Preparing for planning

Well we are having to get planning permission to change the paddock (agricultural land) to a garden which is really frustrating. So we set too today in between the torrential downpours, with our new industrial brush cutter and strimmer to cut down the overgrown weeds and then pulled out 130 foot of old barbed wire fence with 15 old rotten wooden fence posts!! This was particularly difficult as some of the wire was hidden in undergrowth but we did it! Not sure either of us will be able to move tomorrow! As you will see on the picture we are proposing to have an area of hard standing which will be an extension to our drive and then hopefully we can move the sheds off the drive. Obviously the wall will need to come down too but we will need planning permission for that too!! GOD KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF WE DON'T GET PLANNING PERMISSION!! Watch this space!

One man and his 'garden'!

So this is it! We are told it is 0.6 of an acre but it feels much bigger. What do we know though! The house at the bottom of the picture is ours so you see what we are playing with.





John decided he wanted to set to and see what it felt like under foot so hence the digging! Bless him - I think he feels he is the new Alan Titchmarsh! Don't worry he didn't get very far.

We are Land owners!

Today we finally completed the purchase of approximately 1 acre of paddock land to the rear of our house. We are going to turn this into a dream garden, the likes of which the RHS will swoon to see! Actually, as I have the horticultural skills of a house brick and Julie is the Harold Shipman of the plant world, things might not go quite to plan! We're going to record our highlights, low lights, successes and failures as we move through the life cycyle of a garden, sharing the fun times and the disasters with anyone who is interested.

First things first, we have to invest in some manly bits of gardening equipment, namely a brush cutter(which Julie thought was something foxes used for manicures)and a lawn mower (I of course insist on a sit on, but she who must be obeyed has other ideas!). Any tips, hints or suggestions before I spend a fortune this weekend would be most welcome.

We'll take lots of photos (once the rain has stopped)and will try and keep as up to date as possible. One of our first tasks is to re-build a section of classic Yorkshire dry stone wall - how difficult can that be!

I think this is going to be the start of something big......