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The Escaped Garden

The jungle
Our house sits some 600 feet above sea level in a wooded valley overlooking Cardigan Bay. The garden runs to about a quarter of an acre and curves round the house on three sides with a traditional lawn/veg patch and seating area at the back of the house, a sloping wooded area at the side and shrubs and lawn to the front. Our long-term plans for it are still thoughts in progress - for the first year we mainly watched to see what grew - but the combination of work deadlines and last year’s non-stop rain mean that everything in has well and truly escaped, so this weekend we took action to reclaim the sea view.

The intermediate zone
 The hacking back's fine... but what do you do with all the cuttings?

Preparing to shred...

One branch down

One tree down
We now know that every hour of hacking through the undergrowth creates two to three hours of shredding and log sawing.  But the end result's worth it...
Over the hedge


Especially at sunset...
From the front gate.

Comments

Frances said…
Oh Chris...what a magnificent view you have reclaimed!

I imagine that you and Tom will now be enjoying many sunsets, as the evenings lengthen. Lots of inspiration for paintings! The colors!

Bravo on all the chopping and shredding. xo
26 August 2013 at 06:22
Chris Stovell said…
Thank you, Frances - there's an awful lot more to do, but it's a start! x
26 August 2013 at 08:36
Jane Lovering said…
That is such a fabulous view, it must have made the hard work worth it! Here we stack and all the cuttings and choppings and then burn them in the winter (along with furniture, pallets, cardboard and anything else we can get - it's grim Up North). Congratulations on your reclaimed sea view!
26 August 2013 at 08:38
Chris Stovell said…
Us too, Jane - that oil tank's a hungry, expensive beast to feed! And thank you!
26 August 2013 at 10:02
mountainear said…
Wow! That view is worth the effort...but I do share a dislike of the 'getting-rid-of' process. And anybody who says 'don't let it get out of hand' is preaching an impossible counsel of perfection.
26 August 2013 at 12:43
Cait O'Connor said…
Amazing view and photo Chris. Worth every ounce of effort.
26 August 2013 at 14:44
Chris Stovell said…
I'm so glad you said that, Mountainear! It gets away in no time - last summer's rain created havoc!

Cait, thank you - we do love living by the sea, even on days like yesterday when we were shrouded in sea mist all day!
27 August 2013 at 03:31
Flowerpot said…
Wow what a view Chris - worth all that hard work!
28 August 2013 at 02:51
Pondside said…
How beautiful! That's a view to warm your heart through the year.
I've been wrestling with blackberry vines and giant thistles. No great view to show for all the work, but the place sure looks much tidier.
2 September 2013 at 12:49
Chris Stovell said…
Lots more to do, Sue - but it was good to reclaim that view!

Pondside - we've got some very daunting brambles with less of a reward to wrestle with too!
4 September 2013 at 02:59
Diana Studer said…
We waged that battle to see the sea when we lived at Camps Bay. Now it is the line of mountains I want to keep free, and even our pond. But the chipper is waiting.
3 November 2013 at 02:31
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