- Jan 2008
This was the garden in Jan 2008. Very nice, but not suitable for a family with young children. That 'step' was very dangerous. Trellis and paving everywhere so the garden was a bit of a maze to navigate through, but no real destination to make the journey worthwhile. Also there was no lawn, which for me was essential.
So I wanted to lose the 20 or so conifers that flanked either side of the garden, take up the concrete, paving bricks, raised sleeper beds and trellis work in the higher level, then put a round lawn in. The felled conifers made the garden like some sort of logging plant, so much wood and so many branches. Took me weeks to saw and shred it all to be able to dispose of, bit by bit. Although, luckily, this guy saw the logs piled up out the front and took them for his burner.
- taking up the paving bricks
Virtually everything being taken out was recycled. I wanted to get a lawn in before my daughter's birthday, and just managed it.
I scribed a 8m diameter lawn, but in order to get a level circle paved a circle of bricks first, using a lot of the hardcore and bricks I had taken up. Then I was able to get the circle level and lay the turf
- losing the steep step
The next job was to make the step safe. I had fallen down it myself as it didn't extend all the way across. So I put sleepers there instead. Then it became a lot safer to navigate. Also it was a good way to recycle some of the 32 sleepers I had acquired (from losing 2 square raised beds)
- sleepers in
Then I could start some planting, however I lost a 3ft Dicksonia antarctica in one of the harsh winters, but the cordylines are still going.
- some exotics planted
Next I put in a little water feature and painted the masonry a warmer terracotta colour. The slide was from freecycle, as was the pebble pond. Virtually everything was recycled. Very little waste. Old wood was used to make window boxes, sleepers made into seats, bricks reused, etc...
- terracotta
Think my biggest expense was the gravel
- whole garden
Next job was to put in a sandpit. Again recycling the paving bricks
- sandpit
At this point, the garden was looking like a good compromise. Child-friendly, and space for exotics in the corners and borders. A circular lawn give nice crescent shapes for planting. Instead of just a straight thin border. However, being so poor at the time all the plants were small and the garden had no height, which I really wanted to get the jungle clearing effect I was after. I wanted to be surrounded by towering plants on a nice clear patch of lawn. Sort of like a Roman amphitheatre. Back then, all I could see was ugly fence.
- child-friendly
The next job was to build a multi purpose frame, using scaffold poles I bought locally off gumtree. For ages I wanted to build a place for my kids to swing and climb, but could also be used for doing exercise on, like the outdoor gym at Primrose Hill. I also wanted it to be able to take hammock seats and had been designing it for ages, trying to work out how to arrange it without it dominating the garden too much. Here's a pic of where I decided to place it.
- swing frame
part 2 to come