Work in progress

There's an area of garden I'm working on at the moment.  I've been putting it off, to be honest, since it represents a lot of work.  On the other hand, it's important, because it's one of the first parts of the garden that gîte guests see when they arrive.  And I haven't done anything with it in the ten years we've been here, so since we have a bit of time with no clients, it was time to set about it.

The first thing to do is to clear it of weeds.  I sprayed it all on a calm day, and left it for a week or so.  I estimate the area to be about 120 square metres, so I figure that if I clear 4 square metres per day, I can do the whole area in a month - longer if I take into account rainy days, or days when I have other appointments to keep.

After a few days, it's starting to look like I'm working on it.   I'm building a wall around it with the stones that I uncover.

Right now, the space is about half-done.  It's inevitable when working on an area like this, that one disturbs the occasional wild animal (and that's a reason I don't like to do it with great mechanical engines).  This female green lizard came to warm up in the sun beside my wheelbarrow, and I rescued a hiberbating slow-worm too.

I have surrounded with shreddings, the smoke tree I planted ages ago, and put some stones around an inspection cover for some underground conduits, to keep the dirt off.

I reckon I can order some good quality topsoil now, and spread it over the cleared area.   I ordered 12 cubic metres.