- Joined
- Jan 31, 2018
- Messages
- 3,565
- Reaction score
- 3,896
- Location
- "The Tropic of Trafford"
- Hardiness Zone
- Keir Hardy
- Country
No jobs until Tuesday. Hopefully, we'll get a few dry days.
At the moment, we've got a bit of standing water on the patio in front of the French windows in the corner next to the left-hand side bed.
When I laid this patio I made falls to the sides of a couple of inches. There's a low, two brick high wall on the esdges of the patio on both sides to contain the borders, with several one inch holes in the bottom for drainage. But the ground must be so saturated, to prevent this happening at the moment.
It's surprising, as we're on the flood plain of the Mersey which has alluvial soil, so quite sandy, so in normal times it drains quickly. But that's the subsoil, over time the soil in the borders will have become less sandy.
It will have gone by tomorrow if there's no more rain. Fortunately, the new "rose patio," is completely dry, as that sits on 20 tonnes of fine eco friendly hardcorer, which will absorb a lot of water. I checked this by putting a cane down the hole I have in the base of the fountain's plinth. It's sitting on what was the koi pool's pump sump, it's nearly 3ft deep and there's no water in it. So all the rain has gone through the hardcore and the holes I drilled in the concrete screed base of the pool five feet below. You can just about see the bung in the hole.
I may refill the fountain if there's no danger of it icing up over New Year.
I'm going to give the wisteria's their winter prune on Tuesday. I'll also prune off the dead wood on the two big acer palmatums as I do each year.
I've already planted out some cyclamen given to my wife as Christmas presents by friends. They are happier planted out in the garden rather than living in pots indoors.
These roses are next, they need some attention, I'll put them in bigger pots and for now put them in the shed next to the window.
I put new jars of peanut butter bird food in the two feeders, they only last about three weeks, before the birds empty them.
At the moment, we've got a bit of standing water on the patio in front of the French windows in the corner next to the left-hand side bed.
When I laid this patio I made falls to the sides of a couple of inches. There's a low, two brick high wall on the esdges of the patio on both sides to contain the borders, with several one inch holes in the bottom for drainage. But the ground must be so saturated, to prevent this happening at the moment.
It's surprising, as we're on the flood plain of the Mersey which has alluvial soil, so quite sandy, so in normal times it drains quickly. But that's the subsoil, over time the soil in the borders will have become less sandy.
It will have gone by tomorrow if there's no more rain. Fortunately, the new "rose patio," is completely dry, as that sits on 20 tonnes of fine eco friendly hardcorer, which will absorb a lot of water. I checked this by putting a cane down the hole I have in the base of the fountain's plinth. It's sitting on what was the koi pool's pump sump, it's nearly 3ft deep and there's no water in it. So all the rain has gone through the hardcore and the holes I drilled in the concrete screed base of the pool five feet below. You can just about see the bung in the hole.
I may refill the fountain if there's no danger of it icing up over New Year.
I'm going to give the wisteria's their winter prune on Tuesday. I'll also prune off the dead wood on the two big acer palmatums as I do each year.
I've already planted out some cyclamen given to my wife as Christmas presents by friends. They are happier planted out in the garden rather than living in pots indoors.
These roses are next, they need some attention, I'll put them in bigger pots and for now put them in the shed next to the window.
I put new jars of peanut butter bird food in the two feeders, they only last about three weeks, before the birds empty them.
