Category: garden (Page 3 of 6)

Progress in the sunken garden

October 11, 2014 / stephen

With the large steps installed from the lounge into the garden, we have passed a major milestone. The next job is to build the retaining walls for the upper terrace and get the ground level right (together with the drains). Much of this work will be done next week and I expect by the end of next week we will be laying the first of the reclaimed flagstones.

We are going to place the order for the remaining ashlar this week, but unfortunately there looks as if there will be a 2-3 week delay while we wait for delivery. We may well get on with other odd jobs around the property (e.g. flagstones outside the front and back door, pointing on the outbuilding) while we are waiting.

The temporary ramp built to get the telehandler into the lower part of the garden was dug out this morning. You can see where the channels have been dug to accommodate the drains that need to be installed to take the water off the patio. The flagstones will slope very slightly away from the house to ensure that any rainwater is kept away from the property.

The temporary ramp that we built to get the telehandler down into the garden has now been removed. This means that we can get on with building the retaining wall for the upper terrace next week.

Now these steps are installed, the last thing that we need is for them to get damaged. The cardboard should prevent any odd chips or scrapes.

Steps in the sunken garden

October 9, 2014 / stephen

We have had more success today and all of the steps from the lounge down into the sunken garden are in place. And with no damage!

The large bottom step that got damaged yesterday was removed and replaced with a slightly slimmer one. It doesn’t really matter as the flagstones will cover this part of the step.

Paddy and Jonny spent all day on these steps, but they went away smiling as they went in without any damage. You can see that the bottom step on the right is slightly slimmer than it should be. This is ok as the bottom is covered by the flagstones.

These steps look great – big and chunky, but very heavy. Everyone is relieved to see these in place.

Oops!

October 8, 2014 / stephen

We always knew that handling large and heavy pieces of ashlar was going to be awkward. We also knew that they would damage fairly easily. Well, today, we proved it.

While putting the bottom step in place, a corner of one of the large pieces of ashlar got damaged. The guys did the best they could to repair it, but unfortunately it is always going to show up. Structurally, the repair is fine, but cosmetically, it looks awful. It might look slightly better once the stonework dries, but it is always gone to notice when wet. The only option is to replace it.

The good news is that we probably have a spare step – we ordered 4 steps and it looks as if we are only going to need three. Still, it stopped work today as the repair was attempted and then finally discarded. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

The largest piece of the bottom step was lowered into position fairly easily. The second (smaller section) is brought down into the garden using slings and a telehandler.

While the damage is fairly minor, it does notice. Luckily we have a spare step, do the large section will have to come back out tomorrow and be replaced.

The chipped corner piece has been glued back in place using some resin. It has been ground back so that it is perfectly in line with the existing stonework. If you closed your eyes, you would not be able to feel the chip. However, when you open your eyes that damage is all too obvious!

New stone steps

October 8, 2014 / stephen

We are getting prepared to lower some of the large stone steps into place outside the lounge. Just the sheer weight of these steps make them a major challenge. To make life a little easier, the steps themselves are being preformed using concrete blocks and concrete. The ashlar steps should then just sit on top of these preformed steps. Well that is the theory anyway! With some of the stone weighing more than half a tonne, this is not going to be easy.

The steps into the sunken garden have been pre-formed using concrete blocks and bricks. The wires running through the steps are for an external power socket and for the lights in the sunken garden. I am not sure where the little knitted Santa came from!

The work on the garden continues…

October 6, 2014 / stephen

Well, the gardening continues. Apparently, they didn’t have a smaller digger, so we ended up with a big one. They also didn’t have a smaller telehandler (it was stolen), so we ended up with a big one of those too! Mmm….this isn’t helping the state of the grass.

Within a couple of days, this will look a lot better. But right now, it is a bit of a mess.

Work on the sunken garden starts

October 6, 2014 / stephen

Despite the rather wet weather, the work has commenced on the sunken garden at the rear of the property. The garden is going to be split into two terraces laid with reclaimed Yorkshire flagstones. There will be access from the lounge, hall, snug and master bedroom. Wherever possible, the level of the patio will be level with the floors inside. This will make down the delineation between the inside and outside spaces. It will also make the inside spaces feel bigger than there currently are.

Today, a lot of the materials were delivered (I suspect there is a lot more to come) and the work has started on levelling out the garden area. We have modified the design slightly, so are waiting on some newly drawn up plans from the architects. Although, this adds cost to the project, doing the work without a plan comes with it’s own risks – one mis-ordered piece of ashlar would potentially cost as much as having the plans drawn up in the first place. So not having the drawings could potentially work out to be a false economy.

One tonne bags of crushed stone, concrete blocks and bricks plus a pallet of cement – it is what every gardener requires!

There were a few lumps and bumps that needed to be levelled out before the crushed stone can go down.

The far end of the sunken garden levelled out. There will need to be some work to sort out access to the inspection chambers for the drains.

Dog shower

October 4, 2014 / stephen

Although we installed this a few months ago, we have only just got around to installed the glass side to the dog shower. The shower is in the boot room and intended for washing the dog and boots when the occasion calls. It is a normal shower with a shower tray that has a silt trap. This is intended to stop the shower outlet from getting blocked up with mud off the dog or any wellies that get washed here.

