[fusion_builder_container admin_label="" hundred_percent="yes" hundred_percent_height="no" hundred_percent_height_scroll="no" hundred_percent_height_center_content="yes" equal_height_columns="no" menu_anchor="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" status="published" publish_date="" class="" id="" link_color="" link_hover_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="100px" padding_left="" gradient_start_color="" gradient_end_color="" gradient_start_position="0" gradient_end_position="100" gradient_type="linear" radial_direction="center center" linear_angle="180" background_color="" background_image="https://www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Plant-creche-002-Cw.jpeg" background_position="left center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="fixed" enable_mobile="no" parallax_speed="0.3" background_blend_mode="none" video_mp4="" video_webm="" video_ogv="" video_url="" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" video_preview_image="" filter_hue="0" filter_saturation="100" filter_brightness="100" filter_contrast="100" filter_invert="0" filter_sepia="0" filter_opacity="100" filter_blur="0" filter_hue_hover="0" filter_saturation_hover="100" filter_brightness_hover="100" filter_contrast_hover="100" filter_invert_hover="0" filter_sepia_hover="0" filter_opacity_hover="100" filter_blur_hover="0"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" spacing="" center_content="no" hover_type="none" link="" min_height="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_position="left top" undefined="" background_repeat="no-repeat" border_size="0" border_color="" border_style="solid" border_position="all" padding_top="600px" padding_right="0px" padding_bottom="0px" padding_left="0px" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_speed="0.3" animation_offset="" last="no"][fusion_separator style_type="none" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" sep_color="" top_margin="0px" bottom_margin="0px" border_size="" icon="" icon_circle="" icon_circle_color="" width="" alignment="center" /][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container admin_label="" hundred_percent="no" equal_height_columns="no" menu_anchor="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" enable_mobile="no" parallax_speed="0.3" video_mp4="" video_webm="" video_ogv="" video_url="" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" video_preview_image="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="50px" padding_left=""][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" spacing="" center_content="no" hover_type="none" link="" min_height="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_position="left top" undefined="" background_repeat="no-repeat" border_size="0" border_color="" border_style="solid" border_position="all" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_speed="0.3" animation_offset="" last="no"][fusion_title title_type="text" rotation_effect="bounceIn" display_time="1200" highlight_effect="circle" loop_animation="off" highlight_width="9" highlight_top_margin="0" before_text="" rotation_text="" highlight_text="" after_text="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" content_align="center" size="2" font_size="" animated_font_size="" fusion_font_family_title_font="" fusion_font_subset_title_font="" fusion_font_variant_title_font="" line_height="" letter_spacing="" margin_top="100px" margin_bottom="0px" margin_top_mobile="40px" margin_bottom_mobile="" text_color="" animated_text_color="" highlight_color="" style_type="none" sep_color="" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_speed="0.3" animation_offset=""] Hope Springs Eternal [/fusion_title][fusion_separator style_type="single solid" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" sep_color="#8bc34a" top_margin="0px" bottom_margin="20px" border_size="2" icon="" icon_circle="" icon_circle_color="" width="30px" alignment="center" /][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="no" equal_height_columns="no" menu_anchor="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" parallax_speed="0.3" video_mp4="" video_webm="" video_ogv="" video_url="" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" overlay_color="" video_preview_image="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" padding_top="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" padding_right=""][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" background_position="left top" background_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" border_position="all" spacing="yes" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" class="" id="" animation_type="" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" center_content="no" last="no" min_height="" hover_type="none" link=""][fusion_text] Mornin' Ptolemy.. It's THAT time of year. When a male pheasant stakes out his territory and then aggressively defends it. The sound of a rival always elicits the same response. The bird will raise himself up to full height and state of alert, sticking out the tufts behind each ear. To reinforce his claim he'll squawk loudly with much flapping of wings from a standing position. Or should I say.. almost standing. Wing flapping can be executed with so much enthusiasm I've witnessed