Progress - sort of

Last week I put up some photos of the job I am currently engaged on, well despite the bitter weather I have been able to make some progress so here are a few more

New raised bed, with rose

This job was originally in three parts. First clear the garden area at the back of the house - this meant removing three large conifers quite a few ash trees and lots of lilac that was spreading everywhere.   As the undergrowth disappeared it became obvious that one of the pear tress and the cherry tree also had to go.   There was also a paved path of rather nasty old concrete slabs and lots of large bits of broken concrete.   The resulting cleared area was then going to be seeded with a meadow flower mix with stepping stones through to the bird feeders and nesting boxes.   On one side of the garden there is a shared drive to access  garages, this is often used as a public cut through and hiding pace for those engaged in nefarious activities.   To add to her feeling of security I put up a trellis the full length of this fence.   The fence is not straight or level so the trellis also looks a little off, but it will make her a bit more secure.



New trellis full length of fence

The next stage would be to clear the wasted area beside the house, breakup and remove the pored concrete and remains of the brickwork that had once been raised beds.   The house had been extended into this area something like six years ago and it hasn't been used since.   In the course of clearing the area I found quite a lot of builders waste from when the extension was built.   This really annoys me, it would only have cost the builder a small amount to tidy up and finish the job properly, instead it is left for the next contractor to sort out his rubbish.   Well after clearing all the vegetation - mostly brambles and nettles but again a couple of trees - another lilac and a sycamore along with a Philadelphus I could start breaking up the old concrete, this proved to be of variable quality and thickness.   I had expected to have this all broken up by now and looking to start finding my levels.

Trellis attached to old wonky fence

Breaking up old concrete

The final stage was to be a deck across the width f the back of the house and going round the side to overlap the paved area.   This would allow me to leave the existing drain and man hole covers, ad make up for some pretty wonky levels without too much excavation.   I had a good idea of the finished garden in my minds eye and rather liked the "feel" of it, I was planing to have a rail at the edge of the deck, which would be on two levels with the slats running in chevrons, the straight lines of the deck contrasting with the softness of the meadow which would blur the harsh straight lines of the fence and the deck.

Well on Thursday the customer threw me a bit of a googly.   She now wants to replace the fence on the other side of the garden and have paving all the way around with no deck.   Someone had told that you get rats under decks and that has put her right off.   This meant that I spent all day yesterday getting prices, making calculations and typing up fresh estimates.   The only actual progress I made on the job was to get rid of my first load of waste (she won't let me have a skip)

This is the biggest job I have had since starting the business, and is rapidly becoming the most complicated as well.