Chapter 7 - Winter: December to February

Considering that this literary enterprise has progressed in a timeline from 'beginnings', through 'trees', 'hard landscaping', 'planning and design', 'climbers' and 'shrubs', it would seem logical to write about perennials in this chapter, but there are so many perennials, and we seem to have bought most of them (just joking, but that's what it seems like), that it could turn into the RHS Plant Finder.   So, having thought about it, I have decided to go through the seasons, starting with Winter, which I am classing as from the beginning of December to the end of February. 

Beginning to write this chapter on the last day of 2012, I can tell you that I have today photographed the following plants which are presently in flower:

Coronilla citrina

Corylus avellana 'Contorta' catkins

Cyclamen

Daphne mezereum 'Alba'

Erigeron karvinskianus 'Profusion' (Mexican Daisy)

Garrya eliptica

Graptapetalum paraguayense

Hamamellis x intermedia 'Arnold Promise'

Lycesteria formosa

Mahonia x media 'Charity'

Rosa (Patio)

Primula vulgaris (Primrose)

Rhodochiton atrosanguineas
Rosa 'Rhapsody in Blue'

Sarcococca humilis

Winter Jasmin

Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn'

Most, like the Corylus, Daphne, Garrya, Hamamellis, Jasmin, Mahonia and Sarcococca were specifically purchased as winter-flowering plants so are not unusual.  Likewise the cyclamen and primrose, though the latter seems a little early. 

Daphne mezereum 'Alba'

Garrya eliptica

Mahonia x media 'Charity'

Others are just hanging on from Autumn, for example the Lycesteria and Mexican Daisy, but the rest are more of a surprise.  The roses are making new buds, though are likely to be bitten back with the arrival of harder frosts.

Graptapetalum paraguayense is a succulent, described in the RHS 'Garden Plants' as frost tender.   It was given to us by a friend in France, but it survived the harshest winter we have had for some years in 2011 and is still hanging in a basket on the front of our cottage.   It is not in flower, but I feel that the fact that it is surviving deserves a mention. 

Mexican Daisy and Graptapetalum paraguayense

The climbing plant, Rhodochiton atrosanguineas, which sports solitary tubular flowers and pretty delicate pink, bell-shaped calyces  was bought as an annual at a charity event in late Summer with the expectation that it would only last into the Autumn, but it too has survived a frost or two and is still flowering. 

Rhodochiton atrosanguineas

A few weeks ago, we had some very hard frosts and some of the plants created quite an impression, but the recent wet weather has made it impossible to do any clearing up and the garden now looks very bedraggled.  

Frosted Teazles

Everywhere is covered in leaves and the seed-heads left for the birds are, on the whole, broken down and rather sad looking.  However, having passed the shortest day on the 21st December, we now look forward to brighter, and hopefully drier, days ahead.

Looking through my catalogue of plants acquired since the garden was started, I find there are few to add to the above and those are still to appear.   Crocuses, hyacinths, irises will arrive in due course, as will the hellebores, lasting well into Spring.  Snowdrops should be some of the first.  We bought three different varieties  in 2009: Ikariae 'Woronowii', 'Elwesii' and Nivali 'Flore Pleno', but I don't know where we planted them so am hardly likely to recognise them when they arrive.  No matter, I know they will look lovely.  Last year our lane was inundated with them and we hope for the same again in 2013.

Snowdrops in our lane overlooking Sprotborough Flash

It is now the middle of January with frost on the ground and snow flakes drifting gently down and the question to be asked is whether we have found somewhere inside for all the tender plants or whether we will find come Spring that we have missed and, consequently, lost something.  Whatever the truth of this, the greenhouse is full, as is the summer house.   The latter has recently been divested of a mouse's nest, the household of which would no doubt have devastated the plants stored there if not found in time, so hopefully that has been avoided.  Only time will tell.

