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Message: [QUOTE="Colin, post: 119022, member: 5507"] Hi, An update Robert as I've been taking your excellent advice. This morning I spent an hour extending the planting area I started yesterday and then after dinner a couple of hours creating a new planting bed by turning over an untidy section covered in grass and all kinds of small twigs and things; I turned the lot in; once turned over I then went over with the spade on its side slicing the lot and I'm delighted by how much better it already looks; just three hours grafting today but our rear garden is already looking much better even with exposed soil; it's a lot better than seeing it overgrown with holly; laurel and oak. This first dig is hard going but I'm getting much better already with just a little practice; two spade widths slice the ends and then turn over as a block at spade depth seems best for me; the grassed area is the hardest to turn and the soil is full of roots. I'll mulch these beds next week with a layer of well rotted horse manure as kindly suggested by headfullofbees in another thread; I'll add 4"-6" depth of manure and leave well alone over winter before digging it in. Its been a perfect day today and a real pleasure to get into the garden; today hasn't cost a penny but I've thoroughly enjoyed it and I've something to show for my efforts. I've only just started to tackle our rear garden and at first I thought I was in for nothing but hard graft; this is possibly true at first dig over but I think once I get on top of this any further digging will be a great deal easier; I'm also surprised by the soil quality so far which looks quite dark and rich. There is already ground cover of some kind under the willow tree so I've left this alone to save digging amongst the willow roots. No way am I going to attempt to remove the big stumps; I'll plant shrubs to hide them. The grass is more moss than grass but again I'll act on advice already kindly supplied and first job is to spike then apply a top dressing over the next couple of weeks; I think with some TLC I can salvage this grass and make it look a lot better. A number of assorted shrubs are due to arrive and I plan to place a number of these between the lavender and the fence then mulch the bare soil. I'm like a kid with a new toy. :giggle: Kind regards, Colin. [ATTACH=full]27723[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]27724[/ATTACH] [/QUOTE]

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