Mr P almost topple over. Tricky if you happen to be perched on a precipice at the time. As here. I was quite pleased with the photo though, given that it was taken on full zoom through a (very) dirty window and in poor light. The landscaping is complete. During the last couple of sunny days the soil has even started to dry out. Over the next few weeks we'll start to break up the larger clods of earth. Once it has settled and the tilth is fine enough it can be seeded to grass. The Digger Man managed to haul himself out in the end. It was touch and go but it's truly amazing what these machines can do. He rammed the long arm and its bucket into the ground behind him and used it as an extra lever to force himself up the hill. All went well until the digger reached the house. The kitchen is in a single storey extension and the gutters are particularly low. It was clear he wasn't going to make it. We'd tried building up the ground to one side of the path with concrete blocks but it still wasn't enough room for him to swing around. The only way left to go? Take the roof off the digger. Well of course. It took all three of us to lift it. The new terraced walls, complete but for a short return at the near end to border a set of steps down to the lower level. And behold! Planting has occurred. There is a little more digging over and mulch spreading to be done but, importantly, there is a lot we can now progress with on our own. It seems increasingly likely that the UK, alongside many other European nations, will be put into lockdown. To be honest we've elected to do this chez duck ahead of the game, given the prevailing spirit of official procrastination. Neither of us can claim to be a spring chicken any more and there really is no point in taking risks. Shopping is still delivered to the gate albeit the process isn't as smooth as once it was. Hopefully we won't have shot ourselves in the foot for refusing to panic buy. Well OK then, apart from the compost.. Clematis alpina 'Frances Rivis' As gardeners most of us are fortunate to have our own private green space to relax in and, of course, for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it is Spring. Last year this clematis had been engulfed by an overly rampant honeysuckle. This year the honeysuckle is gone and I've been suitably rewarded. The clematis is covered in blooms. Some of the hellebores planted years ago are bulking up nicely too. The problem I have currently, the one that I can at least control in some respects, is the perennial one of undercover space. The Great Spring Pot Migration has begun. It all has to take place in a particular order: 1. Mike removes the scaffolding boards and other assorted building related detritus from the dumping ground in front of the shed. 2. Hardier plants that have overwintered in a sheltered sunken area at the side of the house are moved to the cleared area in front of the shed (above). These will get planted as soon as I have the right spot available. 3. Plants previously nestled in two cold frames in that same sheltered area are evicted out into the cold, into the space occupied by those aforementioned in 2. Tough love. But I'm sure they'll cope. 4. The more tender plants which overwintered in the cold frame attached to the greenhouse move into one or other of the cold frames mentioned in 3. 5. From the greenhouse, cuttings and strongly growing seedlings move into the newly vacant space in the integral cold frame. This can borrow off some of the greenhouse heat via a flap in the wall thus starting the process of hardening off. 6. And thus, at last, I have space to prick out more seedlings and sow more seeds on the greenhouse staging. Albeit not a lot of space. Phew. Until next week when the pot shuffle will have to start over again. Oh to have room for a polytunnel. Helleborus 'Penny's Pink' My precious Banksia blechnifolia. It has survived the winter and is putting up baby leaves. To me they look like something straight out of 'Alien'. It would be fantastic to get a bloom off this some day in the distant future but in the meantime the foliage alone makes me smile. Arisaema sikokianum And finally, another of my more extravagant purchases from a Spring plant fair last year. (Remember them?) Now soaring out of the ground like a middle finger punching the air. Defiance. Hope. Please keep safe x [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

[fusion_builder_container admin_label="" hundred_percent="yes" hundred_percent_height="no" hundred_percent_height_scroll="no" hundred_percent_height_center_content="yes" equal_height_columns="no" menu_anchor="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" status="published" publish_date="" class="" id="" link_color="" link_hover_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="100px" padding_left="" gradient_start_color="" gradient_end_color="" gradient_start_position="0" gradient_end_position="100" gradient_type="linear" radial_direction="center center" linear_angle="180" background_color="" background_image="https://www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Hellebore-039-Cw.jpeg" background_position="left center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="fixed" enable_mobile="no" parallax_speed="0.3" background_blend_mode="none" video_mp4="" 