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more sun & more rain needed to transform all the brown into...

Fri, 10 May 2013 20:51:49 +0100

more sun & more rain needed to transform all the brown into green. Such patience required … . .

Leaves finally coming out in May 2013. We’ve seeded all...

Fri, 10 May 2013 20:47:22 +0100

Leaves finally coming out in May 2013. We’ve seeded all the bare ground and now need some rain & watering (pumped from the pond) to turn all the mud into lush green grass

You can’t quite see them but we’ve planted over 500...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:45:51 +0100

You can’t quite see them but we’ve planted over 500 native hedge whips on some of the gently sculpted mounds at Crossway. These will give much needed structure to the landscape spaces and offer some rich wildlife habitats.

We just need more sun to bring out some leaves. I’m getting fed up of seeing mud & brown twigs ! Spring & Summer should present an amazing transformation.

The new hedge screening & tree planting along the South...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:41:00 +0100

The new hedge screening & tree planting along the South boundary at Crossway are already providing a very useful screen to the new PV system. The recent rain hasn’t been very helpful and has turned some of the ground back into a quagmire. Please come out Mr. Sun - we need you

the old boundary hedge planting which we planted in 2007 has...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:05:05 +0100

the old boundary hedge planting which we planted in 2007 has been transplanted onto the new boundary to provide blocks of mixed native hedge species. These areas will be protective havens for wildlife. I’m going to put hedgehog nesting boxes and a small pile of logs in here to help this area to develop into a flourishing wildlife habitat.

“idriving” she said proudly …

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:56:09 +0100

“idriving”

she said proudly …

The Little Green Energy Company are installing a new 4.5 kW PV...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:51:59 +0100

The Little Green Energy Company are installing a new 4.5 kW PV system at the Crossway Passive house. This gives a combined PV array of 8kW which is the maximum we can have on a single phase supply. As well as offsetting all the electrical energy the house uses we will benefit from the extra Feed-in-Tarriff. With just over 6 year back back on the system it’s a no brainer. Where else can you invest money with that level of return?

All we then need is for the sun to come out !

the tree planting is almost finished now. Some of the amazing...

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 17:42:32 +0000

the tree planting is almost finished now. Some of the amazing mature trees from Barchams & Palmstead we’ve planted include; Juglans Regia (Black Walnut), Betula Ermanii, Gingko Biloba, various Oaks including Quercus Coccinea, Robur, Rubra, Petraea & Palustris; Acer Campestre “Field Maple” Louisa Red Shine, Sorbus torminalis, Liquid Amber, Alnus Spaetheii, Carpinus Betulus Fastigiata, Mespilus Germanica (Medlar), Metasequoia Glyptostroboides, Sorbus Aria Lutescens, Morus Alba (black & white Mulberrys), Prunus Royal Burgundy, Black pine, Ilex Aquifolium JC Van Tol, Pyrus Chanticleer among many others. And then there’s the numerous brightly stemmed willows & cornuses, hollies & the planting of over 600 native whips. Then there’s the nut grove to plant & more heritage fruit varieties to source from Brogdale. Then there’s the pond, the pig pen & wildflower meadow. All in all a very busy and exciting year ahead. Thanks to Francis Squires of Squires Young Landscape Architecture for all his inspired ideas !

The pond is filling up surprisingly quickly given the relatively...

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 17:40:08 +0000

The pond is filling up surprisingly quickly given the relatively low rainfall over the last week. It’s amazing how much of a difference the changes have made. The front area of the house has been completely transformed. We now need to be patient & let the ground settle before preparing it for planting & seeding.

The trees from the old bank have been relocated into the north...

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 17:11:16 +0000

The trees from the old bank have been relocated into the north west corner of the site to provide what will become a dense screen of foliage in front of the house when approached from the west. Further screen planting will be done once the ground has settled. Cob nuts and native species whip planting will be liberally introduced with a carpet of wildflowers. A very exciting Spring & Summer ahead !

The bank has now gone which reveals a view out to the west...

