After spending July up a ladder giving the pergola a fresh coat of paint, the following six weeks in August & September were busy putting in the path from the end of the patio to around the Summerhouse.
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| Smashing out the humps |
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| Rubble Trouble |
The raised areas of the old path were pulverised and reused as aggregate for the sub-base of the new path.
Luckily, I had previously bought the sandstone slabs (300 x 300), a few years before, so once lockdown was lifted it was off to the builder's merchant to get sand and cement.
Hop-scotch
I didn't want a particularly wide path as I wanted to maintain the area around the apple tree as large as possible for lawn. Cats like to eat grass to help with the digestion of hair they ingest while cleaning themselves, and I took out the grass to put in the patio... There is a distinct rake to the path for the rain flow to drain into the grass area.
A month later
I'm really pleased with the finished result. The advantage of hard landscaping your garden with paths and patio areas is you no longer have to trudge through wet grass or mud whenever it rains.
The Grass will be greener on this side
The remaining area has been levelled and sown with grass seed. Unfortunately the neighbourhood cats, of which there are many, are under the belief that I've made a communal toilet for them, so poop patrol has become a regular occurance.
Almost Zen like
There is also a long narrow, around 18 inches, wooden plant bed (not shown) to go alongside the trellis as I wanted another vegetable bed to grow more french beans.
View from inside the Summerhouse
Where's my grass?
Plant Update
The French Dwarf Beans were a success and very easy to grow. Unfortunately with only five plants there wasn't much of a harvest but did get to eat homegrown beans three times. Next year, I shall aim for around 20-30 plants to maximise the yield.
The other plants have come along nicely but starting earlier next year is really a priority as these are still either too small or not ripe.
One of the pickings
Bell Pepper
Chilli Peppers
The vine tomatoes, sown from seeds of a shop bought tomato, have been interesting, however I won't be growing these next year. My neighbour has a tomato which is only a foot high and each plant is crammed with fruit - at least 50 tomatoes per bush. I shall be planting from those.
The line of vine... 
tomatoes
Sadly they are still green but one has finally turned red, or maybe it's just bashful...
Fried green tomatoes?
Last but not least, the pear tree which is now in its fourth year is proving its worth. Thank you, Maria :)
A Lovely Pear