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margin_bottom="" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_speed="0.3" animation_offset="" last="no"][fusion_separator style_type="none" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" sep_color="" top_margin="0px" bottom_margin="0px" border_size="" icon="" icon_circle="" icon_circle_color="" width="" alignment="center" /][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container admin_label="" hundred_percent="no" equal_height_columns="no" menu_anchor="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" enable_mobile="no" parallax_speed="0.3" video_mp4="" video_webm="" video_ogv="" video_url="" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" video_preview_image="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="50px" padding_left=""][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" spacing="" center_content="no" hover_type="none" link="" min_height="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_position="left top" undefined="" background_repeat="no-repeat" border_size="0" border_color="" border_style="solid" border_position="all" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_speed="0.3" animation_offset="" last="no"][fusion_title title_type="text" rotation_effect="bounceIn" display_time="1200" highlight_effect="circle" loop_animation="off" highlight_width="9" highlight_top_margin="0" before_text="" rotation_text="" highlight_text="" after_text="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" content_align="center" size="2" font_size="" animated_font_size="" fusion_font_family_title_font="" fusion_font_subset_title_font="" fusion_font_variant_title_font="" line_height="" letter_spacing="" margin_top="100px" margin_bottom="0px" margin_top_mobile="40px" margin_bottom_mobile="" text_color="" animated_text_color="" highlight_color="" style_type="none" sep_color="" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_speed="0.3" animation_offset=""] Relentless [/fusion_title][fusion_separator style_type="single solid" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" sep_color="#8bc34a" top_margin="0px" bottom_margin="20px" border_size="2" icon="" icon_circle="" icon_circle_color="" width="30px" alignment="center" /][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="no" equal_height_columns="no" menu_anchor="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" parallax_speed="0.3" video_mp4="" video_webm="" video_ogv="" video_url="" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" overlay_color="" video_preview_image="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" padding_top="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" padding_right=""][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" background_position="left top" background_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" border_position="all" spacing="yes" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" class="" id="" animation_type="" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" center_content="no" last="no" min_height="" hover_type="none" link=""][fusion_text] Yesterday was the first half decent day for weeks. A strange bright yellow thing appeared in an unfamiliar blue sky and the mood changed entirely. If we're lucky maybe we'll see more sunshine today before the deluge resumes on Friday. The soil is sodden. First Storm Ciara and then, barely a week later, Dennis the Menace. The roaring wind and torrential rain has indeed felt relentless. Frost, snow, sleet, hail, thunder, we've had it all. This tree fell just six feet away from two large crates packed with brand new paving slabs. Which would have proved expensive.. It could have been worse. The landscape may have changed somewhat around the garden, and we will need to find a window in the decorating diary to get the chainsaw out, but the river is well below us and stayed within its banks. I feel for the many people in the UK who have been flooded or still under that threat. I know only too well from our own skirmish with a burst water pipe last year just how long it takes for a house to dry out. And of course that water had the advantage of being clean. Fewer trees maybe but there are plenty enough left. And now possibly more light? Always the prospect of more planting opportunities.. Iris reticulata 'Natasha' Under the protection of glass there are still bulbs to enjoy. Pools of colour are starting to emerge outside too including this one right by the kitchen window. The heather spreads quietly and blooms reliably year after year. Erica carnea 'Nathalie' fringed with the black mondo grass, Ophiopogon planiscapus Nigrescens. And the odd photobombing crocus of unknown ID. Helleborus 'Harvington Double Yellow Speckled' But the flower of the moment has to be the hellebore. They will take whatever the weather might throw at them and come back for more. I did wonder if hellebores would survive at all when we first moved into this garden. I brought with me several roots but they never did particularly well. It didn't help that the pheasants viewed them as sport. Perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad if Ptolemy et al had needed the blooms for essential winter sustenance but no, all they ever seemed to do was sever the flower from the stem with surgical