Out with the old and in with the new year....

Hello All.

Once again a massive thank you and hello to all of you regular readers of Higgy's mad cap gardening project. Our audience just keeps growing and growing with new followers logging in on a daily basis. We currently have regular visitors from eleven different countries which is very flattering especially as many of you are logging in on a regular basis to see what happens next!!....

This post is really a turning point for this blog and for Higgy's garden as we will finally be saying goodbye to last year (2010) and embracing the start of my garden in 2011....

So here we go, our last visit back in time to October 2010 and the start of my last project before work ground to halt for the winter.

As you will have noticed my garden project so far has been about hard landscaping with the introduction of a little planting of shrubs, perennials and flowers. This has been in an attempt to get most of the basic design in place ready for some heavy planting this year (2011). You may have also noticed that the planting so far hasn't involved any vegetables or edibles at all. You might find this strange but I struggle to find the interest in this sort of gardening. Luckily my wife who has never shown any interest in gardening before announced recently that she would like to have a go at growing vegetables and get our three year old daughter involved also (hooray!)

Now not being one to turn down an opportunity to encourage potential gardeners I set about building some raised beds for Mrs Higgy's new found interest (oh and the potential for some good home grown food to eat also of course!!)

I chose to use raised beds as the ground here is very low lying and gets quite wet at certain times, also we have a terrible problem with horse tail weed which is an absolute nightmare and almost impossible to get rid of. (It has been said that apparently it can be dated back to prehistoric times and is one of the oldest known plants) I think this demonstrates it's persistence to survive whatever you do to try and eradicate it!

My plan for the raised beds started by digging down by about 30cm, I then laid a strong weed membrane (I actually used a good quality pond underlay/membrane which is guaranteed for 20yrs as I figure that this has to stay in place for quite some time enduring the damp conditions and attack by the dreaded Horse Tail weed!). Once this membrane was in place I back filled with chippings and gravel which basically makes a nice base for the raised beds to sit on and will also aid with drainage. The site is now ready for construction of the beds and as with other posts I will demonstrate this build using photographs of the beds themselves....

Here you can see the two raised beds in situ, in true 'Higgy recycling fashion' they were constructed using old reclaimed decking boards and timber which had been saved from other projects or rescued from friends who were throwing them away! The thick weed membrane can be seen in this photograph at the base of the bed before being trimmed back.

I then lined the inside of the beds using old compost bags which I stapled into place. The idea of this is to protect the boards from the damp soil which will hopefully extend the life span of the beds. You can now also see that a path was built around the beds to ensure easy and clean access at any time of the year. These paths also help to tie the beds into the rest of the garden.

To further lengthen the life span of the beds I stained them with green exterior wood preservative, this colour will also blend them into the garden as the plants and shrubs begin to grow making their appearance less obtrusive. 

Now how do you fill big raised beds like these?..... Easy, 10 bags of topsoil recycled from behind a work colleagues garden shed and two pallets of soil based compost! I know that this sounds very expensive but I researched compost supplies on the internet and came up with Dandy's compost supplies which proved the cheapest by far with each bag working out just over £2 each and free delivery! I have to say that my experience buying from this supplier was very positive indeed!

http://www.dandystopsoil.co.uk/

So here are the beds in place, filled with compost and part planted with peas, carrots and spring onions so far. The smaller boxes at the front of the beds are designed for growing herbs in and one has now been given to my 3yr old daughter who already has pink Ostreospermum,  two lettuce plants and two sunflowers planted in hers!!!!

This final photo (below) shows the path which now runs behind the raised beds and alongside the dry stream bed tying the two projects together and into the rest of the landscaping

So there we are 2010 has gone and we are now firmly in 2011. Jobs so far in 2011 have included the conclusion of the dry river bed and the raised vegetable beds alongside a few other jobs which I will tell you about in my next post.

I almost forgot to mention the beloved wildlife which we have been trying to encourage and which has been visiting our little patch of Somerset, so here's a few pictures of our recent spring visitors....

I've 'BEEn' waiting for a nest in this box!!....one of at least two bees nests in the garden this year!

 We also have this blackbird and his partner nesting in our honeysuckle bush.....

.....And this pigeon and it's mate nesting in the top of a fur tree (right above the seed feeder!!!)

 I hope this visitor isn't after Mrs Higgy's newly planted lettuce plants, he he!!!

We are really fortunate to have an abundance of birds of prey and we often see buzzards circling overhead.....maybe he's spied the bunny......

I think that is enough from me for now and I'll leave you with this picture to tempt you back for another look at the next part of the ongoing project which is Higgy's garden!....

What ever am I going to do with this mess?.....

......Watch this space to find out if this disaster zone can be saved and turned into a little oasis.....

Also next blog; tidy borders, and another old builders wheelbarrow project!.....

