Garden Pictures 2016

An archive of the picture gallery from 2016. The oldest pictures are at the bottom of the page. Time flows from left to right → → on any row. Click on any picture to see a larger scale version. As you scroll down a 'return to the top' button will appear in the lower right corner of the screen.

Phred the Pheasant is now a frequent visitor, eager for a few sunflower seeds as food becomes scarce further back and into the woods [he is probably also encouraged by the shots ringing out in the woods];	Down by the spring the holly has finally been stripped out from the middle of the hazel; it looks as though a pruning plan is required for the hazel though, perhaps over three years;	The end of November and [paid] work has disrupted gardening since mid month; we have jumped to the south end of the kitchen garden, trying to decide how to tackle things there;	Looking down the capped well you can see the original circular shape and the 1930's suction pipe for the house water;
Mid-October and another day is focused on the path to the west of the house;	By the end of the day, the drain line has been extended, the aggregate is down along the utility room wall and extra sleepers are in place;	After several weeks gap another push takes the sleepers to the end of the straight by November 11; at the near end the bed has been tidied up and winter primulas planted;	Work is also advancing on tidying up around top pond with the bricks removed and gravel washed, supplemented and laid across everything;
October 6 and the first chance to get back to Peasmarsh but the rains are still holding off so the work at the backdoor can be continued; the excavation is extended, aggregate is down/levelled and the first sleepers are placed; again the black mesh is a trial fit;	October 7 and the focus is on the glebe land where the bed at the path junction south of the bridge is prepared; in the back ground to the north of the bridge ...	... is the bed near the spring which has also been rescued from the worst of the weeds and levelled;	A week later and the weeds in the front by the apple tree have been strimmed; the trick will be to now keep on top of them!
Having finished the dam foundation it was up to the back door to remove the rest of the old drain ...	... and prepare for the hard cover; it was at this stage that an old abandoned drain pipe was found, presumably from when the 1970's extension was added;	Friday, the last day of September : the carpets have been moved down to the recently cleared part of the glebe land ...	... and the work at the back door has progressed; the black mesh is just a trial fit to see how much more is needed to reach the edge of the sleeper;
Still mid-September and the bridge end of the bed on the south side of Winter Stream is dug over [but the weeds are already coming back!];	Autumn equinox and this is all you get for a solid day's work; the previous drain was at the dpc level of the 1970's utility room so 150mm above the garage dpc past which it must flow;	September 27th and the rains are holding off so the foundation of bottom dam can be cast ...	... and finished; about one third of a cubic metre by two of us in part of a morning;
Early September and the garden around the orangery is slowly being reclaimed; the bed to the east is now fully dug over with liberal compost application and another sleeper has been placed : possibly the last;	Cyclamen flowers have started to appear under the cherry tree so that part of the circle has been cleared; flowering without leaves implies C. hederifolium;	Mid-September and the area around the spring at the start of the glebe land has been tidied up with a some stone ...	... and the foundation pit for the lower dam on Winter Stream has been dug; we shall have to see whether the foundation can be poured before the rains come;
Late August and sleeper laying continues from time to time; the Egyptians knew how one man could move a 60kg sleeper!	The main path starts to rise once past the orangery so double decking of sleepers is no longer required;	The dam at Willow Pond is now finished and the temporary wooden dam has been removed so that integration with the existing earth walls can start;	In the same period, work started on marking out and clearing the bed south of Winter Stream from the bridge to the willow;
August 5 and the dam at Willow Pond is starting to come up out of the ground;	August 15 and the sleeper edging to the entrance bed is looking good with three sleepers in place; the last will wait for the porch details to be finalised;	Mid-August and the dam at Willow Pond is up to full height; the upside down top course is difficult so the joints still have to be finished;	In the same period, work started on cutting back the kitchen garden in preparation for the path down the west side of the house;
Also in mid-July we took delivery of 50 used sleepers;	At the end of July the first sleeper was put in place as drive edging at the entrance bed; as Chairman Mao would have said : 'This is only the first step in a long march of ten thousand li!';	Work had also started on the permanent dam up at Willow Pond in the glebe land;	Early August and the sleepers which are to keep the orangery garden at level are started too;
Mid-July and the sweet peas planted in the entrance bed as fillers are a blaze of colour ...	... and the nasturtiums planted out near the road as weed suppressant are a sea - almost an ocean - of yellows and reds much admired by passing dog walkers;	Around the back near the orangery, the asclepias that we planted have come into flower; this is the short, deep yellow one;	Close up they look almost waxy like miniature hoya flowers; this pink one is much taller;
By the time of Jazz 2016 at Midsummer the bridge and its pathways was looking good - even if surrounded by weeds;	Some naughty people [you know who you are!] ignored our plea for no presents; a most magnificent Acer palmatum 'Garnet' has now been planted next to top pond and looks very happy at home near the Magnolia stellata named for and planted by Tony de Joux in early May ...	... and Rosa 'Special Anniversary' [how appropriate!] has been placed in the entrance bed where it will probably be planted as it looks so comfortable;	At the end of June the brick markers for a widened Winter Stream below the bridge [see the row below] were replaced by cut-out 'river banks';
May 30 and that looks better already;	The earth from the pile is now being used to bank the approach path; the bricks mark where the path will probably run ...	... while these bricks are first thoughts on the lines of a widened Winter Stream below the bridge;	There is a fascinating selection of clays coming out of the garden; the yellow is 'typical' clay whereas the red and the [almost] white are close to plasticine in texture;
