Progress in the garden

Previously, on Operation Back Garden.....

H and D pulled up every little weed they could find (plus not a few big ones) and turf was ordered. Has it arrived? Has progress been made? Stay tuned for the next exciting installment!

After all the weeding was done we (and by 'we' I mean 'H') turned over the soil and dug out lots of nasty big weed roots. Then on Sunday we got The Phone Call - the turf had arrived. So after Sports Day H went off to the home centre to collect it. There was no way it would all go in our car and even using the home centre's little truck it still took 2 trips to get it all home.

H unloaded it all and I took it around to the back of the house in the wheelbarrow. Doing physical work outdoors in light rain reminded me of life on the farm in England...

Here it is all stacked up and ready to be laid. There's even some turf secretly hidden under the bay window, can you see it?

On Monday and Tuesday H took time off from work and set to preparing the ground. After all that root removal it really did look as if a bomb had hit the back garden - craters everywhere. But I forgot to take a photo. Oops.

H leveled it all off and worked in some manure. He also re-shaped the sloping bit of the garden to make a smoother, more gradual slope with no steps. Well done H!

(Did you spot the rice fields being flooded in the background?)

After that I raked it all down and then we leveled it off with a bit of wood nicked from H's dad. I'm not sure if it would all meet May professional standards, but we decided that That Would Do.
Here's a view from just over the wall, by the lone hydrangea in the corner, so that you can see the house and the end of the Japanese garden too.

By Tuesday afternoon we were finally ready to start laying the turf. I carried on on Wednesday afternoon when K was napping and now there's just a little bit left to do. So rather than spoil the surprise, I wait until it's all done to post more photos.

Yup, I'm leaving you with bare earth. Again.