The green and rolling countryside of Worcestershire, England, is home to the cider apple orchards which surround the gardens of Pear Tree Cottage. They enjoy a sunny south westerly aspect with sweeping views across to Martley Hillside, Woodbury and Abberley clock tower. The Teme Valley lies just over the hill and, not far away, is the Herefordshire border. Although our climate is temperate, our seasons are often uncertain and always a challenge to a gardener! This began in 2010 & follows the weekly ups and downs of garden work chronicling both successes and failures but, above all, demonstrates the fun enjoyed by three people who regularly garden in all weathers

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20 July 2021

Edging the Old Well in Style!

 A very long time ago, Chris (Pugh) brought us a HUGE pile of beautiful old Victorian path edgers and they've been sitting in the Creosote Yard for ages and ages and A-G-E-S.  We were waiting for both inspiration and the skills of a certain Chris Genever !  Last week both arrived!!

A circle to frame the Box hedge around the well with differing heights, slopes and levels!  In fact the ground slopes in every direction and working in a circle around a hedge means you can't work to a line or even see where you started or where you need to finish!!  It really did require the genius of Chris Genever! Not only did he lay them perfectly but he came up with the even more genius plan of cutting all the damaged tops off and using the remaining tiles for pavers.  This meant an edge that I could cut with long handled shears and use a half moon - the very thing I was worried wouldn't be possible.

The pièce de résistance  is the far side as we made the date in Roman numerals using bits of cut roof tiles and framing it in yellow floor tiles edgeways up.  It really does look amazing!  We're waiting for that to dry out so that I can use some dilute brick acid to just finish off the details.

Even with all the cutting, it was all finished and looking fantastic in a couple of days!  Of course, he did have his trusty apprentice on hand!! See Framing the Well! for more photos.  Meanwhile, a BIG thank you to both Chris's!!



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