This year I got two new Miscanthus varieties. Or perhaps just the same variety under two different names. Miscanthus floridulus and miscanthus giganteus. That’s the exciting thing about sales, isn’t it. Now all I need is a good sunny spot for it to thrive. Miscanthus giganteus can grow to form remarkable formations and I have really high hopes for this plant.

Also got a few new Heuchera, ‘Crimson Curls’ and ‘Marmelade’ plus bucketloads of different Sedum varieties. And a Gooseberry bush (‘Invicta’). I remain sceptical about modern Gooseberries though. From what I’ve heard they taste nothing like the Gooseberries of old. Might be a let-down, just like the cultivated Blueberries and Blackberries that I have. But you got to try, right.

This classic model was most likely manufactured in the late 1970s. It is 26 inches across and has an 8hp Briggs & Stratton engine. It has a few cosmetic issues and a few questionable design choices, but overall is one hell of a sturdy machine. I just hope its snow blowing capability matches the noise output Certainly one of the loudest consumer machines I’ve ever encountered. They sure didn’t care about that sort of thing back in the day. Reminds me of my 1950s Black & Decker circular saw which also makes quite a racket. Might not be able to run this without ear protection of some sort. Depends on how much the snow will muffle the noise.

I believe I also got a good deal on this machine, all things considered. I’ve seen people on the net getting old Gilsons for free, but the used machines I’ve been looking at have been considerably more expensive around these parts. I paid 260 EURO / 350 USD for this one and given that snow blowers are in short supply and seem more expensive in Sweden I’m fine with that. It’s a hell of a lot better than buying an equivalent new super market toy for more than three times that. Modern machines are also nowhere near as sturdy and reliable.

There are a few parts I’ll be looking to replace or fix in time though. The pull grip could use a new mitten grip instead. Some paint and wax couldn’t hurt (especially inside the chute to decrease friction). The chute ring movements were a little rough also. I might also want to look out for the wheels and skids which seem to be on their last legs. Of course with a snow blower like this one that could mean another ten years.

I will probably not try alkylate petrol since it has never been run on that stuff. I might just use ordinary petrol and a fuel stabilizer. Or I might switch but then I wont dare to use ordinary petrol ever again. I’ve heard some bad things about mixing or switching back and forth. We’ll see.

The groundwork is really the worst part of these projects imo. Just peeling off the grass and disposing of it elsewhere can be work enough. Not to mention digging the holes for the concrete pillars. I took the easy way out this time though and rented an earth auger. Perhaps not the most ideal auger design I’ve seen, especially with the handles, but it worked nicely. Ideally I would have wanted a manual drill like Skurupsborren but was on a tight schedule and couldn’t find anything like that nearby. Perhaps for the future. I really like the idea of disposing of garden waste, especially the stickier kind like apples and plums, by burying it. It might seem like a kooky idea but it clearly has a lot of advantages. And using a manual drill might not be that much slower since the ground here is riddled with rocks of all sizes that can stop any sort of auger dead in its tracks. My short experience with the gas powered auger was that the engine was mostly a nuisance, the drill was a few inches too short and narrow. But it all depends on the soil composition obviously.

Anyway, about the patio, the first phase is now complete. The deck is in place and the railing and skirt will have to wait until spring.

The deck obviously need a good coating of oil as well as a scrubbing of soap and water. I will have some trouble designing a skirt because the placement of the pillars but I’m sure I’ll think of something. Below the deck will be a decorative flower bed filled with lavender or something running all the way up to the rose arch (which I also haven’t built yet).

I guess it would have all been manageable had it not been for the reasonably busy street outside the house and the fact that snow plows don’t do as good a job as they used to. From my point of view, they drive by more often than they used to, but take no care not to deposit a wall of snow in front of the driveway. At best, you can expect them to come around with their truck-sized snow blower, grader and whatnot twice a season. Bottom line is if you don’t clear the driveway at least twice a day some days, the car will be stuck or at best you’re looking at an ever higher "bump" of icy, compacted snow that will stay until spring. Add to that the extra wide driveway and keeping the mailbox clear of snow.

