Steps and stones

In the last, largely dryish, days of winter, my ‘builder buddy’ and I set the landscaping ball rolling, taking up where we left off last November at the construction of the south paved steps.

With all the difficulties of slope, poor ground, and fit up to and into the existing paved platform, it was necessary to build a dry run before taking apart and mortaring each paver and block in place. All in all this was a very time-consuming job, requiring endless measurements and calculations, masses of patience and the skill of a builder! At such times it was worth remembering just what an unpromising start there was here to begin with.

Finally, the south side steps are in place and what a difference they make. Not just for access but also the way they unite that part of the garden with the greenhouse.

The next job to tackle was the rockery slope in which a settlement of large stones had to be moved a few feet to the left of their situ. They were in an ideal formation for the planned water cascade but s*d’s law meant they were in the wrong place!

Between two sets of muscles, a mattock and pic plus the use of a temporary slope, we managed to roughly resite the stones. In the process even more large stones were uncovered which presented an unplanned but opportunistic set of steps between the two levels of what will be a terraced garden one day!

These lead on to the south steps which nicely brought the projects full circle and the tasks agenda completed until the next stage, scheduled for late April or May!