One of the delights of the winter garden is the variety of wildlife, particularly the birds which can now be observed more easily.  With the trees, shrubs and plants divested of their leaves, they can be seen darting hither and thither or pottering around on the ground looking for any thing tasty they can find.  We have an abundance of Tits: Blue, Great, Coal, the occasional Marsh and Long-tailed, though the latter seem few and far between.  Goldfinches come daily and a Nuthatch has suddenly become a more regular visitor.  The occasional Thrush, Robins, Chaffinches, Blackbirds, Wrens and Dunnocks are ground feeders seen on a regular basis.  Sparrows, however, are non-existent and have been missed for a number of years now, though a Sparrow Hawk has been seen. 

Goldfinches

Nuthatch

Robin

Magpies are also around and Pigeons live in nearby trees, but are not a nuisance in the garden.  Squirrels and other wildlife come to steal the nuts, too, but our most prized creature is the grass snake who lays her eggs in our compost heap on a yearly basis, the young then being found all over the place in late Summer. 

Cheeky Grey Squirrel

Grass Snake sunning itself in a seed tray

Mouse

A couple of winters ago, we had a very welcome flock of female pheasants, escorted by their brilliantly-coloured spouse, who arrived daily to wipe out much of the slug and snail population.  Unfortunately, when breeding time arrived, they disappeared and the gardener's enemy returned.  We have seen a few members of this species since, but not in such numbers nor on such a regular basis. 

Dragon flies are also prevalent in Summer; I believe the most common are Brown Hawkers which fly over in their thousands at a certain time in the summer, but we have also seen the male Migrant Hawker, a large beautiful blue specimen, on one occasion.

In the wider countryside, we know there are buzzards in the now disused local quarry, woodpeckers and jays, as well as herons and gulls and various types of water fowl on the nearby nature reserve.  Great excitement brought twitches that came to see the Little Egret and an Osprey when they made rare visits. 

But on cold and frosty days in January, there is little one can do except walk around the garden and take pleasure in the plants which bloom during such times and happily share their fragrance with all who pass their way.

Chapter 6 - Shrubs

I am aware that I have not always been totally accurate in my descriptions so far, in that some shrubs have been described as trees and others have been included in chapter 5 as climbers.  The difference between a tree and a shrub is that whilst a tree has one main stem leading to branches, a shrub has several or many stems growing from the ground.   The problem for me in describing those growing in my garden is that some of the shrubs, for instance the Viburnum opulus, has grown quite tall and so looks more like a tree than a shrub.  Roses and honeysuckles, whilst being climbers, might also be considered to be shrubs.    I do not profess to be an expert gardener, only a beginner, describing what I see, so, having admitted my failings, I hope I might be forgiven.

Although I hadn't realised how many, I discover in the course of this exercise that we have many, probably 45-50 not including those I have mentioned in previous chapters.  The buddleia, hypericum and spiraea as well as the anonymous rose, with which I ended chapter 5, were all inherited, though the middle two have since been removed.  The hypericum in particular seemed to be self-seeding in all the wrong places around the garden and had to go. 

It is inevitable that some have been lost despite great efforts to keep them alive and others may have died due to adverse weather conditions having done well for a few years.  Yet more may just have been too tender for our part of the country - not having space to store everything inside during the winter doesn't help.  Despite this, we have managed to hold onto several Abutilons for quite a number of years which are cared for in the greenhouse in winter and brought out into pots each year.  

In the first group can be placed Camellia x williamsii 'Donation'. which produced the occasional beautiful pink bloom, but really prefers acid soil and gradually faded away.

In the second, I would place Lophomyrtis x ralphii 'Red Dragon', a beautiful little shrub, light and airy with dainty foliage which turned from a greeny orange to a reddish purple. This was the only one of five, bought with a gift voucher from our daughter in 2009, to succumb very quickly to frost. The Mahonia x media 'Charity' and Hamamelis x intermedia 'Arnold Promise' (see picture) are still growing nicely. The other two were a white Hebe diosmifolia and Rhododendron impeditum 'Blue Steel', both dwarf varieties, the former living on the rockery and the latter in a pot because of its need for acid soil. The most disappointing plant we have ever bought was the supposedly 'climbing' Fuchsia 'Lady Boothby' as it was the most expensive. I have to admit it looked very healthy when we bought it, but it produced very little new growth or flower during the year and then disappeared. We have certainly had many more fuchsias which have cost very little and been beautifully productive.

