Hedge Fun

I had a gliding instructing break yesterday, but apart from that it's been gardening all the way.  You can see the emerging kitchen garden here:

I have made all the edging boards but it's darned hard work fitting them due to the high flint content.  The sharper amongst you will work out that this applies to digging the beds over too, but I'm trying quite hard not to think about that.  The top foot or so is imported topsoil and/or home-made compost so we'll leave the spuds and worms to do the hard work below that!  You can see the apple trees and greengage in the bed along the wall (see the stick, imagine the espalier)

The hazels have been planted up on the front bank - two of them, one to grow on as a tree and the other to coppice; between them they should hide the electricity pole as well as satisfying the Planning Condition.  You can see in the picture on the right that we have a brand-new beech hedge along the fence to the stable yard - Alan cleared and dug the right hand side while I was instructing yesterday so it was mostly just a matter of planting today although we had to do a bit of shuffling of the remaining stuff in the parking bed on the left.  Somehow its impact is disproportionate to its size - I don't think this comes across in the photo but it looks very fine. 
You can just see the pile of twigs on the right that is an ex-elder that was on the corner of the stable yard - Alan enlisted Charlie next door and his chainsaw to deal with it.  I stepped out of the door just in time to see the tree come crashing down, missing the house by - literally - 1".  The boys had the decency to look slightly sheepish for a couple of minutes at least.
And finally, the row of radish I sowed last week has germinated, proving beyond all doubt that spring is here.  Hurrah!

Growing panes

Yesterday was huge excitement - the greenhouse was delivered.  Added excitement was whether the lorry would fit onto the driveway - or more precisely could swing so as to fit onto the driveway - but as you can see, it was easy! (well, easy-ish...)

The next excitement was - which of these bits make up my greenhouse?  That's a week's worth of deliveries in there less the three he'd delivered earlier on Monday.

Time will tell whether we have the right bits as we don't have its location ready yet.  So the frames and the panes are currently tidily stacked up in the garage.

The contractors' part of the outside works are basically complete now, and I'm trying to prioritise what next.  Clearly anything bare-root needs to be dealt with ASAP.  BUT - there are things growing in the 'parking bed' which is alongside the stableyard where there is going to be (bare-root) hedge - so they need to be moved first first.  And some of them are going to a bed that until today didn't exist and needed paviours putting in to make the edge first first first.  So, I've done that, now I can move the rest of the stuff out of the parking bed.  Meanwhile many of the rest of the paviours got dumped where the rest of the hedge needs to be and so.... you get the picture. 
Progress so far:
we have the herbs moved into the herb bed, beech whips ordered to make beech columns (left is a bunch of 10 whips as ordered, right is what we see in our mind's eye when we look at them...), the native birch and hazels required by Planning to replace the ash we cut down also ordered, trellis made and fitted to the front wall by the utility room door and trachelospermum planted against it, osteospermums moved out of the parking bed along the front wall, and gravel board bought and cut to make the vegetable plot edges.  Installation thereof will NOT be tomorrow's job, looking at the weather forecast!  Warning to gardening friends and neighbours - at some point soon we will be importuning you for plants...

Giant leap for Sparrowkind

Would have posted this yesterday but as Replacement Window Man was ill and rescheduled the planned replacement works, we sneaked over to Wisley for the day in the sunshine to get inspiration on plants and look at the butterflies in the glasshouse.  To prove it, here is a plant and a butterfly.  Lots of great ideas for the garden, just the one plant purchased, and a thoroughly lovely day out.

Latest - hallelujah, the outside works have now resumed and although the garden is still mud, it's now flat mud with grass seed, we have patios everywhere we should have and we have almost got a finished driveway.  Indoors there is still discussion around roof/gable insulation works.  Upstairs windows now to be replaced Thursday.  We are awaiting a schedule for completion of it all!  Meanwhile in case there was any doubt: