Tackling the garden

Clearing old Christmas trees from the Walled Garden

The garden here at Chesters is an epic project. Its slow decline into dereliction had happened over many years, and we had never quite known  where to start with it. But the structure was all still there, and over the last 12 months or so, we have gradually got stuck in, making rapid progress towards returning it to its former glory.

The major job was to get rid of the overgrown Christmas trees in the Walled Garden. They were probably planted back in the fifties, and dominated the bottom half. We gradually felled them and then had to grind out all stumps and remove the debris. We used the mini-digger in the picture to scrape back the surface and bury all the rubbish. It also gave us some valuable top soil.

The beautiful little potting shed, too, had fallen into complete disrepair, so we have re-roofed it and got it back on its feet again.

And we’ve managed to dig  the top quarter of the Walled Garden ready for our vegetable planting. So hopefully, this year, the place will start to perform its original role again, providing food for the house and our guests … and acting as a wonderful space in which to relax and soak up the summer!

Before ...

... and after!

Burying old tree roots