Garden Pictures 2017

An archive of the picture gallery from 2017. The oldest pictures are at the bottom of the page. At the bottom, time flows from left to right → → on any row but part way through [it is clearly marked] it switches to flowing from right to left ← ← 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.

Mid-November and the garden is really autumnal now although mild : the trees have not really shed all their leaves;	By the end of Tuesday the doors were on and the roof trimming under way;	Tuesday was a relatively miserable day but still OK for applying the roof membrane; the EPDM rubber sheet is glued down;	By the end of Monday the roof is on the man cave; tomorrow will be tidying up and then the roof membrane can be placed;
By early afternoon the basic structure is complete; we bought thye version with extra trusses;	Monday and the work is soon under way;	Sunday November 5 and preparation work - making the trusses - is under way for tomorrow's man cave erection;	Early November and and the first phase of the rockery is finished; more stone is needed now;
The strip foundations of the man cave are soon cast; of course, not every builder uses such high quality shuttering ...	Monday October 30 and a new boys' toy is put to work;	Some progress has also been made with the rockery as a delivery of horticultural grit was received last week;	Sunday October 29 and it is exactly three weeks since sowing the lawn grass seed;
As a result, River Pond [above the new dam] filled to the top of the lowest bricks; we can certainly go up two more courses and maybe four, it depends what happens above Chinese Bridge;	Saturday October 21 was sunshine and [very heavy] showers; Winter Stream was a veritable torrent;	This morning [October 19] an albino pheasant [AFAIK] came into the garden; it is too shy to take food - yet!	48 hours after the last picture was taken : it is a bit like watching paint dry but the lawn grass shoots are definitely much longer;
The same day, the foundations for the man cave have been excavated;	Monday October 16, eight days after sowing, and a green tinge shows where the grass seeds have germinated and tiny shoots are appearing;	That same weekend the nerines up at top pond were nearly in full bloom;	Following a short break, the first weekend of October saw the lawn fully topsoiled and the grass seed sown; that is sand being added after to [hopefully!] fool the birds;
Progress has been made on the future rockery too [and it is a good way of disposing of rubble from the lawn area];	Monday September 25 and the rest of the lawn has been composted and tilled plus last week's area has been covered in topsoil;	That same day, the kit arrives for making a 'man-cave' to store the 'boys' toys';	Monday September 18 and the compost is laid on the first part of the lawn and tilled in;
Mid-September and the nerines at top pond are in bud - but not the ones at entrance east [keep your fingers crossed];	During the week, the path from top pond to the well head was formed and partially made;	That same day the levelling of the future lawn is completed and a delivery of 750 litres of straw compost is received;	And here is that first pizza having survived been pushed onto the coals : it takes practice to use the peel correctly!
The very first pizza about to be loaded into the oven;	Monday September 11 and another red letter day : the oven is fired up for its first pizzas!	On the Monday Damien is, among other things, busy levelling more of the future lawn;	Still Saturday, September 2, and Dave has been busy down on Winter Stream throwing the first courses of the dam which will create the 'river pond';
There was also time to finish the rest of the Icelandic pebble path but not enough pebbles to do so!	... and the first drying out fire was lit towards the end of the day : another red[hot] letter day!	... and during the day was rubbed down with a wet sponge to finish it off ...	Saturday, September 2, sees a push to finish the oven : the second [top] coat of render was applied in the morning ...
Eddie also brought in sand, grids and pebbles to extend the path; hopefully it will be complete tomorrow;	The same day, young Eddie [Damien's brother] came in to help tidy up; the log pile is complete and the log store under the pizza oven, as can be seen to the right, is full of smaller pieces;	Friday September 1 and the arch shuttering [apparently called 'centering']could come down so the chimney was installed;	Tuesday, August 29, and the first coat of the rendering - the scratch coat - is indeed done; [from here downwards a slight change in the flow of pictures, now left to right → → on any row]
Bank Holiday Monday, August 28, is auspicious; we have not seen Phred the Pheasant for six months but today a young pheasant flew in : Son of Phred?	Dave came out to build the pizza oven arch ...	... and the remaining mortar was used to finish the quarry tile grouting and start the rendering; rendering will continue tomorrow;	Meanwhile Damien focused on the rest of the Icelandic pebble path then started infilling between the future lawn level lines and developing the next one;
Wednesday August 23 and the quarry tiles finally arrive; they are soon being laid around the core of the pizza oven ...	... and work has started on level lines across what will become the lawn;	Thursday and the waterproof cover is put on the oven; the remaining tiles have been fixed and yesterday's tiles grouted;	The insulation is added the same day; the next step is to build the decorative brick arch at the front before the mortar weathering render is applied to the dome;
Friday and the morning was used to finish the future lawn area then the machine was used to carry the boulders down to the future rockery ...	... which went remarkably well to the extent that the boulders were placed into position too; the rockery will be to the right of the path heading down to the 'Chinese' bridge;	This view shows the bank along the western fence where another sleeper wall will be built; the just mortared pizza oven [see below] is also seen;	As the work wound down towards Friday evening it was finally possible to get a picture of our driver who had worked the digger so well all week - and what a week it was!