***Please do feel free to leave me comments about this or any of my posts, it would be great to speak with you and get some feed back for this blog! Also do feel free to sign up as a "Follower" of this blog which will enable you to be alerted when a new post has been written. You're feed back is so valuable and will help me to hopefully include information or posts which are of interest to you*** 

Bye bye for now, see you next time.....

Spring has arrived yet the stream bed is dry!.....

Hello All,

I'm absolutely amazed at the amount of people logging on to see what's going to happen next and I'm flattered by your kind comments, thank you very much! From last month our audience has grown even more and we now have regular followers from:- UK, USA, Ireland, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Luxemburg, Poland, Czech Republic and Vietnam.....WOW!!! welcome to you all.

As I write this the first day of April has just ended and we are now firmly in spring, this is great as the garden and wildlife are really starting to come alive! I currently have a bees nest in an old bird box and we are just starting to get the first butterflies of the year out fluttering about and basking in the sun!

Unfortunately due to a health issue I have been unable to get out into the garden as much as I would have liked to recently. I have however managed to sow lots of wildflower seeds and plant some summer flowering bulbs so I haven't been completely lazy!

Birds have been such a great source of interest for me over what turned out to be a really hard winter where we had snow and also lots of very wet weather. As mentioned in past posts my pair of Reed Buntings are still with me and have fed on my seed feeders for several months. The female has really filled out and I'm hoping that they will give me the pleasure of watching them bring up their young very soon. Not too much to report in the way of new visitors other than this lovely fellow who came to visit me recently....

Great Spotted Woodpecker taking a drink after a visit to the peanut feeder!

Right then back to the gardening and once again I'm transporting you back to last year and to the month of October. Last post I built the 'old new stone bridge' to add a further feature to the dip in the lawn. As usual I felt that although this looked ok it needed something to link it to the rest of the garden (never happy am I!!) To me this bridge just looked like it had been dropped into the dip and had no real association with other parts of the garden. After scratching my head for a while I came up with the idea of creating a dry riverbed which would wind it's way from the end of the garden and down under the bridge. As mentioned in my last post I had also acquired more rocks from a work colleague which would be 'just the job!'

The area where I planned to run the stream along was overgrown with very old shrubs which had become straggly and out of hand, they also were supporting a good amount of brambles which required clearing before starting the build.

As usual here are some pictures of the stream to show you what it looks like and it's relation to the bridge and rest of the garden.....

This picture shows the area where the shrubs have been cut out. Note the bamboo canes which I have fixed to the fence, these have now been planted with honeysuckles and a few hedging shrubs which will grow up and create a nice natural hedge in time.

The pictures above and below show the addition of a path (using recycled pavers and decking boards!)  A channel was then dug out to follow the line of this path, the channel was lined with weed membrane and then filled with different size Pebbles to give a dry stream effect. At this point holes were dug on the inside of some of the bends lined with polythene and soil and planted with irises and other bog plants such as Marsh Marigolds (Caltha Palustris).

Rocks were then added and soil banked in behind them to create a natural appearance and to add movement to the stream

This picture above was taken stood on top of the bridge, you can see how the stream appears to run down and under the bridge. The picture below shows the relationship between the two features

In this picture above you can see that I have planted some 'sedge' type grasses and irises into the soil near the path which when grown should add a natural feel and soften the lines of the hard path edge.

Well that's about it for now the stream bed has been planted and soon planting in the banks will begin to add some further interest to this area. This steam has taken us up to November 2010 and the only job of 2010 not written about yet is my raised vegetable beds which will feature in my next blog and bring us up to date at last!

If I haven't already bored you enough I want to leave you with a few of pictures taken recently....

  Jackdaws taking a refreshment break in the field at the bottom of the garden 111meters (365foot) away! (shot with a 400mm lens and 2x teleconverter)

A Magpie coming into land at the feeding station

Male House Sparrow eating a seed from one of my feeders

(Next time, raised vegetable beds, a 'lot' of compost and bang up to date!!)

Bye bye for now see you all next time....

New old stone bridge opens...

Hello All,

Here we go again! I'm sure you have all been wondering what ever is that guy going to think of next?....

Well in answer to your question I have lots more to share with you before we even get up to the present day!

Before I bore you all again with my mad cap gardening a quick hello to our ever expanding audience from...UK, USA, Canada, Russia, Denmark, France, Ireland and Vietnam! I have to say we are getting a variety of readers all logging on to get the latest of how this little piece of Somerset (or as we locals like to say "Zomeerrsett") turns out!

February Has been a miserable month here with really low light levels which has made photographing the birds really tricky. I Have however had the continued pleasure of the new Reed Buntings visiting the garden which is nice to see. A beautiful Green Woodpecker has also started to put in a more regular appearance over the last couple of weeks and I have attempted to get some shots of him but he hasn't quite come close enough yet to get a real A1 shot, but to prove his attendance here's the best of a bad bunch....

