Easy Living in the Garden

This year, we are using the patio in the front yard a lot more - so I have moved the mexican clay oven out there for the less warm evenings. We are barbecuing for supper almost every day when the weather permits it, and we have had quite a few nice evenings.

This evening, there was almost no wind at all, so the rackets were in use.

The Garden this Spring

The sewers all over thown are being renovated this summer, and the contractors asked for permission to use our backyard for redirecting soms drainage water while parts of the system were beinng worked on..

You do not see steam erupting from sewers every day!

We have an abundance of Forget-me-Nots behing the house and garage.

I got a load of cobblestones to finish (I hope) the lawn edging project this summer - but I also got some granite chippings for the driveway beside the garage, and that project kind of escalated, so I have not yet begun laying down the cobbles.

The driveway/parking space after spreading the first load of chippings.

Because of the blasted slugs and birds, we decided to put our strawberries in raised beds with nets. The slugs also killed(!) my horse radishes by constantly eating all the green parts of the plants, so we have gotten some new plants and planted them in a raised bed beside the veggie garden (to be seen in a later post).

Lea's confirmation was postponed to August, due to the Corona pandemic. We decided to give her one of her gifts in advance, as it would be a bit pointless to get a garden trampoline just in time for winter.

Toiling in the Garden

If some of my readers wonder, why I am not posting lots of newly painted minis, here is some of the explanation:

My cobblestone lawn edge project which lay dormant all of last year (and I did not have the guts to restart this summer, because of temperatures around 30 Centigrades) is now finally getting some love.

I expect to get all of the north side of the lawn edged before winter, and from then on I shall only have to do small sub-projects (around the conservatory, edging the raspberry bushes and the apple trees, and other such negligible tasks compared to edging the entire lawn).

Rounding Off the Garden Project...

...at least for now. Autumn seems to start this week (according to the forecasts), and I do not think that it will make any sense to order another batch of cobblestones until spring. There is some chance that summer may return next week, but I shall need to see the forecasts next weekend before deciding whether to  try laying down more of the lawn edge.

I placed the rest of the regular cobbles in the trench running past the trees today, and after taking this photo I also managed to get them stomped in and covered in sand.

I more or less only short of doing the left edge of the lawn (along the concrete slates) - but, of course, I shall also make edges around trees, bushes, and the round bed in the middle of the lawn where the flagpole used to be (it broke in a storm some years ago).

The Summer That Would not End

Another weekend spent in the garden instead of painting little angry men...

After employing chainsaw, fire, axe, hatchet, and sledge hammer, I finally managed to remove the roots that blocked my trench for the cobblestones, and I have filled the trench with slate sand well past the second tree. I am now, finally, all set for putting the remaining cobbles from the second batch into the trench,

I also finished putting concrete slates at the edge of the trench along the left side of the lawn (which looks 'right' in the first photo, as it was taken from the far end of the lawn).

I put the slates in, because the ground is declining away from the lawn, and rain and general corrosion would probably mean that the cobblestone row would get disorganized rather quickly if nothing supported it.

I got the slates for free a couple of years ago, and they were always meant to be used for this edge - plans just got upgraded  with the cobblestones which provide a broader and nicer edge for the lawn.

I think I shall have to adjust a couple of the slates a bit, as the top edge could be a bit more straight, but all in all I am very pleased with this progress, which I had not expected to be able to make until spring next year (but the summer just keeps staying, and I may as well keep making good use of the warm dry weather, which may come to an end this week).

Trouble With Tree Roots

Although the temperature has dropped a bit, the weather is still nice and dry, and my garden project continued yesterday.

The first pine tree I have to lead the cobblestone row past has some rather massive roots just beneath the surface, and I have to remove at least part of them to make space for the lawn edging (and hope that it will not mean that the tree falls at the first moment with heavy winds).

In the bottom right corner, you can see my attempt on burning one of the roots away, using barbeque coal.

Today showed that the fire had not been very effective, and I pulled my chainsaw out and churned away at some of the roots. I do not have any pics of that, but I have employed fire once more, to burn away some of the chopped up roots. Tomorrow I am going to put the chainsaw to use once more, and hopefully get the trench fully cleared for the cobbles.

Almost There!

Another sunny day allowed me to 'stomp' all the cobblestones along the right edge of the lawn into place.

The edge is not straight as a string, but pretty damn close, and I am very pleased with the way it turned out!

I may want to exchange a stone here and there, and I may have to elevate the rows a bit in some places when I start leveling some of the 'hollows' in the lawn, but for now, the new edge really lifts the garden (and the flowers my wife planted constitute the last touch).

The forecast for tomorrow promises dry, sunny weather, and I expect to get the edge of the rose bed in front of the terrace and the last details on the passageway done before noon. Then I can start pouring joint sand on the finished edges and the passageway, which will conclude stage three of this extremely extensive garden project.

