May: Within a few weeks, the newly-sown grass was beginning to emerge. All the established trees and shrubs in the garden had also come into leaf and the whole area felt like it was coming to life.
The landscapers had originally planned for the pond to be positioned off to the side of the garden, but we're really pleased that (due to the slope in the land) it ended up in a more central position, much closer to the house.
From the bedroom balcony we can look right into the pond and can watch all the fish, birds and dragonflies.
After a decade living in that miserable paddling pool, the fish were really enjoying life in the new pond. Sadly only 24 out of the original 164 were left but the new pond had perfect conditions for them to thrive (and during the summer, they demonstrated their approval by tripling their numbers...)
The damaged render at the rear of the house looked terrible, but as usual, it was proving incredibly difficult to find a decent tradesman in our area who could come and repair it.
The curvy flower bed at the east side of the house was planted as a herb/vegetable garden, but will likely have a new collection of permanent plants added at a later date once the vegetables have been harvested.
In the front garden, the small decorative patches of grass between the path were also beginning to emerge.
The fence the landscapers built wasn't quite as refined as we'd hoped and was also beginning to warp at the ends. We added some additional timber struts to the sides to straighten it and increase its rigidity, then countersunk all the screws and filled them.
Once all the screws had been hidden and the filler had dried, the fence was ready for painting/staining.
We'd had excellent and long-lasting results on the summer house using Tikkurila Valtti wood stain, so decided to use it again for the fence. We used a grey stain that should match the windows and doors once it's had a few coats. Note the grass alongside the path has emerged fully in this picture.
We also repainted the front of the house, this time using self-cleaning paint. It's a bit pricier than normal paint, but will hopefully resist dirt and algae much more than the standard type.
The chemicals we'd applied (see previous posts) had done a good job of cleaning the grime and algae from the exterior walls, but it still needed repainting to cover the render repairs and to restore its crisp whiteness.
The new flower beds made positioning the ladder a bit tricky. In this picture, it is just possible to see the new line of bright white paint to the right of the ladder.
Being surrounded by trees is very pretty but it does cause some issues with the paintwork. Like the front, the west side of the house had also gone very grey over the years, with black algae spores and dirt kicked up by passing farm vehicles embedded in the paint.
As before, we used a pressure washer (on low power) to get the worst of it off. The ladder wasn't quite long enough to get right to the top of the gable ends, so a scaffold tower will be needed when it's time to repaint.
The pressure washer revealed just how grimy it had become.
Like the front, after pressure washing, the whole thing was painted with Algae removing chemicals. These react with sunlight and continue making the walls whiter over several weeks.
We dug out any hairline cracks using a multi-tool and refilled them using a cement repair product. Once it was dry, we mixed some of the render sand into the paint and dabbed it over. With a bit of care, the repairs were virtually invisible, but it took a lot of effort.
If we ever build another house, we will not be using render that's for sure!
The render damage on south side is too extensive for us to patch.
After a bit of investigation, we discovered that all the damage on the south side corners had been caused by the original plasterer sticking on the external beads with the incorrect product. It looked like he'd used the wrong adhesive (likely an internal glue) to stick on the corner beads and over time, any moisture getting behind caused the beads to come loose and crack the render. I even remember asking him at the time why he wasn't screwing them on because it seemed a bit rubbish.
Finding the right tradesperson, is certainly one of the biggest challenges of building your own house. We spent most of the summer (unsuccessfully) trying to get someone to come over and repair the render. We did eventually find someone who seemed really good. He gave us a list of materials for us to get (which we did) then came over and started working, arranging to return the next day... and then promptly disappeared. When I tried to call him to find out if everything was OK he had blocked my number... pffft!
Towards the end of Spring, the front garden was really beginning to look nice, with trees and plants all coming into bloom.
Despite getting regularly attacked by hungry rabbits, the front flower beds were also doing well.
June: it was a real pleasure to see different flowers emerging in the beds throughout the year.
Insects and birds were being attracted to the garden in greater numbers...
and the plants cast lovely shimmering shadows across the house at certain times of the day.
After almost a decade as a building site, it was nice to finally have a proper front garden. If we ever build another house, we'd certainly incorporate the landscaping into the build from the very start as it would be much cheaper and easier.[click to enlarge]
The landscapers did a good job on the granite borders for the driveway gravel. It has been driven over every day but no stones are being pulled out onto the farm track.
There's a much larger area for parking and having the two entrances mean that vehicles shouldn't need to be shuffled around to allow access.
Although knocking down an existing house is a more expensive way to secure a building plot, we were fortunate that the previous owner had established a number of plants in the garden. During the summer, the large trees around the garden edges make a lovely backdrop for the new garden additions like the pond and patio.
When originally planted, the flower bed around the pond looked a bit sparse and puny. A few months later, it had exploded into life.
The plants in amongst the pebbles were faring well and really added splashes of colour.
The (unintended) design of the pond, fringed with a dense flower bed on the far side and positioned close to the house on the other side, made it very unappealing to the local herons and fortunately none of our fish have been taken. A young heron did take a few nervous looks but soon gave up.
The lupins looked lovely and were a big hit with all the pond insects too.
We're really pleased that there is no evidence that the old house was ever there. The house looks so much better standing alone in the garden.
We didn't have enough money to get the landscapers to tackle everything in the garden. The south west corner is hugely overgrown but has some lovely established plants, including a white wisteria, so we will have plenty of future garden projects to keep us occupied.
The excavation of all the rubble under the house left us with a rather sloping lawn, but the undulations look quite attractive and add more interest than a dead, flat lawn.
It's good to see wildlife back in the area; spot the stag skulking past in the field behind the garden.
July: by mid-summer it was all change in the pond flower beds. These terracotta and lilac Achillea emerged and were very pretty to look at (although strangely enough didn't smell particularly pleasant but were another big hit with the insects and birds).
Through the summer, the west side flower bed filled out nicely too. The gang included Cat Mint, Salvia 'Hot Lips', Hebe, Orange Blossom, Daphne, a variety of heathers, a Lilac tree, Sedum, Ceanothus, and many more.
By July, the front garden also looked much busier, with all the flower beds filling out nicely.
August: It was interesting to compare the plans that the landscaper drew up before starting the work, with how it all turned out... it looked pretty similar!
The pond flowers really took off. To the right is a bog garden that drains any excess water from heavy rainfall and uses it to feed thirstier plants.
After living for so long in that awful paddling pool, the fish were very timid at first but soon got accustomed to their new home and now rush over whenever they see us in case it's feeding time.
