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Loose objects in garden. (A level Design engineering)

Hi all, I am currently working on my A level DT project and am thinking about doing something to do with gardening, I am going to input 4 questions and if you could answer them then this would be valuable information that I can use to guide my project.
Will

Questions:

1-Are there any problems that you come across whilst gardening?

2-Do you have a piece of land that is ever littered with leaves, grass clippings, twigs, etc ?

3-Do you come across any items that you cant pick up with your bare hands? If so what ?

4-Are there any loose objects that are too abundant to be picked up by hand?

 

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Posts

  • B3B3 Posts: 25,219
    Can't pick up things with thorns,nettles or slimy things like slugs so I use gloves. Leaves,I use a brush or a rake. I have been known to use chopsticks to pick up snails.
    Fox or cat poo are things I really don't want and to get on my gloves or anything else.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • pansyfacepansyface Posts: 21,899
    My garden is full of detritus. But it either disintegrates over time (leaves, twigs) or it doesn’t (that pair of secateurs I put in a safe place last October). 

    The garden has come to a sort of messy impasse, which luckily suits us.

    Things I can’t pick up with my bare hands? Like the dog poo bags that local dog owners leave hanging from nearby bushes like a votive offering to the god of canine excrement? I use a litter picker.
    Apophthegm -  a big word for a small thought.
    If you live in Derbyshire, as I do.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 8,833
    edited May 2022
    1. Nothing that's a show-stopper.  The usual problems are finding correctly-sized tools, gloves etc but other similar threads have covered those in huge detail.
    2. Yes, at some times of year but it's not generally a problem. Stuff on the borders generally gets left except for a few small plants that I clear around, and I gather up fallen leaves around the crowns of thing like dahlias that benefit from a bit of insulation for the winter. Leaves etc on the grass gets picked up by the mower, hard surfaces are easy to sweep and I don't have any gravel areas.
    3. Cat poo, the occasional dead mouse, very prickly stuff, and next door's kids' footballs etc (not taking chances with things that people have had their germ-ridden hands on). I have gloves, and old trowel that's kept outside for picking up nasty things.
    4. Not that isn't dealt with as described against 2.

    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • WAMSWAMS Posts: 1,514

    1-Are there any problems that you come across whilst gardening?

    There are pests which attack and destroy my plants- slugs, snails, mice, birds, my dog and my children.


    2-Do you have a piece of land that is ever littered with leaves, grass clippings, twigs, etc ?

    Oh yes, I have several deciduous trees. I don't rake it up very often. My dog enjoys playing in the leaves and it all disintegrates quite quickly that way.

    3-Do you come across any items that you cant pick up with your bare hands? If so what ?

    Animal dung, squashed snails, dead rats, nettles and brambles (painful to the touch).


    4-Are there any loose objects that are too abundant to be picked up by hand?

    Hedge clippings... so I sweep them up.

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 83,847
    edited May 2022
    Autumn leaves on a gravel or shingle driveway. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,051
    1, old age
    2, no
    3, gloves help
    4,no
    Devon.
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,051
    Autumn leaves on a gravel or shingle driveway. 
    get a blower and move them onto a surface where they can be picked up. tarmac, grass etc
    Devon.
  • 1 - being a novice and not having a clue. Or enough time to do everything!
    2 - being surrounded by deciduous trees, always loads of leaves in autumn, but worth the effort of collecting for mulch
    3 - snails; dead baby birds; poo; anything spikey or stingy
    4 - ugly old stones put down by previous owner
    It's knowing what to do with things that counts - Robert Frost
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 83,847
    Hostafan1 said:
    Autumn leaves on a gravel or shingle driveway. 
    get a blower and move them onto a surface where they can be picked up. tarmac, grass etc
    Not my problem I hasten to add … it’s just one we were asked that stuck in my mind from last autumn … or maybe the autumn before … apparently blowing them didn’t work for some reason … 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Slow-wormSlow-worm Posts: 1,405
    Hi all, I am currently working on my A level DT project and am thinking about doing something to do with gardening, I am going to input 4 questions and if you could answer them then this would be valuable information that I can use to guide my project.
    Will

    Questions:

    1-Are there any problems that you come across whilst gardening?

    2-Do you have a piece of land that is ever littered with leaves, grass clippings, twigs, etc ?

    3-Do you come across any items that you cant pick up with your bare hands? If so what ?

    4-Are there any loose objects that are too abundant to be picked up by hand?

     

    1. Weeds that take over if I don't get rid quick - geum, bindweed, etc. 

    2. Yes. I'll clip flowerheads, twigs, leaves and let them drop. I'll only clear big leaves or tree shedding off the lawn.

    3. Bird and hedgehog poo.

    4. No.
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