Main part done

Although I have lots more work to do in the Plot the main construction is complete. In a previous post I showed the natural stone slabs placed temporarily on the walls of the new ‘flowerbed‘ for want of a better description as there won’t be any flowers in it, not at this point anyway. The two slabs nearest the high wall had to be cut short by a few centimteres so it is fortunate that I have an angle grinder in my possession. The main object for having the raised bed there is firstly to give that extra height to anything grown in it. Secondly it will allow the sun to shine on the plants for a longer period in the year than if they were planted at ground level. The reason I needed to do this is because the garage blocks the sunlight from anything near to its rear wall. For instance in the month of June when the sun is at its highest anything within a metre or so of the garage still remains in the shade. No good for plants except those which prefer the shade. Plants growing in the bed will be bathed in sunshine for around three months or more. When this picture was taken it was late in the day so the sun wasn’t shining on the bed but earlier the shadow of the garage lay in the middle of the rear natural stone capping which meant the plants were in full sunshine for a few hours. The picture was taken on 29th August about a month and a half after the solstice.  The space behind the bed will be paved and will be used for other things. Watch this space. Now I can concentrate on doing the steps, the paving and the landscaping. I had just finished the work for the day and it was after two o’clock. I had lunch then went out on the patio to join E who was already toasting herself in the sun! I was only there for ten minutes when I got a call from a guy who had asked me a few days previously if I would install his new cooker hob on Monday. As I had agreed I drove to his house which was fifteen miles away and did the work. It took me about fifteen minutes to do the job and soon I was on my way back home. I did return to the patio though by this time the sun shone on only a small part of it. It was enough and I spent fifteen minutes relaxing then I decided to get out the hose and water the garden before going indoors to prepare a meal.

Shirley Anne