Tuesday is scrubbing day

Hi Fran.
Well done on more work completed.
The idea of versatility is a good one ..
... having several ways to arrange the containers to fit a jig-saw design. :o)

shee, you're quick off the mark, TT!

small units also means I can quarantine one if need be without affecting the others - and a failure in one would be contained, i hope! to just that one.

*s* and I want a water feature, a tiny pond or something; that can have one all to itself: one of the Garden Expert books has tiny water lilies, about an inch across, and I've been wanting them ever since I read about them.

I have stacks of 'tufa websites on my favourites, need to search 'em out and see what they have on "tufa on" rather than "tufa between".

Yes, I think priority must be given to the final weight of any container you construct. And they'll be heavier when full of compost, and heavier still when wet !

Of course, you could fit wheels into their bases ! Lol.

Plant the birdcage up Fran, it will look grand, have you popped hypertufa in the search engine on here, if you do that it will take you to the members blogs, I know a few members have done their own, Bampy and Rogi have both done blogs on it and I think they gave good instructions..

The weight concern isn't just for me, TT - thse tables are rated to take loads of 300 kg - I'd like most of that weight to be plant, not planter!

One table is 4x2 foot, the others 90cm square: might be able to get six of the smaller crates on the larger table, which means about 50 kg each. lol I think I'll stick to a simpler scale: I've got to be able to lift it and carry it ten feet between tables! or at least be able to lift it on to a trolley and lift it off again, so even 50lb would be pushing it a bit.

I've done a 'tufa search in GoY, Lincs; I've found lots of pics and blogs from references on other pics and blogs - it's the "how-to" I need, and the "how-to ON" rather than the two-box method; I was very kindly sent a how-to for that, and I'd try it if I did'nt have all these crates on hand.

I did put a small ivy into the birdcage, but took it out again after a wile: it's got a pull-out tray and that mean that it was standing in a puddle of water all the time, not good for it. And the tray would probably rust through in time. Of course I could leave the tray out altogether and stand the pot on the bottom of the cage; can't remember how tight the wires are there, but should be enough support.

But my other thing is being able to report the plant when needed: maybe I could reach in, lift the pot, remove it and replace with larger, then fill in the gaps, wihtout disturbing the foliage too much. Or would I just leave it in the same size pot no matter what?

I did think of taking the bottom off so I could get at the pot with a bit of room to move, rather then keyhold planting through the doorway, but then it'd have to stand, it could'nt be hung, even if I had anywhere to hang it, which, at the moment, I don't.

lol I'm sure there's a very easy way to do it, but it just hasn't occurred to me yet!

ps - TT, could you put forward the idea of a Hypertufa section in GoyPedia, please?? it'd be handy to have all the eggs in one basket, so to speak - tufa the price of one?

Hi Fran, just a thought..could you not use a hanging basket liner for the bird cage & take the bottom tray out or nail some holes in the bottom tray..I would have to use it for plants..i thought ivy too with something else..maybe you could use a hanging basket bracket to hang it up..:o))

thanks, Joanella, that never occurred to me - I'll sort out my "one day" boxes out and see what I've got.

*s* hope to report results soon!

Last year I put a Fuchsia in my birdcage. It was a sensation on my stand at the Allotment Gardeners' Farmers Market. People were fascinated by the flowers poking out through the bars. Easy to water, no trouble at all.

wow, Diane, sounds interesting. I see you've not poated any pics, wouldl there be osme in a blog, and if so, which one??

well done Fran when you doing the same to mine :))))

lol Mark - I found some how-to 'tufa polystyrene boxes websites; I'll post some links when I've got them sorted.

In between times, I've been rearranging my bedroom: moved two wardrobes over the weekend, had to empty insides and tops, move 'em, put stuff back. Yesterday walked four boxes on my shopping trolley to the charity shop. Today I finally unearthed my craft table and moved it, and took a metal shelf unit apart to move the shelves better for my art and craft supplies. Tomorrow it's move the bed - which means taking out 24 storage boxes, finding somewhere to stack 'em out of the way, moving the two-tier cabin bed a yard along the wall, then putting the boxes back.

And I've been getting my walk-in cupboard shelved to be my library,w hich means I've got stacks of books all over the lounge, and half the bedroom stuffed with odds that had been in that cupboard - so it might take a bit longer to get to the foot of the bed so I can push it up the room!

The Age UK handyman is due tomorrow to do the last cupboard wall; once he's done taht, and cut the shelves to side, I can start sorting and shelving books - eventually! it's going to be "oh, I'd forgotten I had that!" (they've been boxed since 2008) and I'll probably have just a little dip in ...

Still, at least and at last, things are getting done, and I'm doing most of it myself, so if my back weren't so stiff I'd give it a pat!

ps, didn't occur to me till later that I might be being smug - it was a bit of a crow, but mainly in surprise that I'd actually done stuff after far too long of "I can't" - *s* trying to take the "t" off that!

I've found some GoY blogs, photos and convos on polystyrene hypertufa, I'll add those tot he "hypertufa list" I'm assembling - some of those have other links in that we found at the time.