Jim’s GSI Versus Jane’s DIY
30 April 2007
Jim had decided that it would be far easier to GSI (get someone in) to deal with our garden. I, however, decided that I could do the job just as well (if not better!). Well, the local gardener didn’t get back with his quote and so I won!
I did use his idea of planting laurel (Prunus laurocerasus Rotundifolia) hedging. As our garden is used as a mini Wembley they are sturdy enough to withstand the odd football or 10! As our main priority was to hide the boundary fence I chose some English ivy (Hedera helix), pyracanthea, which does well in shade and clematis as well as the laurels.
I know Jim’s concern was that we’d have to buy tools to get the job done, but infact all that was needed was a spade, which we already had and a garden sieve or riddle like this and lots of hard work!
All in all it took two weeks to dig the border, sieve out the builder’s rubble and then plant up, which was by far the most rewarding bit.
We are surrounded by not just an ugly, soon-to-be-hidden fence, but by many,many trees. The number of leaves we gather each autumn is enormous, so I have chosen evergreen trees and bushes for our garden. I simply can’t face gathering a single leaf more than I have to!
We have a composter like this one, but even so some days we step out of our door in to a couple of inches of leaves, which means we don’t have the space or capacity for composting them all.
After the hard work was done the gardener called in to apologise for not getting back to us. He did take a look at what had been achieved. I don’t know if he was being polite or not, but he did compliment us on how well we had done. The icing on the cake for me was the quote he had prepared, which was £800! All in all I think it cost us about £300 at the most.
The majority of our bugdet went on the laurels. We used an on line garden centre to deliver these as transporting them would have been impossible with the number and size we required. We also visited our local B & Q and bought some hostas, which were recommended for heavy clay soil and a few bedding plants to give us some immediate colour this summer. I had already some sweet pea, which I have planted against the fence again for some quick coverage and colour this year.
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