Pointing Walls

Pointing Walls in the Garden

We have been using out time in lockdown, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, to get ahead with the pointing of walls in the garden.  We started on the walls in our neighbours driveway as one of the walls of the loft above the bake-oven was in the process of parting company with the rest of the building so was in need of urgent attention.

The brick part of this wall is bulging in the middle due to ivy roots that were growing up and in the wall - it's not immediately obvious from the photo. The stone wall below has been prepared for the pointing as that was done first to give the upper wall some support.

 The stone wall now re-pointed.

The brick part of the was was scraped/washed out a row at a time to make sure the whole thing didn't collapse - now complete and seems to be stable.  However, it's a double-skin brick wall so at some point we will probably have to re-point inside the loft as well. 

The wall behind our neighbours garage ready for pointing - except the bulge in the middle which is a dead ivy-root which will be removed once we have re-pointed the rest of it.  There are parts of this wall where one can see right through to our garden as NO lime mortar left in the wall at all.

 Then top of the wall prepared for a different top - re-cycling some of the bricks from the garden as the old stones that came off are so fractured as a result of plants growing in them (wallflowers mostly) they are not really reusable.

 Re-pointed and just about to remove the ivy root!

 Looks good even if I do say so myself!

 Looking good with the re-cycled bricks

 Ivy root removed and re-pointing complete

Once we had finished on the neighbours drive then we started on our side in the garden and that of courses means we have to be careful as the plants are already growing and need to be managed as part of the work  So, that means its slower and we can't do all of it - we will do it gradually over the next few months and potentially into the early autumn as plants finish blooming and/or can be moved.

It's October now so I thought it was about time I closed out this post for 2020 as we have finished pointing walls for this year as the weather in the late autumn is not good for lime mortar.  I think we have made good progress this year and looking at the last photo below I think we should have done that wall a couple of years ago.  I just need to sort out the Rose Bed now!!

Gable of the loft above the Bake Oven stabilised.  As you can see we didn't replace the wooden plinth on the RH side just replaced it with a line of bricks.

Almost complete.  Pointing done and started on the top of the wall.  We are 'recycling' bricks from the garden rather than the original approach of stones standing on their end as they eventually split and the water gets into the wall.

I hope you agree it's looking good - a lovely backdrop for next years blooms!!

Garden 2020

The Garden

It's now 10th May and I thought it was about time to put some photos of the garden on the blog.  We are definitely all living in un-precedented times as the COVID-19 pandemic continue to determine how we live our lives  - at this time the UK is still in lockdown but there may be signs of some relaxations BUT it won't be a full return to normal life - who knows when that will be.

So having been home working and living (unless for food shopping or daily exercise) the garden is in reasonable shape so some photos to show the progress of the year thus far.

View from the bottom of the garden looking back towards the house in mid March

Bottom of the garden under the trees, loads of primroses.

Hellebores in full bloom

View as you enter the garden from the courtyard

Looking towards the compost bins

Clematis Montana Pink Perfection starting to grow again  This survived the Sycamore three it used to grown up being cut down last year but it's survived very well.

Japanese Cherry in bloom and growing again - just planted last year.

Taken in early April so tulips and daffodils providing some colour

First Peony Rose in bloom

This rhododendron was in a plastic pot when we moved in 7 years ago and I rescued it - this is the first time it has flowered since!

Tulips coming out around the pond

Tulips along the path

Vegetable bed in the courtyard

Agapanthus on the patio.

Peony Roses 

Yellow roses against the wall before it was re-pointed!

Nepeta, Yellow rose against a Choisya bush

More Peony Roses in front of the vegetable beds - I love these but they are short lived and usually destroyed by heavy rain in England!

The Hollyhocks (alcea) clearly love this bed - their very long tap roots picking up all the correct nutrients for them to grow very tall indeed.

These few photos illustrate our collection of sinks - rather than let them go to landfill we have found them a home and a job - growing annuals over the summer!

View as you enter the garden looking over the pond towards the patio and newly pointed wall!

This Abelia is still in bloom and the bees absolutely love it - despite having a couple of trims over the summer and it's autumn tidy up - it was here when we bought the house so who knows how old it is but still going strong.

Autumn preparations - I do sometimes wish I didn't take on quite so much in one go,  However, this is preparation for a wild flower patch and had to dig up all the grass and existing plants BUT could not just leave it dug up as otherwise local cat would turn it into a toilet!  So covered in wire netting and weeds on top so soil can wash back into the garden before next stage.

Watch this space!  See you next year.............2021 👍