Although the garden is a longer term project as the house is the focus of our efforts at the minute there are some aspects of it that need to be sorted out now. So a days work by the Tree Surgeon and his mate resulted in the following.
T
he view of the entrance to the garden from the courtyard and the Monterey Cypress which has been 'hacked' by previous attempts to tame it's prolific growth and as a result it needs to come down.
The view of the Monterey Cypress from the garden.
The wood chipper to process the branches of the Cypress tree.
Men at work - and the branches are down and now turned into wood chips to go back onto the garden to suppress the weed growth.
One of our neignbours captured the tree surgeon taking the Eucalyptus tree down.
Thankfully the section landed in the garden not on the neighbours roof!
The wood chip pile in the courtyard grows larger as the tree branches come down.
All that remains of that huge tree - we have left a rather large stump in the hope that we will be able to have it carved into something meaningful one day.
Lots of logs for the fires - well next year perhaps once they have seasoned for about 12 months
The view from the courtyard has changed by the evening with the Scots Pine now taking pride of place, having had all of the dead branches at the base chopped off and in so doing the canopy lifted up.
This is all that remains of the branches from the Monterey Cypress, the smaller pine and a couple of Lilac trees that will recover in the Spring.
It's now possible to see where a pond and a rockery once existed in the garden and it has opened up the top of the garden. This work has also pleased our neighbours who now have sublight in their garden as the Cypress previously blocked it out.
Closer view of the Scots Pine.
View up the path into the garden and a Lilac Tree that has been trimmed back to rejuvenate it for next Spring.
Looking from the garden back towards the courtyard and the pile of logs to be moved - at some point - and the stump of the Cypress!
Bramley apples in abundance. As you may know from your own garden it's a bumper year for fruit and it's no different here, the tree is laden. It took several hours to remove enough of the undergrowth to get to these apples and then shake more from the tree.
Four bags of apples all heading for the cider press - hopefully we will get some of the cider in return!
The resilience of the rose in the courtyard evidenced by blooms bathed in late October sun. It's beautiful and we hope to keep it when we do some work here which is just outside the french doors.
Lots of buds still to come out despite the time of year.
The tree surgeon also sprayed the rather large bank of nettles and as you can see they are now all dead - well mostly there were still one or two that could sting as they headed for the brown bin! No point in putting these on the compost heap as we would just get them back. we now have two brown bins but even they will take some time tog et rid of all the garden waste.
Believe it or not this elder tree is growing out of an old pig-sty. it's rather small so it must have been a rather lonely pig, possibly used to eat all the apples! we unearthed it finally in anticipation of the next visit from the tree surgeon and have decided he can add this to his list of trees to come down as it will be impossible to sort that corner out if we leave it in situ.
The wheelbarrow is going to be worked rather hard over the next few months moving all of the logs to the woodpile!
Late autumn sun streaming though the Bramley Apple Tree
Despite picking all those apples there are still loads falling onto the ground and unfortunately given the bumper crops this year most are likely to end up as compost
For posterity a poto of the elder tree as it engulfs the electricity cables - it's for the Tree Surgeons blade soon!
The trees that were chopped down by our supportive neighbours awaiting the wood chippers return.
The growing woodpile. we might stack it up in the loft above the old Bakery oven as it will be dry (ish!) and will allow then to season for a year or so.
Looking from the bottom of the garden past the Apple Tree towards the wood pile.
Broader view of the garden from the same position - it's beginnign to open up as we clear and/or have it cleared.
Another view from the other side of the garden looking back towards the house.
The Eucalptus has been topped so the Scots Pine is now the tallest tree in the garden.
The Elder tree is no more......
It may be a it hard to make out but the pile of branches have all been chipped or burned.
It's getting bigger as the tangle of shribs, weeds and over-grown trees is cleared.
We have composted or chipped most of it but there is so much we resorted to burning some of it on what turned out to be a very still sunny weekend so perfect as the smoke didn't bother the neighbours.
View of our neighbours houses but more importantly the clearer view they now have of our garden - loose term at the minute but it will be one day.
The builders large bags have come in useful for clearing garden refuse into
As if there wasn't enough going on the week before Christmas we had booked the gardners to do some clearing of brambles/ivy before the worst of the weather. The results above reveal the old pig sty!
It may not be immediately obvious but the ground is clearer and shrubs pruned.
One can see right to the back of the garden now and realise just how much space we have.
Close up of the pig sty, they must have been small pigs!
Bonfire in waiting!
Ground cleared which means the tree stumps and tree trunks ready for the chain saw are more obvious!
The gardeners said that the brush cutter (stainless steel blade) struggled with the ivy it was so thick so it took ages to cut. It was well timed though as there was a hard frost the night after they cut it all down which might just have killed some of the roots - wishful thinking on my part perhaps!
It's Spring at High Street so we have started the battle with the Ground Ivy, the Nettles and the Slugs..............the tactics include spreading the pile of wood chippings in the courtyard and spreading them over the garden and the courtyard in a faint attempt to suppress the weed growth in those areas for a short time at least.
Work in progress......
Sorting out the logs
The woodchips have improved the look of the garden
The woodpile in the courtyard is also disappearing into the wood store (s) and the bonfire (s)
Bonfire number 5 or is it 6?
And the log stores are full so stacked along the garden wall for now.
