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Hi folks. I decided today to make a start towards replacing the crumbling wall surrounding a part of our garden. I thought it would maybe be fun to do a thread to document this, so here we are. I have no idea how long this going to take me or how the finished wall is going to look, as is normally my way, I'll sort of work it out as I go along. I suspect I'll often be sidetracked along the way, as has already happened today. I've been collecting stones for a while now and I don't intend to replace the wall with bricks. Instead I'm going to use stones which are not all of the same type of stone, but that's what I have, so that's what I'll use. The first few photos show the condition the current wall. The first photo is the end of the wall nearest my woodshed and as you can see, it's not looking great.
The wall is only a small one but has been here for many years and is now crumbling badly and really insecure and wobbly at bits. This photo shows the wall behind some of the stones I've collected.
A view of the wall with the large stones moved away from it.
And a more detailed view of the extent of the damage.
As we all love the birds, I'll see if I can photograph some of them along the way, like these Starlings on my neighbour's TV aerial.
I also decided to stuff some straw into a suet ball feeder and hang it in the holly bush in case the birds might like to use some of it as nesting material.
I've decided that probably the best way to go about this is to lay out all the stones that I have and hopefully this should maybe help me to select the stones easier as the build gets under way. The next photo is of the stones that were piled along the edge of the old wall. I've tried to lay them out in a sort of organised way, (to me anyway).
At around this point, Mrs A called down to see if I fancied going to the garden centre with her for a cup of tea. This sounded great to me, so off we went. As is the way of things, we ended up having a light lunch and returned with a new adapter for the garden hose, a 12.5kg bag of peanuts and two new peanut feeders, one of which is shown here. We liked the look of these feeders because the wire mesh goes all the way around the bottom an back up the other side which should help to prevent the peanuts at the bottom from becoming damp, although the Sparrows around here take great pride in preventing this from happening by scoffing as many peanuts as they can, as often as they can.!!
When I got back down the garden to start again, I found that the supervisor had arrived and was carrying out a detailed assessment of the site. This is Tee Tee, one of my three cats. She likes to ‘help’.!!
Assessing and helping can be very tiring however, so it wasn't long before mental and physical exhaustion got the better of her.!!
Mrs A called down the garden again, reminding me that she'd promised the elderly lady next door that I'd dig out a few very small trees that had taken root close to her front door. Also I was to dig out some Peony Roses from the same area as well. I actually broke the first garden fork that I used, but think I may be able to repair it with a small exhaust clamp. I got another fork from the shed, which we actually found lying in the middle of the road when we were out in the car one day.!!(the fork, not the shed).!! I've actually found loads of things lying in the road now that I come to think about It.!! The list includes a pair of safety goggles, one of those hard hats with the ear protectors fitted to it, a small digital camera, three battery powered inspection lamps (all at different times and in different locations) and my most recent find was one of those clamp things that mountaineers use to help them when they're climbing up a rope,.. you know the type of thing? You attach a bit of rope with a loop on it to put your foot in, and as you take the weight off your foot , the clamp thing is slid up the rope and then grips the rope again as you put your weight back on the loop.!! Quite ingenious actually... In actual fact, it’s in the drawer downstairs, I’ll go get it and take a photo of it to show you… back in a ‘tic.......... Here it is..... Thanks for waiting.!!
Never be afraid to stop and pick things up (safely of course), you never know what you'll find. I actually doubled back to get the safety goggles.!! Anyway... I dug up the small trees and Peony Roses but I hate to see things go to waste, especially as they're living things, so the small trees are now planted in my garden and Mrs A found a place for the Peony Roses. I've no idea what kind of trees they are but here's a photo of one of them in it's new home, half way down the garden. I put it in the middle of some other plants that Mrs A has got (with her permission of course).
I am in all honesty trying to get back to the wall but the way things went today I was all over the place. Mrs A once again called me to see if I wanted to see a Bee that was on the ground at the front of the house. This is a photo I took before we moved it to a safer location in the garden amongst the plants. It was moving very slowly on the ground.
Whilst I was down on the ground I took a few snaps of a couple of the plants that are out at the front of the house. The first one as I'm sure you'll know is a Heather but I've no idea what the second one is. I'm not great when it comes to idenyifying plants.
Another bit of crumbling wall at the front of the house. I'll have to sort this at some point too.!!
