Non-Gardener builds an Observatory, Garden Railway and even Dabbles with Plants!

13th August 2025

The 13th was scorching hot, with temperatures of 31 degrees, so I had no plans to do any hard work during the day. I did visit an aggregate supplier and three garden centres, pricing up some large slate blocks for next year, but didn't go out into the garden until early evening.

When I did finally get out, it was still warm, but not hot. This allowed me to rake the slates back towards the new edging. These were the slates that were moved out of the way for the edging foundation. There were three bulk bags of slates behind the trailer, each with about a wheel barrow load of slate. These were pulled out from behind the trailer and one was emptied along the edging. That was enough hard work, as the temperature was still about 24 degrees.

I ended the evening with a few pictures across the micro pond, with the sun set in the background. Now that the Yew trees have been chopped, I can see the sun from pond height.

 

14th August 2025

Today was another warm one, with the lounge at 24 degrees at 8am this morning. However, by 10am, it had clouded over, making it a bit more manageable outside. So out came the wheel barrow again and I began to rake slates out of the 800Kg bag on the drive and wheeling it down to the bottom of the garden.

I started at the bottom entrance to the wood, the furthest distance to barrow, so as I got more tired, I didn't have as far to push it. The slates were built up to around two inches from the top of the edging. This means that it isn't difficult for hedgehogs to climb over onto the lawn. Even before I started to put the slates in, a couple of days ago, I spotted a hedgehog on the trailcam.



I worked up the wood, leaving a gap at the new flower bed area. I've spotted some pre-cast concrete low 'stone' walling, which looks ideal to edge the flower bed area. It comes from the same place as the lawn edging, so we should be able to get a good colour match. This can then be in-filled with the left over 400Kg of topsoil, left from the lawn re-seeding. Depending on what's in stock, we might have to get it made to order.



The height of the slates drops away at the top of the wood, where the ground falls away towards the neighbour's drive. I was also pretty much at the end of the bag by this point, with just a few shovels full to top up a few low spots. During my wanderings around the wood, I spotted that one of the Hollyhocks is flowering, with buds not yet open on others.

The only other thing going on, is we've had some roofers here over the last couple of days, putting some plastic edging on the roof tiles of the garage. The mortar has been breakout out over the last year and while our house had been done, the garage wasn't. My neighbour has been getting part of his roof re-tiled, so while they were there, I got a quote.

 

16th August 2025

It's rare that anything in this garden happens in two days, but this weekend we managed it. The new flower bed is complete, finishing the lawn edging project completely and filling a large empty space at the top of the wood.

Yesterday morning, we went to a local paving manufacturer, expecting to have to order and wait for the edging we wanted. When we got there, we didn't like the examples we were originally looking at, but instead saw some half log edging in a colour that matched the lawn edging. £18 pounds bought us the six pieces we needed.

I came straight back home and started clearing slates from the flower bed area. Once cleared, it took some time to jig up the edging level, which included cutting two logs off each of the rear stones to get the shape I wanted. There was a lot more space below the stones at the left end, due to the fall of the ground, so I ended up using lots of wooden packers to hold everything at the correct height.



While I was jigging everything in place, Lynne emptied the remains of the bulk bag of sand, into lots of 20Kg bags that could easily be stored in the shed. One wheel barrow load was left out for my concrete mixing. After that, with the sand out of the way, she began to give the workshop Laurel a hair cut, as we hadn't been able to get to it very well, with all the bulk bags along in front of it.

By this time, I'd mixed up a batch of concrete and was dolloping it into the corners and joints of the flowerbed edging. Everything had been clamped and propped up with bricks and all the concrete was completed by the time we went out for a barbecue with the neighbours at 6pm.

 

17th August 2025

First thing this morning, I removed all the jigging and then concreted the remaining gaps along the bottom of the stones. After a drink and snacks break, we started barrowing earth from the bulk bag in the front garden and began filling the flower bed. There was just the right amount to fill the new flower bed.

We had a lunch break after moving all the soil and then went out to a local garden centre that we knew would be having a half price sale. We ended up with a few dozen bedding plants for £13 and began planting as soon as we got back.



The plants were a mix of Begonias, Geraniums ( Pelargonium ), Pansies and Cyclamen, with the tallest at the back and the rest a moderately symmetrical mix, with the three Cyclamen spaced across the front. When we finished, I had a horrible feeling that we'd just set out a three course meal for the rabbits!



We're really pleased with the finished result, filling what would have been a large open slate area otherwise and the colour stands out across the garden while they are in sunlight. These bedding plants are a temporary measure for this season and we'll have a think over the Winter, whether we want some more permanent plants for next Spring and Summer.

 

6th September 2025

Yesterday, a month after seeding, the new grass was given a first cut. It had grown to around four to five inches tall, so was given a gentle strim first to bring the height down. After that, it was given a mow on a fairly high setting, mainly to suck up all the strimmer clippings. It's filled out pretty well, though there are some thin and bald spots that need seeding again.



Now that it has been cut, the old and new grass all being short, gives a good indication of the new surface levels. While the lawn will never be flat, the hollows do appear to have gone, the bank around the Laurel is much more gentle and cutting the grass is less like an off roading experience.



The new grass must be much more tasty too, as we've now had a several times daily visit by one of the wild rabbits. Unlike the rest, who only seem to appear on the trailcam around 5 to 6am, this one comes at all times of the day. I don't know whether it's the grass or dandelions it's going for, but either way, I don't mind, as the rabbits haven't touched the new flower bed.

