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Reduce, reuse, recycle....
Jul. 16th, 2019 05:01 pm I seem to be posting so little at present. Where does the time go?
Part of it is working on the garden of my son's new house - lovely garden, but the shrubs are rather overgrown and the Virginia creeper is making a bid for world domination.
A project to put raspberries in the front garden has developed into a major job (which we don't mind, but takes a lot more time than originally anticipated). That's because the bed with gravel in it turned out to have:
Gravel on top of a plastic membrane, on top of a foot of sandy heathland subsoil, on top of seven inches or so of builder's sand...
so,
The gravel has gone to a lady who wanted gravel and gave us her unwanted compost bins.
The sandy subsoil is going to the tip. Don't think anyone has a use for that.
The builder's sand will be partly used in making mortar for a new retaining wall to replace decorative timber edging which has rotted through at the bottom.
We're getting topsoil from people who (shudder) are turning their front gardens into parking space.
We're getting cement from the lady who gave us the compost bins and had an unwanted water butt as well as unwanted cement.
Bricks for the wall are coming from all sorts of places. Some have been dug up in various gardens where builders dumped them, some are coming from demolishing an unwanted barbecue, others were in a neat pile in my daughter's garden, and others from other people who have spare, unwanted bricks.
We also have a trailer on free loan (to move all this stuff around) from someone who has a trailer, but no car...
In short, it is amazing what can be sourced/donated/swapped these days. A mixture of Facebook, online communities and a daughter whose job as a postie takes her past many gardens with unwanted items piled up in them.
Part of it is working on the garden of my son's new house - lovely garden, but the shrubs are rather overgrown and the Virginia creeper is making a bid for world domination.
A project to put raspberries in the front garden has developed into a major job (which we don't mind, but takes a lot more time than originally anticipated). That's because the bed with gravel in it turned out to have:
Gravel on top of a plastic membrane, on top of a foot of sandy heathland subsoil, on top of seven inches or so of builder's sand...
so,
The gravel has gone to a lady who wanted gravel and gave us her unwanted compost bins.
The sandy subsoil is going to the tip. Don't think anyone has a use for that.
The builder's sand will be partly used in making mortar for a new retaining wall to replace decorative timber edging which has rotted through at the bottom.
We're getting topsoil from people who (shudder) are turning their front gardens into parking space.
We're getting cement from the lady who gave us the compost bins and had an unwanted water butt as well as unwanted cement.
Bricks for the wall are coming from all sorts of places. Some have been dug up in various gardens where builders dumped them, some are coming from demolishing an unwanted barbecue, others were in a neat pile in my daughter's garden, and others from other people who have spare, unwanted bricks.
We also have a trailer on free loan (to move all this stuff around) from someone who has a trailer, but no car...
In short, it is amazing what can be sourced/donated/swapped these days. A mixture of Facebook, online communities and a daughter whose job as a postie takes her past many gardens with unwanted items piled up in them.