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 16:19:00 +0000

The bank has now gone which reveals a view out to the west across the new pond. We are taking the opportunity to extend the land sculpting to further integrate the house arch into the gently undulating landscape.

Still a work in progress but, once we’ve let the ground settle for a couple of months we’ll be rotovating and planting many more trees and seeding the whole area with a specially selected wildflower mix designed specifically for this area and soil type.

taken on 14th January 2013. The transplanting of trees will...

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:35:29 +0000

taken on 14th January 2013. The transplanting of trees will provide more screening of the house when approached from the west, which is something i’ve been keen to do from long before we owned this land. By getting this all done now we should be able to capitalise on a full year’s growth this year & let everything establish nicely.

taken on 14th January 2013. The trees on the bank are being...

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:33:04 +0000

taken on 14th January 2013. The trees on the bank are being transplanted to the north west corner of the site & the bank is being moved to open up views into the rest of the site. The view will be across the newly extended pond. It’ll make a massive difference to this area of the garden

taken on 12th January 2013. The pond is filling up surprisingly...

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:20:49 +0000

taken on 12th January 2013. The pond is filling up surprisingly quickly despite the fact that it hasn’t really been raining much in the last week or so. Just goes to show you how much water passes through this corner of the site

photo taken on 12th Jan 2013. Extending the pond on the new land...

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:19:11 +0000

photo taken on 12th Jan 2013. Extending the pond on the new land at Crossway.

This area was prone to flooding and the clay was always wet & nothing grew so we’ve decided to bite the bullet and extend the pond to include this low lying area & increase the wildlife capacity of the pond as well as its rainwater storage capacity.

photo taken on 12th Jan 2013

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:15:44 +0000

photo taken on 12th Jan 2013

11th Jan 2013. Pond enlarging is progressing rapidly. We now...

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 20:12:10 +0000

11th Jan 2013. Pond enlarging is progressing rapidly. We now even have an island being formed in the middle of the pond. This will give a safe haven for ducks & birds - free from worrying about foxes.

Once the pond is filled and the ground has settled i can’t wait to get planting ! We’ve got lots of trees to plant & lots of seed to sow ! But hopefully we’ll get it all done in time to capitalise on springtime !

11th Jan 2013. Colin Watts & his son Paul doing a fine job...

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 20:01:00 +0000

11th Jan 2013. Colin Watts & his son Paul doing a fine job as always. The pond enlarging is progressing apace. We’ve got a new field drain in, cleared ditches, adjusted levels and even putting in conduits for when we move the precariously leaning electricity pylon & meter out of the way soon.

The landscape design is pretty hand to mouth at the moment but it’s coming together excellently thanks to the help of Francis Squires of Squires Young Landscape Architecture

Once the digging & levelling is done we have to let it all settle down for a couple of months before we do lots of rotovating and take delivery of lots of new trees from Palmstead and Barcham plus whip planting by the excellent Bill Daniel. Once they’re all planted we can then seed all the open areas with a mix of grasses & wildflowers. We’re still playing with which mix would be best but we’ll no doubt get the seed from Emorsgate Seeds. Excellent quality and has worked very well on the roof.

view from upstairs in the house on 14th December 2012. The pond...

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 19:13:47 +0000

view from upstairs in the house on 14th December 2012. The pond has totally flooded and is now making its way onto the driveway. We really must sort the pond out sooner rather than later. Make it bigger to take more water in a controlled way and make sure water can more freely move along the ditch system round us.

We need a bigger pond ! The existing pond on the land...

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 19:08:42 +0000

We need a bigger pond ! The existing pond on the land we’ve just purchased hasn’t been maintained for many years. Levels & drainage aren’t working properly and in the heavy rainfall we’ve been getting the low lying areas are flooding.

What we plan to do is significantly increase the size of the pond to make it a more prominent feature and to enable it to handle more rainfall without causing water to go where we don’t want it. At the same time we’ll sort the ditch, the levels and the field drains out so everything works much better.

A new larger pond, with island, will also be able to encourage more wildlife and vastly increase the ecological richness of this part of the site.