I see from my list that at least six of the nine shrubs purchased in 2003 are still doing well, the Cotinus coggygria, or smoke bush, is one and Cornus alba 'Aurea', a dogwood  is another.  

                              

             

                    The Cotinus with the Catalpa in the background and the Cornus next to the Buddleja

Both of these were bought from Horncastle Garden Centre whilst we were campsite managers in Woodhall Spa and provide fantastic colour all year round.  

Another we bought in Horncastle was Metrosideros tharcissi.  

This was a complete experiment for us as we had no idea what it was or would turn out to be, but when it did bloom its flowers resembled the 'bottle brush' with sparkling racemes of crimson filaments and golden anthers.

A Cistus, a Lonicera and a Skimmia japonica have all weathered the harshest conditions we have experienced to date, as has the aptly named Exochorda x Macrantha 'The Bride' which produced masses of beautiful white flowers this year.

In 2005, another ten or so arrived, my favourites being Piptanthus nepalensis and Coronilla valentina ssp Glauca.   

A variety of shrubs can be seen here on the water feature, from the left: 

Coronilla valentina, Exochorda x Macrantha 'The Bride', Piptanthus nepalensis and Paeonia suffruticosa (Tree Peony)

Both of these have yellow pea-like flowers and had been consistently good until a couple of years ago when the Coronilla died on us, probably due to that terrible winter.  I was very sad about this as it flowered on and off throughout the year and had a lovely perfume.  Unfortunately, they aren't seen in garden centres very often, so when we came across Coronilla citrina this year, I couldn't resist it.  The Choisya ternata also suffered in the frost and had to be drastically cut back, but it is still managing to survive though in quite poor shape.  Sarcococca is another that doesn't seem to want to live with us.  The first is still struggling after seven years and the second, which we had in a pot at the back door in the hope of taking advantage of its winter scent, was frozen to death.  

Coronilla citrina

     

Choisya ternata and Sacococca humilis

Shrubs which I think have some similarity in appearance, though being of different sizes are weigelas,  deutzias and a lonicera.  In our garden, they are all pink, the Weigela being the largest at approximately five to six feet high with stems which are usually heavy with flower.  The next in size is one which is still to come into its own - the Deutzia pulchra.  We have planted it on the water feature where the original Coronilla lived and I am waiting in anticipation for it to fulfil its early promise.  The next in size is the Lonicera syringatha, an airy, many stemmed shrub with tiny leaves and flowers which smell beautifully despite their size.  This was one of three rescued from the 'sale' section of a garden centre at a very cheap price which have done well - the others being a Berberis x stenophylla which has brilliant yellow/orange flowers followed by blue/black berries and Philadelphus 'Mont Blanc', a small-flowered mock orange.  To return to the deutzias, the smallest we have is Deutzia x elegantissima 'Rosealind'.  Having been purchased in 2010, it is still quite a small plant, but has flowered profusely each year since then and the tiny star-shaped, pink-tinged white  flowers are just beautiful.

    

Weigela, Lonicera syringantha and Deutzia x elegantissima 'Rosealind'

In 2007, fashion dictated that we should have some blueberries.  As with rhododendrons and camellias, they like acid soil so there is no alternative but to grow them in pots.  However, both Vaccinium corymbosum 'Elizabeth' and its companion, 'Darrow', have done well, producing a reasonable amount of fruit each year.   This year has not been so good, but perhaps the rain has had something to do with that.  This was also the year I threatened my Syringa x laciniata that if it didn't do better the next year it would have to go.  

We had bought this shrub in 2003 with the expectation that its perfume would fill the garden, but in 2007 it produced its first - and last - flower, which was a shame as it seemed ideal size for a small garden, reaching about 4-5 foot in height and with a pretty flower and fine leaves.  Needless to say 2008 was no better and it didn't get another chance.

This year, besides the Coronilla, we have added Lonicera fragrantissima, which is winter flowering and looks quite a beauty on the plant label, and Viburnum sargentii 'Onondaga', the latter to replace the giant Yucca which I had grown to hate, but to which Mick was sentimentally attached as he had brought it from Gibraltar in 1997 as a two-inch baby.  I am not sure what these two will turn out to be, but hope the winter is not so bad that they will be cut off before they have a chance to reach their prime.

