Creating a Garden

The house we bought had been empty for three years. It was new but had never been lived in. The garden was nothing short of an overgrown jungle, complete with snakes and various other forms of wildlife. We had it cleared before moving in so we were left with just a mess, but manageable.

First stage was turfing and adding some plants and we were left with this, below.

Next stage was to rip out some hedges, to be replaced by more manageable plants in pots and a few trees. Some of the hedges were proving to be a draw to snakes, which we are trying not to encourage. When we found a deadly krait in the garden my daughter wanted to give it a cuddle. Needles to say we want the garden as un-inviting to snakes as possible.

On Saturday I was busily digging in some wide brick to make a pathway from one side to another and to the swinging seat.

On Sunday we had a team of guys here stripping and painting the wall. Three women and a man and they managed to get the job done in a day. Hedges out, wall cleaned, treated and the new 'orange' paint applied. Here's the team in action, or at least preparing for action.

The 'orange' has chaged the way it looks completely. Pics coming soon.

The lawn is looking a bit on the brown side as you can see. This is largely due to the daughter and me being back in the UK for nearly two months over the summer. The wife watered it about twice during that period! It shouldn't take long to get ack to its previous state but I need to do something to really green it up. Any suggestions for feeding a lawn in this part of the world, organically. I don't want to start throwing chemical down if I can help it.