The more I think about this, the more I'm talking myself into ordering the whips. They won't require too big a hole to plant and will certainly give a uniformity to the area. Good luck Des with your bank. Maybe we can compare pictures on this site summer 2016.
I am going to ask around and see if anyone has the tool to lend me like the one you suggested Liriodendron.
Billie, if you've got a birthday coming up you could look at chillingtontoolsonline.co.uk which has a range of such tools. I use a full-sized mattock a lot, much easier and more effective than a spade for shifting rocks, digging out stumps etc.
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
Rich, I've considered some sort of wall or fence, but to make room for it I would have to lose part of the path that follows the base of the bank, and its only just wide enough to be passable as it is.
I've discovered since this morning that the bank has been there for at least 30 years, so I probably wouldn't have a great deal to worry about, even if I simply let it be. However, I will take on board your mesh solution, Liri, because my neighbour, whose bank is not quite so steep or as high as ours, appears to have encouraged the growth of ivy on the surface (whether through the use of wire netting I can't tell) and the effect is actually quite attractive.
Billie, I'll have a look at Hedges Direct, and thanks for that also.
OK, thanks for that. As stated above, I'm not 100 per cent sure about doing anything that might reduce the width of the pathway below the bank, but otherwise sounds like a feasible solution.
40 yards of either retaining wall or sheet piling, if it was to achieve anything, would cost a lot. Is the bank actually yours or the farmer's? I suspect you may be worrying too much about stability if it's been the way it is for 40 years. His cows are probably indoors for the winter just now, but no doubt they'll be interested in what you get up to!
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Billie, in Madeira they use a tool like a short-handled mattock - blade at right angles to the handle.
Retaining wall is definitely a solution, though perhaps an expensive one...
The more I think about this, the more I'm talking myself into ordering the whips. They won't require too big a hole to plant and will certainly give a uniformity to the area. Good luck Des with your bank. Maybe we can compare pictures on this site summer 2016.
I am going to ask around and see if anyone has the tool to lend me like the one you suggested Liriodendron.
Billie, if you've got a birthday coming up you could look at chillingtontoolsonline.co.uk which has a range of such tools. I use a full-sized mattock a lot, much easier and more effective than a spade for shifting rocks, digging out stumps etc.
Thanks again.
Rich, I've considered some sort of wall or fence, but to make room for it I would have to lose part of the path that follows the base of the bank, and its only just wide enough to be passable as it is.
I've discovered since this morning that the bank has been there for at least 30 years, so I probably wouldn't have a great deal to worry about, even if I simply let it be. However, I will take on board your mesh solution, Liri, because my neighbour, whose bank is not quite so steep or as high as ours, appears to have encouraged the growth of ivy on the surface (whether through the use of wire netting I can't tell) and the effect is actually quite attractive.
Billie, I'll have a look at Hedges Direct, and thanks for that also.
Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly are sheet piles?
Sometimes they get painted or a brick skin.
OK, thanks for that. As stated above, I'm not 100 per cent sure about doing anything that might reduce the width of the pathway below the bank, but otherwise sounds like a feasible solution.
40 yards of either retaining wall or sheet piling, if it was to achieve anything, would cost a lot. Is the bank actually yours or the farmer's? I suspect you may be worrying too much about stability if it's been the way it is for 40 years. His cows are probably indoors for the winter just now, but no doubt they'll be interested in what you get up to!
Just plant it to make it look nice.
Bumping up for Des
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.