Garden design, garden planning, garden layout, planting plants and planting schemes

A DAY IN THE LIFE… of a landscaper (Days 17-18)

posted in advice category on 2009-01-06

With the arrival of the trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants (Pics 1 – 3) came worsening wet weather conditions, which would temporarily at least delay our progress. Fortunately all of the paving was completed with only the jointing to be done, we would have to wait for dry sunny spells.

Pic 1 Here come the Trees and Shrubs.

Pic 2 …and more Trees.

Pic 3 Ready and waiting…

Because the rain had made the ground damp and heavy, we abandoned efforts to roll and level the area for lawn turfing (Pic 4). During wet conditions it is better to refrain from working the soil as to do so will risk damaging the integral structure of the soil and possibly leading to more harm.

Pic 4 Soil too heavy to toil over.

Leaving the rakes and rollers aside, we concentrated on doing whatever planting was possible during the intermittent dry spells (Pics 5 – 7).

Pic 5 A pathway to planting.

Pic 6 Shrubs planted in position.

Pic 7 Planting in the Sun.

Wet days can be very frustrating for landscapers especially, but the challenge is to remain calm and focussed, and wait for better days. Wet days remind me of the line about work, which does the rounds among landscapers, "better to be looking at work than looking for it". Yes I would agree with the sentiment, but sometimes looking at it and not be able to do it because of weather conditions, can sometimes be very hard. Here comes the sun?