On the way back round to get on with sorting out the stones I thought I take a few pics to show you some other stuff. It may surprise you, but I actually found these tubs (I have two of them) in the field at the back of my house. They were much taller than they are now and someone had made then into garden seats, obviously didn't want them any more and threw them into the field. There is a pile of wood in the corner of the field that the farmer doesn't bother about, so long as it's only wood or garden waste. Every now and then he sets fire to it. It’s really handy actually as all of our trimmings and stuff can go out there without the need for us to bag them up and take them to the council's waste centre. I cut the top off the seats, painted them up, and Mrs A planted some sort of butterfly friendly plants into them.
I also found this small tree lying in the field, minus a pot. I rescued this as well and put it in a pot over the winter. I planted it today in another bit of the garden but have really no idea what it is.
A view looking down the garden from the other side of the fence from the barrel planter. I built the wee hand cart thing myself out of some wood that I had lying around. Mrs A puts flowers in it in the summer and it looks really nice. The wheels were bit of a nightmare to build and I tried to persuade Mrs A that a broken cart with only one wheel would be nice, but she was having none of it. I had to build the second wheel.!! It's full mostly of the soil you get free from the council recycling centre once a year, mixed with some garden centre compost as well. The box behind the cart to the left which looks like an oversized Rabbit Hutch is Harry's house(one of my other cat's). I actually built it for Tee Tee when we moved here but she looked upon it with spectacular indifference. When Harry adopted us he moved in without a second thought. He has a comfy bed in the top half where it is nice and dry.
Heading back to continue with the wall, I took a photo of some House Sparrows leaving the tree. I'm not sure what type of tree it is but I think it may be a type of ornamental pear willow....I think. It does bear very small, hard, pear shaped fruits every year.
It's a great tree for the birds. It's close to the feeding area and the Starling and Sparrows love it. Another photo of House Sparrow’s in the tree, and arriving at the tree.
A quick stop over for a refreshing drink of Lager Shandy.
An artistic look through the stones.
Since I'm at the bottom of the garden I'd be just as well to show you a view out over the fields at the back. The farmer had been spreading....stuff...on the field the other day but you tend to get used to it...if you know what I mean.!! He puts cattle in here later on in the year so maybe expect a post about cows at some point.
This is my chimney thing that we sit round on the summer nights, and as you can see, it hasn't has the best of winters this year. Another job to add to the list.
I have plans to use this barrel as a Water Butt, but I need to put guttering up on the shed at some time and use the run off to fill the Butt. Yet another one for the ever lengthening list of things to be done.
Almost back to the stones again, but first a quick photo of one of those insect home things that we have in our Holly Bush.
I do have another pile of stones which I now got round to bringing out and organising, but before I show you a photo of all the stones together, I thought I'd introduce you to Harry. Some of you may remember him from an earlier thread, but if you missed that, here he is. He's quite old we think, and he's also a bit deaf, especially with lower frequencies. He has only recently taken to coming into the house for a wee while in the evening, before wanting back out again. He lives outside most of the time. Tee Tee hates Harry and they constantly go through a ridiculous charade where Tee Tee does what we call 'The Slow Walk'. She postures herself and passes by Harry's box with exaggerated slowness, looking at absolutely everything around her..Except Harry.!! He flattens himself to the base of his box during this and watches her intently. Totally ridiculous behaviour from both of them. Occasionally though, it does come to blows, but happily not as often as it used to. This is Harry in the bottom part of his box, pretending he doesn't know that Tee Tee is watching him from further down the garden.
This is Tee Tee, watching Harry from further down the garden, no doubt planning a 'Slow Walk' up past him.(note the condition of the wall behind her).
A pair of Goldfinch paid a brief visit, this being one of them.
And finally, these are all the stones that I have for the wall.
I think there are enough stones here to do the job and if I need smaller ones I can maybe use the sledge hammer to break up some of the more awkward shaped ones. I'm not sure yet if I'm going to do this in small steps (mixing the cement by hand) or if I'll maybe get hold of a small cement mixer and try to do it in one go if I can get a good day for it. It’s taken ages to put this post together and I do realise that it did veer off course at bits, but I hope you’ve enjoyed it and I’ll update this maybe next weekend if any further progress is made.
