I am starting a brand new garden from scratch

Oh yes, height matters in the overall effect. Thyme has self seeded in my gravel drive which never had weed membrane on it. My garden used to be a meadow and it must have been a barley field too as barley self seeded on the drive and looks pretty.
I'm guessing a solar water feature is powered by the sun to make a fountain.
Beeplants: my self seeded buddleia had four peacock and one unidentified (brown spotted maybe fritillary)butterflies yesterday.

I love that buddleia is so attractive to bees, I see a couple a few gardens away. I am waiting to see the water feature working soon, I want bubbles rather than a spout but it has a nice big water container so will be liked by birds.

Doh, I thought I bought a pot crammed full of chives, silly me they are obviously not chives but are leekes, I will dump 2 more bags of compost into a raised bed and plant them. My dibber was in the box that disappeared so I will have to improvise with a thick pointy dowel.

Got to start a veg rotation diary, I can do a 4 rotation cycle, to keep the soil healthy

I put the 3 creeping thyme out last night, they look well this morning, about 10" apart. I was reading about caraway thyme which is the only culinary thyme that I bought, apparantly it is pretty active, I`ll keep it at the back in case it takes over. I like the idea of easy ground cover. I used ajuga bugle boy in a contained area shared with a neighbour, it was wonderful, kept all the weeds down between the plants. Ajuga would be too invasive here

Phacelia has still not arrived, just as well as I got the leekes yesterday, 3 beds of phacelia and one bed of leekes

www.ecosia.org/images?q=ajuga

It looks like thyme. I'd like invasive. Maybe I could grow it on my ecological drive. Can it survive among sparse barley ?

yes ajuga survives very well and looks lovely, it wondered between lots of plants. Bugle boy is particularly nice with spires of blue flowers. I think I got small plants from ebay

I have given up with hydrangea annabelle in the front, it is far and away too sunny and dry, so I started prepping for a change of planting. I started at 10am and didn`t stop until 6. I never appreciated how manky the soil was that side, it was the side that the big machines came through. Soil structure was gone and more than that there were many pockets of dumped large stones, concrete, plaster, render. Yes again I shifted countless buckets of this stuff, luckily there is a builders area that has still not been cleared and I had permission to use it. All I had ever done was dig to a shallow level, pop the plants in and mulch with various humus. At least I found several worms this time. I ended up crumbling much soil by hand and have done half the area, tested it with a bucket of water, which now drained away

I had to take paracetamol and cbd last night, was so achy but to my amazement feel fine now. I want to get it done, so will make a start soon. It all started when I moved damp soil away from 3 fence posts that were put in concrete. I have experience of rotting wood so wanted to get the soil away, will paint the lower level with preservative and then lash with engine oi

So my new plantings will be with hot sun and drought in mind and I am talking about rosemary of various types, I have 3 upright on the way and one prostrate. 4 different types and I put my sad looking 3 year old pot bound rosemary in too. I have artemesia on the way too, may put these on the edge to divide from the roses. They have grey thin leaves

I might try ajuga Bugle Boy , thanks.

I hope you yourself are properly hydrated ?

PS I hope to remember how to preserve wood wooden posts if I ever need . Engine oil !

I could scream tonight, I have spent hour upon hour clearing nasty builders rubbish from below the layer of soil. Two days on a small bit of the front and pretty well all day today, trying to make sure that I have a decent home for my fruit. Three of the trees arrive in 4 weeks and the rest a bit later. The builder buried nasty sticky stuff that is like plasticine, at first sight the soil looked ok and is deeper than nhbc stipulates but below the soil is a deep nasty very difficult and thick mound of, I think, render and many large stones embedded in it and it is in every place I have dug so far

My hand is almost blistered and my shoulder is strained. I have been on my knees by just one hole for three hours and taken out 3 barrows of this awful gunk. The trees need a big hole without obstructions, so tomorrow I am getting a strong prise bar, it is very difficult to get the deep big stones out

All nhbc require is 10 cm of top soil and landscaping ie grass. I have about 30cm of top soil and managed to stop them sowing grass seed. So many new home owners won`t realise about this until their lawns start to fail and go yellow in patches

Could you get the builders to pay for removing their rubbish? Don't you own the subsoil? What if the builders had buried something really nasty?