     

Lonicera fragrantissima and Viburnun sargentii 'Onondaga'

SHRUB  LIST   

Abutilon

Berberis x stenophylla -

Buddleia Davidii

Camellia x williamsii 'Donation'

Ceanothis 'Yankie Point"

Choisya ternata, mexican orange blossom

Cistus x dansereaui 'Decumbens' (Rock Rose)

Coronilla valentina ssp Glauca

Coronilla citrina

Cotinus coggygria - smoke bush Cornus alba 'Aurea' dog wood

Daphne mezereum 'Alba'

Helianthemum  (Rock Rose - suitable for a rockery)

Deutzia x elegantissima 'Rosealind'

Deutzia pulchra

Exochorda x Macrantha 'The Bride'

Fuchsia 'Lady Boothby'

Garrya eliptica

Gaultheria procumbens 

Genista

Hamamelis x intermedia 'Arnold Promise' (Witch Hazel)

Hebe diosmifolia

Hebe macrocarpa 'Margret'

Hypericum

Kerria japonica (Jews Mallow)

Lonicera syringantha

Lonicera fragrantissima  (honeysuckle)

Lophomyrtis x ralphii 'Red Dragon'

Mahonia - media 'Charity'

Metrosideros tharcissi

Paeonia suffruticosa  (Tree Peony)

Philadelphus 'Mont Blanc' - mock orange

Piptanthus nepalensis

Pyracantha 'Orange Glow'

Rhododendron 'impeditum 'Blue Steel'

Roses

Santolina rosmarinifolia

Sarcococca  humilis  (Christmas (or Sweet) Box)

Skimmia japonica 'Rubella'

Spiraea japonica 'Alba'

Syringa x laciniata   (lilac)

Vaccinium corymbosum 'Elizabeth'

Vaccinium corymbosum 'Darrow'

Viburnum opulus

Viburnum sargentii 'Onondaga'

Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn'

Weigela 

Chapter 5 - Climbing Plants

One of the first climbers we put in, which soon fell by the wayside, was Chaenomeles 'Madame Butterfly' or Japanese Quince, which was a lovely salmon pink.  There have been any number of plants which have gone the same way and it's difficult to know why beautiful, healthy-looking plants should suddenly wither and die.   There could be many reasons, of course.  We have the best and most athletic slugs and snails in the country which seem to eat anything and everything in site, and we also have free draining soil, which can soon lose its moisture despite Mick's best efforts to bulk it up with organic material.  Perhaps the soil is too alkaline for some plants.  Whatever the reason, it is usually the most expensive which go first and I think we have now learned that cost is not always the best gauge of survival.

There are fourteen Clematis on my first list, but few of them could be described as vigorous.  'Miss Bateman', alpina 'Frankie', 'Warszawska Nike' and one other whose name I don't know, have come every year without fail. 

                                                 'Warsawski Nike' and 'Miss Bateman'

Some lasted for a while, but then disappeared, only to come again unexpectedly - 'Multi Blue' was one such which we had planted to go over the archway - but still it's been disappointing.  'Omishiro' and Piilu' are two more we bought at great cost, but again have not done as well as I had hoped.  Even the evergreen varieties have failed to thrive, which should teach us something, but we seem to keep on trying.

One climber which we feared would take over the whole garden if we didn't do something about it was Eccremocarpus scaber, the Chilean Glory Vine.  We planted it on the water feature and its bright orange blooms lived up to its glorious name.   However, it produced so many seeds that we daren't leave it to do its worst and so removed it.  

Passiflora caerula, the common passion flower also did well on the water feature, but came a cropper at pruning time and has recently been resurrected to grow up the fence on the side path adjoining our neighbour's garden.

also planted a Jasminum nudiflorum on the water feature and its bright yellow flowers have continued to brighten that corner each year. 

Two slightly more interesting climbers on the water feature are Billardiera longifolia with its purple fruit, which unfortunately seems to have disappeared this year, and Akebia quinata, the chocolate vine, which is now climbing high up into the Catalpa.

