Don´t fence me in!

Carol´s sister Marie and her husband Alan flew out from Cambridgeshire UK to visit us and help with our never ending work. Leaving bright and sunny England they arrived in cold, wet and windy Girona. (Still the English love irony!)

We managed to get through a lot of stuff with their help. Priorty for Carol was to restore the fencing that we took down two years ago. We removed the fence which partitioned the house and garden from the finca land (a field) to make a coherent garden plan. It had been intended to have a meandering path leading from the patio area to a seat placed under the old fig tree. In reality the only meandering which occurred was that done by Francisco´s sheep as they sought to devour our vegetation. This year the flock will get a shock when the come up against the newly errected barrier.

This is Alan getting to grips with the fencing.

Hacking and Slashing

Spending a little time in our UK garden where some serious work needs to be undertaken.

 Recent gale force winds have delayed the renewal of fence panels which have become damaged over the years. Close feather-boarded panels are the most common type of panels in use though not really the most suitable. Something that filters the wind and yet maintains our privacy would be better. Another problem is that heavy rain combined with clay soil takes its toll of the fence posts. The fence is situated behind our mature shrubs which need to be pruned so that we can get to the fence. 

Carol loves to hack and slash at the shrubs and trees in our garden so she is always first to reach for the loppers and secateurs. 

I often have to send search and rescue parties out to untangle her from the undergrowth on those occasions when she gets carried away with the pruning.

One step forward two steps back.

It has been an difficult two weeks in the garden. We spent the first of those weeks repairing the damage caused by the wind to our fences. 

Then the area around the trees we planted in the late summer was weeded; a fabric weed suppressing membrane was added and then a rock mulch applied. The rock mulch was made up of the field stones we have dug from the ground, as well as keeping the area weed free it should also help to conserve the water we use.

The 90 km winds that have blown the last three days have destroyed the fencing we erected last week. The joys of Spanish Gardening.