ME AND MY MOTOR- JOE WILSON

This week I was privileged to have a tour around Joe Wilson’s collection of fabulous cars. Joe has been fascinated by cars his whole life and is the owner of Premier Limousine hire in Carndonagh. The company caters for all types of functions from weddings to hen and stag nights. There are more cars to come as well because Joe is lovingly renovating 2 Daimlers, including a DS420 wedding car. There is also a 1973 Rolls Royce Shadow 1 in the workshop at the moment being restored back to its original condition.


Name: Joe Wilson.

Address: Carndonagh.

Car: 1996 Lincoln Town Car 120" Stretch limousine


How long have you had the car?

I bought the car in September of last year.

Any plans to change?

No, I wouldn’t like to part with any of the fleet of stretch limos I have.

Is it reliable?

Yes


Best thing about the car?

That has to be the size. It isn’t the easiest vehicle to get in to a tight spot though!


How often do you wash it?

After every run. Although saying that there is still some crazy foam on the bodywork from the St. Patrick’s day parade that I took part in!


Any modifications?

Yes. The car was stretched by a company called American coachworks, who are based in California. As well as being long it has all of the added luxuries like a leather interior, bar, TV and DVD.


If you were the minister for finance, what would you do to help motorists?

Make petrol cheaper. This car only does 12 miles to the gallon.


What would you really like to be driving around in?

I also have a 1971 Ford Zephyr V6. It has to be my favourite stretch limousine by far. I plan to renovate it so hopefully driving around in it will be a reality soon enough!

Motoring.

ME AND MY MOTOR - SHANE CAREY

Name: Shane Carey

Car: 2001 Volkswagen Beetle 1.6


Shane works at Cavanaugh’s petrol station in Greencastle. His VW Beetle is meticulously maintained and there is even a replica baby VW on the dashboard.

How long have you had the car?
Two years.

Any plans to change?
Not at the moment. Although saying that I have a four month old child so things might have to change as the car is only a two door.

Is it reliable?
Yes, very.

Best thing about the car?
The colour. I like the black and think that the brightly coloured beetles are a bit over the top.

How often do you wash it?
Nearly every day! I don’t like the car being dirty and I make good use of the fact that I have access to a pressure washer.

If you were the minister for finance what would you do to help motorists?
The cities have bus lanes and cycle paths. In rural areas I think we should have tractor lanes to keep the traffic moving.

What would you really like to be driving around in?
A Porsche 911. The VW beetle is said to be the poor man’s porsche, so I’m half way there!

Motoring.

GARLIC SPRAY

Ian
I have heard that you can make a spray out of garlic to get rid of garden pests on vegetables. How is this done? L.C. by e-mail

Reply
Garlic spray is great for getting rid of pests such as wireworms, slugs, caterpillars and weevils. Chop 3oz (75g) of garlic and mix with two teaspoons full of mineral oil. Leave for twenty-four hours to let the garlic soak in to the oil. After this time, add a pint (575ml) of water into which two teaspoons of soft soap have been added. Stir thoroughly and strain into plastic containers to store. To use, dissolve one part of this mixture to twenty parts of water. Spray this on to the leaves of affected vegetables and also treat the soil around the plants.

Horticultural.

JOBS TO DO IN MAY

SURVEY THE SHRUBBERY
Yellow or undersize foliage on your trees indicates a lack of nourishment. Feed them regularly, but don't overdo it. If the trees are less than three years old, water them well in dry weather.

HOUSEPLANT CARE
If you have any houseplants sitting directly in the window, make sure the light is filtered or the plant is moved to a site out of direct sunlight. The windowpane intensifies the heat, and you don't want to scorch your plants. Fertilize your houseplants frequently to ensure vigorous growth.

DON’T FORGET TO SMELL THE FLOWERS
Extend the indoor life of your cut flowers by putting them in a solution that is one part water, one part clear soft drink (such as 7-Up, Sprite, etc.). Some people recommend that you put a few drops chlorine bleach in to the water , but I will leave that decision up to you.

Snip off the old flower clusters from rambler roses to encourage them to bloom all summer. Deadhead traditional roses too

If you have thick, thriving phlox, thin the plants to four or five stalks per clump to provide adequate ventilation and avoid mildew.

Pinch out the growing tips of basket and container plants to encourage them to produce bushy even growth and lots of flowers. Encourage chrysanthemum shoots to branch out and carry more blooms by pinching out the shoot tip. This technique is called stopping.

SEED SOWING
Biennials, such as foxgloves, sweet Williams, Canterbury bells and forget-me-nots, should be sown as soon as fresh seed is available; most biennials are producing seeds now.



CUT DOWN EARLY FLOWERING PERENNIALS
Remove faded flowers on perennials such as lupins and delphiniums. Early pruning often encourages a second flush of flowers late in the season. Cut the flower-spike down to just above a new shoot or leaf, and give each plant a generous liquid feed to encourage fresh growth. Remove the seedheads from aquilegia to prevent them from spreading.

Horticultural.

NO DIG

It always amazes me how quickly the plants are growing at this time of year. The seeds we planted in early spring have germinated and we spread them so thickly that the new growth has completely covered any bare soil that we had in the raised beds. Even though the growth is dense we are still getting weed seeds germinating so these have to be kept in check to make sure that they do not go to seed or grow too big and take away the nutrients from the soil. I managed to get some new soil for some areas of the garden recently. It really needs to be checked closely as it came from a piece of ground that wasn’t cultivated. I have put it in one particular place and every week I am finding small dock plants growing. Catching them small means that they will not become too much of a problem. We practice a no dig policy in the garden so hopefully if I do not disturb the soil the area should be weed free soon. Digging the garden would bring new weed seeds to the surface of the soil. No digging will keep the weed seeds safely under the soil so they remain dormant, that’s the theory anyway!

Horticultural.

LEATHERJACKETS

Dear Ian
I have a problem on my lawn. The grass is going yellow and brown in large patches. I feed and cut it regularly but there are a few rushes on it. Is the soil too wet? Regards F. T. Templemoyle

Reply
If only things were that simple. The lawn is probably a bit on the wet side but this is only the start of the problem. It sounds to me as though you have a bad case of leather jackets; these are a 1-inch long, grey or brown legless grub. In poorly drained soil or after a wet autumn as we had, they can be a real nuisance. Crane flies (Daddy long legs) lay their eggs in the soil in late summer, usually in the turf or as in my case last year, inside pots in my tunnel. These hatch out into the grubs that cause the damage by eating the roots of the grass. This results in the yellowing of the leaves and eventually death for the plant. You will probably see a lot of activity from starlings on your lawn too as they try to dig up the pests.

CURING THE PROBLEM
I was talking to someone last week that sprayed his lawn with a chemical that made the leatherjackets come to the surface of the soil. The dead pests were then swept up. He collected enough of the leatherjackets to fill a large plastic carrier bag from Dunne’s! I’ve forgotten the name of the product so you will have to ask at the garden centre, The Co-Op sells it as well. Alternatively you could try the natural method. Improving the drainage of the soil will help to keep them down. Another method would be to water an area and cover it with plastic sheeting overnight. In the morning you can lift the sheeting to expose the pests. Leave them on the ground for the birds to feast on or start sweeping them up.

Horticultural.