Whatever the Weather

Whilst the weather is still on the cold side, with plenty of snow across much of the UK we are having to take a pause from some of our projects and plan ahead instead. We had started the repair and replacement to our red pergola a couple of weeks ago, but haven't been able to push forward with that as yet. The last weekend was also fairly cold so we may have to delayed this project for a while longer yet. Things are looking a bit better for next weekend, so fingers crossed the warmer weather will arrive.

It can be frustrating waiting for spring, especially when you want to get stuck in to the garden. But there's no point letting the delay annoy or irritate you just have to find other ways to enjoy the garden, sometimes that can be achieved by undertaking a different task or by thinking ahead to possible projects of the future.

Hence last weekend trimming back the Sycamore tree as Mark mentioned, we hadn't planned on doing that but it worked well allowing us to keep wrapped up and even work up a bit of a sweat - so much so that cold drinks were needed whilst cutting back the tree.

We often think and talk about future projects, some we have shared on this blog, others don't get beyond a simple idea. Some will happen, some won't. But whilst they may or may not get of the sketch pad into the garden the journey through initial idea to a design is something we enjoy.

When talking to my parents about our pond build, my mother often referred to it as a giant Lego set for adults. A reference to my childhood fascination with Lego, although I wish the concrete blocks had been as lightweight as a Lego block. This side of gardening, the creative construction of hard landscaping is something we both enjoy and with such a large project as the pond under our belt we both now feel that there won't be much we wouldn't feel confident in tackling.

Concrete blocks, if only they were as light as Lego blocks.

But back to the weather, with the cool weather it does give you time to think about new ideas, so we already have a list of things we want to achieve this year, top of the list being the pergola and then the greenhouses for the working area beyond the koi filter house.
As regular readers will know we are also thinking about changing the front garden. Currently this area is block paved, and we want to lift some of this paving to allow planting into the ground. However on the left hand side of the house we are aware that a number of utility connections are under the paving such as water, gas and electricity As we are not sure as to their exact location, I really don't want to risk cutting though a pipe or cable when preparing the ground. So instead of digging down in that area I am thinking about building a raised sleeper based bed over the block paving, leaving the paving in place and not risking disturbing any of the utilities. 

Although we wouldn't be planting dwarf conifers, this wooden planter from The Internet Gardener gives the impression of what I am thinking. If we add plenty of gravel at the bottom for drainage and sit this over the paving then I don't think that there would be any problems, plus if we really needed to get access to the utility pipes etc then it could be dismantled and plants moved more easily than if the plants were in the ground.

As well as thinking about the hard landscaping at the front we are also still debating planting combinations. Do we have a total break from exotics at the front, something traditional? Or embrace the south facing aspect and go totally tropical? Perhaps a compromise in between would be the answer.

I suspect we will go for something that feels fairly traditional, the garden has to work with the 1930's era of the house, but rather than being planted with more traditional plants we may go for a traditional style but using exotic plants, after all the gardeners of the 1930s would have used many of the same plants we love today. This project is still being planned in my mind, and no doubt will morph and change as we reach a final design before starting work.

But despite my mind rushing ahead with the cold weather, I need to reign myself back in and hope we get some decent weather to allow us to finish off the various small tasks remaining on the pond project. So fingers crossed we will get some warm and dry spring weather soon and that we can get things finished that are already underway.

Gaz