Akebia quinata

Billardiera longifolia

Several climbers were planted by the left-hand fence, including Hydrangea petiolaris, Garrya eliptica (the tassel tree) and  Vitis vinifera, an ornamental vine which produces beautiful berries of many colours, from yellow to pink, to blue, to purple. 



Hydrangea petiolaris



Garrya eliptica with the tassels in flower



Vitis vinifera

Roses have found their place too.  The two planted on the front of the cottage were Rosa 'Gloire de Dijon', a beautiful cream, and Rosa 'Warm Welcome' which surrounds the door. 

This is a small-flowered rose, bright orange and lightly scented which everyone who arrives loves.  The 'Gloire' however, turned brown when wet or dying and, as its flowers tended to hang on instead of dropping off, looked dreadful against the white render.  It had to go and was replaced by 'Masquerade'.  We had bought this for my mum one Mothering Sunday and rescued it from her back yard when she died.  It has done very well since then and its blooms, which change from yellow to orange to pink, go well with 'Warm Welcome'.  If the great flood in 2007 wasn't the best experience ever for us, at least 'Warm Welcome' benefited from the river giving it a good soaking and produced the most glorious, brilliantly orange flowers ever.  Having a new front door, too, we painted it 'Heather' and bought Rosa 'Rhapsody in Blue' to match.



'Rhapsody in Blue'

In the back, we have Rosa 'Albertina', a cream with a beautiful perfume, over the arch, 'Felicite Perpetue', a smaller cream, and 'William Lobb', a purple, on the top gable, as well as 'Arthur Bell', a yellow, in the top bed.  'Albertina' and 'Arthur Bell' were gifts which remind us of our time as camp site managers.



'William Lobb'



I should not forget, either, the pinky-red floribunda rose, a legacy from the old garden, which spreads its glory over a good part of the right-hand fence and onto the summerhouse for weeks.  I have no idea of its name, but it has been stunning every year and reminds us of the garden's previous life where runner beans, potatoes, primroses and grape hyacinths held sway.



The unknown floribunda rose



Chapter 4 - Planning and Design

During the first year of planting, I decided I would like to keep a record of everything we bought.  I had never done anything like this before, so it took a while to decide how it should be done, but in the end I decided to use Microsoft Office Access.  With this programme it is possible to make columns and insert data which can then be referenced according to each column. 

The columns I decided on were:

Acquired/Planted: when, where from; how much paid came in later

Latin Name

Common English Name

Type: tree, shrub, perennial, etc

Site: where planted

Season: when it flowered

Description: what it looked like, colour, etc 

Flowered: if it actually flowered 

Current Status/Action: whether it had survived, needed moving or removing

This programme enables me to list the plants in alphabetical order by 'name', but I can also show them in 'site' order or 'type' if I want to.

It is quite a time-consuming process to maintain a list like this and inevitably some new plants get missed off and others appear in the garden as if from nowhere.  I try to write down and photograph all the new ones we buy and then have a session entering them into the database at a later date.  Then they often get planted before I know where, which can be a bit frustrating, but on the whole I find it quite a good system for keeping track of what we should have where.

I feel sure many people would think I was crazy doing this, and I do myself sometimes, but as we were starting from scratch, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

My list at 31 July 2005 had 352 plants on it, including trees, conifers, shrubs, perennials, bulbs, succulents, climbers, ramblers, alpines, herbs and grasses.   Some of these we had brought from our previous garden, some had been rescued from before we started work on the new one, some had been given to us and others had been bought.  

Before I could 'site' the plants, it was necessary to divide the garden into sections and so, going anti-clockwise around the edges from the archway, there was the rockery, next to rockery, right-hand border, top border, next to the water feature and water feature, leaving the centre bed undivided.  The latter was quite a large area, but these were early days and it wasn't until the following year that it was divided into A, B, C, D and E (see below).