Paul
My bird photos HERE
Thanks Hazy, you're very kind and I'm glad that you enjoyed this update. It sounds like you used to have the same fun as we did as kids; we also used to build dens out of hay bales, although we called them ‘trenches’. The farmer could never catch us and we used to have great fun getting him to chase us until he got the help of a young farmhand one day. When I say young, he was probably in his teens although he seemed like an old man to us as we were still kids. The new farmhand chased us for about 2 miles, through the burn, through bushes, over field’s walls and fences, until at last we gave up and assumed the position. Like your brother, we came back that day with a footprint attached, only ours was the imprint of a size 10 on the seat of our trousers.!! Great fun.!! I’m just having a cuppa before going back down to start on the wall again (I’m off work ‘till Tuesday). This morning I bumped into the guy who gave me the stuff for adding to the mortar mix (remember him)? He has a small yard where he keeps a lot of stuff and as I did a favour for him this morning, he has kindly offered me a choice of stones that he has lying in his yard. They are mostly sandstone and quite light in colour but he tells me they will darken down once they're out there in the wall.(They came from a fireplace inside a house). Hopefully there’s enough there for me to finish the wall with. He also showed me how to cut the stones with a hammer and bolster. Mrs A has the car this morning but if she doesn’t need it this afternoon I may nip out and get some of the stones. The sun is shining here so with camera at the ready, I’m off to do some work....maybe...it depends on what other distractions may come my way when I’m out there...not that I'm easily distracted you understand.!!
Hello Paul,
great update, as always. Your Starlings are very entertaining.
I like your idea of leaving an entrance for Hedgehogs, but my sense of order does not like the idea of leaving a gap in the wall. So what do you think of making two or three steps ( like stairs), should you have some stones left after finishing the "construction-works"?
By the way: I don't know if you know, but in German a Cow is "Kuh", and is pronounced the same way as your "Coo".
And I have a question: Please explain to me the meaning of "Liner". I only know (and verified with the dictionary) the definition "A liner is a large ship in which people travel long distances".
Happy Easter to you, Mrs A and the Cats! I hope weather stays nice.
Yours, Bente
I've been waiting all week for your update paul & I wasn't disappointed. Brilliant dialog & photos too. I can't pick a favourite bit but it's all fantastic. Your wall is a credit to your hard work.
We used to have a farm at one end of our road & the cows often got driven to the fields at the other end. We had hours of fun as kids, skidding through the cow pies on our scooters (the 2 wheeled no-engine variety)!The messier the better as far as I was concerned. I haven't changed much.
Best wishes
Hazel in Southwest France
Evening Paul. Another great update. I do get a laugh when you start on one thing then eventually come back to the wall. In Caithness we call them coos as well. Think you may have a Frisian, Belgian blue, Hereford there. I should know the name of Mrs A yellow flower but can't remember. The pot flower is an Azalea. The wall is fair coming on now.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Thanks everyone for your nice comments.
Bente: I’m not sure what to do with the end of the wall for the Hedgehog’s to have access; I was thinking perhaps a small gap like a tunnel. It’s good to know that there are Coo’s in Germany as well.!! Have a look at Alan’s link and all will be revealed about the liner.
Hazel: We also used to play with cow pats but it usually involved the use of a stick to throw blobs of it at each other, we did come home in a terrible state at times.!!
Alan: No Highland Coo’s I’m afraid although there are one or two dotted around the area, if ever I come across one on my wanders I’ll be sure to take a few pics.
Catlady: Many thanks for the ID’s on the Coo’s and plants, I expect you may have a few more Highland Coo’s up there than we have down here.!!
I managed to get the extra stones that I mentioned earlier so there are now enough to finish the wall. The stones are a lot lighter in colour but should darken down a good bit once the weather gets to them. I also got a few other things that I’ll tell you about in the next update. It’s another cracking morning here with a big bright yellow thing up in the sky, so instead of working on the wall today I’m planning on doing a bit of lawn maintenance which I may put on a different thread. Mrs A gets a bit twitchy when I do things to her lawns because it means that she can’t cut the grass for a few weeks and they don’t look at their best by the time I’m done with them. If anyone’s interested in seeing what I’m going do I’ll put the new thread on the Greenfingers forum sometime soon. First off today though, I’m off for a walk with the camera to see what’s around, there’s a Rookery not far from here and at this time of day the sun should be at my back for some photos.!!
Good work Paul!
The wall is looking good and I like your use of the small stones mixed in with the large rocks it looks great!
Good light-hearted update as always and I enjoyed reading it.
Best
Higgy
Thanks Higgy. The small stones mixed in with the big ones weren't actually planned, it just happened that way. I wasn't too sure about it to begin with, but I kind of like it now.
Hi folks. It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted any photos on this thread so I have quite a few to get through to finish this off. I had mentioned earlier about doing a bit of lawn maintenance so I think I’ll just add this in here as well, seeing that I’ve veered off topic so many times…..I don’t suppose once more will make much difference.!! A lot of the photos were taken a few weeks ago and the garden has taken off in terms of growth within this time. I’ll start by showing you how I went about sorting the lawn out. The first photo is the lawn before any work was carried out. I know it doesn’t look too bad but I did put a lot of work into it last year and this year I’m only doing it because I’ve now got access to a contraption for aerating the lawn. Anyway....off we go...
