November 8th

We have been busy again, in between the heavy rain and winds.

The Cordyline Australis "Torbay Dazzler" has outgrown the space we had last year for over wintering it under cover. So we have had to make a temporary ( only for the winter ) structure for it. We have named the structure "The Giraffe House". As soon as I have taken a picture of it I will post it on this page, you will see why we have given it this name!

Another job finished is the building of small, two course brick walls around the beds on the west side of the front garden, this will stop the birds and squirrels from throwing out the soil from the beds onto the lawn, and will also make it easier to water the beds,  with the extra soil put behind the new walls, it has made the bed flatter, so the water won't run off so easily.

On the eastern side, alongside the front path, we have removed some very old heathers, and extended the bed into the lawn area, in a semi circle shape, again with a low brick retaining wall around it. We now have to plan the planting of the bed, we will be moving the Eremurus from other parts of the garden, and putting them in this bed, hopefully to improve  flowering, by giving them a more sunny aspect.

We have also planned a small archway for the front gate, ( more climbing room for yet more Clematis ) we have 60 at the moment, 4 of which went down with Clematis wilt during the summer, we will have to wait to see if they come back up next spring.

November 16th
Lots of rain this week, with floods on the roads near rivers, the archway is finished, ready for Lyn to plant  the climbers. The picture below is of the "Giraffe House" as mentioned in the update above, and the semi circular bed, which looks a bit bare at the moment.