What a fabulous Saturday; I've just taken a break from being in the garden all morning. In fact, I've been in the garden most evenings all week and it's been great - ahhhhh fresh air and sun!A warm welcome to a new follower. I can't tell you much about Ciara de Burca, (Ciara being a Gaelic/Irish name) - welcome indeed.
We've done some good stuff in the garden this week, put two tons of chipped bark on borders and a ton of soil to top up borders and dips in the grass which I'm trying to level. I had been given a mix of old rockery stones from a colleague of my wife's who clearly wanted rid of a mixed jumble of stones. With what soil I had left I decided to make a small rockery to put some heathers in just to cover a spare piece of garden in semi shade that's never done a lot. When the heathers spread, you won't be able to see what a motley collection of miss-matched stones they are.
The trees in the garden are covered by a Tree Protection Order (TPO) which to be honest is a pain in the ass really because I can't do anything with the trees at all unless I get permission - I can't trim them, lop them - nothing. The council have consented to me getting someone in to trim off the twigs and branches that are on the lower trunk that not only look untidy but cut the light out of the garden. Getting consent to do these simple jobs has taken all of two months! Bureaucracy gone mad.
The rise where I live is built on
the grounds of an old house which was turned into a nursing home then demolished in the late 1970s. All the TPO did was preserve the trees that were here for the nursing home. The trouble is they are really too close to our houses and most of them have been chopped down and replaced over the years because they were not good specimens anyway. All this work will do is give us a lot more light into the garden making a more pleasant place to sit in the summer.This afternoon, I'm putting a second coat of epoxy paint on the fountain to seal it and make it waterproof, then next weekend I can put the centre pieces in which the water flows over and then I can fill it with water - that's if we don't have a hosepipe ban after a few days of sunshine. Brother in law next door, who is a star, is going to give me a hand in servicing my lawn mower (I'm ashamed to say in ten years, it's never had a service at all!).
Enjoy the weekend
Chat soon
Ta-ra.
