Off again in London

Last September I was beginning to get to grips with re-building the back garden in London, and had got as far as laying enough of the patio extension to put up the washing line, when I had a fall and broke my left hip. This put me out of gardening action almost completely for a while, and it's only now that six months have passed that I'm able to get down to garden level to do something about it. During the time I was unable to work on it, not only was no progress made but the areas I'd cleared became covered in weeds... the weed suppressant blanket broke up - it really needs to be covered to be effective. The only task I managed - with great difficulty! - was to plant a gooseberry and a redcurrant, which I'd ordered before the accident. Sadly the redcurrant doesn't seem to have survived, though the gooseberry is doing well.

The last few days have finally brought us some reasonable weather; I've removed most of the weeds, cleared a car load of rubbish, and started again with the rebuild. The plan was made last summer, so I know what I'm trying to achieve. I've planted a blackberry (Merton Thornless) and a loganberry (LY654) - the same varieties which used to give us wonderful crops, but which had to go to make room for the conservatory. These are planted on the south side of the garden, and will be trained over arches. I've also put a blackcurrant on the same side, and planted a blueberry in a container (as it needs acid soil).

Today's success was to make a soak-away for the down-pipe from the conservatory roof, and re-lay the end of the path to where the tap and electric socket have been installed. I've also prepared a water butt to stand next to the down-pipe.

Here's the latest "bird's eye" view - still a building site, but a tidier one than it's been for months!