Step 5 - lay slabs in a "random" pattern

Looking good so far! Way to go yet though.

Large quantities of Indian sandstone (mint)

Can't wait to see it in two dimensions, rather than three!

Orson has done a great job getting everything prepared and will be starting to lay the stone on Monday. (Bank Holiday Monday, note - that's how hard-working he is!)

Papaver orientale "Perry's White"

Roughly translated as ... lovely white poppy.

The poppies are starting to come out in the parterre beds. Pleasingly to those of us with a mathematical bent, the plant in the first bed has no flowers (stick with me you'll see why it's pleasing in a bit), the plant in second bed has one flower, the plant in the third bed has two flowers and the plant in the fourth bed has three flowers.

f = n - 1

f = n + 1 would have been even nicer, but so be it.

Steps 3 and 4 - build a retaining wall and add scalpings

Many many barrow-loads of scalpings!

Nearly ready for the slabs now.

Another shed is re-housed

Thank you again Freecycle! One woman's eyesore is another man's toolshed.

If we win the lottery the garage is going too!

Fallen Blue Bird!

Owwww! Snapped off at the base by a strong gust of wind. The lesson for today is - support delphiniums in blustery weather.

It is our first major casulty - shame it was such a pretty one.

Getting a tad impatient

Seeing other peoples' plants in full bloom is starting to make me very envious! I know they are probably old established plants, but I do wish ours would get a move on.

But this lovely iceberg floribunda rose is out and is so lovely I really shouldn't be complaining!

Iteration: see Iteration

The blog looks beautiful on our new toy.

Step 2 - lay footings for the retaining wall

Cement mixer has been churning away in the front garden this afternoon and now we have very neat footings for the retaining wall at the side.

Hope this isn't anything important!

We unearthed a pipe which initially looked suspiciously like a sewage pipe. Thankfully it turned out NOT to be that. Looks like it's part of the defunct drainage system, installed to keep the tennis court dry but now so silted up that it doesn't drain anything. Hoping we can manage without it.

One spade

I've been at an excellent bridge seminar all day, but Orson's been doing a great job removing the top layer of grass and soil.

 

Step 1 - remove wall

Look no wall ...

A "before" picture of the patio

Tomorrow we start work on the new patio. The wall is being demolished and the stones used to extend the wall around the front garden. Paving slabs will be laid around the corner of the house to create a large seating area.

Amazing growth in one week

Gunnera 6 May 2011

Gunnera 13 May 2011

Early morning shadows

An early morning shot of the bracken in the wall bed. Love the shadows.

Filling up nicely!

Bit of a gloomy day for the photo (and no more rain!) but the beds are looking quite full now. I'm hoping this will be the "before" picture of a bed bursting with colour in a few months time. Well a girl can dream!

The forward planning challenge

This time last year we were preparing for a big family gathering to celebrate my mother's 80th birthday. We were willing the rhododendrons to bloom as they were just about only colour in the garden, thanks to the deer. In the end, it was at least two weeks after the party that they flowered. These have been out for a couple of weeks already - making them about a month ahead of last year. Planning for a blossom-filled July next year is a tad tricky.

I'm not stuck ...

... I'm just thinking very hard about how to get down from this rather splendid oak tree.

Little Woodlands Garden Waste Recycling Facility

Opening hours:

All day, Monday to Sunday.

Strictly residents only.

Blooming irises

Was it last night's rain (yeah!!!) that brought these irises out? Whatever - they seem to like their new shady boggy home.

Irises from Crocus or was it crocuses from Iris?

I was a bit anxious about buying plants online, but I'm delighted to report that the Siberian irses, foxgloves and gunnera arrived very well packaged and healthier looking than some from the local garden centre. Well done Crocus!

Here are the irises and gunnera in the shady, boggy corner of the wall bed. Hope that's enough space for the gunnera - they don't call it man-eating rhubarb for nothing!

Grow plants, grow!

Still a lot of space to fill - but here is the start of the planting in the parterre beds - delphiniums, lupins, hollyhocks, roses and poppies.

P.S. Griff is exonerated - there was a fresh hole in the beds before he was let out this morning. Sorry, Griff!

Who's been digging in my flowerbed?

 

Overnight some big holes
appeared in the flowerbed.



Showering the new plants with earth.



Suspect number one is a fox.

But Griff, the temporarily resident cat, is also in the frame. He certainly enjoyed playing in the holes this morning.

Let the planting commence!

This is the bed by the fence in the front garden. We're working on the assumption that if the deer didn't eat the azaleas last Spring then they won't eat them now.

Looks a little sparce at the moment but hopefully will fill out over the years.

The plant labels instruct us to water with rainwater. Pah! Chance would be a fine thing. We've had no rain for weeks.

Yeah! Finished planting the boxes.

Two hundred and twenty four of them! Anyone who is concentrating will have spotted that that is more plants than we originally calculated we would need. There was a slight change of plan on the size of the beds ... each bed is now 3m x 3m.

For future reference ... planting box plants takes longer than you can possibly imagine!

We have spent ALL day planting box plants! Started this morning thinking we might be finished by lunchtime, but pretty soon it became apparent that that was not going to happen. Two down, two to go. Looking good though!