Rockery Revival

It's taken a while but I've finally got to the focal point of the garden - the rockery. Another overgrown and sadly neglected part of the garden that was crying out for some TLC.

Dominated by a wierd looking water-feature that barely worked apart from glowing in the dark when switched on via the under-lawn electricity cable!

It had to go....and unfortunately it was one of those items that we couldn't recycle...so it went to landfill in Warwickshire!

Rosemary, Thyme, Lavender, Marjoram and a hint of Mint...once apon a time it was a herb garden but now overgrown and leggy plants dominate with too many dwarf conifers competing for space.

The good news is that I managed to move a couple of the conifers to another place in the garden  - bad news is that rosemary & lavender had outgrown their welcome, so they had to go -  there is a point at which even when cut back these 'leggy' plants won't regenerate successfully...so the only solution is to dig out and start again!

Still on the recycling mission I managed to find enough Cotswold stones from the garden to rebuild the rockery and create a space for new plants. Thyme, Lavender, some Irises (which should love this sunny spot), sedums and rock roses. Lots to look forward to in the summer when they start to bloom and hopefully if we can withstand the drought, a cheerful bit of colour at the centre of the garden!

Freecycle and Recycle

January isn't the most inspiring month when it comes to gardening, grey skies, short days and cold nights - so most of the work now is maintenance and clearing. I've started building a woven fence on our garden border but more of that in a couple of weeks when my supply of hazel coppice rods arrive!!!

In the meantime I take my hat off to Oxfordshire County Council for their recycling strategy - in spite of the fact that our nearest recycling centre is in Warwickshire since the local Oxfordshire depot closed! Here we have weekly collections of plastic, metal, fabric, packaging, paper, tin and glass which means that our non-recyclable black bins are down to one bag a week.

The only problem with all this recycling lark is we have to find space for all the containers (4 black boxes for general recycling and 2 wheelie bins). Luckily we have an area in the front garden that accommodates them ....but it's all a bit of a mess. Time for a bit of a re-organise methinks but I need to find some paving slabs in order to sort it all out.

So - a quick post on our local 'freecycle' network and a plea for slabs brings a result and a nice lady from a nearby village contacts me to say she has a number of slabs looking for a new home.

Saturday morning and a few hours on Sunday shifting soil and laying up slabs and we have a result!!! Ok it's not the most inspiring part of the garden but surprisingly enough there are little nooks and crannies now where I can plant up and the whole area has given us lots more space and tidied up nicely!

Here's the before:

And here's the after:

Reuse and Recycle!

I think this should be our family motto...not sure what the translation would be in Latin and as I'm not fluent in the language the best I can do thanks to Google is:

praecessi quod redivivus
So if there are any Latin scholars out there...please feel free to correct!

Now that the basic garden clearance is done, time to start sorting out the borders, build a terraced seating area in a sunny spot....and create a veggie plot at the top of the garden. We had to get outside help following the tree felling in order to dig out the stumps. And what better company to call in than our local man from 'Grindforce'.

Job done and we set to work...endless digging and masses of roots removed. A scout around the garden and I find a supply of Bradston bricks and random slabs left by our predecessors. Rich pickings and perfect for building the patio. Hard labour for someone who spends most days slaving over a hot computer and muscles found that I never knew existed before!!!

However, things are starting to take shape and remarkably the pation area works really well. I have no means of cutting the bricks so have to hope that I can fit them all together somehow without ragged edges...bit like doing a jigsaw but with heavy bricks! However it works and here is the final result.

Just enough London red bricks to create an edging between the lawn and top of the garden, set in a curve and bedded down with sand and soil it makes a pleasing curve that defines one area from another. More finds in the undergrowth as we discover a whole collection of old fashioned hand thrown terracotta pots....perfect for potting up random bulbs found when we were digging through the border. No idea what the bulbs are so it will be a pleasant surprise to see what emerges in the spring!