The Last Bit of Hard Labour

Finally coming to the end of soil sifting, slab laying and general hard labour! The last bit of the garden that needed sorting out in terms of landscaping was the bit under our kitchen window. Originaly a mess of old gravel, a few random plants, old pots and general rubbish.

How to make sense of this? Well...the soil sifting took a couple of weekends, but thanks to some serious gravel washing and relaying of slabs (more recycled ones), a little bit of help from Mr F -  plus an edging from bricks donated by a friend of mothers the area is slowly transformed into something better.

It's the shadiest part of the garden though, so finding plants that will thrive here is going to be quite a challenge but looking forward to a voyage of discovery!

A Woven Hazel Fence.

Back in January I kept puzzling on what to do about our rather scruffy garden boundary. Having cleared some of the overgrown ivy around our resident ash tree and cut back the brambles, the challenge was to find a way of creating a good-looking fence that somehow blended in with its natural surroundings. I'm not sure where the inspiration came for this one but perhaps it had something to do with driving around the neighbourhood and  noticing beautifully laid hedgerows complete with woven toppings!

Not being an expert on the subject I did a bit of digging on the internet and concluded that perhaps a continuous woven hurdle style fence might just work, not too difficult to do once you get the hand of it were my thoughts... Hazel rods would be ideal for this - but where to find?

Back on the internet and a search for sustainable coppice woods and I find a woodland just outside Oxford. It's a lucky break - I'd tried several leads only to find that they had all sold their 2012 harvest in advance so I'm grateful to have found someone willing to sell me her entire crop for the year and able to deliver to my door!

Unfortunately snow for two weeks meant no progress but at last a break in the weather and finally I get to finish a project started just over a month ago!

It took just over 200 hazel rods, 20 odd stakes and 150 Willow rods (an afterthought) to create the fence. My first attempt was a mess, so I unpicked the lot and started again! To get a good solid fence you need to position the stakes at intervals close enough to create a strong weave but not too close so that the rods are put under too much stress and break.

Each layer builds up and although straight rods are ideal, even the more bendy ones can be interwoven in strategic places....and as ever, Truffle the doglett is always around on lookout duty!

The final cut and I add a layer of willow rods which tidy things up nicely, a quick trim of all the whispy hazel bits and levelling out of  the hazel stakes....and all finished!

It's pretty sturdy without blocking out light, blends nicely with it's surroundings and the garden birds love their new continuous perch. Just need a few plants for the border now!