As you can see, I have quite a few cobblestones left over, and if the fantastic autumn weather stays, I shall probably continue the edge at the far end of the lawn, to have that less work to do next summer.

Stage Three is Coming Along

Today, when I got op at about half past one in the afternoon (after night watch), I went straight into the garden and continued working on the trench for the cobblestone lawn edge.

I managed to get it completed, although, as you can see above, I was short of tile sand (I think I can get a couple of wheel-barrow loads at the recycling plant).

Never the less, I can start laying down the cobblestones when I get home tomorrow (I hope to be able to get a couple of power-naps during the night), and then we can go to the recycling plant Saturday to get some sand, in order to get the edge totally completed this weekend.

Here is the part of the edge that had to be shifted slightly to be aligned with the string marking the edge.

One Ton Cobblestones, Two Tons Cobblestones...

A couple of days ago, I got another ton of small cobblestones delivered.

This time, the driver placed the maxi-bag on the road just in front of our main entrance, and I thought it wisely to get it out of the way, and thus, I simply spread the cobbles along the lawn edge in question.

The task took about an hour, and after that I continued preparing the trench for the stone edge,

When the string had been extended, it was clear that I would have to slightly move some of the completed edge in the corner (I should not have laid it down before the large bush had been cleared away), and I went about doing that right away, cutting away a thin strip of turf aligned with the string. I now can see an end to stage three of this project; I only have to finish the trench, fill it with tile sand, and lay down the cobbles.

Stage four will be digging in the concrete tiles along the opposite side of the lawn, and I expect that to be the last stage completed before autumn sets in, and the weather making it less attractive working outside.

Still Toiling in the Garden...

After a rather wet weekend, We have nice warm and dry weather this week, and the big garden project continues (causing further neglect of my wargaming hobby)

Yesterday, with some help from a senior neighbor who has always got the right tools for the job, in this case a hand winch, I managed to get the large evergreen bush near the newly cleared and edged corner out of the ground.

Earlier yesterday, I almost completed the rose bed edge - but I ran out of cobbles just short of the back corner, and that simply will no do - so I have ordered another ton of cobblestones, and am now planning to do the entire edge along the hedge (which is also why the bush had to go now).

Today, I put a lot of soil into the ditch vacated by the bush. Tomorrow I am going to put an extension on the string I use for marking straight edges, and start removing turf from the hedge edge.

I also dug up some rhubarb that needs to be moved to the vegetable garden. This little spot was our strawberry 'field', and I am going to add some top soil to make it level with the lawn, before we plant a lot of new strawberry cuttings there.

In order to get to the rhubarb, I had to cut back some branches on the blackberry bush to the left, and of course I first picked them clean of ripe fruit, which went into a jar with a bottle of vodka, as I really like blackberry 'schnaps'.

More Progress in the Garden

Yesterday, I finished about 1/3 of the rose bed edge (some minor adjustments will have to be made, but all in all I am pleased with the progress). Unfortunately, today the weather is really bad, and I am not going to get anything done - but from tomorrow the forecast is good, and I expect to be able to spend a lot of time in the garden the entire week!

My wife and Anna went out today, and bought a new wheel-barrow (our oldest one is getting very wobbly, and we always seem to need to move something when both wheel-barrows are full), some joint sand, and some plants for the newly cleared and edged bed in the corner of the front yard, which means that I can also get the cobbles stabilized as soon as I have finished the rose bed edge (I do not think that much cobbles will be left over when it is done, and as the family Land Speeder needs a very expensive repair, I think I shall have to postpone ordering more - but I shall know more about that later this week).

Double Cobble, Toil and Trouble...

Well, not so much trouble, really, as the project progresses at a steady pace.

Today, instead of walking the eight clicks I normally do for exercise, I opted to pull out my old bicycle and bike the distance instead, in order to save some time for working in the garden (I started my five-day work cycle yesterday, and have to sleep during the day).

I also tinkered a bit with my other old bicycle, which is a slightly more sporty model, to get it ready for tomorrow, as the gears on the other one needs some repair (if possible - I am going to have a bicycle mechanic assess the damage one of the next days).

I managed to finish the trench for the cobblestones on the right side of the terrace, and I also got the tile sand poured in, so most of the edge now only needs the actual cobbles.

I still need to do the curve and short left side, but that is a minor task, compared to the right curve and long right edge.

Tomorrow, I shall probably not be able to get anything done, as I have to go get some second hand plastic skellies for my God of Battles Lords of Undeath army, and we also have to drop off Lea at Glavendrup Viking Market, as she has been invited to attend as part of a re-enactor family (the father of one of her classmates is a big shot in the Danish Viking community).

Along some of the right terrace edge were some slate (I think) kerbs, four in all - I had moved two before taking this photo - that I intend to use in front of the woodshed, where we have some half-finished flowerbeds. Nice to finally have a good reason to dig them up and put them to better use!