They are small builders Alexa, would not have buried anything nasty and probably thought I would be ok with 30cm of their top soil, as long as I was having grass it would have been ok but I am not a grass person. I will be patient and am heeling bought plants into troughs until I can prep their homes properly. It will be done by autumn, I am tenacious but need to pad my palms inside my gloves

So far the flowering/foliage plants I have bought for the back in 3s
rudbeckia goldsturm
monarda jacobs cline
artemesia powys castle

plus 7 varieties of creeping thymes in a kind of circle around a water feature plus 3 mounded thymes in that circle

For height and fruit I have ordered
3 x M26 eating/cooking apples
1 x M26 jelly king crab apple
3 x standard invicta gooseberries
2 x blackcurrant Ben conan

All I can see me wanting to add are some of my bocking 14 comfrey roots and to move 6 nice roses

Bulbs will be added when the permant planting is done

Craftone, you certainly are tenacious and I'm sure Mother Nature will reward your hard work with wondrous displays of flowers and fruit. I wish I could see them. It's a pity I cannot see photos of it all on Facebook.

Have you favourite HT roses?I love scent. Some floribundas have plenty of scent. I have a Korrezia that has that wild rose scent. I like yellow roses.

The new patio has been started, hardcore is down and I think it will be finished in 2 weeks. 2 patios soon, at right angles, the new one is east/west and will be an extra 9 x 30 feet. I will have 2 patios that size, different sort of gardening for those areas. I have already made one nice, more intimate, enclosed area outside my kitchen. All future proofing for me, grey granite colour, bumpy stone that absorbs water so will not be slippy in winter. A whole new design concept in the future but not now, I need to get on with prep for the planting season

A couple more trips to my allotment last week, more equipment came back with me and also a lot of slightly under-ripe bardsey apples but fine for cooking for the freezer. I hate peeling hundreds of apples, like to start early. I have a traditional apple store unit for all the good apples

The last deep wide hole to be prepped today, so far each hole has involved removing 8-10 x 12 litre trugs of nasty mank. I have started to buy and keep john innes number 3, to give my apples a good gentle start. Takes 2-3 hours per hole and makes my hands ache for a couple of days. No pain no gain

I dug into comfrey bocking 14 roots on the allotment yesterday and have 16 bits for propogation, had to throw the roots out and used top pieces after cutting the stalks right down. Now all in recycled pots and will grow on until signs of life. In the meantime I need to decide the absolute final positions of my comfrey patches because they can never be moved. Such a beautiful valuable plant and bumble bees love it. I might treat it as a garden addition as well as a feed-maker and put it into 4 different places. So wonderful, it does not move its feet and remains where I plant it. Deep roots so I need to go as deep as possible but thankfully not wide as for the apples

The 2 allotment Ben Conan will be going to a dd, who is now in 3 acres, garden part is lovely, semi-wild and ramshackle, she wants the blackcurrants and a gooseberry. How on earth do I quickly teach a never before interested dd about gardening when it has taken me over 65 years of learning, starting with an adopted aunt saving me cigarette cards. Auntie Bess, are you listening? Thank you for my lifetime hobby

5 1/2 hpurs later and I am stopping with that one hole. It seemed an ok one to start but I excavated 11 heavy buckets. These trees of mine will get the best start that I can manage. The posts are all securely in, 45 degrees for the potted trees and a vertical post for the bare root tree. Very thick posts and a lump hammer and crossed fingers

My 2 wheeled fantastic wheelbarrow has finally given up, the axle bent and I could not straighten it, good thing that I brought my single wheel barrow back from the allotment, will be destined for daughter. I cannot manage without my steady sturdy 2 wheeler, will be getting another one. 10 years of solid hard use, it did very well over all terrain and with very heavy loads

I snatched some food and copious drinks then took 2 ibrufen, I know I will ache for 2 solid days. I still have to do deep narrow holes for the comfrey, bought a cheap post hole auger and will fill the hole with soil. I regard my garden as any old soil on something equivalent to alkaline rock and that influences my planning.