As this was to be a cottage-style garden, we intended that most of the plants would be perennials and, as it was on limestone, we knew acid-loving plants were unlikely to do well in it.  Further, we didn't want any lawned areas and we also needed to cover the fences, particularly those on the pub side, where its fans belched out noise, fumes and smells.  The fire escape, too, could be a nuisance as, being in a poor area for mobile phone signals, staff from the pub would overlook our garden as they made use of its height to make calls.

Taking all this into consideration, we set about buying and planting climbing plants.

Chapter 3 - Hard-Landscaping

Hard landscaping is the skeleton of a garden which is made beautiful by the addition of trees, shrubs and flowers.   When a piece of land is littered by piles of stone, brick and other rubble, most of which will be useful at some point, as ours was, it is hard to know where to start, but in 2003 it began to take shape.  


Mick among the plants and a variety of recycled building materials

But first, I must explain where all these materials came from.  When we began the renovation of thecottage, the first thing we had to do was clear the back yard.  The original cottage had a small back yard across which our right-hand neighbour had a right of way.  Access from his yard was up some steps onto a raised path which either carried on past our left-hand neighbour or turned at right angles up our second set of steps to his orchard. There was a drop of two to three feet from this path into our yard and a wall, about 3' high from the back of the path holding back our garden.   Consequently, when our left-hand neighbour added a kitchen and bedroom onto his property, necessitating the removal of the back of his living room, my mother, in health and safety mode, agreed that all this stone could be dropped into her yard thereby saving anyone from falling into it.  So, after bricking up the back door to half its height, the yard had been filled in and topped with a concrete screed.  Several skips were needed to remove the rubble, but the stone proved to be very useful.

It was bad enough to start with .......

We subsequently decided to enlarge the yard by removing the pathway and our neighbour's steps completely, allowing our neighbour to walk straight through from his yard to ours before going up new steps at the other end.  This, however, created another difficulty, as when the path was removed, we discovered that the stone wall didn't go down to the ground.  Fortunately, our builder, with advice from his surveyor brother in Australia, was able to build a new wall with foundations sufficient to safely hold back six foot of earth and drain holes to allow an excess of water through.  The result is a beautiful stone wall on which to hang a variety of plant holders.

More stone came from the back of our cottage, which was also removed when it was found to be unstable.  But don't worry, it all worked out well in the end and we now have a new kitchen wall.

........ but it just got worse!

We decided to begin in the garden with the rockery, partly because of the huge drop over its edge into the back yard and partly because we wanted something to look at and encourage us when we stepped out of the back door.    After digging it over several times, we eventually reached the stage of placing the stones and starting a little planting. 

The rockery begins to take shape

By June 2004, not only was the rockery looking amazing, but the boundary of the garden was being defined with fencing being erected. 

What a difference a year makes - the rockery in June 2004

During our renovation, the pub next door was building a new kitchen extension and presumably, because it was in the way, they decided to demolish a small building with a tiled roof which was adjacent to our side wall.  We were quite shocked to arrive one day and discover them in the process of doing this, not only because it was a feature we liked, but because it contained an original two-seater toilet which, as the pub is a listed building we didn't think should have been removed.  They also removed some lovely shrubs which had been growing in a small garden at the foot of the wall, leaving us a view of extractor fans on the roof and an ugly fire escape. 


The roof of the old 'double header' in 2002

As a result of complaining about all this, the brewery agreed to provide a fence which they thought they could place on top of our wall with short posts holding it up on our side.  However, as the wall actually extended a long way down into the pub's yard, we felt the posts should be long enough to sink into the ground on their side and be bracketed so that they were more stable.  So, after yet more delay, they agreed to do this.  

The new fence in June 2004

The end result of this episode was that we were able to site our summerhouse in the corner where the old toilet roof had been removed.

Summerhouse October 2004

2004 was a busy year for Mick.  We were still working on the campsite in Lincolnshire and so apart from checking it over on days off, could only work on the garden between October and March, but in October 2004 the brick footpath up the side of the garden to our neighbour's orchard was well on its way.

