I knew that Dale would be on site earlier than me today, as I went to buy grass seed for patching up along the back of the raised beds and Dale's usual jam doughnut's.

Yesterday I planted up the majority of the garden which required deer and rabbit resistant plants. Thank you to all of you who gave me their experience of what cute bunnies and graceful deer don't seem to like. I have fantastic lists if anyone needs them.

The phone was silent, and it remained so during my drive to site in the lashing rain. It was either “no news is good news” or he thought I might crash if he rang with the bad news of plant disaster.

I swept into the drive to see that ALL THE PLANTS WERE INTACT! Only the usual damage to the hardcore, self-binding surface under the tree seat was riddled AGAIN with burrows.

I have to pay a big tribute to Dale Pellatt. He has worked for eight long weeks, early morning and well into the evenings on his own to create another beautifully constructed garden on one of the worst sites I have ever seen. The 'garden' was actually a sloping driveway of compacted gravel on heavy, and I mean REALLY heavy clay

Everywhere you look is carefully finished to the highest standard, in fact yesterday, when we sat with a well earned 'cupper' looking at the steps he had just spent ages building, he announced that the top step needed to be an inch higher! It was done. Dale is a perfectionist, but then so am I and the step did look better.

There are just the lights to go in (if they ever arrive, ordered in March) and connected. Chris Nangle (on here) is making the oak gates for the entrance, we found Chris on LJ so the network really does work.

Now Dale has finished there I have a stack of gardens on the drawing board, compass in hand and datum points somewhere down the road!
He’ll sort it, he always does!

These pictures do not do justice to the garden, they are stitched together with ‘Photostitch’ the proportions look wrong and it was stupidly windy today! The garden is just a tiny part of a 34 acre plot.


First is before, second afters!