Wednesday night and early Thursday were wet again so there was danger of bogging down on Thursday; this shows the track of the dumper taking surplus clay to the glebe land where the carpets have been lifted in preparation;	However, by the end of the day the future lawn was starting to take shape; there is still some excavation to do tomorrow though as there needs to be room for top soil;	The sandstone pavers for the patio and well head were also delivered today; this is a trial fit; they are said to be 'Golden Fossil' but we haven't seen any fossils!	Some reinforcing was applied to the joints of the pizza oven, ready to be mortared on;
Wednesday was drier but work continued on the future lawn area, over-cutting to allow topsoil to be added back ...	... and the concrete around the base of the oven was cast; everything is now ready for the quarry tiles;	At the end of the day the clay mountains around the oak were gone and the vista to the 'Chinese' bridge opened up [ignore the mound of top soil for now];	This is a view of the future river pond; the orangey clay dumps are dry and powdery but once wet it should be possibly to create the 'river banks';
Tuesday August 15 and overnight rain meant that water accumulated in the bed of Winter Stream so the digger cleared the future lawn area ...	... which exposed an elephant hawk-moth caterpillar; it was about 80 mm long with its 'trunk' extended;	At the pizza oven, the sealant was applied to the match faces and each front half was offered up in turn ...	... and hey presto : the basic oven is complete; the next step is to concrete in around the base of the oven to finished level ready for quarry tiles;
Monday August 14 and what a day! the boys' toys are soon in action : the work starts recovering the lovely top soil from the bed of Winter Stream where the dam will be ...	... and by the end of the day there are two piles of that and half the clay mountains around the oak have been levelled, pushing them down into the valley;	That doesn't mean work has stopped on the pizza oven : the rear dome is man-handled up onto the base ...	... and the refactory floor is laid; hopefully the front half-domes can be installed tomorrow;
Early August and work has started on the permanent log store ...	... and it is a good job the scrap metal merchant hasn't appeared as these two pieces of the old water tank make good log retainers;	Friday August 11 and the very serious 'boys' toys' arrive, ready for next week's landscaping work;	Mid-August and anything van Gogh can do ... [ear ear I hear you say];
Still Monday July 31 and the final ~100 kg of iris is removed from black pond [what looks like a black mass in the pond is actually clear water with the sky reflected in part];	This view, from the same day, shows the contoured earth around the well head; that is an aconite [Aconitum napellus 'Spark's Variety'] in the foreground;	Friday August 4 and the kit for building the pizza oven arrives; every piece of the 'igloo' is heavy and the semi-dome particularly so;	Monday August 7 and the concrete slab under the pizza oven has been laid together with the oven base; the bed behind the dwarf wall has also been finished;
Also Monday July 31 and Dave, having progressed as far as possible inside, starts work on the dwarf wall of the patio in mid-afternoon ...	... and ninety minutes later is already laying the block inner skin;	The top course is 'brick on end', sometimes called a rowlock course for reasons lost in antiquity;	This is the view at the end of the day with the wall complete;
Tuesday July 25 and today's project task [as distinct from maintenance such as weeding and clearing] is to shutter the slope by the kitchen window ...	... and Wednesday's task is to pour it; the addition of black pebbles was a last minute thought : they will have a light hosing this evening;	Monday July 31 and the strawberry tree [Arbutus unedo] given to Win by the staff on her retirement is planted in the home garden; he is christened Mícheál ...	... and the area next to the slope is tidied up to cope with the drop in level of the DPC;
Monday July 24 and the foundation trench for the retaining wall is completed - including repairing the drain discovered damaged by the 2016 builders;	It was then down to black pond where maybe another 100 kg of iris was removed; once that has drained down we can tackle the last of it;	The same day Dave, having finished the dining room fireplace work, laid the last of the bricks for the pizza oven base ...	... and this is the view [from the orangery roof!] of the work; note that the retaining wall foundations are complete too;
Monday July 17 and the concrete soffit of the wood store / footing of the remaining brickwork was soon complete [and the herb bed was filled with soil];	Damien - having helped with clearing another 100 kg of iris down at black pond - then started work on the foundations for the retaining wall;	Friday July 21 and the braai is complete : the outer stainless bars are cut and the herb bed is planted up [with thyme, chives and marjoram];	Saturday is a red letter day; as ou'ma would say : the proof of the braai is in the eating;
Saturday July 15 and by mid morning the brickwork around the well head is complete ...	... so Dave started on the brickwork above the lintel for the pizza oven side;	That too was complete by lunchtime; Dave then moved on to the north side brickwork [nearer the camera];	This picture was taken on Sunday morning after the shuttering for Monday's concrete work was complete; it shows the 'table' to the right of the braai and the 'herb bed' to the left;
Saturday evening and a great spotted woodpecker is hunting on Sue's oak next door; this was taken with maximum optical zoom and then high electronic zoom;	Wednesday July 12 and time to finish the well head concrete; by 10:00 the concrete was complete to the level of the existing concrete ...	... and by 12:00 the screed topping was complete too; that clears the way for more brick laying on Saturday;	July 13 and work starts on the rescue of black pond, almost completely choked by the native water iris Iris pseudacorus [commonly called 'yellow flag']; judging by the work so far there must be a total of 3 to 500 kg [wet] of the plant in the pond;
Saturday July 8 and strip footing cast yesterday by the well top is ready for bricklaying;	The log store under the pizza oven is soon up to level and work starts around the well head;	Later in the day attention turns to the braai;	This is the result at the end of the day [now after three days bricklaying]; there is a lot of back-filling and shuttering required next so don't expect the same progress!