precision and leave it, intact, lying on the ground. Clearly umbrage was taken somewhere though I never did work out quite why. Turned out all it needed was patience on my part. First for the pheasants to tire of that particular game and second for the plants to get themselves established. Hellebores take their time. But even the weakest growing, like Helleborus x hybridus 'Harvington Black' above, seem to get there in the end given the right spot. I used to think they were shade lovers. Maybe that was right in my previous garden where summers were drier and warmer. But here, in my heavy and winter saturated soil they seem to need a fair bit of sun. Helleborus x hybridus 'Harvington Lime' The jury is out on the colour combo here. I think I like it..! In the background, the New Zealand pepper tree Pseudowintera colorata. Perhaps it works better with the black hellebore (which is also planted alongside it). Helleborus orientalis 'Harvington Dusky' Helleborus 'Cinderella' Helleborus 'Lost Label' Fuchsia arborescens Back in the greenhouse the July/August blooming fuchsia has now fully opened and there are more buds still to come. And what do we have here? Stickyflorus chinensis. Yes I know they're on the naff side. The trouble is there is nowhere in the greenhouse from which to suspend the more traditional hanging fly papers and we're suffering a veritable invasion. Tiny black flies are everywhere. Not just in the greenhouse either. In the cold frames, in the potting shed. Even inside the heated propagator for heavens' sake. They appear to lay their eggs in the soil. Yellowish green bugs climb up the stems of the tender young plants and suck them dry. Do the bugs then mature into the tiny black flies and the cycle start over again? Or do I have two different sets of invaders? The fly papers attempt to divert any passing winged beasty and they do seem to work. This was after just one day, there are many more stuck there now. It remains to be seen whether they work well enough and if, as is claimed, the papers are safe for bees. Hopefully the problem will be resolved one way or another before it is warm enough to open up the greenhouse to bees. Grevillea 'Canberra Gem' Also now fully open in the greenhouse. Complete with bugs. Little blighters. [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

[fusion_builder_container admin_label="" hundred_percent="yes" hundred_percent_height="no" hundred_percent_height_scroll="no" hundred_percent_height_center_content="yes" equal_height_columns="no" menu_anchor="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" status="published" publish_date="" class="" id="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="100px" padding_left="" gradient_start_color="" gradient_end_color="" gradient_start_position="0" gradient_end_position="100" gradient_type="linear" radial_direction="center" linear_angle="180" background_color="" background_image="https://www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Greenhouse-area-057-Cw.jpeg" background_position="left center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="fixed" enable_mobile="no" parallax_speed="0.3" background_blend_mode="none" video_mp4="" video_webm="" video_ogv="" video_url="" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" video_preview_image="" filter_hue="0" filter_saturation="100" filter_brightness="100" filter_contrast="100" filter_invert="0" filter_sepia="0" filter_opacity="100" filter_blur="0" filter_hue_hover="0" filter_saturation_hover="100" filter_brightness_hover="100" filter_contrast_hover="100" filter_invert_hover="0" filter_sepia_hover="0" filter_opacity_hover="100" filter_blur_hover="0"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" spacing="" center_content="no" hover_type="none" link="" min_height="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_position="left top" undefined="" background_repeat="no-repeat" border_size="0" border_color="" border_style="solid" border_position="all" padding_top="600px" padding_right="0px" padding_bottom="0px" padding_left="0px" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_speed="0.3" animation_offset="" last="no"][fusion_separator style_type="none" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" sep_color="" top_margin="0px" bottom_margin="0px" border_size="" icon="" icon_circle="" icon_circle_color="" width="" alignment="center" /][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container admin_label="" hundred_percent="no" equal_height_columns="no" menu_anchor="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" enable_mobile="no" parallax_speed="0.3" video_mp4="" video_webm="" video_ogv="" video_url="" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" video_preview_image="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="50px" padding_left=""][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" spacing="" center_content="no" hover_type="none" link="" min_height="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_position="left top" undefined="" background_repeat="no-repeat" border_size="0" border_color="" border_style="solid" border_position="all" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_speed="0.3" animation_offset="" last="no"][fusion_title