Following on from the last blog when I worked on the new wildlife area and planted lots of bulbs, here's a picture of the first flowering bulb of this year (2011)...a lovely miniature iris growing out of the bank of the dry(ish) river bed..

Ok on with the gardening and I am taking you back to September 2010 again and the start of my next hair brain scheme! I have written in previous posts about my desire to recycle whatever materials I can,and to date I have told you about my recycled wheel barrow planter, landscaping with recycled branches and logs even using up old bits of sleepers to make benches amongst other things. To continue this theme and not to waste anything I have been piling stones or rocks which have been dug up out of the garden to one side for later use. At the time of digging these rocks up I didn't really have much of a plan for them other than possibly using them for a rockery or similar. Thinking about how the garden links together I wanted to build something to make the ditch running across the middle of the garden more interesting and a feature which linked in to the rest of this area. I had already recycled left over sleepers and fence posts to make a simple bridge but this still felt like 'just a few planks across a ditch'. After much head scratching I came up with the idea to build a real 'proper' feature which these rocks would be perfect for....'A new old stone bridge!' I also had a couple of sections of old concrete drainage pipe which I had found under a pile of rubbish at the bottom of the garden....just the job!!

This is the area at the end of the ditch which was a none de-script border at the edge of the lawn and ripe for some 'Higgy' development! 

As this area is in the ditch although drained it still gets quite wet in winter so anything built had to take this into account and not create a problem for standing/draining water. Therefore the base of my new bridge was built on a substantial layer of hardcore and gravel to allow good drainage. In the picture below you can see that the bridge is actually constructed above ground level with just the concrete pipe sat down into the bed of gravel.

Behind the bridge I used more gravel and hardcore to add a 12" layer of further drainage before back filling with soil which had been dug out of the wildlife area...

This picture below shows the bridge with backfilled soil, note the boards used to the side to add more depth to the shallow ditch and to help blend the finished soil level into the bordering lawn...

The soil was then prepared and planted with grasses and wild-flower seed mix which when grown up should hopefully give a nice natural feel to this feature...

The turf from the surface of this ditch was taken up and used to create natural looking banks inside of the boards, Planting pockets were dug with polythene and soil which were then planted with a variety irises. I have planted irises which should give year round interest due to their differing flowering times. The bottom of the ditch was laid with a weed membrane and then pebbles and gravel added to give a dry river bed effect....

The below picture gives you a glimpse over the top of the bridge to the dry stream bed which runs down the edge of the garden and links into this main feature...I will cover this in more depth next time...

From the picture above you have had a quick glimpse of the dry stream bed and the raised vegetable planters which I will cover in more detail next time. With the weather warming up slightly I may even have some up to date gardening activities to write about! The light should also be improving as we move towards Spring so I also hope to be able to show you a few more photographs of my feathered visitors....

Once again many thanks to all of you who are logging on regularly it is appreciated. I hope that you are finding my daft ramblings interesting and please do feel free to leave comments and ideas which I would be really pleased to discuss in future posts...

Cheers for now...

Recycling & branching out into wildlife...

Hello once again it is now February 2011 and the weather is still dark and damp putting a halt to gardening at the moment. Luckily we are only half way through catching up on last years efforts so I still have plenty to talk about!

Firstly I would like to thank the many of you who have been logging on to see what mad idea I'm going to come up with next. To date as well as a large British audience we have been visited by USA, Canada, Denmark, France and Vietnam so a quick hello to you all, I hope you are enjoying my pointless ramblings and will continue to log in and see what happens next!...

Before I put you out of your suspense as to what happens with that big pile of junk from last month here's some bird stuff first....

Every January the RSPB run a survey called 'The big garden birdwatch' (BGBW). Anyone can take part in this survey by simply spending an hour watching and counting birds which visit your garden or local park. When you have the results simply send them back to the RSPB who collate them to work out which of our native birds are thriving or sadly in decline. All the information is invaluable to help with future conservation projects which makes this a nice simple way to feel like you are doing your bit for our feathered friends. The RSPB forum http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/forums/ is also well worth a visit with some great stuff on there about birds, gardens and wildlife in general.

During my BGBW I counted 20 species during the hour and was lucky to see my first Reed Bunting which also takes my own count up to 33 species seen in the garden so far!

The poor light has been particularly bad  for taking photographs recently so I haven't done too much but here's a shot that makes me smile... a greedy Pigeon coming in for landing...

Right back to the gardening and back to August/September 2010 and some nice sunny weather again!

At the end of the last blog I left you with a picture of the bottom of the garden which over the years had been used as a compost heap and general dumping area. My plans for this area were always to set it up for wildlife whilst maintaining interest and giving a natural flow an link with the open countryside beyond. Also in my very first blog entry I said that I intended to recycle what ever materials I could whilst constructing this garden....

