Do fence me in

I am in for lunch and the fence is up.

Manu came earlier than sheduled; but I have learned from experience to be up and breakfasted and ready half an hour before he is due.

He is one of those people who is up at 6am every day. Ugh.

I had prepped the area pretty well, but we spent the first half hour just getting the uprights hammered into the ground.

I had spaced them every two metres, but we were thwarted by rocks. It’s always a fun reminder to learn that you are gardening on a granite mountain of solid rock with random eroded bits.

After some deft suffling of the largest boulders (and you can guess that I didn’t do that bit) we were ready to go.

Before Manu hefted the enormous 10 metre roll of fencing, I placed a thin strip of weedproof fabric down along the length of the fence line.

It might not do a lot of good, but I just don’t relish trying to pull out black oat grass weeds next spring behind and just in front of the fence.

One it was up we had to hammer it in place along the supports.  And try and get them level.  At the far right of the fence next to the stone barn the ground drops away a bit, so that was our starting point.  And then we trimmed (painful use of hefty loppers trying to trim the thick wooden chestnut laths) and hammered each upright to get them mostly even.

I think I would have liked them to go a bit lower. But for now I’ll live with them as they are. It took hours just to get it looking pretty good.

The main thing I wanted was to walk along the path next to the barn and not see them sticking out too far into the planting scheme.

Peeping over the garden was what I had in mind. Not sticking.  And it didn’t help that the monster balotta that I have growing right at the edge was so flattened by yesterday’s rain. When it bounces back it might disguise a bit more.

Having Manu up for the morning meant I then put him to use with more hefty projects I can never manage.  Propping up the lily barrel in the potager.  And then we went over to the duck pond area behind the swimming pool and I directed him towards lots of rocks sticking out of the lawn.

These are the original boundary wall at the end of the property. They don’t serve much of a purpose except to make mowing very difficult when you are so worried about bwanging into submerged rocks as you dreamily mow the lawn. 

They are like icebergs.  It’s surprising what large boulders there were hidden underneath the grass.  I almost felt guilty as I stood there like a Lady of the Manor directing her staff to do hot and sweaty tasks.  At least I wasn’t standing there with a cup of tea in my hand as I pointed out more boulders to move.

Later I will go back and rake and fill in the gaps with soil and look forward to an incident free mowing session next week.

***

And now a  day later I will catch up on yesterday’s final job.  Planting up.

It’s such a shame that the picture doesn’t do it justice. But there are thirty two eragrostis grasses planted here.  I started them all along the fence line as I want to break up the verticals a bit.

The fence will look ghastly and new for about six more months. It needs a bit of sunshine and rain to weather the wood to its more acceptable rustic grey. I just have to be patient.

But luckily these wonderful drought tolerant grasses ought to put on a bit of girth quickly. I just have to be diligent with regular soaking for the summer.

The other job I wanted to do on this steep slope was to get rid of the rocks. Weeds are not deterred by the rocky barrier and it’s a devil to pull out the unwanted grasses from between the stones.  So I collected them all up in buckets and deposited them on the lower slopes in a semblence of a wall. They will be hidden behind the massive miscanthus grasses at the base of the slope.

I’ll add all the weeds and excess soil here as I keep on excavating the slope and will hopefully build up the bare bank (more thrilling and baffling pictures of weeds to follow).

And for the rest of the day after I put up the first row, it was trudge back and forth to the potting shed to get more grasses.

And try not to step on Artur who was following me like a cross puppy. It was quite warm work and he kept lying in the most prominent spot for me to talk to him and offer him a grubby lap for a few minutes.

But crouching on a steep slope is not condusive to langorous affection.  I tried to gently shoo him off and was well and truly punished. There was hissing. And not just from me.

So to get revenge he stalked over to my kneeling pad which I stupidly left unguarded and he plonked himself on top of it.  Luckily I have my kneelers attached to m trousers. But I was enjoying the double softness of both kneeler pads for a bit of protection on the hard rocks.

Still, it is done. I am pleased. And now I can look on my long, long list of things I want to do outside this July and place a big fat tick next to Put Up Fence.