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Paving and planting!
Apr. 10th, 2011 10:00 pmLack of gravel was remedied today (Sunday) by a quick trip back to Woodcote Green and the purchase of a small bag of 5mm Cambrian Green gravel and 18 square black slate paver blocks to fill in the two small gaps between the raised bed and the concrete base under the fire escape.
I spent this afternoon potting the remains rest of the summer bulbs into the pots which will line the fire-escape and (eventially) go on the deck.
I didn't mention the deck did I? The bit at the back of the garden which currently is home to the remains of a long deceased rockery, a disintegrating concrete washing-line pole and weeds? That is going to be the Tiny Deck of Awesome. I howeer, will not be building it. I draw the line at decking. I shall, all being well, employ S's builder D, to complete this by the end of May.
Next project? Planting the two raised veggie beds. Which requires some serious thinking about what I want to grow this year. Tomatoes, pak choi, cut and come again lettuce/leaves, peas and mangetout are all in. Broad beans and mini-sweetcorn are out. I'm still undecided about runner beans and courgettes. And I need to drag the Big Box Of Seeds out of the attic to see what else I have that might be viable!
I spent this afternoon potting the remains rest of the summer bulbs into the pots which will line the fire-escape and (eventially) go on the deck.
I didn't mention the deck did I? The bit at the back of the garden which currently is home to the remains of a long deceased rockery, a disintegrating concrete washing-line pole and weeds? That is going to be the Tiny Deck of Awesome. I howeer, will not be building it. I draw the line at decking. I shall, all being well, employ S's builder D, to complete this by the end of May.
Next project? Planting the two raised veggie beds. Which requires some serious thinking about what I want to grow this year. Tomatoes, pak choi, cut and come again lettuce/leaves, peas and mangetout are all in. Broad beans and mini-sweetcorn are out. I'm still undecided about runner beans and courgettes. And I need to drag the Big Box Of Seeds out of the attic to see what else I have that might be viable!
Paving progress...
Apr. 9th, 2011 02:00 pmSaturday saw the near completion of something I'd been wanting to do since last summer - laying paving between the raised beds.
The original idea had been to do this on Tuesday but this being London and springtime rain stopped play.
In the end the delay was good as it allowed me to tidy up the two raised perennial beds and plant some new additions and also to tidy up and underplant the area under the Acer and the small bed in front of the winter and summer jasmines. Which in turn meant we had much more space to work to lay the paving and were spared falling over plants, pots and bags of compost.
We started at 10:30am, with three minor delays to rush out and buy:
(a) a decently long bulders level )I have a builders level but it is in the attic. We shall not speak of how utterly cluttered the attic is with All The Things brought back from Sheffield after selling the house I grew up in).
(b) more sand (the compacted soil sloped deceptively from the base of the fire escape towards the rear of the garden so the sharp sand base got much thicker towards the end)
(c) a piece of treated wood to form a retaining end piece for the path and stop the sand eroding away.
However, by 2pm we had succeded!
I had a wonderful path...and the dawning realisation that the one thing I hadn't bought was gravel to dress the side of the path/between the slates. But that's gardening isn't it? There's always soemthing else to do or something you've forgotten.
Oh well, there's always tomorrow!
The original idea had been to do this on Tuesday but this being London and springtime rain stopped play.
In the end the delay was good as it allowed me to tidy up the two raised perennial beds and plant some new additions and also to tidy up and underplant the area under the Acer and the small bed in front of the winter and summer jasmines. Which in turn meant we had much more space to work to lay the paving and were spared falling over plants, pots and bags of compost.
We started at 10:30am, with three minor delays to rush out and buy:
(a) a decently long bulders level )I have a builders level but it is in the attic. We shall not speak of how utterly cluttered the attic is with All The Things brought back from Sheffield after selling the house I grew up in).
(b) more sand (the compacted soil sloped deceptively from the base of the fire escape towards the rear of the garden so the sharp sand base got much thicker towards the end)
(c) a piece of treated wood to form a retaining end piece for the path and stop the sand eroding away.
However, by 2pm we had succeded!
I had a wonderful path...and the dawning realisation that the one thing I hadn't bought was gravel to dress the side of the path/between the slates. But that's gardening isn't it? There's always soemthing else to do or something you've forgotten.
Oh well, there's always tomorrow!
Paving purchased
Apr. 5th, 2011 03:00 pmI should have done this last summer as soon as I built the raised beds but I put it off: partly because I didn't want to invest money in something I wasn't sure would work but mainly because I was very focused on the immediate pay-off of planting up the perennial flower beds and growing some of my own veggies. Instant gratification girl, that's me. *G*
On one hand I'm glad I didn't do it last year because I've has 12 months to think about what would and wouldn't work in the space. The original idea of smaller pavers surrounded by gravel just wouldn't be practical for the space - particularly as in such a small space the path forms my main working area for potting up/repotting every year which gets messy - soil and pots everywhere!
On the other hand I wish I had worked out what to use and laid it all last year because (a) it makes the garden look so much better, (b) visually makes the space seem bigger (at least until the veggies are planted and have grown in) and (c) gives me a solid base so I can put a chair out there and not have to sit on the bottom couple of steps of the fire escape to enjoy the garden.
The paving is Lakeland slate (900mm wide and 600mm deep, retailing at £11.99 per paving stone) and because when I say I garden in a small space, I mean a small space, I only needed 6 paving stones.
PICTURE OF SLATE
The fun came in transporting the paving stones and 15 bags of sharp sand up the stairs into the flat and then down the fire-escape into the garden - back-breaking work!
I'm very glad S had a free day to help me collect the paving and sand from Woodcote Green Garden Centre and aid with moving everything into the back garden. (An aside I realised I needed to get back into the gym when I found I couldn't actually lift a bag of dampish sand high enough to get it onto myt shoulder to make carrying it easier - mind you they probably weighed in at about 30-35kg).
Of course, by the time we'd moved everything into place, this being London and springtime it started to rain so we had to postpone laying the paving until Saturday.
On one hand I'm glad I didn't do it last year because I've has 12 months to think about what would and wouldn't work in the space. The original idea of smaller pavers surrounded by gravel just wouldn't be practical for the space - particularly as in such a small space the path forms my main working area for potting up/repotting every year which gets messy - soil and pots everywhere!
On the other hand I wish I had worked out what to use and laid it all last year because (a) it makes the garden look so much better, (b) visually makes the space seem bigger (at least until the veggies are planted and have grown in) and (c) gives me a solid base so I can put a chair out there and not have to sit on the bottom couple of steps of the fire escape to enjoy the garden.
The paving is Lakeland slate (900mm wide and 600mm deep, retailing at £11.99 per paving stone) and because when I say I garden in a small space, I mean a small space, I only needed 6 paving stones.
PICTURE OF SLATE
The fun came in transporting the paving stones and 15 bags of sharp sand up the stairs into the flat and then down the fire-escape into the garden - back-breaking work!
I'm very glad S had a free day to help me collect the paving and sand from Woodcote Green Garden Centre and aid with moving everything into the back garden. (An aside I realised I needed to get back into the gym when I found I couldn't actually lift a bag of dampish sand high enough to get it onto myt shoulder to make carrying it easier - mind you they probably weighed in at about 30-35kg).
Of course, by the time we'd moved everything into place, this being London and springtime it started to rain so we had to postpone laying the paving until Saturday.