The challenge was the glass side that was required for the side. We didn’t want (or need) a screen that was full height. However, we do need a screen to keep the water from the electric sockets that are close by. The answer was to order some glass specifically for the job. Probably is, it isn’t cheap. We used 10mm glass that is tempered with polished edges and also has a radius on the top outer corner. All of this pushes up the price. This single piece of glass was around £150. To make sure that the size was exactly right, we cut a template out of cardboard. This enabled us to get the fit exactly right (as it turned out, the glass needed to be about 2mm out of square. Because the glass is tempered, it cannot be cut locally. It was ordered through Huddersfield Plate Glass who have provided us with our other glass and mirrors in the property.

To attached the glass to the wall, we used some specialist “U” channel. This came with silicone seals and is made to fit 10mm glass. We had to cut it to length, but it does the job. The metal strip is screwed to the wall and the glass simply pushes in. The back of the “U” channel has clear silicone applied to it and there is also a layer of clear silicone holding the bottom of the glass against the shower tray. The “U” channel had to be ordered. It was supplied by Kudos shower accessories. Cost was about £30.

The glass side has finally been installed. The red patches need to be cleaned off once the silicone sealant has set.

Here is a close of the “U” channel that has been used to attach the glass securely to the wall. This was supplied by Kudos shower accessories. The channel comes with silicone seals that help firmly hold the glass in place.

Modifying the outbuildings

September 15, 2014 / stephen

We have been wondering for a while about the best place to keep the new John Deere mower. We had thought about building a tractor shed – you don’t need planning permission as long as it falls within certain constraints – but to get one that was big enough and looked half decent was just too much of a challenge.

Then Jo came up with the idea of widening the door in the end of the existing outbuildings. This is only currently used to store logs and this could easily be moved to an outdoor logstore (and might be better off outside anyway). The building is probably a couple of hundred years old and is built of a single skin of stone. Bits of it look very precarious. However, we are in the process of widening the existing door and installing a new steel lintel above the opening. The steel will be completely hidden from the front thus maintaining the look of the building.

There used to be a normal sized door and window here. Once reinstated it will be a 6ft wide door capable of housing the new John Deere mower.

The new lintel consists of an I beam with a steel plate welded to the bottom. From the inside you will see the back of the I beam, but you will not see any of the beam from the front. The stonework will be replaced exactly as it was and the edge of the steel plate will be lost in the pointing between the courses.

Grass cutting

August 18, 2014 / stephen

Now we have re-seeded the top field, we seem to have an awful lot of grass to cut!

The bottom field has always been a bit of a challenge – it is fairly lumpy and has quite a slope to it. We have ended up borrowing a tractor and topper a couple of times a year, but this means that the grass only gets cut when it is 4ft high. The topper ends up flattening more grass than it really cuts.

The top field is fairly flat with some good grass on it. It was only sown about 6-7 weeks ago, so it will be next year before it fully thickens out.

These two fields are about an acre each. Then we have the orchard which is full of trees and the occasional tree stump. Up until now we have been using a mulching mower to cope with the grass in the orchard, but now with the top field re-seeded we have decided that it is time to invest in a ride on mower. Once we have a mower of our own (rather than having to borrow one), we suspect that the grass will get cut a little more often.

After quite a bit of research, we decided to invest in a zero turn mower. We haven’t been very impressed with the tractor and topper – it feels very unstable on the slope in the bottom field and the quality of the cut has been pretty poor. While a zero turn mower is going to be less versatile than a compact tractor, it is going to be quicker and make a better job of cutting the grass. It is also going to be a cheaper option.

We had a good look around and ended up on deciding on a John Deere Z425. Although John Deere kit is expensive, it is very well made and should cope well with the size of area that we are cutting. We have always opted for slightly more commercial equipment because of the size of the property. We arranged for a demonstration through our local dealer (Bob Wild in Hebden Bridge) and were so convinced by the machine that we decided to buy it there and then.

Over the weekend we have cut the grass in the bottom field a couple of times. We have raked the grass in-between each cut (don’t forget it was 4ft high a couple of weeks ago) and hope that we will get this into a decent state before the summer is out.

Adrian from Bob Wild Grass Machinery demonstrating the John Deere Z425 on the slope in the bottom field. This machine is a lot more stable (and a lot quicker) than a compact tractor and topper. Adrian actually demonstrated that it is possible to cut along the slope with this machine. The slope doesn’t look much in these photos, but it feels steep when you are on it!

If Daleks could mow grass, this is what it would look like! It feels a bit like driving a large motorised wheelchair. We need to shoot some video and post it.

First cut for the top field

July 24, 2014 / stephen

Well, it has been almost a month to the day that we sowed the grass seed in the top field. Today’s the day to get the lawn mower out. According to most of the gardening books, as soon as the grass gets to about 3 inches long, you should cut it taking just about 30% off. This works well with our lawn mower on the highest setting.

It took a good couple of hours to cut the grass. The lawn mower is only small and although the field is largely flat, there is still around an acre to be cut. Today, the temperature is around 28C, so it is hot work pushing a lawn mower around. I can’t helping feeling that a push along lawn mower is not the right tool for the job! But it is the only one we have. Ideally, we could now do with some rain, but I think we are going to have to wait until Sunday for any rain.

We have just run the lawn mower over the new grass. It was about 3 inches long and we just took the top inch off. It was sown 4 weeks ago to the day.

The grass is starting to thicken out. We are not short of sunshine at the moment, but a drop of rain would be handy. There is some forecast for the weekend.