How to get more planting space!

That looks fantastic Spritz, and so many plants to choose from for your new border. Happy planning!

and just in time for your open days. the path looks wonderful. Mark is certainly a treasure. then you could also have Ajuga. Mitella and Tiarella etc.
will look forward to seeing it planted up Spritz.

Whey hey---------- send Mark down to me , he's done a cracking job ! :0)))
Happy planting.

Thanks! He's a gem of a worker...it all looks a bit 'new' and definitely needs 'softening'...but we'll get used to it, and in a few months, we'll have forgotten that it was only laid in May.

I shall have great fun planting it! ;-)))))

It looks fantastic and all done so quickly what a worker! enjoy your planting :o)

I love it Spritz,It looks brill :-))))))

Looks good enjoy planting the new border

Excellent Spritz and so in-keeping with your natural surroundings.
I'm intrigued by your tree on picture 2 - is that your old ash?
You make me smile as I would be the same ..... yes, the path is great but more importantly, you have a new area to plant.

I love it !
Mark's worth every penny, isn't he, these extra-hard workers are few and far between ;-)

Sh...I've added this blog to GoYpedia Crazy Paving ...

Interesting having a craftsman such as Mark build the path...
When I've made crazy paving areas in the past, I've done the design and construction myself.. very hard work !

In a previous garden I had an interesting neighbour from Palestine..her grasp of the English language was reasonably good.. She used to watch, fascinated, as I made a jigsaw from my paving stones, and she would say "I see you are laying more crazy PAVEMENTS today" lol.

Sh...your "crazy pavements" will make an interesting new area to plant ...

Did all the turf dug up by Mark go away in the skip ?

I definately wouldn't volunteer to do all that hard work ..... i'm exhausted just looking at it ;-)

that looks so nice, definately gives it a finished look to the path, and I know you're going to find some little gems to fill that planting space :))))

Louise... if you are making "crazy pavements" yourself at home, you can do just a few "pavements" at a time..... that's how I do it, otherwise, yes, far too exhausting.. ! :o)

What a happy blog! Amazing to see so many good things going on all in one blog! Finding the right stone! Finding a real hard working tradesman! Skip delivered to correct address on correct day!.. weather conditions on your side.....what a happy blog!! End result is great. The curve of the path to the gate is very nice and draws the eye. The creeping plants, especially the lovely campanula....will make it a real fine addition to your garden B!

Hi Dawn, yes, that's the old ash tree - and I'm really looking forward to finding suitable plants for my new border! :-))

Tt - thanks. Yes, OH and I could have done it ourselves - possibly - but these flagstones are reclaimed, and their thickness varies from 2" to at least 4" in thickness on the same piece of stone, let alone the variation between the slabs! So it's quite a specialised job, and Mark has worked with blue lias stone before. We would still have been working on the first 6' I think! LOL.

No - we kept some of the turf, and OH has cut pieces to fill the areas where the badgers have made the largest holes. The rest went in the skip - we've run out of storage space, sadly.

Thanks, Karen - we were sooooo lucky with sunny weather for Mark...but he needed every one of those mugs of tea! Glad you agree with the Campanula...that's a definite as one of the plants.......:-))

Oh yes, mine is about to flower and once it starts there's no stopping it for months! :))

I shall go to the GC next week as soon as the digging out and refilling's done.

I am in total awe of not only the man who layeth the path so quickly and so well, but also the area you have in general. All that space looks fantastic.....how big is your garden??

Amazing and the path is superb....well done MArk and well done you for creating a great area and extra space for planting.....BRILLIANT!

me too.

And me!

Thanks.... Ob - the garden is two-thirds of an acre. I 'should' have enough planting space with all that - but I haven't! LOL.

Never enough Spritz.....never enough!!

Our future son-in-law was up last week with the daughter and he commented on our garden saying he'd never seen so manypots! When I looked around, I had to agree with him but I'm a sucker for a nice planter and not having the ground space to lant, it's the next best thing!

...and I spent three quarters of an hour watering all my containers last night!!!

How about you - are you managing OK?

Smashing blog Spritz, and the new path looks so good. I know you'll be showing us the new planted area soon!

My pots had a good dousing last night but it is pretty easy for me as I only have one area to put them here and OH put an outside tap and hose in for me last year.

Takes me about an hour to do all my pots, GH and the few bits left in my potting shed. I find it quite therapeutic though....most of the time!! It's quicker now I've bought an adaptor for the end of myhose...use to just fill a watering can so it took forever with less pots than I have now!!

Too hot to do owt today though.....sweltering here so just covered the potatoes over again and took some pics so hope to do a little blog later followed by a cold shower!

I like the way he's even removed a slab to lose the 'join' - it's a real pleasure when you find a charfsman like that!

Great blog Barbara, I hope that lovely topsoil in the skip was recycled in a suitable place. He's done a very good job, really improved that area. I still love working with stone, about 20 years ago I cut a 5inch thick large piece of reclaimed York stone flooring from the cotton mills, in half, and found an animals hoof print in it. I left it as a feature on the terrace of the job I was working on.

what a good workman. wish i had one like that

He is a craftsman, that's true. He obviously enjoys his work, and I've never seen anyone work so hard and fast before!

This afternoon, we dug out the border...with great difficulty because we hit the foundations of the wall - so out with OH's pickaxe and two barrowloads of stones came out! It's now full of a soil/compost mix, waiting to be planted up. I also spent over an hour filling in the gap between the path and the grass edge... which improved the look of it.

I'd love an animal hoofmark or a fossil in the new path - you do get fossils in blue lias. Not this time. :-(((

Docbob - the skip is still here!

