9 October 2004 the
light (past) and dark
(present) gravel
is laid around the rills. Now all we need is the
planting, to soften the edges. And the Time Gate itself, of course...
24 September 2004 work starts on the hard paving:
chipboard formers
show the route of the water
rills.
It's now the turn of the
Time Garden
, and work starts in the
form of a prototype test slice of the Time Gate, with its
past shiny side
, and is
present
tarnished side
.
17 July 2002 Space Garden planting day!
Vines and catmint
soften the gravel drive. Some
of the harshness of the house front is alleviated by the
camellia tree
feature, and will be even further
softened when the climbers grow over the walls. Most of the planting,
like that
outside the dining room
and that
by the apple tree
, currently looks sparse, but
will soon grow and spread The knot garden is
edged
with baby box
. The
bamboo
will grow to
screen the spaceship from unsuspecting visitors.
Ferns
edge the patio. More
black stemmed bamboo
softens the back corner, and even the long boring back path is beginning
to
look more interesting
The
pond
hasn't been forgotten, either Some
native plants are
obviously affected
by their
proximity to the alien spaceship, while the
escaped
red alien plants
behind the spaceship diminish in frequency as we
move further away
All carefully planned,
but the
Whitebeam
we brought with us and planted
has been displaced...
7 April 2002 we plant a few things, including a
Canary Rose
and some
Sempervivens
.
But it's still mainly bare earth.
24 February 2002
the pond is finally
filled
(nearly), hiding the plinth it has taken ages as we
have been using rainwater from our tank, and it has been a surprisingly
dry winter!
5 December 2001 the
pond is pumped out
in preparation for installing the space ship
28 October 2001 we visit the space ship sculptor's studio
again, to see the
resin shell
with the
detailing
in place. Only
one
light
is fitted, but most of the
internal
wiring
is in place. Now it just needs to be painted, and installed
(current ETA, end of November).
25 October 2001 the knot garden
paving is
finished
now to get a lot of box hedging!
16 September 2001 we visit the space ship sculptor's studio,
to see the
polystyrene mould
. Wow!
12 September 2001 we start
planting
,
but it's going to take some time...
22 August 2001 the
bark and stones
are
laid the landscaping part of the Space garden is complete
now all we have to do is wait for the Space ship, and plant up the beds!
24 July 2001 the
patio
arrives, and
the pond hole is
lined with sand
, with a base
for the rocket left clear
23 July 2001 the
Space Garden
starts a
digger
arrives on site, and the
pond hole
appears.
8 July 2001 we choose the stone that will encircle the crash
crater Cambrian red slate
7 July 2001 we give to go-ahead for the first stage of the
space ship construction carving the polystyrene mould
June 2001 the dreadful rain all spring has delayed the garden
contractor work on the Space Garden should now start end July
16 April 2001 we meet a theatrical model maker, who might be
interested in building the space ship for us he is!
12 April 2001 we go to pick up the finished painting, and take
it off to
Paragon
for display
over Easter, before taking it home to hang
over
the fireplace
13 January 2001 we get a quote from a local garden contractor
for everything except the two big features we go for a phased
approach, and he schedules the work on the Space Garden to start around
mid-June
31 October 2000 Dave shows us his sketch design of
the painting
it's great!
19 August 2000 we agree some minor revisions to the design
now it has to go out for quotation!
25 July 2000 the garden design team come up with a wonderful
plan, that incorporates all our bizarre ideas into a design that
works
.
On the west side is a "
Time Garden
",
with a Time Gate dividing the "present" (new, pristine,
young), from the "future" (old, weathered, aged). On the east
side, towards the front, is a Tudorbethan "knot" garden,
representing the original garden, before the space ship crashed into the
rear "
Space Garden
", digging a
crash crater (pond), with the ship now righted in it, for repair. To the
front is a conventional house frontage, with nothing to warn the unwary
visitor except an eclipse "diamond ring" circle embedded in
the drive. This is to be accompanied by a Dave Hardy painting, of the
ship as it originally crashed, to hang over our fireplace, in the
lounge, which overlooks the part of the garden to contain the actual
ship.
22 June 2000 The garden team, and the space artist David A.
Hardy, come for a planning meeting, and all get enthusiastic. Dave
sketches an idea for an "
organic Space Ship
"
feature, which looks great. The team go away to work up the design.
8 April 2000 The garden designer pays an initial visit,
expecting something normal, and goes away bemused but excited by our
discussions of Space Ships and Time Gates.