Weekends Progress

We should have a whole series of updates this week as Simon has taken the week off and I'm taking half the week off to get as much done as possible. This weekend we managed to get the bulk of the path edging down and some of the soil cleared.

Today Simon is clearing out mor earth and hopefully getting some of the sub-base for the path down.

Finished patios and Painting

The last 2 weekends have allowed us to make some serious progress on the garden.

Simon has been turning over the ground in preparation for laying the paths - the ground having turned to concrete with everyone walking over it. That job is nearly done, with just the back corner left to do. Next step here is to add the edgings for the paths and start preparing the levels for the gravel to go down. Speaking of gravel here are the samples we have had delivered:

The top stone is very pretty but too large for pathways. In the middle are the Dove Grey pebbles, and at the bottom, the Scottish pebbles. I think we're going to go for the Scottish ones.

Meanwhile, I have been painting our walls and giving the final lick of paint to the shed. I've also started pegging out the paths vs. beds areas of the garden.

Big progress

Our builders have been here on and off for the past 3 weeks, putting up our walls, rendering them and laying our patio areas. I meant to update earlier than this with a work in progress report, but I forgot. I have taken lots of photos along the way though which I'll share with you now...

Step 1. Dig and Lay Foundations

Step 2: Build Walls

Step 3: Render Walls (I don't have a specific picture of this one...)
Step 4: Lay patios:

All that's left for the builders to do is to grout the patio areas.

Next, we'll be adding in the paths that run around the garden, sealing the patio stones and finish painting the shed. That should all come together fairly quickly.
Once that's done it's just the small matter of sorting out the fences, lighting, decking and planting. We may have a garden by September, with a bit of luck.

We Have Shed!

The Plan for the Weekend: Build Shed and make watertight

The Workers: Simon, Rob, Emily and Sarah


Progress Report: 
Our shiny new shed was delivered on Thursday last week by our shed supplier Poultons. They drove all the way from Essex to deliver it to us and were turned around after dropping off the bits and having a quick coffee in under an hour.

Simon and I spent the next few evenings painting the pieces, to try and get as much done as possible before putting the shed up. The rain didn't help with these plans, and Simon had more than a few choice words on Saturday morning when he got up early to paint, only to see all his efforts washed away in a sudden rain shower.

Later in the day our reinforcements arrived in the shape of Emily and Rob, who came along to help us put up the shed. Between the three of them (and me steadying a few bits where I could) they had the shed walls up in what seemed like a matter of moments. The roof was a little bit more tricky, but I think we had the whole building up and secured in under 3 hours. Construction was made a little more difficult by the moat we'd inadvertently constructed on the front edge of the shed...

Side of Shed pre second roof Panel

Front of Shed

Me painting shed post roof fitting

There was still a fair bit of work to be done to get it watertight, so we called a stop for the day after putting some plastic sheeting over the roof to ensure that no water got in through the slight gap at the apex. Given the amount of rain we've had over the last few days, this was a great idea. Simon discovered that sitting on the roof of his shed is not only a fun thing to do, but a great way of bonding with the neighbours. If I ever can't find him, it'll be one of the first places I check.

On Sunday, Simon started fitting the roof shingles to the shed, which are sheets of bitumen shingles, in strips of 4 tiles. Again the rain hasn't been helpful with this or my ongoing attempts to paint the shed, but we're making progress. My parents are coming over this weekend to help us finish off (guttering, sealing, painting and generally making good). Here's what it looks like as of this morning:

The plastic bags remain on the top to water proof the roof

Builders arrive to do the walls and patios on Monday, having also been delayed by the weather.

Progress at Last!

Its been a quiet few months for the Garden Project what with selecting a builder and waiting for them to have a slot to do the work. However, progress has been made this week, with the laying of our shed base, and the subsequent ordering of the shed.

Our contractors won't be coming to do the bulk of the work until the beginning of July, but they were able to come and pour the concrete for our shed base. Once the base was down we could be confident to order the shed, which should arrive in the next few weeks.

More pics to follow of the current state of the garden, but here's one of the builders at work setting up for the concrete pour:

 

You can see that we've started cultivating some weeds again in the sunniest corner of the garden... its a never ending battle.

Design update

Trying to put together information for various other landscapers to come and quote for us,  I decided to make a scale diagram on the computer of the garden design that I can print off and give to people to help them quote for the work.


Here it is:

Weekend #5: Moving Earth and Weeding

This weekend Simon and I have been back in the garden, but with slightly different purposes.

Simon has been moving the earth out of the garden that he dug out over the last few weeks, so our patch is looking a lot tidier than it was before.

How its looking now:

And here's Simon posing with the spoils of digging:

MEanwhile, I've been clearing out weeds from our parking area. I made good progress yesterday, but was thwarted in my efforts by the evil Agapantha(?) shrubs that have been planted out by the builders. They have spikes about a centimetre long that will cut you to shreds through heavy duty gloves. So today I dug them all out and replaced them with Escalliona which look similar, but not spiny shrubs. The name currently escapes me, but they flower in summer with different colour so he have a mixture of white pink and red.

To give you an idea of how the bed in the parking area looked before, here's a pic of the bed down the other end of the car park:

And here's what the bed I've been working on now looks like (the Hebeis on the left have always been there and are lovely):

We also replaced the evil spiky bits just to the side of the house with lavender:

There is still a fair bit of weeding to do, but it will give me something to occupy me over the net week or so and then the whole place will look smart - especially if we get the hippo bags out the front picked up!
The quest to find a contactor continues. I've now had 2 quotes back and emailed both of them back to open negotiations... I also have the cards of 2 more landscapers. recommened by the local garden centre where we picked up the plants. As Simon commented on the way home: going to the garden centre on a Sunday afternoon, officially the most middle-aged, middle-classed past time, but at least we're listening to the Beastie Boys in the car.