Still Saturday and later in the day the focus turns to the pizza oven side;	This is the result at the end of the day [after two days of bricklaying]; next week will [hopefully] see the braai firebed cast and the concrete around the well;	Monday July 3 and the firebed is cast; it will have to be kept wet all week if the sun continues to shine;	The next day and large grey pebbles are used to fill the mini-bed at the orangery and planted up with four types of sedum; the pebbles continue to the sleeper to stop cats digging up soil onto the path;
Late June and the step has been cast at the brickwork; the next course of bricks has been placed just to get a feel of the finished look;	The missing 150 high sleeper has also been installed so the sleeper work is fully complete;	Saturday July 1 and another day of brickwork; the bricks around the step and at the sleepers are soon finished ...	... and not long after the lintel for the fire bed of the braai is in place;
June 16 and, with flowering over, the serious pruning of the first big rhododendron on the eastern border was completed; the front half of the right-hand one was also pruned but its big cut must wait a year;	The setting out of the braai bricks was done on Sunday June 18 but unfortunately the brickie [who has the laser level] was a no-show; we may have to break out the old water level hose ...	Thursday June 22 and Dave the brickie is here setting out for real [with mortar];	The end of the day shows very satisfactory progress; next stage is to cast concrete at the well before brick work can resume;
June 12 and the objective is to cast the foundations for the barbecue area next to the [future] patio ...	... and work was soon progressing at speed thanks to Ian's mixer [a.k.a. boys' toy II] which he has kindly lent us;	By 15:00 the objective was achieved [albeit with some substitution of Type 1 aggregate for ballast and fine sand for builders' sand] ...	... and there was still time to plant the Alchemilla mollis from Chelsfield along the south bank of Winter Stream;
By the end of May the bed under the cherry tree had [finally!] been recovered from the rampant growth and weeds;	In early June some reclaimed rocks were delivered with material for the dining room fireplace; they are for a rockery where the home garden drops down to the glebe land;	Still early June and the edge of the mainly shade bed in the north west of the glebe land is starting to take shape ...	... and the bed on the south side of Winter Stream is looking good after a lot of effort with the 'boys' toy';
Later in May and the magnificent weather has brought the garden on; the east entrance bed has now been reclaimed as far as the cornus [does anybody want perhaps a thousand muscari bulbs?] ...	... and close by the medlar [Mespilus germanica, a Christmas present from young Mike] has been planted in the meadow;	Progress has been made round at the future patio, digging the foundations for the braai and pizza oven ...	... and down in the glebe land the red astilbes - which really enjoy the damp conditions - have been joined by some white ones called 'Cappuccino';
Mid-May : back from travels to find that the rhododendrons on the east border are flowering [the paler lilac mist to the right is the wisteria that has run wild] ...	... and the iris moved from the garage door has flourished; that is a Siberian iris closer to the camera on the left, a definite objet trouvé;	Damien is soon hard at work with the new toy, tilling the kitchen garden ...	... but the toy struggles at the back where the ground is essentially clay sub-soil never previously cultivated; perseverance will be needed;
Tuesday May 02 : the first sleepers along the east side of the entrance are now in place [and the cleaning up of the bed has reached the mass of grape hyacinth, now finished flowering] ...	... and a herb garden on the west of the house has been planted out between the bedding plants;	Monday May 8 : Mike may be in the Far East but work continues; here the black pebbles have been put down at the orangery ...	... and here the excavation where the braai and well head are to go is under way;
Monday April 24 : the top layer of sleepers is complete; the hardcore of the path up to the well is also down; [what you don't see is that the thick middle layer sleeper is missing with temporary props standing in];	We are down to a choice of two pebble types for the paths : Scottish on the left and Icelandic on the right;	Meanwhile, out at the entrance, the east bed has progressed another metre or so and work has started on the sleeper border on that side; there is a lot of building rubble in the bed;	Friday April 28 was 'Boys' Toys' day : not much work done in the house!
