On 30 July, 11:35, Fred wrote:

My local timber merchant only seems to sell pine!

That's typical, because they're probably a builders' merchant rather
than a timber merchant.

A real timber merchant is like this, which might give you a useful
comparison, even if they're not local to you.
http://www.bendreybrothers.co.uk


Larch ought to be cheap soon (Hah!), as there's a huge quantity being
felled in the SW at the moment, to avoid the spread of Sudden Oak
Death.