May 27 and all hands are on deck for a trial fit of the bridge ...	... which went so well that the bridge was fully erected [albeit with a few screws missing and without the levelling shims below];	On the same day the hedge line along the west fence was cleared and planted with elaeagnus [Elaeagnus x ebbingei]; it is a fast growing - but controllable - shrub so we should soon have the start of a hedge;	The view looking south looks different again; once the earth pile goes the bridge should be a strong feature;
A week after it was poured the second bridge foundation is rescued from its shuttering; debris from the orangery work is helping create the approach path;	The Primula pulverulenta planted under the weeping willow on the banks of Winter Stream is starting to flower already;	Some Primula bulleyana have been planted under the school's big oak; they will hopefully spread;	The view looking south has changed again as the home garden is levelled during the orangery works;
May 6 and there is some spare concrete from the orangery foundations so John the gardener was ready to get to it ...	... and the second bridge foundation was poured in double quick time with relatively little effort compared to last week's hand mixing;	May 11 and the trees are looking truly vernal; this an English oak [Quercus robur] ...	... and this a sweet chestnut [Castanea sativa];
The view to the south is opening out nicely;	May 4 and the sub-base for the second bridge foundation is dug and back-filled; the debris from the old patio sub-base [see the house pictures] is being used to continue the build up of the path behind the first foundation;	May 5 and the first buzzard of the year is soaring high over the home garden;	On the same day the shuttering is ready for the second bridge foundation, hopefully to take some of the concrete from the main pour up at the orangery;
May Day ... and another good day for gardening: some primulas [bright red Primula 'Inverewe' and almost magenta Primula pulverulenta] are planted under the salix down by Winter Stream;	We also find truffles on a recently felled young oak, or so we think; they turn out to be oak root galls although they are sometimes called truffle galls; they are caused by a gall wasp called Andricus quercusradicis;	On the Tuesday Richard returns to finish the job of felling the last chamaecyparis type ...	... and it is soon disposed of;
April 29 is a busy day with the first bridge foundation shuttered ...	... and poured; the old coal heap at the front is being used to build up the path to the bridge;	Next door to the west, a new fence is built ...	... and the bed near the entrance is finished off; there is still room for summer planting though;
April 22 and a pair of mallard pay a visit, seemingly house hunting; this picture is them on the dam in the glebe land;	The bed near the entrance is starting to come together although one doubts that all the weed roots and seeds have been eradicated;	April 28 and the cherry tree is at its best - two weeks after the first flowers were pictured ...	... say no more;
April 21 and the 'Chinese' bridge arrives ...	... the centre beam showing the look and feel : it will be 1200 wide and the span is 3600;	Work immediately started on the foundations and approaches in the field ...	... and in the workshop [alright, garage];
In the glebe land the salix leaf buds are breaking ...	... and some frog spawn in the dam has produced the first tadpoles;	One week later than the picture below and the tree is starting to look magnificent ...	... as are the bluebells down in the glebe land;
Mid-April and everything is springing to life, including the lily root cuttings in the top pond ...	... and the beech hedge out on the road;	The first flowers on the cherry tree are out ...	... and the brambles are more than happy; this one down on the wet eastern border is about 25 mm in diameter;
The ornamental cherry is budding up nicely;	The top pond is fully ringed with The Daily Mulch and the first part of the so called weed-killing membrane has been lifted; everything also got a hefty dose of weedkiller the day before this was taken - but will it work?	Toads obviously like to read the Daily Mulch [after all we do only use the Times or the Telegraph darling]; this was taken on April 9;	A young slow worm, Anguis fragilis, turned up when the membrane was being lifted; it was about 10mm in diameter and perhaps 300mm long;
The end of March and the brambles in the glebe damp garden have all been blitzed [but the roots are still there!] ...	... and the tree(s) around the dam have been tidied up;	Up at the house, all of the path to the west that bridged the DPC has gone ...	... and the meadow to the east is being tamed with pathways;
Where we first designated a compost heap turned out to be a spring, at least in this wet winter; we have drained it down to Winter Stream;	In the kitchen garden the Daily Mulch has been put to good use in the zone where weedkiller would be too dangerous;	Easter 2016 and we have just started to recover the pond down in the south east corner of the home garden; you could almost walk on it there was so much organic material and the smell of H2S was strong;	There is now a temporary bridge in the glebe land across Winter Stream [concrete supports from the old oil tank] and a way has been driven past the bonfire through the brambles and nettles towards the big oak; note the experimental dam on Winter Stream;
What a difference a month makes! the two diseased ash trees to the north of Winter stream have been taken down [compare with below] ...	... and the rubble pile has grown considerably, waiting for permission to build the orangery foundations [again, compare with below];	Win on her knees, clearing the vertical not-damp-proof course;	Mid-March and all of the DPC has now been cleared; note too that the last vestiges of the oil tank have gone;
January 2016 and you could be forgiven for thinking that nothing happened in the garden - but it has; in the rear, the Prunus lusitanica on the west boundary is down, as is some of the holly further south ...	... and in the kitchen garden the path is currently being demolished; further north the rest of the beech hedge is down to height and the debris from removing the conifer is cleared [hence the tyre ruts in the picture to the left];	Late January and the ground is saturated so Winter Stream is more like a small river;	The apple tree in the front has been re-introduced to a pruning regime but it will take three years to complete;