You will now see what happened to all those branches which were cut from the trees when opening up the view last month (July)...

Firstly all the branches were sorted and any which were nice and thick and straight were cut with a chainsaw, they were then used on their ends to build a log semi circle feature at the point where the wildlife/natural area begins...  

I also bought in some 4' round posts which were cut down to size and hammered into the ground to create pathways, which will eventually be covered in bark chippings and planted with ferns and native woodland bulbs...

The thinner branches were also recycled and used to create natural borders which again when planted should become home to various types of wildlife...

From the picture below you can see how you will be led into this area and forced to walk along the woodland paths which will eventually lead you to a sunny seating area (not built yet!)...

These 'logged' enclosures were then filled with hardcore, soil and compost to create banks and planting areas which will give the area interest and depth whilst forming a natural association to the rest of the garden...

 Once planted the paths and banks will add wonderful secret areas for my young daughter and her friends to explore and hide in. Hopefully they will also be area where we can all enjoy a bit of wildlife spotting also....To increase the interest for children the banks will be turfed and as you can see from the below picture accessed by either a slope or steps so that they can run along the paths or over the top of the banks themselves....

Finally the bank with a turf  path on, you can also see that both edges have been left for planting, to the back of this I will plant native wild shrubs which will hopefully encourage wildlife and add some secrecy to the paths behind....

This is as about as far as I have got with this area so far other than planting out several hundred native bulbs such as: English bluebells, snowdrops, anemones, snakes head fritalliries, glory of the snow amongst others. Also already planted here are some ferns placed in the shade of the log bank along the paths and a selection of daffodils and tulips to add some early colour. Please do keep watching to see how this area develops as I continue landscaping and planting it.....Oh and add a bog garden with a twist!!!!!....

Once again thanks for reading.

Next time: Another bridge and a pebble stream....

Summer Decking & Wet New Year!!

Hello and a happy New Year to you all...

Last blog we were back in July working hard on the beginnings of the new deck, hopefully in this blog we should finish the deck and get ready for the next project!

As it was nearly Christmas I posted some pictures of the snow which for us was a real treat and yes we did have a white Christmas!!....

To welcome you to the new year and before we go backwards once again into 2010 here are some pictures which I snapped on my phone on the way home from work today....it ain't snow!...

Above and Below...this is a small drain not too far from my house, these fields actually border the countryside behind the house!...looks like 2011 might be wet...bring back the snow!!

Right then enough of all that and back to the real business of gardening, in this instance the continuation of the raised deck...so lets go back to a very hot and sunny July 2010 and see if I managed to complete the deck...

With all the boards fixed down to the batons on the raised patio next job was to fix the step runners onto the front posts of the raised frame. I ran a piece of strong timber across the front of these posts and then screwed the runners into place fixing them to the posts and the timber for extra support. Notice that the deck will sit level with the top of the pond helping to give the feeling that they are both part of the same structure!...

Once all the boards were screwed securely in place I completed the fronts of the steps by using a cut down deck board. To stop the steps feeling to 'boxy' you can see that I left a gap between each step. By doing this and leaving the underneath of the raised deck area open it should act as a deterrent to any vermin who might be thinking of taking up residence under here!.... 

Last job was to make and fix the railings in place. Each newel post required careful 'slimming' with a chain saw to ensure a good snug fit into it's metal shoe which helps to prevent it from moving when leaned on! Also to get the perspective right every single rail (about 80) had to be cut down to size before being fixed between the base and hand rails, these were made up in the shed and then screwed into place. Amazingly every single one fitted!!...

A look back at the deck shows it sitting level to the top of the pond and the use of wood for both structures complement each other nicely I think (the green plants in the foreground are actually horsetail which is an extremely hardy, invasive and persistent weed which will require completely digging out..ouch!)....

A good time to take stock and look at where we are at this stage. this picture was taken from the sleeper bridge on 1st September looking back towards the house, it shows the garden beginning to take shape and where the project is after about 5 months work!


Now that the pond is complete and the deck is finished I'm sure you're all thinking that there isn't much else to do?...How wrong can you be!...I've got lots more ideas and plans and after all it's only the beginning of September so plenty of time to start a few more projects!...

Next time...What the hell am I going to do here????!!??...

To find out what happens to this disused junk yard tune in next time...You might be surprised!!! 


Quickly before I sign off it wouldn't be right not to mention our feathered friends who I have been keeping well fed through this harsh and unpredictable winter of ours...They have rewarded me with giving me some great photo opportunities and I have seen so many more species this year compared to others. Two new species this month (Jan 2011) have been a Tree Creeper and a Brambling which I haven't had the pleasure of seeing before.
I will finally leave you with a recent capture of a greedy crow in flight...

'Greedy Crow' shot by hand at a rang of about 100feet and amazingly taken through a double glazed window!...


See you all next time...