A drainage makeover

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I had some problems with the drainage in my garden last year ~ I can’t imagine why with all that rain ;) ~ so since last October I’ve been having some work done to sort it out.

It’s involved a lot of digging of holes and laying of new pipes, but at last the main work is just about finished.
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The Patio and Small Border

This is how the patio looked before:

It had to be re-laid, with better levels so the water would drain away from the house and not end up sitting against the brickwork like it used to.

8 November:

The old slabs were re-used after being given a good clean.

14 November:

One advantage of having the patio re-done is that this border between the fence and the patio has been made bigger. This was partly to make room for more planting, and partly because I needed extra paving slabs to make a new path around the the front of the conservatory, and using a row of the existing ones was the easiest and cheapest way of getting matching slabs. The trench in the photo above is where the border has now been widened into.

And this is it with the patio and edging finished. The Christmas tree came out (it’s now in a large pot), and first to go in were a dwarf philadelphus and clematis that I’d had in containers.

1 May:

For now I decided to fill the empty space with some foxgloves that I’d grown from seed last year.

19 May:

I’m going to take the Summer to think about what to plant there in the long run, so any suggestions are very welcome please! In Summer the front half gets the morning sun, although the back half nearest the fence is always in shade (it’s north-east facing). Through Autumn/Winter/Spring the whole border is in shade. It’s mainly pinks, whites and blues in there already.

I’m also not sure whether to keep the old rosemary or get rid of it, I think it’s probably seen better days but will try pruning it after flowering and see how it responds.

29 May:

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The Lawn and Big Border

This is how it looked before:

But there was a bit of a problem when it rained:

This area ended up in quite a mess, having holes dug in it left, right and centre for the soakaway and pipes, and then having the slabs and soil piled on it while the patio was being re-done.

November:

The neighbour’s cat had a good nosey around …

I had a new path laid around the conservatory too, and once that was finished things started to get tidied up a bit.

April:

And last weekend, a new lawn was put down (ok, some of those turfs don’t look great, but that will be dealt with) … and now it actually looks like a garden again :o)

30 May:

I’ve filled the corner under the apple tree with more foxgloves too, though eventually I’d like to plant something there that will give me better screening, especially in the Winter when the apple tree is bare. Suggestions welcome again!

23 April:

27 May (spot the cat):

This weekend I will hopefully be getting a few more plants planted out into the big border, and even more hopefully enjoying the chance to sit out in my garden again with a bit of nicer weather :o)

• 31 May, 2013
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