Whilst I wait for one of the local Tohatsu dealers to get back to me about what is blocking the upper gear lube drain hole on my outboard, I have been busy in the garden.
I am, I know, a very lucky man. My garden is around 70m long and albeit very steep, it is cultivated in the lower half and left as a wild woodland in the upper part.
I garden for wildlife. It is their garden too. Deer, toads, frogs, field mice, voles, a stoat, slow worm a plenty. Many, many squirrels. Two owls, several magpies, pigeons, jays and a woodpecker on occasions. Lots of small birds from robins to wagtails of all things. Dragonflies and bugs of all types and sizes.
In the past there have been grass snakes, hedgehogs, foxes, swarms of bees and a rather nasty encounter with an underground wasps nest that put me in the minor injuries unit for a few hours whilst kind nurses threw every ounce of their sympathy and great care at me. I got stung 57 times, and yes, they counted every sting! In the next few weeks, some natural wicker beehives are arriving for the upper wood and I have to start building their base platforms soon.
More pressing is the huge amount of timber arriving tomorrow which has to be carried from the front of the house, up thirty steps to the back garden, where it has to then be cut to length. Yes, I had this stupid idea of replacing the garden steps (all thirty of them) that go from the lower garden to the upper one.
I built them 25 years ago and the wood lasted well. But over the last few years, various steps have started to rot and it was time for the lot to be replaced. this time round we are adding gravel steps within a box frame. The last week has been re-cutting the steps ready for the new ones.
A tonne of gravel arrives on Wednesday in one of those big bulk bags which get craned off the lorry and onto our front lawn. then we carry it up the thirty steps in buckets. That is going to be one long job!
Never one to do things in halves, I also had the bright idea of landscaping an upper terrace, building new composters, moving a large wood log pile and landscaping a smaller side slope into a set of terraces which will house new compost bins and storage area for pots etc.
I am very privileged and lucky at this time of great national strife and difficulty to have such a wonderful open space full of wildlife.
I am, I know, a very lucky man. My garden is around 70m long and albeit very steep, it is cultivated in the lower half and left as a wild woodland in the upper part.
I garden for wildlife. It is their garden too. Deer, toads, frogs, field mice, voles, a stoat, slow worm a plenty. Many, many squirrels. Two owls, several magpies, pigeons, jays and a woodpecker on occasions. Lots of small birds from robins to wagtails of all things. Dragonflies and bugs of all types and sizes.
In the past there have been grass snakes, hedgehogs, foxes, swarms of bees and a rather nasty encounter with an underground wasps nest that put me in the minor injuries unit for a few hours whilst kind nurses threw every ounce of their sympathy and great care at me. I got stung 57 times, and yes, they counted every sting! In the next few weeks, some natural wicker beehives are arriving for the upper wood and I have to start building their base platforms soon.
More pressing is the huge amount of timber arriving tomorrow which has to be carried from the front of the house, up thirty steps to the back garden, where it has to then be cut to length. Yes, I had this stupid idea of replacing the garden steps (all thirty of them) that go from the lower garden to the upper one.
I built them 25 years ago and the wood lasted well. But over the last few years, various steps have started to rot and it was time for the lot to be replaced. this time round we are adding gravel steps within a box frame. The last week has been re-cutting the steps ready for the new ones.
A tonne of gravel arrives on Wednesday in one of those big bulk bags which get craned off the lorry and onto our front lawn. then we carry it up the thirty steps in buckets. That is going to be one long job!
Never one to do things in halves, I also had the bright idea of landscaping an upper terrace, building new composters, moving a large wood log pile and landscaping a smaller side slope into a set of terraces which will house new compost bins and storage area for pots etc.
In the meantime, the upper wooded area has a carpet of buttercups, bluebells and wild garlic. The smell is wonderful. Once this terrace above is levelled, weed matting will go down and a wooden frame border will go around it. Another tonne of gravel will be carried from the road, up sixty, yes sixty steps, and raked out over the mating. Then some new wooden frame boxes will be constructed and a butterfly/insect garden planted within them. Add a seat, a hammock in the treeline and another composter bin and it will be a lovely area with stunning views up the garden and out over the valley below.
2 comments:
Great photos, especially the first one with the light shining through the trees. A great place to expend some energy and get creative in these difficult times - what a sanctuary.
Im so lucky. And it is a real privilege being custodian of it
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