So this year I figured what the heck, lets find a used snow blower that will do most of the work for me. Only problem is, the pool of used blowers seems to have been depleted already last year. The fact of the matter is that if you wait another two months or so and the winter turns out to be every bit as bad as the last one you can’t even find a new blower, regardless of price. And actually there is one more problem as I don’t want to pay too much for a machine that will inevitably spend most of the year in storage. €300-500 seems like plenty enough.

Basically, that leaves me scrounging for used 70s or 80s blowers from brands like Gilson, Ariens, MTD, Canadiana, Stiga etc. Buying a new budget model today just doesn’t make sense. You can hardly get a decent 8hp model under €1000 and many of the "supermarket brands" probably aren’t any easier to find spare parts for than models that are thirty years old. Plus, I much prefer a classic Briggs & Stratton engine compared to new more or less no-name Chinese brands. Gimmicks like electrical starter, heated handle grips or lights don’t really impress me. And features like differential drive are obviously far beyond my budget anyway.

I have also spent a lot of time researching the principal functionality of snow blowers as well as look at tons of Youtube demonstration and repair videos. I need to know what to look for so I don’t make the worst beginner’s mistakes at least. Ideally I would have liked to be more comfortable with machine repair but I guess I have to get by anyway.

Overall I am very pleased with my new raised strawberry patch. Weeds have been largely non-existent, and it all looks very neat and professional. And it’s clean, dry on top and moist underneath, enough so that you can walk barefoot across the patch.

More in the Garden 2011 gallery.

In my book, these critters are a must-have for any serious gardener. They are decorative, amusing and quite harmless compared to most other molluscs that can inhabit a garden.

More in the fence gallery. Everything went better than expected even though nothing was really straightforward. And the walls turned out to be remarkably crooked. The real problems started on the far end of the driveway where one of the retaining walls had twisted and moved several centimetres. Had to spend a long time with the angle grinder removing part of the wall. I hope it will be enough.

This last year was particularly dismal, probably in part due to the incredibly uneven season with a long cold start-up period crowned by a few searing hot weeks and no rain. Clearly something has to be done to fix the strawberries for the long haul.

First of all, the I will go for a single, bigger patch in a sunnier location. An extra hour of sun a day could be the difference between failure and success. Also, by bringing it all together in one place, and foregoing the narrow, stretched rows that I now have, watering will be much more convenient. A 3 x 3 patch instead of a 9 x 1 or whatever makes that much more sense. I’ve tried several solutions for watering long trenches but it is near impossible using sprinklers to productively cover a geometry like that. Also, covering the patch with various fabrics or nets will be so much easier. Safeguarding the berries against birds will be simplified as the border length is almost cut in half. Also, adding posts or other forms of support to keep the net elevated will finally be an option, which in turn will make temporarily removing the net for foraging much more convenient.

The new patch will also be a partially raised bed. Using a lighter, cheaper wood frame as opposed to the backbreaking timber I used last time. Raising a bed has several benefits (and a few downsides) but in this case it is more a convenient way to even out a sloping garden. And to set up a barrier that will keep certain weeds as well as the lawn in their place.

Finally, and this is the really novel approach (for me at least), we have the landscape fabric / weed mat which will be covering the soil. This woven weed cover may be tiresome to apply, with potentially dozens or even hundreds of plants going through custom cut holes, but it will dramatically reduce your weed problems for years to come. It will also insulate the ground somewhat and accelerate spring growth as well as prevent some moisture from evaporating. In addition it will reduce the need for adding new mulch / straw each year to keep the berries free of the moist ground. It may however still be useful to cover the fabric to prevent UV exposure.

Edit: I took some new photos in less gloomy weather. Still through a window but at shutter speeds of 1/250 (f7.1) to 1/160 (f8) which is quite acceptable using the Sigma 150-500 OS. A larger image can be found in the Garden album.