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.