The removal of ivy leaves the wall at the bottonm of the garden largely uncovered BUT a massive root that will take time to die as it's embedded in the wall - and our neighbour has tied a tree to it!
The start of re-construction with the removal of yet more ivy from the wall and our first border ready for planting......
The old pigsty in the corner will remain as it's too much to consider removing so it will be planted with climbers and rockery plants - eventually!
The pond in the process of being re-instated..............
Stabilising the deterioration of the logstore above the oven started with the removal of the roof......
A combination of the removal of the roof and digging the bed in the garden which produced several sheets of buried 'wriggly tin'.....
The logstore ready for re-roofing
The pond is full, has two water lilies and some oxygenating plants and the basis of a bed for planting surrounding it - it's beginning to look something like a garden...............
Wood treatments in process, its starting to look better.
This is looking from the bottom of the garden at the newly created path thanks to the combined efforts of the gardeners and M.................
The path from the top of the garden by the pond
The vegetable patch has been rotavated ready for the potatoes!
With a little more work and some more plants it's beginning to take shape as a garden
The path now has a layer of gravel and some plants down each side.
You can just see the grass starting to grow on the 'lawn'!
View from the bottom of the garden
It might take some time for both parts of the lawn to join up but it is taking shape.
Think we need to plant something to grow over the tree stump whilst we decide what to have it carved into!
Large clump of Comfrey and Nettles of course! Choysia in the foreground.
No sign of the potatoes yet but the weeds have started to grow in between the drills.
Bonfire number 7 - great evening for it no wind at all so smoke went straight up!
Clematis growing up the telegraph pole in the courtyard.
We now have a shed in the bottom corner of the garden courtesy of colleagues purchasing a new one - one day we may do the same as given the size of this garden we will eventually need a large shed I expect.
The vegetable patch is taking shape, this year planted with potatoes, albeit a bit later than they should have gone in but see later for the results!
The garden is beginning to take shape and even the grass needs mowing now.
The beginnings of the patio and although we are used to unearthing roots these days we didn't quite expect to unearth this one - another tree stump!
Now spot the difference to the view of the path a few pics up, apart from the fact it's taken from the other end of the path!
The rockery plants are growing and the grass is growing in various places which has opened up the garden at the top.
The herb garden!
and the bins now hidden from view of the courtyard!
The wall in the garden behind the pond is not very tidy along the top as the existence of a wooden beam into which a lean-to (hen coop possibly? was built. However, after a few evenings of dismantling and removing the top layers we think it looks better, and of course the patio gives us a peaceful haven to retire to for supper in the garden as summer has finally arrived.
When we look at photos like these, compared with last years view from this point (have a look further up this page, we agree with the view of friends that the garden has been the biggest transformation. This view takes in the herb garden and the rockery around the pond looking dow towards the Scots Pine towards the vegetable patch. Swathes of 'Soapwort' were allowed to grow this year and provided ground cover and a bank of pale pink in the border BUT it will need taming next year! apparently they used to make soap from this plant but we don't have time to try!
M bought us a garden seat which proved to be most welcome after a hard days graft in the garden. Strategically placed under the Scots Pine in the middle of the day to enjoy dappled shade and a delightful position for early evening apertif.
The bed under the wall in front of our neighbours garden has also grown really well and the nastursims are a blaze of colour.
Looking towards the pond from the 'ruin'end of the garden
The pond has now established and thanks to our friend S who has just moved we benefitted from cuttings from the old house and the removal of pond and plants at the new house.
We now have an arch at one end of the garden, built by M in his spare time!! Great job and climbing roses and clematis already planted for next season.
View from the other side of the Scots Pine, on the path, towards our neighbours house.
The path and 'swathes'of the Soapwort.
Our vegetable patch and the potatoes which have given a good crop over the summer and now in storage to last into the autumn winter - hopefully!
Another view of the Soapwort and the Bramley Apple tree which has not had a good crop of apples this year unlike last year.
The water lillies are beginning to fade as autumn takes a hold. Thankfully te water is clear now and the plants all appear to be happy!
The gable of the bakehouse has been re-pointed and is now a stark contrast to the gable of the oven.
The courgette plant - not sure it was described as a courgette at the Garden Club sale as I might have planted it somewhere else - BUT it has been prolific and is still producing courgettes!
The grass has - hopefully! - had the last cut of the year.
Clearly the Cosmos like this bed as i have never seen them grow to this size and the number of flowers is amazing!
the jasmine, courtesy of Lidl earlier in the year has grown quite well and will hopefully survive the winter.
The beds are clearly not full but are beginning to look better as the summer ends
The lilac tree has recovered from a sever pruning so we look forward to spring blooms.
Looking from the pond towards the Lilac tree. the photo below is the results of a handful of seeds scattered by the fence!
I went out to the garden on Monday morning and discovered that the huge leylandi in one of the neighbours houses have been cut down and we now have loads of light at the bottom of the garden as well.
We have compost bins, all ready for the next year in the garden - one Brown Bin has gone back to VoWH so one to go.
The area beside the compost bins is now tidy and the pile of metal and bricks etc below came out of it - lots of roots remaining but perhaps we can get those out next year.
The beech hedge has now been planted along the boundary with our various neighbours - here's hoping that they grow next Spring!
The first hard frost of the winter and the pond is like a skating rink - we didn't try it out though!
No comments:
Post a Comment