to this day, the mighty Ute remains largely a unique Australian body style.

Over the years, Ford and General Motors locally manufactured Ute versions of their passenger cars. Apart from a few dark patches in the 80's/90's, Holden (the Australian arm of GM, Vauxhall/Opel) and Ford have always produced a utility based on their volume passenger car.
Today, in Australia, any load carrying car too small to be a truck or lorry is called a Ute (including 4WD traybacks etc), but among the Ute purists, and given the spirit of Lew Brandt's original design philosophy, a real Aussie Ute is one based on a passenger saloon, preferably with a sporty, seamless body-moulded tray. Fortunately, the Australian icon is still alive and well, and should be driving around the Australian roads for many years to come.

SEMI RIPE CUTTINGS

When can I take semi ripe cuttings?


Many woody plants can be propagated by semi-ripe cuttings around August. This method is especially useful for increasing stock or the type of shrubs, which either don’t come true from seed or are very difficult to get seed to germinate.

Semi-ripe cuttings are sections of the current season’s growth that has begun to firm. The cutting base is quite hard, while the tip is still soft. Avoid damaged, unhealthy and over-vigorous cuttings, selecting shoots that have the nodes close together. Remove sideshoots of the current season’s growth from the stock plant using sharp secateurs. Trim them to 10-15cm (4-6in) in length, cutting just below a node. After removing the lowest leaves and soft tip make a shallow cut, 1-2cm (0.5-0.75in) long, on one side of the stem base to assist rooting. Some people use rooting powder but if you don’t then just plant a few extra cuttings so if there are fatalities you will still be left with a few rooted cuttings. Insert the cutting in a pot of standard cutting compost in a cold frame, and water in well.

Aftercare

Ensure that the compost remains moist until the cuttings are well rooted, shading the cold frame in hot weather. During winter remove any fallen leaves and dead cuttings, watering only if the compost is dry. The following spring gradually harden off the cuttings before potting them up.

YOUTHREACH PUPPETS

Youthreach Buncrana held thier puppet show at the weekend.

IDEAS FOR THE GARDEN

I must say I am enjoying the Diarmuid Gavin gardening programme on the telly. He is going around and designing gardens for the adventurous amongst us then letting the whole thing be televised for our enjoyment as the owners savings dwindle away to nothing as costs spiral. It might not be that bad though when you hear the news about householders now regularly spending upwards of €100,000 euro to get their garden into an instant maturity. The gardens might not even be a permanent feature either. Some adventurous people even change their garden as often as they would the colour of their walls in the front room, usually every couple of years. The smoking ban might have something to do with it. I was at the yacht club in Fahan there a week or so age to see a friend singing in a band. The place was packed but the crowd were tightly bunched up on the veranda outside, leaving about ten of us in the building listening to the music. It wasn’t an insult to the band that everyone was outside; it was a very warm evening and the patio was a place to feel cool as well as have a smoke. Gardens therefore have taken on a different role over the last few years since the ban on smoking has been in place. When designing gardens a few years ago it would have never occurred to me to include a sheltered smoking area, now it is a necessity especially if the house occupier doesn’t smoke indoors or they have a lot of friends over who smoke. The other thing I like about the garden is Diarmuids’ ability to hand the design over to the client and let them work out the finer details. It doesn’t concern him what sized nails are used for the patio or how poles are secured to the ground. I like that, as when I did designs I would ponder and concern myself with every nut bolt and shovel full of earth that was moved. It was a lesson for me to learn that after I had done the design it should be handed over to the landscapers to make it a reality. This gives me time to sit on the patio and ponder life’s greater mysteries, or at least where the plants are going to go.