title_type="text" rotation_effect="bounceIn" display_time="1200" highlight_effect="circle" loop_animation="off" highlight_width="9" highlight_top_margin="0" before_text="" rotation_text="" highlight_text="" after_text="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" content_align="center" size="2" font_size="" animated_font_size="" line_height="" letter_spacing="" margin_top="100px" margin_bottom="0px" margin_top_mobile="40px" margin_bottom_mobile="" text_color="" animated_text_color="" highlight_color="" style_type="none" sep_color=""] Wall To Wall [/fusion_title][fusion_separator style_type="single solid" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" sep_color="#8bc34a" top_margin="0px" bottom_margin="20px" border_size="2" icon="" icon_circle="" icon_circle_color="" width="30px" alignment="center" /][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="no" equal_height_columns="no" menu_anchor="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" parallax_speed="0.3" video_mp4="" video_webm="" video_ogv="" video_url="" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" overlay_color="" video_preview_image="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" padding_top="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" padding_right=""][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" background_position="left top" background_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" border_position="all" spacing="yes" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" class="" id="" animation_type="" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" center_content="no" last="no" min_height="" hover_type="none" link=""][fusion_text] The terraces in front of the house. In need of a winter clear up, certainly. I'm hoping that the sudden and very welcome appearance of the sun, albeit with attendant cold and frosty nights, will dry out the soil sufficiently for me to get out there. But the point of putting this photo up here is not to demonstrate just how lax the gardener has been, however valid an observation that might be. No, it's a reminder of that other project we started way back last Spring. And given how long it's been I thought a quick recap before we bring it up to date. Through the dense mass of tree growth you may just catch a glimpse of the house, this shot taken probably a couple of years ago now. The terraces of the previous image lie hidden from view beyond the old greenhouse. A beech in the foreground and beyond it an oak, the latter stood less than three feet from the house wall and, at that point, was still expanding. I hated the thought of removing an oak tree but if we'd left it the house foundations would eventually have been undermined. It was already blocking out light from the kitchen. Enter the digger man. May, 2019. Our objective was to replicate the terraces in front of the house with a mirror image here, giving me more flat planting space (a precious commodity when one lives on a 45 degree slope) and, with the removal of the oak tree and the beech, opening up the whole area around the house. Let there be light! The plan was to create a new set of steps between the two banks of terraces with a new greenhouse and raised beds on the lower level. Well so far so good. Things started to go awry when the stone arrived for the new walls. We'd opted for a local quarry in the hope that the stone would be a good match to that used in the original terraces, however many years ago. And so it seemed at first. The trouble came when Mike took a pressure washer to the heap of stone to remove a thick coating of mud. Ironstone. Not the subtle grey it had initially appeared. Orange. Well we had stone in abundance, it hadn't been cheap and so we persisted. Probably for too long as it turned out. You keep hoping that all will turn out right even when in your heart of hearts you know it won't. Especially once the greenhouse wall started to go up (far left). For that we'd had to use a different type of stone, building stone which is flat on all sides, given the very small margin for error if the greenhouse frame was going to fit snugly on top. It became increasingly obvious that the two variants of stone really didn't sit happily side by side. There was nothing else for it but to take a very deep breath and reach for the kango.. And I think this is the point we were up to when I last wrote about the terrace walls. The orange stone won't be entirely wasted. On the side of a hill the opportunity for more steps is almost endless and in this damp climate so is the need for weatherproof paths. The new walls as they stand today, now in the same stone we used for the greenhouse. The proportions appear a little strange at this stage of construction. The third wall down from the top has another two or three courses to go which will make the second wall down look a little less tall. And of course the whole thing urgently needs softening with plants! All being well I shall start the planting in March. Just about the right time to harvest divisions from elsewhere in the garden, plus the many cuttings taken last year and plants already grown from seed. To rule out the possibility of future plant fair excursions would of course be foolhardy but the more plants I can raise for free at this stage in the game the better it will be! [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]