Garden Personnel Move

Easter Island Man

Martley Hillside

Easter Island Man got a new home last week and has moved from the tool shed down to a new slate platform made from DIY salvaged Welsh slate!  Chris did all the clever stuff including making the arch around the corner over the cave entrance and hiding the nasty concrete lintel with a scalloped lead canopy.  I was entrusted with rubbing down all the mortar the following day.  I'm getting quite good at it now.  Easter Island Man gazes out towards the sunsets over Martley Hillside whilst guarding the cave entrance.

A New Soakaway

This week saw the new 'linear' soakaway dug.  It means that rain water from the garage roof no longer flows into the septic tank.  Following detailed instructions, a trench 2 spits deep was dug (avoiding cables) and perforated land drain laid.  Rubble was laid down the sides with gravel on top followed by a sheet of plastic (to ensure soil doesn't block all the perforations).  After topping up with soil, Chris re-laid the turf.  Result: near perfection.  Not exactly creative gardening but, nevertheless a necessity. Now, all we need is rain - as we have done so for months and months!

Spot the soakaway!

Weekend Post Script

Ranunculus Ficaria 'Brazen Hussy'

And - lastly: isn't this a great name for such a little show stopping Celandine?

End of a busy week

It was the first day of spring and the end of another hectic week at PTC so - time to hoist the flag and enjoy a sundowner in March!  For some; it was time to wring out their wet socks after all that power washing!

For more photos; 

check out: https://picasaweb.google.com/100788191989823327785/TheBigCleanUp

Head of the pond

Friday was spent raising the stone retaining wall at the head of the pond and Sunday - replanting all the Dogwoods. Well it was a certain Chris Genever doing all the donkey work with me standing at the other side of the pond saying yes or no to a particular stone and it's position. It will make for much easier mowing as the grass is now level - less risk of the mower ending up in the pond.  Chris built a couple of natural looking stone steps as walking on the loose cobbles so close to the waters' edge was a tad precarious!  The pump has yet to be re-located and the pebbles need moving around in order to disguise the pipes and cables.  All this work hasn't deterred a duck and drake from making themselves at home on the pond.

Too shrine-like?

The Androlia niche has now been treated with a special undercoat and finished off with about 5 coats of sandtex.  it's held in position with string temporarily and I need to find something suitable to stand in it.  I did try a vase but, it looked more like an ash filled urn.  Al came up with this particular alternative!  Well, one tries one's level best to live up to one's reputation!  Sadly, Chris's finials are in deep shadow. In reality they look very Egyptian. 

The BIG Clean-Up

After all the building work that's been going on around this garden, we thought it was about time for a major clean-up.  In the absence of Chris or, more to the point, his cement mixer; piles of left over sand and cobbles were removed, off cuts of timber stacked away and all rubble, cement bags, plastic  etc etc disposed of in order for our Chris to blast on to the scene with a really meaty power washer.  Even the greenhouse shivered in the sunshine!

The results were pretty rewarding and lovely new Creosote Yard was unveiled along with a new terrace.  Of course the cobbles have yet to be transported down to the pond edge but, that can wait for another day!