The Summer Continues...

...and so does my toil in the garden.

I have leveled the soil in the area vacated by the bushes, and I have added more soil to the flower bed along the hedge to make it level with the lawn, and I have removed the old bricks that formed the all too narrow bed edge.

The plan is to continue the flower bed all along the hedge - and edge it with cobbles - but I need to remove that evergreen bush at the back, before I can do that. Probably a sub-project for when I run out of cobblestones.

I have also laid down most of the passageway from the terrace to the lawn.

I needs to be adjusted a bit - there is a height difference between the two ends of the passageway, so I had to pull a string at ground level between the two areas to use a guide for the cobbles.

As you can see below, I have also begun removing turf and digging the trench for the edge around the rose bed.

I intend to extend the cobblestone edge all the way to the far corner at the back (last photo), although this may mean that I shall have to redo it, if/when I give the terrace an overhaul (right now it consists of three different types of cement tiles, and I would like it to be all hexagonal tiles like the ones extending from the front door area along the front of the conservatory - but that has to be a separate project from this upgrade to Garden 2.0).

The earthen patches are shallow 'hollows' in the lawn that I am trying to make level. Does not look all that good, but I hope it will pay off in nicer games of croquet and boules pétanque.

The slates at the back in the middle of the picture are going to be placed on long edges in the soil as a stable edge to the large flower (and strawberry) bed extending all the way along the north edge of the lawn (it is to the right of this photo).

Our property is situated on the banks of a stream valley, so the flower bed is sloping away from the lawn (I hope to somewhat remedy that when renewing the soil for new strawberry cuttings to be planted), and I want to ensure that the cobblestone edge will be held in place, even if heavy rains make the soil shift a bit down the slope.

The yellow slide I removed  from the swing set a while back, as the wooden frame has deteriorated badly, and will probably have to be removed or replaced by something else. Another separate project, I guess.

One Down, About 25 More to Go...

The 'corner project' is finally finished on my behalf - now my wife has to plant whatever she wants, and keep the bed clean of weeds! Well, technically, I still have to add some high pH jointing sand, but that is a minor task in comparison with the workload I have endured here.

I have started the next subproject, namely the passageway from the terrace to the lawn.

I am going to do it in rows of six and five cobbles each, to have the rows offset by half, just like the lawn edge rows.

I got the top soil removed, put the tile sand in the ditch, and fetched a bunch of cobblestones, so I am all set for tomorrow (after doing this, I went inside, and continued my efforts to move the clutter from the living room dinner table to the newly erected prepping station in the study/office, so I did not make further progress in the garden today).

Laying Down the Lawn Edges

I finally started on the cobblestone edge for the lawn. I had to burn away a fairly large tree root before I could get started (I tried to chop it up with my axe, but it was too 'chewy').

To burn the root, I simply fired up some barbeque coal, poured it over the root, and put more coal on top. Then I left the coal to do its thing, which lasted about 3 hours, all the while I dug the trench and poured 'tile sand' into it. Of course, I kept the garden hose ready nearby, should the heat set the grass edge on fire, but everything went according to plan.

I never really realized how uneven the lawn actually is, until I started laying down the cobbles and aligning them with the turf surface. I may - in due course - go back and even out the cobble-rows, filling in some of the 'hollows', but for now, the main objective is to get as much lawn as possible edged!

Do Not Call me Ishmael...

...and you cannot call me Al. Call me Khufu instead.

I got the first load of cobblestones (and sand) delivered yesterday, and, unfortunately, I was away fetching more soil from the recycling plant in Ringe as it arrived, and the driver unloaded the maxi-bag just in front of the garden gate, so I had to move the entire load (by hand and wheel-barrow), to be able to pass with the soil.

The other maxi-bag, containing 1.5 ton sand
for embedding the cobbles.

I managed to get the stoens moved, the soil unloaded, and get the trailer filled again on the way to Odense, as I had to pick up my wife from work.

All in all, I have now secured 3 loads (of approximately 1 cubic meter each) of soil, and I had to store it in different places around (and on) the front lawn, but I hope we have now enough for the beds that need renewal, AND the new ones that I am going to make (for some raspberries and an apple tree of the spartan kind).

Unfortunately, I fell sick last night, and I am not going to be able to do much work toda (and tomorrow - if my stomach allows it -  the girls and I are going to the International Medieval Festival in Horsens for the weekend, so there will be a lull in activities).

Well, at least I shall not have to wait for anything to arrive, before I can continue work next week...

The old sandpit, used by noone these days, was pressed into service for storing some soil.

I could not fit more soil here, as the edges contain some flower bulbs that my wife has to remove.

The corner bed, in all its newfound glory - with extra soil that has to be leveled.

And the left corner of the lawn - the only place I had to deposit some of the soil directly on top of grass.
At some point in the future, this corner will get the same treatment as the right one, so I am not too bothered about ruining the lawn.