Glad i finally started!

Well done you, very good to have a neighbour as kind as you. You will get a lot out of helping.

That is incredibly sweet of you!!!!! I can't imagine how much she appreciates it. But I have enjoyed only just reading about it! Thank you for sharing your project with GOY. It has brought a smile to my face to hear of your generosity!

Kind comments Olivoil and Lainedru, thankyou. I know it sounds cheesy but i genuinely did get as much joy in seeing her response as well as sorting out the garden!

not cheesey at all Tiger - I like giving also much better than receiving:

You will bring such happiness to your neighbour, Tiger. It is such a good way to repair the bad experience she has had with the local council. It's awful when people are taken advantage of.

I'm smiling along with other GoYers at your generosity.

Yes Whistonlass, the so called gardeners for the council should hold their heads in shame. The whole point is surely to help, not add more stress in such hard times. My neighbour tells me that there were actually 3 gardeners and in 2 hours at each visit they only managed to cut the grass and hack some of her lovely shrubs and fruit trees. All i can do really this year is try to nurse the garden back to health. Alot of plants should have been pruned late last year but were left un-pruned. I would do more harm than good to them this time of the year, they even removed some of her plants and bulbs! Can you believe it!!

Oh dear that is not on!

typical council workers,i watch them come to the lady over the road and they seem to think if it grows hack it down,one even admitted to me he didnt have a clue about gardening.

So sad and all those people out of work, surely they could employ someone with some idea about gardening or are they volunteer workers?

My thoughts entirely Ladybug47! We see these council workers moaning about the cuts and their jobs but i think it's well known by many people just how much money is pure waste when it comes to our local councils- how short sighted many are! ( Oh dear, didn't mean to get political, but it does make one's blood boil! )

As far as i know Oliveoil, they are professional gardeners subsidized by the council.

Good for you tiger, I bet that dear lady is overjoyed not only with your gardening but also your company.

The problem with Council 'gardeners' is that everything is put out to tender and the ones givng the lowest quote are employed - you can imagine what their 'skills' are like. I call the ones round here "chainsaw pruners."
A couple of examples of their work:
1) a whole area of mahonias and berberis just coming into flower were cut to 18 inch stumps
2) a selection of shrubs were all pruned (with a chainsaw) to three feet - you could see they had just run the chainsaw across the top of everyting. In the middle was an eight feet tall tree with the top three feet dead - they left that intact

You're a kind soul :) It's awful how people are treated sometimes. Thank goodness for kind souls :)

im so glad thats working out so well; i can well imagine how much pleasure it has given you both.
hope it continues to go well.
DIYSOS sounds a great idea. i know you said gardens but i could make a whole list for DIY!!!
i get a lot of help for my garden from here ~ no help for weeding yet tho!!

Hi Sticki, yes i guess we both get a great deal from this project, although i have to confess i think i fair rather better. Her husband was an engineer so you can imagine what sort of equipment and tools were waiting for me when i opened the garage door for the first time!!! It was an absolute treasure trove. Every tool i could possibly need for the garden and much, much more, all now at my disposal. Talk about a child in a sweet shop!!!! LOL.

i think thats great!! you offer to help and you find treasure! thats how life should be. so glad its working out, im quite sure the lady thinks she is fairing best so that makes it all worthwhile!!!

Well done on your work...
lucky you ... having nice neighbours ...