The earth moves

Well that was a short intermission: one day the landscaper is saying he won't be around for a while, and the next morning he shows up with a digger:

With the earth turned, it'll need clearing of debris, rotivating, new topsoil and then planting.

Elements 1, Garden 0

Snow, sleet, rain and biting winds have stopped all outdoor work for the moment. This week's digger rental has been cancelled. Work will recommence when the weather is a little more spring-like.

Advancing slowly

The stones are creeping ever onwards to the far side of the patio. This is as far as they got by Thursday:



On Friday, everything laid so far was grouted so we would have a working patio for the weekend. It should be finished off next week, including the steps which will be to the top left of the picture. A digger has been booked so some serious earth-moving is on the cards too.

Is it a patio yet?

The landscaper was here until after seven, leaving this much paving done:


The light had faded to the point beyond where you can see how well the stone matches our window frames, but it does, and we're very pleased with it. We're hoping the whole lot will be finished by the weekend.

So long, stones!

We have finally seen the last of the bank of stones that's been sitting outside our house for the last year and a half. Infill continued today, with a layer of coarse sand on the rubble:

Still a couple more levels to go before the sandstone goes on.

The highlight of my day is a detail in the corner. On the right, the overly long drainpipe has been dropped into the grating, which has been raised to future ground level. On the left a new drain has been put in under the outside tap and a nifty bit of subterranean redirection joins it to the other one:

Can't wait to take it for a test run.

Catch-up

So, Friday, then. The landscaper shifted the rubble from the edge of the pile up onto the deck:


This left space for a strip of concrete to be laid along the edge to mark the boundary of where the patio will go.

This was left to set over the weekend.

Today he built a wall on it:

This marks the eventual height of the patio. If you look to the very far right of the wall, he has placed a piece of sandstone to show the final level of the surface. The steps, two of them, will be the width of the four rightmost blocks on the top course.

The other very welcome piece of work was the straightening of the manhole covers on the top. They look an awful lot neater now.


Not long to go on this building phase by the looks of things, and then on Wednesday he plans to dig up the garden.

Just like old times

There was a fair bit of slow to-ing and fro-ing with the landscaper on the layout of the garden over the last few months, but we final settled on an arrangement which isn't very different from the agreed plan below, and we're going to get it all done at once. Last week he told us he was ready to start so I took some photos of the current state of the back.

From the patio site behind the house:

Looking back to the house from the bottom of the garden:

And the rubble which is soon to be coated in lovely Indian sandstone:

Work started last Thursday with the clearing of the remaining bushes:

Materials are being moved on to the site, including the sandstone for the patio:

And at the front, these crates which I'm assuming will become part of the raised planting beds:

I'll try and get some pictures of the developments from Friday before he starts work again in the morning.