Touched by the sun

long view of orchard strimmedNow here is the finished product. A strimmed orchard. Tidy and neat and it pleases me no end. Well, I ended up on the sofa with heat stroke later in the evening so that was an end as well.

Fancy. Too much sun. I should have learned. Managed to avoid this all summer and then get too keen to finish my list of chores rather than lie down in the middle of the day and finish my book. Ah well. Didn’t last long and I had a very quiet day today. But lesson learned.strimmed orchard aug

But enough of all the dull stuff. Here is the new look Calabert path. Neater and wider and ready for grasses and gaura perhaps.

Nicolas started with the wall itself, weaving young chestnut saplings around well thumped in metal reinforcing rods.

New calabert gardenNext up was a thick layer of stones abutting the fence. This is for drainage and to strengthen the wall.   Finally came a top dressing of soil.

And don’t you love that expression a top dressing. Comes nowhere near explaining how hard it is to excavate soil around here. First we had to chose a site; the area opposite the shade garden seemed likely. It is on quite a slope which seems to indicate that over the years soil has come down the mountain and settled here. And the wall had fallen down long ago and just left to erode. Out came barrow loads of granite stones. And then the soil. One wheelbarrow, loads and loads of soil.new shade garden under line

And what do you do with that small mountain of mini granite boulders? Why you turn them into a feature. Terraces need supporting. But instead of a laborious new wall here is the solution.

new shade garden under line 1Can’t wait to get into this new bed and plot the planting. But not in the heat.

Now all I need to do is soak the pennisetum grasses I bought earlier in the month and plant up tomorrow morning in the cool.