You can't beat a good charfsman! How on earth did I manage that - glad you knew what I meant, lol.

I rather liked that name! Good word you coined, Wagger! ;-)

Barbara a work of art, and so in keeping with your beautiful garden, looking forward to more photos with the plants in position, a very skilled man Mark.... OH has done ours in the past and it is hard work, super job.

Mark said he doesn't have to advertise - it's all 'word of mouth'! Hardly surprising, when you see his handiwork.

I'm going to try to get at least some of the plants today....would it surprise you if I came back with some hardy geraniums?? lol.

How about an erysumum or two?

LOL....Too shady!

Heucheras, tiarellas - and Heucherellas?

Lovely path and very well done - hes obviously a good worker (dont find many of them around!!) look forward to the pics of what you've chosen for your border.

Thanks, Genuis - and you're right, we were sooo lucky to find Mark!

You won't have to wait too long, folks! I'm almost there, and I should be able to post photos tomorrow....;-)))

i love the new path barbara and he was quick to, an arch would look good to ;o)))

Ah - don't forget that the path becomes a bridge over the stream, Sandra - so an arch wouldn't work there. Thanks for the thought, though!

arh never thought of that barbara, still looks great ;o)) x

i think it makes it look bigger .fab job

Thanks, Cristina.

There are a few odd fossils in it - a shell or two, and a couple of impressions. Nothing very exciting, sadly, but at least something!

Spritz I can just image opening that gate and being drawn up that wonderful walkway leading into your garden. I think it was a brilliant idea and great to be able to get it done by such a great guy.

Thanks, Stroller. I'm still getting used to it, but the new border helped - it has 'softened' it a bit.

We'll definitely ask Mark back if there's ever any more stonework to do.

Fantastic blog as always, Spritz! Am still trying to catch up with everybody, so forgive delay in posting comment! Wonderful path, and great workmanship, this new addition looks stunning my friend!!

Glad to see you back, Flori! It's going to be a real help in wet weather, when the gate area gets muddy...I'm pleased you like the photos, and you'll see it 'for real' very soon! :-)))

Can hardly wait!! Yes, have been a bit busy over last few days, so only briefly been popping in and out of Goy,it is all too easy to slip behind with all the blogs and photos posted, but lovely to touch base with you again Spritz! :~))x

Tell me about it - I 've been doing the same...a few minutes here and there. I'm not deliberately ignoring people, I just can't keep up!

So glad I am not alone!!!! LOL!

Garden comes first doesn`t it so I`m also never going to keep up but thats the way it is,LOL.
Love your new path Spritz and will look forward to seeing the new border......

It's in! I wish you could see it 'for real'...and yes, I'm out there as much as I can...I still have a list of 'to-do' jobs, though.

A wonderful job well done. I love your garden and feel the green eyes of envy as I looked at such a great plot. enjoy planting up the new boder but rest and enjoy as you do so.

You are joking, Grannysue - it's definitely count-down time, and I'm trying to cross tasks off my list faster than I add them! LOL.

Thanks for the lovely comment....:-))

nice blog spritz, i`m trying to play catch up after hectic few weeks in work , looks like you`v got areally good worker there - keep his number there a rare species !

Oh yes, Viv, we'll do that...our neighbour has already asked Mark to do some work for him! So we'll be seeing him again anyway. :-))

Lovely and interesting blog as usual and what beautiful stone. I know what you mean about muddy grass, in fact we no longer have any in our back garden after the makeover, but just as much, if not more, borders:-)

OH would approve of that, Ba!!! (I do, too - more planting space...)

Thanks - I'm slowly getting used to it being there., and it is lovely stone.

Yes spritz but I know that like me it isn't so much work as pleasure but I do appreciate what you are saying and this time of the year (well anytime really) there are always things to be getting on with. :))))))) Happy catch-up lol

Looks absolutely fabulous and Mark was certainly a wonderful find. Well done.

Thanks. :-)) We were also v.v.v. pleased with the Reclamation Yard - they bought back the excess flagstones at the price we paid for them! How good is that? :-)))

Can you send him up here Spritz? I've got soooo many jobs he could do for me! Lol
By the way ..... I'm back in the land of the living. Our t'internet was connected this morning! Lol

Hi Ian - welcome back! That's brilliant news. :-)))))

Not sure Mark can fit you in until March 2032, though. LOL.

Your visitors today must have felt like Royalty walking along this amazing "blue" carpet to your wonderful home and gardens, Spritz! I hope you had the same lovely weather we had today, and a great turnout! X

We did , thanks David - it was sun all the way. Not as many people as last year, but I've just found out that it was the Bath & West Show today - so that may well explain a lot. Also - Half term, so people may be away. Never mind - it was a very good day. :-)))

Couldn't have agreed more! The sun shone and the company was excellent David, and the new pathway an absolute triumph, we felt quite honoured walking down it into Spritz's fantastic garden on Thursday. :~))

I hope you approved of the new border, Flori!!! :-)))

The new border looked fantastic, and softened all the edges, just as you had hoped Spritz :~)) It was another great addition to your garden........x

Thanks. I hoped you'd like it! OH told me he had a question asked of him - how did we manage to keep the slugs away from the Hostas - well, you saw - my snails just leave them alone, don't they! (thank goodness!)

Wish he lived near me :) Wow looks great!

Thanks, L&B. We've kind of got used to it now - and I planted the border up with Iris reticulata, purple pansies and white Scillas for the spring. I still have the perennials in there, and I'll add some bedding plants too. :-)