Et voila... four raised beds!

We have finally finished the construction of the raised beds and the soil contained in them has been lovingly double-dug by James with improved drainage and lovely organic compost for a nutrients boost. The forecast is for dry weather over the next few days so the idea now is to let the topsoil dry out a bit then cover the empty beds to warm up the soil before planting out.

The cold frame has had a clean up and is now sitting on the first of the ground cover sheeting that we've put down. It still needs to be fixed down properly but its a start. Next job is to cut sheeting to size to line the paths around the beds and we'll be covering them with bark too. The cold frame will have a layer of gravel spread out inside it to help any pots in their drain nicely.

We finally got around to pruning the huge viburnum in the corner of the garden too and took what seemed like a third of the branches out! It needed a good going over and looks much better.

The larger branches removed have been stripped of side shoots and bent into curves using the sides of the new beds to hold them in shape in an attempt to make them stay this shape. We can then use them when we want to create cloches over areas of the beds. The stronger, straight-ish smaller stems have also been kept to use as little plant supports for young plants when they need a bit of help. Waste not, want not and all that. The rest of the cuttings will be picked up by the local council as green waste and recycled/composted by them.