The best garden for a new build without lawn is hard surfacing and raised beds. Its very tough going right now, I hope my fruit appreciates it and rewards me handsomely in time

Craftyone, have you ever used comfrey Bocking medicinally?
I used to know a healing woman who adored it.

no I haven`t used the plant Alexa. Just the remedy symphytum to help broken bones to heal, not mine

So my 10th hole was finally dug yesterday and not a moment too soon, I very suddenly got bad hip pain in my right hip, I know it was all that twisting using the gorilla bar while kneeling. Body tells me that this is enough for now, I have many large stones to pick and get rid but no more forseeable deep digging and thank goodness for that. I will have to clean up the mess in the garage, where I dumped dirty tools and boots but not until the weekend

2 days on alternating painkillers will do it plus I must get back to long neglected core exercises to support my hip

Kneeling such a lot in the garden and close to the soil, I see that lots of weed seeds have germinated. It is going to be rough on my hoe, zillions of small and large stones. Worms are coming back very fast, they must be liking the added humus. There is no structure in my soil, not the structure that comes from generations of just being there, like on my allotment. All I can do now is add as much humus as I can and as often as I can

Phacelia is growing like the clappers in 3 raised beds and the leeks have all taken plus half the 2 year old shallots that I planted. At least I will have saved some shallots and will keep on growing a few of my own, have been doing that for 9 years from the original. There will be enough phacelia to feed some to the hotbin, the rain came at the right time

Two areas are ready now for bocking 14, either side of the hotbin and the other 4 can go into the far corner facing north west, gets some sun. If my comfrey does not root then I will have to buy some. Fingers crossed as there is satisfaction when successful propogation

Rest days for me now, body has taken a battering

Do you still have the allotment or was that at your last house?

Craftyone, I salute you.

Just reading about your new garden makes me breathless.

Well done, and as has been said previously, could we please have some pictures soon?

I love my trees and long grass. But I was thinking of offering my garden to able bodied gardening son to clear, rotivate, and grow veg and fruit on . for economic reasons concerned with climate emergency and maybe Brexit too.

I hope you do that Alexa, you won`t look back and we would love to see your progress too

Weedlings are starting to grow where weeds were poor so that tells me that the soil structure is improving. I cannot dig all over, I can only dig deep for the bigger plants individually. The soil on top fortified with humus will be fine for the shallow rooters, eg thyme is growing beautifully.

I dug some allotment comfrey bocking 14 up last week and formed little stumpy plants, they are all growing with new leaves already, all 16 of them. I did a couple more yesterday. They seem to be growing so quickly, I added more humus to the 2 main comfrey beds, can only take a total of 11 plants, they need about 2` in between. I removed a barrow of big stones and roughly raked. I cannot see myself digging deep for these, my hip is more important right now, might just do a few post holes with an auger or slam the gorilla bar in for a wiggle but that will be all. I can see me planting these robust plants in 2-3 weeks

Craftyone, my gardening son refused my offer as he consoders his present veg garden is enough for him. I am slightly relieved as now I can keep my trees and long grass with a clear conscience. Son number one cut all the grass and white clover today at my request. It will soon green up.

We had to find the spare key hidden under a flower pot at the foot of the garden for many years since last disturbed and there was a large frog under it too.

I'll leave the grass now for the remainder of the season to form a thatch which will protect the root structure from the dog running about during the winter months.

Trees are lovely Alexa, enjoy them

I am cream crackered today, did too much again yesterday and am having a bit of time off. Must find myself a tai chi class, different exercise. I did plant all the comfrey today, while the soil is moist and warm. I cannot believe how quick they are to grow. 18 plants in the soil, forever

My patio is currently being laid, one more evening and it will be finished. The builder is doing a darn good job for me. Once the mortar is hard then I can get stuck in again, will be glad when the 3 pot apple trees are in, will see some height. No birds coming to bathe in my bird bath, I believe the garden is still too exposed. I am struggling this evening

My rotary line is up, firm and straight in a concrete base. I used much support and many stakes as well as 2 spirit levels and everything was crossed when I poured the post crete, it took 1+ 2/3 bags. Today I have defined the area below with rubber recycled edging, heavy and thick and pricey but will last forever. Gravel is in over a weed fabric base and it looks very nice. Some plants in last night, 16 helianthemums ordered and I can see the end

I have one path left to fill with gravel, at least 10 round rubber rings that look like logs as stepping stones, raking, holes to prep for roses and that is IT. Finished apart from getting the plants in

Hands are wrecked as in un-smart

I think I am in the nice stage but my arms and hands have been aching with the sheer physicality of digging and getting rid of thousands of embedded stones, while crumbling compacted soil with my fingers.

