Not the end

Not the beginning of the end. And, sadly, not even the end of the beginning… but progress nevertheless.

I bought a new wide, forged steel rake while my visitors were with me a few weeks ago but apart from raking over the area of the bank that was opened up for access to my front lawn and was filled in again afterwards, I’ve done very little more to rake and level my front garden. It now looks a bit of an awful sight because although I’ve been running the mower over the bits of lawn that were left relatively unscathed, very little grass has grown back on the bits that were left bare after the ‘terrassement’.

That has left plenty of scope, therefore, for weeds to take over, which they have done – prolifically! So as I’m going to have to put some grass seed down, I’ll need to apply lots of weed killer first, and before doing that, I’ll have to do the raking and levelling. I did make a bit of a start on the main area last week end, but didn’t get as much done as I’d have liked, to be honest. It was back-breaking work due to the dryness of the ground and when the sun came out, the working conditions were horrendous.

However, last night we were subjected to the most violent electric storm that I can remember since coming here accompanied by an absolute deluge. It was so torrential that some rain managed to get under the tiles and come through the roof and water poured through my back door while the hailstones rattled against the windows hard enough to break the glass. But that’s another story.

What it did mean though, was that this morning the earth was wetter than it has been for some time, so after Wim had departed after our regular Saturday morning coffee and chin-wag, I resolved to get cracking doing more raking and and also have a go at levelling with my new garden roller, the weight of which I increased by adding sand to the drum.

I was surprised how quickly the earth began to dry out even after last night’s incredible soaking and pretty soon the work, that started off being pretty easy, soon began to get a lot heavier. I don’t expect to get the job done with just a single rake-over and levelling – on the contrary, it’ll probably take two or three at least because of the number of stones that are thrown up each time. But I do want to get the basic shape right so I can apply weed killer and then let the earth stand to consolidate and compact itself.

I had to stop by around 4.30 pm because it became just too hot to work in the sun that kept emerging from what had started off as a cool, cloudy sky. I had worked on the area of the garden on the north side where my wood and garden tool stores are, and here are a couple of shots of the results.

Still much to do, but not bad. I’m surprised how consistent the levels are that Fabian achieved with his enormous Cat excavator and how they blend very successfully from the front to the side of the house. It’ll be a long job to get the whole garden clear of weeds and ready for seeding and I may end up having to rotavate the bits that were left untouched because the quality of the grass on them is just so poor. But that’s for the future – probably next year when the extension has been completed 😉