Pic of the week 9/4/17
And what a week it has been! The temperature has soared, enticing me back out into the garden, which has been a bit neglected since early Autumn.
With some of my birthday Amazon vouchers I bought myself some 4 in 1 lawn care treatment and applied that to the green mossy area that has been masquerading as a lawn. Its blackening up nicely – that’s what is supposed to happen – ready for me to rake out all the dead thatch in a week or so’s time, allowing all the lovely green grass to grow through, thick and lush. In the (nearly) two years that we have been here I have been (pleasantly) surprised as to how infrequently I have had to mow the lawn – I think that that, though, is a symptom that it is not as healthy as it should be. One of my goals for this summer is to try and coax it back it full health – you can’t beat the backdrop of a verdant, vibrant vigorous sward.
I also bought myself a weed lance and I’ve enjoyed this bit of kit – basically a flamethrower used to burn weeds in the gravel and paving. The front garden, in particular, was getting more than its fair share of unwanted growth and the prospect of hand weeding this did not fill me with joy. But using this gadget does – fire it up, listen to the roar and wave it over the weeds, which then,over a day or so, blacken and die.
I also planted a rhubarb and have ordered some raspberries – a summer fruiting variety and an autumn fruiting one – to be planted. Its so much easier to get motivated when the sun is shining and the weather warm.
And I’v started – and nearly finished – a new deck where the summer house was (that I took down last year.) The job has been made infinitely easier as I bought some adjustable plastic “feet” onto which to mount the joists. Probably ended up spending £100 on these when i could have spent £50 on blocks, sand & cement, but it has been so much easier. Nearly built the whole deck in a day. The decking planks I bought from eBay (less2build) as 4.8m lengths, so no cutting needed, just lay them straight onto the joists. Its turning out to be the easiest deck I’ve ever built. (Would have finished it on Saturday, but for a late call up to referee a match as the original appointee had to go to hospital.) Should get it finished in the next couple of days (although I’ve then got to build the planter that will border it). Here’s a pic of me in action:
