Garden Pictures 2018

An archive of the picture gallery from 2018. The oldest pictures are at the bottom of the page. Time flows 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.

Many of the plants were dormant and just don't show at the moment; these various Heuchera selections under the oak tree do show though;	December 17 was an epic planting day with close to 90 plants planted [thanks to Rob]; this is pachysandra terminalis for ground cover;	December 7 was not so much a red letter day as a 'red cap' day when a green woodpecker came to visit the wildflower meadow; the close-up is very grainy;	This picture was taken on November 22 after things had subsided; the dam is intact but no longer upright so back to the drawing board [and cement mixer in 2019];
Back in August the River Pond dam had been increased in height; the first real rains were on November 11 when Winter Stream was a torrent : the dam was pushed over by water pressure!	This is with the new liner roughly in place and the filling - pumped from the well - under way; shortly after this was taken, Mike's L femur snapped, dumping him in the pond;	85 fish were removed and stored in two large buckets; no sign of any newts but lots of water boatmen;	October 15 - a fateful day- and it is time to change the liner of top pond; this is as the pond is getting low, the liquid is mainly mud;
Mid-October and two of the new cyclamen - a gift from Marilyn and Tony - nestle under the new rocks in the rockery;	Two days later and the new rocks can be seen in a better light after the soil has been prepared and top dressed; the grit will weather down in due course to match the existing;	The same day and the new rocks are roughly placed at the top of the rockery; just need to finalise, add grit to the soil and top dress with grit;	October 1 and the north bank of Winter Stream is rotavated to level off the clay layer we added, mix in ash and suppress weeds;
September 27 and the remaining rocks required for the rockery have arrived; hopefully a job for Monday;	Late September and the asters [Symphyotrichum if you must] beyond Top Pond are striking in the autumnal sunshine; no wonder they are called 'September Rubin' [Ruby];	How can one be so blind? walk past the nerines several times each day but only see the first bud when almost ready to pop; autumn is coming!	Mid-September and the wild rose by the driveway is offering a magnificent display of hips;
A single tree has been left; once it has dropped its leaves it will be reduced in height by about one third and will hopefully recover fully;	Also the 10th and the tangle of Rhus in the wildflower meadow is being removed;	September 10 and a future hedge of Japanese holly [Ilex crenata] is planted along the one edge of the deck;	Early September and the autumn crocuses [Colchicum autumnale] planted in the shade of the deck oak are flowering [the leaves come later];
The same day, the work to clear the weedy mass in Winter Stream continued; a few more hours of work and it should be possible to recover the silty top soil;	Friday and the dam for the future River Pond is completed to the existing level and then built up another course; now we have to wait and see what water level results;	This is the view of the deck from the top of the Chinese Bridge; it took 11 days of far from continuous work start to finish;	Thursday August 23 and the deck is complete, albeit with some screws still to be inserted in the planking and something to be done with the hole behind the tree;
On Wednesday the plank straightener arrived so, after the secondary fixing and again with Ben's help, the first six planks were laid and fixed;	The next day, with Ben's help, the structure was completed with all members secured in place; a little bit more secondary fixing and it will be ready for planking out;	On the same day the hedge was finished : no more cutting for 12 months;	Monday August 20 and the last post is installed so the structure can now be finished; all joists have been cut and placed but not yet secured;
Down on Winter Stream and clearance of the weedy section is underway; some of the marigold [Caltha palustris] has been saved and re-planted, as has some of the native flag [Iris pseudacorus];	Saturday August 18 and the deck has advanced well although the joists are only trial fit, as are the two planks;	The lobelia 'Queen Victoria' has been flowering away down by Black Pond for a month now and shows no sign of letting up;	August 14 and with the help of Inky two intermediate posts plus part of the intermediate beam are installed and concreted in;
Much more mundane but a start is also made on the annual trim of the beech hedge today - until rain stops play;	The basic shape is in place and the corner posts concreted in by lunchtime; hopefully the frame will be completed next Monday;	Monday August 13 and work starts on the erection of the deck;	Also August 7 and the timber for the deck to be erected under the oak has been delivered : perhaps make a start next week? the path [yellow brick road?] has now been wetted and compacted;