I tweaked a bit this morning, made sure that the metal rods for the standard gooseberries were in the right places. The last 3 days I have made a path, wide enough for a wheelbarrow, nice wide edging from recycled tyres, called roman stone, embedded those on a level with the patio, raked and covered the soil in between with fabric. Went back and forth buying gravel, 33 heavy bags in total, never again, it was a one-off landscaping job

Last night I dug, crumbled and de-stoned the soil next to the path, was a boring job and went on endlessly. My hands, arms and knees ached all night after that. I was glad this morning that it was done and I planted out 8 hellebores from temporary pots, all with rootgrow and some manure compost. A friend gave me a fleabane plant a few months ago, it looked lovely in a chunky rounded salt glazed pot so I divided it last night and now have 3 identical pots of fleabane

Tomorrow I am going to use a special drill bit and make drainage holes under 3 large corten steel planters. I have finally decided that they will go next to the cream garge wall, south facing. Will need john innes 3 and potfeet, I will never be moving them, impossible so I need good sturdy plants and am getting buddleia tricolour for a bit of height

Just doing a bit this morning and have decided to remove all the thyme plants, I cannot be doing with hands and knees weeding in the future, it has to be a stand up session with a hoe. I want a nice space for my rose transplants, will not dig holes yet as my hands are still throbby, just sticks in for now and probably in the ex thyme patch. My hoe will take a battering because the ground is so badly stoney, I will have to keep sharpening

I spotted some lovely variegated hebes on the way into sainsbury yesterday, big healthyplants, very well grown, an amazing £2 each, I snapped up 6 and now have a lovely hedge at the front. Give away prices and the 15cm pots were full of roots

All holes for any plant rose sized and upwards are now dug, there were no worms in the compacted soil for roses yesterday, so I layered some humus in and am sure they will appear. The soil needs all the help it can get. All these visitors of mine `the soil looks very good` doh, its the humus, the digging and de-stoning.

I have the final position for my 2m x 40cm worth of corten containers, drilled many drainage holes first and stuck rubber pads below. Right in front of the back of the plastic trellis which is hidden in willow screening. Looks fab and the colour matches. I am waiting for bonsai mesh today, for a cover over the holes and have bought 6 x westland ericacious compost but may need 2 more. Have ordered 2 beautiful pieris prelude and will cover the compost with grit. Pure and simple planting, pieris on the slightly shadier side and dwarf honeysuckle on the sunnier side. Will be done and dusted soon and good for many years

Meantime a present to me of a small fleabane has grown into a beautiful plant, now divided into 3 and placed in 3 of these pots. Looks very nice
www.erringtonreay.co.uk/shop/product/shallow-plain-pot-sp-2/

My rubber stepping stones came, 18" diameter, no idea where to place them, I will wait and see where I walk over the next few months

Today, tall rudbeckia, sedum and nepeta arrive and 3 apple trees next week. The jelly king will be 5` tall on arrival and make 13 x 13`, with useful and attractive fruits. The crowning glory next week, height will be happening

I am wondering whether I should stop putting my thoughts on here but then again maybe something small will help someone else with what can be a mamouth task

I bit the bullet, heart in mouth and have ordered two good quality water butts today. We had these in a bigger model for over 9 years and they remained as good as new throughout, despite being in intensive sun. So today I ordered 2 shorter ones as my garden is smaller.

Heart in mouth because I will be cutting new pristine rainwater pipe and making holes in render and in each butt. I can do it, just involves measuring carefully, using a spirit level and sawing straight. Drill? I am old hat at that, can use a drill