The lawn before any work..
..and a few of the tools to be used when carrying out the maintenance...
The soil on the slabs is a large bag of general purpose compost which I spread out to help it to dry out a bit. The reason for doing this is that it makes it easier to crumble it all into a fine powder so that it can be better spread on the lawn…as you will see soon. We’ll have a closer look at the tools, first up is this small lawn mower that is just a push type so it’s great for cutting the grass if it’s been raining and it also gives a decent cut. It has the added benefit of having a roller at the back which gives you the lines that you sometimes see on lawns. Mrs A likes this lawn mower very much.!!
I prefer this one... the Easi Glide 300. We generally use the wee mower three times out of four. The Easi Glide sucks up more cuttings and gives a closer cut but the 'hand held' mower gives a more pleasing appearance to the lawn.
Next up is an electric scarifier, for getting rid of a lot of moss and 'thatch' in the grass. I know that this can also be done with a tine rake but the scarifier does it so much quicker and better.
This is the machine for aerating the lawn; I’ve got it on loan from a neighbour who’s actually in Australia at the moment. He told me that it’s a nightmare to push because of the weight needed to be used to get it to bite into the ground. The spike dig in about four inches and they pivot on a shaft whilst the springs pull it all back into shape as the machine is pushed up and down the lawn. How hard can it be.?? It turns out ‘very hard’… so a bit of lateral thinking was required to overcome the problem as you’ll soon see. The last time I aerated the lawn it took me around eight hours with a garden fork and I never want to do that again so this has got to be worth a try.
The lawn machine...
Finally we have a rubber rake to help get the compost spread out and a box of lawn feed with grass seed mixed in. I've blurred out the brand name (as you do)..!!
I started off by cutting the grass with the hand mower but afterwards decided to use the Easi Glide as well.
This is how much grass cuttings I ended up with after the two cuts... easy seen that the growing season was not yet in full flow at this time.!!
As usual there were a few birds around, like this Jackdaw...
..an upside down Siskin..
...and a Greenfinch.
Like I said, these photos were taken about 3 or four weeks ago and since then I have only seen the Siskin’s and Greenfinches very occasionally.
The next step was to run the Scarifier over the lawn. I did this by going up and down the lawn and then once again by going over it all again but from side to side this time. This photo shows the amount of Thatch taken out by only one run up then back down.
This is the amount after all the Scarifying was completed. Not too bad actually, last year there was easily four times as much as this.
It’s also really handy to have a field just over the fence where the cuttings can be easily disposed of…
..by these guys...
Re-cycling in it's most basic form.!! The next photo shows the lawn after Scarifying.
Getting back to the lawn machine, this was the result after attempting to apply enough pressure on it to get the spikes to dig in.!!
After a bit of thought, the solution became obvious. A bit of rope and a very heavy stone were brought out of retirement to help with the task.!!
Ta Da..!! Allow me to introduce the Flintstone Mk I.
It's a thing of beauty.!!
The Flintstone is still difficult to push, but now (with the clever use of gravity), it digs in without any problems. It also makes a really great noise...if you like that sort of thing.!! I do, so I actually recorded a couple of runs with it which if you feel so inclined, you can listen to from the following clip.
The Flintstone Mk I in action...
Play this audio clip
I'm not sure if all the photos are in the order in which they were taken, but here are another few birds that appeared round about the time this was all going on.!!
A lovely female Blackbird...
We're still getting a few Yellowhammer's every day but it's quite unusual to see them on the roof of the house, as in this shot...
He was kind enough to come down to the trees though, for a more natural photo.!!
We also had a visit from this young Sparrowhawk who seems to have a lump on his head. I've seen him quite a few times and the lump is always there.!!
And a visit from a much rarer Lesser Spotted Snow Hawk.!!...No...wait....my mistake...it's only Tee Tee, deciding if it's worth the effort of actually coming all the way into the back garden.!!
Getting back to the lawn, this is how it looked after aerating...
..and a bigger picture.
-EDIT- Almost lost the lot there so more to come.
I agree with Alan: Your Sparrowhawk is just great. And your lawn does also look good. If you ever have too much time, you can come over to my parents' garden. There is moss enough for a lifetime ;-)
That's a lot of work you put in on your lawn, Paul. Worth it though as it's looking good.
Great shot of the Sparrowhawk but I like your colourful Yellowhammer too. Never had one of those in my garden.
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Tony
My Flickr Photostream