Easter 2017 and progress has also been made with the sleeper wall on the west side of the house;	This view is from the dining room window;	Two days later and the drain along the route of the path is complete ...	... and two more sleepers have been 'chainsaw carved' to shape and installed; we need to find a thick sleeper from somewhere to finish the middle layer;
April 10 and the gravel bed around the pond is finally finished : no more gravel washing! a teak bench has been installed next to the path looking across the pond to the house and the [future] patio beyond;	Meanwhile, the outline of the future south lawn has been extended; the clay soil is heavy going so a tilling machine is needed;	One gets a better view from bedroom 2 above [the view from the master bedroom being hidden by the orangery lantern];	The east path and mini-patio outside the French doors were complete in time for Easter; the two olives have been potted on;
Still early April and it might look a mess down on the eastern boundary next to black pond but that is actually a bonfire's worth of old and diseased Cornus; by Easter all will be plain to see;	The triangular bed in the glebe land recovered nicely from last month's weedkiller; two Persicaria microcephala 'Red Dragon' and a Dierama igneum have been brought down from Chelsfield;	The south bank bed of Winter Stream also recovered well from the weedkiller but some weeds were missed so a second application was needed;	At the orangery the pathway and associated bed has also progressed but it took a tote bag full of aggregate in front of the orangery doors : two more bags are on order; the winter pansies reflect the name of the new room nicely;
Monday March 27 and the clocks went forward over the weekend : that has woken the cherry up!	We have got back to that pathway as noted below and the first 3 m2 are complete, awaiting the final choice of infill;	Early April and the weather has favoured gardening; the path at top pond is nearly complete ...	... and the the bed under the cherry [which makes good shade cover for tender plants] is slowly coming back from weediness;
Also on the spring equinox and the refurbishment of the gravel path around the pond is complete [but not the path leading to it!]; ...	... while under the cherry tree some primroses have been planted next to the cyclamen;	A start has also been made on marking out the eastern bed of the south garden - but we need to get back to that pathway which will run past the orangery;	A casual observer will not see the changes in the glebe land but another 14 young [and diseased] oaks have been thinned out and the weed mass to the south of the stream has been sprayed even if the results are not yet obvious;
Mid-March and the kitchen garden has been tidied up a lot [this view is from the dining room window] ...	... and the south end of the western path is close to final depth next to the well;	The spring equinox and the Magnolia stellata named for and planted by Tony de Joux last year is looking lovely, as is the Acer palmatum 'Katsura' just coming into leaf;	The proof of the March 12 comment [just below] is now there for all to see in the east entrance bed;
February 23 and the first daffodil is out in the west entrance bed ...	... and the hellebores are out in the same bed closer to the main entrance;	March 11 and spring is really here; perhaps this close-up will help confirm that;	The next day and time to start planting up the east entrance bed; most of the greenery further down is grape hyacinth [Muscari] plants, not weeds;
On the same day as below the spring is to be seen gently adding to the flow of Winter Stream ...	... and one of the many robins in the garden waits for a titbit to appear among the gardener's work;	Three days later - still mid-February - and the crocuses are out in all their glory under the Rhus next to the cherry tree ...	... and so are the cyclamen [this time C. coum] under the shrubs by the entrance gate : spring is just around the corner;
Also in the glebe land, the area around the oak where we dream of a future lake has been cleared of the weak saplings struggling to grow;	The weather was good enough to cut back the concrete and steel sheets at the head of the well; next step is to cast a neat edge to the concrete cap;	Mid-February and a lovely sunny, cold Monday; snowdrops are flowering under the cherry tree ...	... and the hazel catkins catch the sun;
More disruption by [paid] work but John the gardener has carried on; the top pond gravel is proceeding at a pace although it is tedious, washing the existing gravel and blending with new;	The east bed at the entrance has now been stripped bare to lie fallow over winter - which is now upon us;	January 2 2017; yesterday's rain meant that the dam at Willow Pond finally spilled over; it is pleasing to see in the close-up that the dam is indeed level;	The weather today is in marked contrast to New Year's Day : the catkins on one of the willows in the glebe land are starting to appear;