 

That looks pretty good, especially as it was sown in the summer and it has been hot and dry this year.

 

Thanks, but our water bill explains why it looks so good!!

 

I am on water restrictions in Dordogne, SW France.

 

9th & 12th September 2025

On the 9th, I spent three and a half hours re-seeding the bald areas of the lawn. To give the seed the best chance of getting started, I broke up the soil surface with a small hand rake, scattered the seed and then raked it in again to cover it. That way, the moisture will hopefully stay next to the seed. There were dozens of bald and thin patches, plus some of the existing lawn, where the grass had died.

Today, Lynne and I had a mid-morning coffee shop date. Of course, it wasn't a normal coffee shop, but the cafe at one of the local garden centres! ( well, they do have a great cafe! ). It seems that we weren't the only people with the same idea, with the main and overflow car parks both virtually full.

Anyway, after a nice coffee and late breakfast, we went for a wander around, as they still had their half price sale on. In the wood, beside the trailcam tree, there is a nice white Cyclamen flowering. It seems to do well, even with the tree sucking lots of moisture out of the ground. As a result, we spent £6.00 on twelve additional ( and more colourful ) Cyclamens. Four were planted in the open area at the top end of the wood.



Three more were planted just to the left side of the trailcam tree, with two more just behind the pond.



Another was planted in front of the pond, closer to the front of the wood, near the ferns. The last two went in the open area just inside the back entrance to the wood. They add a nice splash of colour on the woodland floor at this time of the year.

 

Very nice @ArmyAirForce. If you're lucky and the cyclamens like the conditions, they will spread well and give bigger splashes of colour. I rate them highly as good 'doers' that don't need much looking after.

We've got to do something with our front lawn as it got trashed by the builders and their cement mixer. There's lot of dead moss still although OH has scarified it several times. It probably needs ripping right out and starting all over again but we'll have to wait till next year.

 

Cyclamen are so pretty but I hope you bought cyclamen hederifolium, ivy leaved cyclamen, which are the hardy ones, not the bedding ones. The bedding cyclamen tend to be in brighter colours and often die in cold weather. The hardy ones spread.

 

I think they are, but at £6.00, it's no great loss if they die.

 

14th September 2025

A new purchase has arrived today, a mains water pump for next year's garden project - the patio stream. I was considering solar powered originally, but having done some research, decided to go for a low wattage mains pump. With low voltage solar systems, I'd read about voltage losses on long cables reducing power and flow rates, which meant I wouldn't be able to put the panels out of the way. I didn't want large solar panels on the slate area spoiling the look, so mains was the way to go. I went for an Aqua Eco 4500 litres per hour pump, which runs at 30watts per hour.

The second image is a slight redesign from my first idea, incorporating an "intake bay" at the bottom. This forms part of the filtering system, to keep the water clean and clear. The current pot micro pond on the patio will become a bog filter at the top of the stream. I got the pump early so I could experiment with the flow rate at the potential elevation I'm planning. It will also allow me to plan and buy other accessories I'll need in time.

 

15th September 2025

On the 15th, I set up the pond pump on the patio for some tests. Initially, just to see the flow through the 10 metre hose, then some elevation tests to check the flow at height. When I build the stream, the pump will have to lift the water around three to four feet to the start, so I wanted an idea of the flow rate around that height.

I then set up a mock stream, to see what the water flow and waterfall looked like at various widths. Even at eighteen inches wide, there seemed to be a really good flow. I don't think any part of my stream falls would be over eighteen inches wide. A short video of the testing is below, mostly with captions rather than talking, as I have partially lost my voice due to "School Flu", brought home by my daughter shortly after school returned after the Summer.



16th September 2025

Today, I've been doing some tree trimming. The Maple was beginning to overhang the trampoline and seriously overhang the lawn. The conifer near the middle entrance to the wood also needed tidying, as did the Bey. The pictures below show the Maple and Conifer before and after. It was hard work with the 4 metre extended chainsaw.



They Bey just needed a few branches trimmed, particularly as several of them were shading the trailcam solar panel. I did some general pruning of other dead stuff around the garden, particularly things around eye level along the woodland path.

Around the back of the wood, there's still one Canterbury bell flowering, one of the new Cyclamens is starting to flower and some of the Hollyhocks are still flowering. One Hollyhock was eaten and dug up by rabbits, while to others have some serious nibbling of leaves.



Since finishing the lawn edging, I haven't done a great deal in the garden. I've been focusing on my World War 2 truck, which has been off the road since late May with an overheating engine. I didn't touch it until the garden was done and now I'm trying to get it up and running again before the weather turns really cold and I can't feel my fingers in the cold garage.

 

19th September 2025

We had another garden centre date today and came back with some more plants and bulbs. These are all likely going to be included in the borders of the stream next year. Having learned that certain plants aren't in garden centres all year around, we decided to buy some stuff now, so that it is available when we were ready to plant next year. I'll either up-pot these or find somewhere in the ground for them until needed.

The bulbs ( mini Daffodils and Crocuses ), will be planted in the grey planters outside the workshop and can provide some colour in the Spring until we're ready for them. There's quite a few crocuses, so some may go around the edge of the wood.

Amongst the purchases was a five coloured Calluna, which Lynne was quite taken with.



We found some more Cyclamen in another garden centre, which are definitely hardy and also got some buy one, get one free Campanulas, which worked out at £1.65 each. We plan to plant the Cyclamen, Campanulas and Daffodil/Crocus bulbs in groups along the rocks along the stream edges, as each flowers at a different time of the year. This should give us almost all year round colour.