August 7 and the pathway down the side of the house from the patio has been started;	The same day, the self-binding gravel path is essentially complete although it still has to be wetted and compacted;	The paving is soon finalised; the pointing, as with the patio, will have to wait for another day; then we can build the [circular] well wall;	July 28 and Dave finally gets to work on the rest of the well head;
July 24 and two bulk bags [~1.7 tons] of self-binding gravel have been delivered; work starts immediately on the final approach to the Chinese bridge;	Still mid-July and we have found some orchids in the north east corner of the glebe land; we think that they are the green-flowered helleborine, Epipactis phyllanthes; the flowers hang down so are difficult to photograph, this is the best one can manage;	Mid-July and the patio paving is complete other than the pointing [which will be done when the well top is also finished];	July 9 and the last rhododendron plus the golden laurel on the eastern boundary were [finally] brought under control; the mulching can wait for another day;
Sunday July 8 and it is Peasmarsh Open Gardens day! we opened the garden not for people to see a magnificent garden but to see the project at 30% complete [if we finish on time!];	The next day, once the bed had cured, allowed the filling-in around the edges of the laid paving to show the final effect [just imagine the pointing!];	The first of the pavers were also laid on the well top;	At the end of two days about two thirds of the Indian sandstone pavers were laid; the slow progress was because of the amount of bedding mortar needed;
Early July and back from more travels; Dave the brickie was suddenly free for two days so we started the patio;	June 19 and a moorhen has been visiting under the oak at the end of the home garden so near what will become River Pond; unfortunately the camera insisted on focusing on the tree trunk;	Mid-June and back from travels; the sleeper wall is slowly being planted up and the annual lobelia planting above is looking good;	May 21 so one month to the solstice and the irises up at top pond are looking lovely; the stone surround of the pond is up in preparation for changing the [leaking] liner;
May 20 and the new grass seed under the cherry has sprouted; it is 8 days from sowing;	The end of day view from the patio end; next task is to sort out the bed next to the wall;	By the end of the day the back-filling is well advanced [but will need filling up as it settles with time] and the area tidied up;	May 14 and the sleeper wall along the lawn is complete and the space behind is being back-filled;
Mid-May and the uneven grass area under the cherry tree has been back-filled and re-sown : watch this space!	May 10 and the final portion of the lawn edge has been completed; the bed is only 300 wide so it may be paved;	A clematis purchased last week and planted down by the eastern border fence is now flowering : hopefully a sign of things to come;	May 7 and the sleeper wall is progressed further, including the first two sleepers of the top course; the spacers between courses 2 and 3 will allow planting pockets for hanging plants;
The same day and the first of the sleepers for the retaining wall on the west side were also in place; the edging here, close to the sleepers, has still to be finalised, probably after the wall is finished;	May 3 and the last of the sleepers along the east of the formal garden is in place; the lawn edging on this side can also be clearly seen;	Phred the Pheasant may be Dead Phred but his successor seems to have raised two chicks, seen here early evening on April 30 after a very wet day; one looks to be colouring up as a male, the other female;	April 14 was a wonderfully sunny day so the new lawn received its first ever haircut; thin and bare patches were over-sown the following day after which it rained : just perfect timing!
March 13 and part of today was spent pruning the remainder of the old apple tree [the rest was pruned in late winter 2016 and 2017];	Architectural gardening has started again : this is the sub-base for the sleeper wall along the west bounday, the sleepers having just been delivered; the new lawn has also been raked clear;	The first full week of March and last week's extreme cold is a distant memory; a patch of crocus seems to have come through the freeze unscathed;	Snow hides all of the ugly bits and shows off the garden [not quite to perfection yet!];
The last day of February 2018 and the garden was coming to life - until the cold air blew in from Siberia; sunrise across the snowy fields was magnificent;	The same day, the clay banks at River Pond dam were brought up to current brick level; the water is now under the Chinese bridge but we can go up at least one more course;	Monday November 27 and the screed top is cast on the man cave floor;	November 21 and the first part of the man cave floor is being cast; next week - if the weather holds - will see the screed cast on top;