The earthen path in 2003
and the new herringbone design brick path taking shape in October 2004

With the brick path completed, the next step was to decide what to use for the patios and the main paths around the garden.atios and the main paths around the garden.  As it happened, a solution was at hand because, in June 2004, we were lucky enough to acquire a load of York Stone paving slabs from my mother's ex-landlord for a very good price.  I had lived at No. 1 Tower Cottages and No.2 was in the process of having a new floor.  The floors of both cottages were stone slabs on earth, but these were being replaced with damp proofing and concrete.  Due to her age, my mum's wasn't done until after her death in January 2005, but when the slabs of No. 2 were just left in the yard, we feared they might be stolen and so put in an offer which was accepted. 

Once paid for, we needed to move them very quickly and fortunately our daughter arrived on holiday from the Isle of Man so she was commandeered to help.  They were quite large and extremely heavy and it took us hours, but at the end of the day it was very satisfying to know that we had acquired a piece of history and that they would be just perfect for the job in hand.

By next spring, an archway and fencing along the left-hand side of the path had been erected.  This was achieved partly in conjunction with the building of the water feature, again using rescued stone, as the fencing behind this feature had to sit on a stone wall which would accommodate the wood store.  

Fencing in April 2005

The laying of the path was extremely arduous due to the weight of the slabs, but before they could be laid a foundation of limestone was put down.  The slabs also had to be sorted for size and shape according to where they were to be placed and some also had to be cut to fit specific places.  The job was interrupted one day when the cutting tool slipped and sliced into Mick's leg.  Fortunately, it wasn't in a muscled area otherwise he could have bled to death, but, still, it was a lesson learned about the danger of the task in hand.  A couple of steps were also needed to allow for the contours of the land, but it gradually took shape and looked very nice.

The path in April 2005 and the Summerhouse patio in May 2005

The stone boundary wall had been in poor shape for many years and we became concerned that if it wasn't pointed soon and subsequently collapsed it would be not only dangerous, but cause an enormous problem.  Although we only have the benefit of the top three feet or so of the wall, from the side of The Boat Inn it must be at least twelve feet high.  Who would be responsible for the repair if it collapsed is a question I am unable to answer, but it holds back our garden and to see it descend into the pub's kitchen wouldn't be a very pretty sight.  So, the winter of 2006-7 was devoted to pointing our side. 

March 2007

We also had a problem with the steps up to the garden.  Three steps lead from the back yard, but at a right angle to them are six more.  Our builder had put these in, but we found them very steep and narrow, making them particularly dangerous when wet and so it was decided to take them out and make the treads wider and rise shallower.  This alteration has proved a great improvement, both visually and in terms of health and safety.

During all the years this work was being undertaken, we were in dispute with the brewery about noise and odour pollution emanating from their kitchen.  When it was planned to add the kitchen onto the side of the pub, we were assured that it would not cause any problems.  However, as described above, our garden was adjacent to it and, part way through the build they hit a problem, with the result that its two gable ends were brought to within about two feet of the dividing wall instead of the original five or six.  Fans, which had been built into the roofs facing each other in the gulley between the two gables, had proved to be very noisy and Mick had worn ear muffs throughout his work on the hard landscaping to overcome the din they made.  There were also problems with smoke and the smell of food which would pour from the fans during cooking, especially if they burnt something.   

The Environment Agency was eventually persuaded to come and measure the noise levels and, after several visits, agreeing the decibel level was unacceptable, issued notices demanding a reduction in the noise.   Some time later, the planning committee agreed that replacement fans could be fitted and, although they look like two spaceships, they are hidden by climbing plants and we can now hear ourselves speak.

Smoke from The Boat Inn kitchen in May 2006

From the beginning of the renovation, I had wanted a weathercock and we had searched high and low for one that would be strong but would be in proportion to the position it would fill.  I had scoured plant fairs, garden shows and the internet but most were insubstantial or much too big - probably suitable for a church tower or at least something very high up.  And so it was with delight that I found just what I wanted in 2009.  We were visiting our daughter who lives in Port Erin in the south of the Isle of Man and had decided to drive up to Jurby Junk, a massive place in the far north where they sell anything and everything.  It was near there that we unexpectedly came across a garden centre and snapped up the weathercock of my dreams.  It now stands proudly on the gable end overlooking the garden and is a fitting adjunct to the hard-landscaping.