I'm back again and ready to write a little bit more on this years jobs within my garden project and tell you about any current visiting wildlife. Thanks for the responses to the last post and a big thank you to Marion who Identified the picture of a butterfly which I posted as a Large Skipper, it's always nice to know what's visiting so that I can workout if certain habitats which I've tried to create are actually working or not!
Still very overwhelming is the large amount of followers from different corners of the world (literally!!) thanks for logging in and following this little bit of Somerset here in Britain it is appreciated!
So what have I been up to in the last couple of weeks? Well to be completely honest not a great deal! Unfortunately the whole family has been down with this nasty cold/cough/chest infection bug which has been doing the rounds recently, this combined with the wet weather has prevented me from doing anything too 'taxing' in the garden! The only thing that I have completed is the purchase and erection of a new greenhouse.
My thoughts on a site for the greenhouse were that it needed to be out of the way but not tucked into a corner right at the bottom of the garden, where getting to it becomes a chore. Having my workshop and tool shed near the top of the garden but along the left-hand fence line meant incorporating the greenhouse in this area was the most logical solution. This would keep all the 'working' parts of the garden (my HQ) together for easy access. To disguise the structure a little but make a bit of a feature out of it I planned to use trellis panels around it to create a contained area combined with the tools shed and of course more growing space for climbers!
Maybe not my most interesting project but in true 'Higgy' fashion here it is in pictures....
So here is the proposed site behind the tool shed and raised tropical border. As you can see this area has been a bit of a dumping ground for me and I think used to propagate horse tail weeds by the previous owners!!!
As with just about every project in this garden eliminating and preventing horse tail weed growth is generally at centre stage! This project was no different and after the footings were dug a layer of strong weed membrane was used before filling with the old recycled bricks from the feature rockery site.
This hardcore was smashed up with a sledge hammer and then covered with 'chippings to dust' to create an even and level base for the greenhouse base.
I got a great 'package' deal on a greenhouse (details below) which included a 4 inch base which the greenhouse fixes down onto. I cemented this base in place to make it solid and secure. At this stage it is very important to use a spirit level to ensure that the base is level, also measure corner-corner to ensure that it is square also. Doing this will mean a nice easy and accurate fit of the greenhouse onto the base.
I then added extra cement in the corners and levelled the ground inside the greenhouse with further 'chippings to dust'
The greenhouse is then assembled as per instructions and fixed onto the base. I then levelled and landscaped the area around the greenhouse and shed to create some space, tidy it up and make a few more planting areas!
I used some "free to collector" breeze blocks to build a little planting pocket and landscaped behind the greenhouse with rocks which a friend was disposing of.
To allow for some pictures of flowers currently out in the garden I am going to leave this project here and write some more next time when we will put up the trellis panels and finish off.
So here we are then what's out in flower at the moment in Higgy's garden?.....
Japanese anemone
I have a vast selection of irises which I am attempting to grow near the stream/bridge areas
Lysimachia Punctata (yellow loosetrife)
Astrantia (bees love this!)
Day Lilly
Anemone (I currently have different varieties out all grown from seed)
As the hour is now getting late and I have an early start in the morning I will have to leave it there for now unfortunately. I hope to post again soon where you will see the completion of the greenhouse area, some more flowering plants and I thing a well overdue look at my feathered friends.
Many thanks for reading, I do hope that you are enjoying my scribblings and the subjects interesting and varied?....Let me know what you think?.....
Higgy
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