garden wall construction begins…

garden wall construction begins…

Having lived for six years now with the view out of our living room window being the small stone house we purchased from a neighbour, things are going to be looking very different, very soon. The vine covered, tumble down house has been demolished, the boundaries of the land clarified, the foundations in and the wall, constructed of concrete blocks standing at well over a metre now, with more height still to be added. The “garden”, inside the wall, is currently an absolute mess – a mix of rocks and stones and the thick red, clay like soil, we have around here. It’s also on an incline. Looking out from the house, the wall to the left is lower in height than the wall to the right. So, we’ve had to address this and we’ve had to consider :

  • do we want it to be levelled and lose height on the right hand side of the garden? This would need to be built up, rather than digging out on the left hand side, as we’d then be digging lower than the foundations. We probably should have addressed this before the work started, but it was difficult to see the incline, and so it needs to be addressed now.
  • or, do we create a garden on two levels, higher on the left and lower on the right connected by concrete steps?

We’ve decided that the second option will give us a more unusual garden and so we’re going with that. It will inevitably add to the overall cost, as we hadn’t factored in this kind of design, but we’re in it now, and so we want to do a proper job, rather than making do to save a few euros. We think that the ground level of the garden will be concrete to give us a solid base, and the steps will also be concrete – wide and shallow treads so that they are more of a feature than just functional steps. The higher level, which will get the most sun, will then be covered in sanded and treated scaffold planks – of which there are more than a few being used for the construction, so we’ll repurpose them – and the lower level will be covered in white stones, with the steps being painted white. Overall, we’re thinking rendered walls, painted white, with white stones, timber, natural style furnishings, structural plants in pots, and perhaps a climbing honeysuckle or bougainvillea. However, we’re still a few weeks away from plumping up the cushions on the new sofas and chairs – currently housed in our bedroom, as we spotted them at a bargain price and with only one set left, had to buy there and then. But, it’s definitely coming on…

Scaffold planks which be sanded and treated to create a decked area for sunbathing and general catching of rays…

Day to day, because we’re living on top of it all, we feel we don’t see much progress. But, looking back on photos, it’s clear that real progress is being made and we’re getting closer to the Secret Garden. And, perhaps a new owner..,

growing our own…

growing our own…

2022 is going to be Grow Our Own year. We’ve tinkered around the edges of growing vegetables and herbs before, but it’s always been pretty half-hearted as far too much else has been going on in and around the garden. We’ve had minor success with lettuce and tomatoes and back in Didsbury, we did successfully grow strawberries and potatoes. But this year, the house renovation has finished and we’re focusing on the garden, so being a bit more self-sufficient is the aim.

Along the side of our house and garden, is a long strip of communal land. This was originally the road into the village, but it isn’t any longer. The road is on the other side of house, so this strip of land – owned by the local council and a number of individuals – is largely unused. Somewhere, presumably on hiking maps, it may still be marked as a right of way, because on a couple of occasions, we’ve had people with hiking sticks appearing. And being as startled as us! Maybe once a year, one of our neighbours will bring his tractor along the grassed lane to get to his field, but we can probably can count on one hand, how many times it’s been used by anyone other than us. So, we’ve been working hard to make it good, and frame the house. We have a hammock, in the summer, strung up between two of the trees and patches of wildflower seeds have been sown. This year, we’ve added pots of bulbs and a cluster of potted bamboos. But, it’s the veg we’re working on, more than anything.

If there’s one thing we have an excess of around the house, it’s Istrian stones, so these are being to use and we’ve made a vegetable patch, which sits in front of a small wall, and is in full sunlight. As we also have an excess of logs, we’ve divided the patch up with these and labelled each section. So far, we have sown peas, courgettes, cucumbers, rocket, lambs’ lettuce, carrots and onions – and already, just a week after sowing, the green rocket is pushing up through the soil. The bed was dug down and raked over, before the stone frame was built around it. To save on good soil, we back-filled the whole thing with twigs and branches, then mulch, then our own rich, red soil before adding a layer of top soil. A water butt, which was useless for collecting rainwater as the tap had snapped off, and couldn’t be replaced, was cut in half, and this has made an excellent planter for potatoes.

We have two apples trees and a cherry tree which were planted early last year, but didn’t produce anything very much last year – we did celebrate the one apple! – but already this year, they are heavily budding so we have high hopes for them. Once the much needed rain passes, we’re going to be planting up tomatoes and strawberries, too. It’s fair to say, we are crossing our fingers for a bumper harvest across the board this year.

garden reno : update 1

garden reno : update 1

It seems like no time since we were in the depths of winter, with no kitchen, a gaping hole in the wall where the new window was being fitted and heavy falling snow. It’s now mid-summer and although, as I type it’s hammering down with rain, thunder is rumbling all around and lightning is cracking across the sky, largely the weather is baking hot. So, this all makes DIY and renovation a bit more difficult, as we’d definitely rather be lying on a sun-lounger in the garden, than up a ladder with a paintbrush. Our builders are still here, working on what they need to do – the downstairs bathroom still being the big priority at the moment – but, we’re also doing what we can, and we’re currently focusing on the outside of the house, to the front.

There is a piece of land, tucked under our living room window, which actually belongs to the tumble down house we’re attached to. It’s been left as a bit of a dumping ground, but we decided that, although it doesn’t belong to us, we would give it a bit of a tidy up – especially given that it does look & feel like part of our garden. Days were spent moving stones & rocks, refilling with rubble to level it, covering with plastic and then finally laying bags and bags of beautiful rusty coloured bark. From what it was, it’s come up a treat – next job is to have uplighting installed, to light up the gorgeous ivy-clad ruin to which we are adjoined…

The BEFORE shot…

The BEFORE shot, when we moved in…

The DURING shot, as rubble was dug out, smashed up and refilled, to make a level surface...

The DURING shot, as rubble was dug out, smashed up and refilled, to make a level surface…

Plastic sheeting, securely laid, to prevent weeds growing back...

Plastic sheeting, securely laid, to prevent weeds growing back…

The AFTER shot, covered in dark red bark chippings...

The AFTER shot, covered in dark red bark chippings…

A lot of paint spraying has been going on in the garden – we bought a white wrought iron vintage table and chairs set, which needed a bit of TLC. This was achieved with a deep charcoal grey paint, which has given this set a whole new lease of life. And now the same thing is happening with the wooden sun loungers – from a walnut colour to the lovely deep grey. A colour which really complements the duck egg blue of the outdoor lights and the external paintwork. A work in progress, because as ever, the amount of spray paint needed, was under-estimated, necessitating yet another trip to the DIY store…

Vintage French wrought iron garden furniture - transformed from rusty white to anthracite grey...

Vintage French wrought iron garden furniture – transformed from rusty white to anthracite grey…