Garden Seat Project

[ideasguy]

What we called the Summer Seat when I was a child has followed us from my fathers house in the country to our house on the edge of the town.
Its not a particularly pretty seat, but it has pedigree, so I decided to make a feature in the garden to give it a special place.

I dug the hole for the stone base years ago, and never got round to doing the job. I filled the hole with stones collected from the garden over the years, so the first job was to excavate them again and give them a wash before putting them back and making a concrete base.

Heres a few pics taken before I started to fill in the base.
Note the buckets put in place - the plan is to embed them in the base. Go on, guess what they are for.








'course a guy needs a helper




This one taken mid afternoon today:

[Lyn and Malcolm]

Thats a heck of a base for a seat George, watch your back with those heavy stones and concrete mixing.
Keep an eye on the weather this afternoon, could be a heavy shower.
The buckets, well it has got to be plants going in there, possibly Acers ?

Malcolm

[ideasguy]

Yes Malcolm, for plants, but not Acers. Something neat and floriferous - perhaps about 15in in height and spread.
Those big stones are some weight! Mind you, so is a bucket of mixed cement

[NightHawk]

That's one heck of a challenge you've set yourself there George.

As Malcolm so rightly says, be very careful with those heavy items.  It's so easy to strain muscles, as I found out to my great cost a couple of years back when I was moving flagstones about in the back garden for a shed base.  And I was doing everything correctly, like bending at the knees and keeping a straight back, etc.
I badly strained my right arm muscles, although I wasn't aware of it until the next day. Took about 2 weeks to really get back to normal.

OK, pots to contain flowering plants?  Pass! 

Laurie.

[ideasguy]

The base is more or less finished (needs a little touching up around the edges perhaps)
I am tired mixing concrete - something I disapprove of in the garden, but I decided I didnt want weeds popping up and spoiling the effect. Hope it doesnt rain overnight! I have trhe base covered with plastic just in case.

July has just passed and the weather man tells us it was the least sunny July on record in N Ireland. We had a lovely May and June.
I hope we get some blue skies again soon to enjoy this "new" summer seat when the project is finished.

Next time consuming stage is to do some restoration work to the actual summer seat itself.

[roiphil]

thats a mighty job as for the buckets my first thought was to fill with cold water and put your cans of beer    in to keep cool whilst you sit on the seat thinking and enjoying views

[ideasguy]

I havent put the plants in yet Phil. Thats a terrific idea
Reconsidering

[ideasguy]

The base is finished



and I take a rest with Tara and Erin


Next part of the project is to renovate that seat. Only one board at present, we were afraid of it breaking

[NightHawk]

Great job there George - what an amazing transformation.

I reckon the bench restoration job should be a breeze in comparison to the base-work 

It's now gone from a demolition pit to a work of art.

Laurie.

[Lyn and Malcolm]

I agree, a big job done well, and a doddle to repair the bench. 

Trouble is, where you gonna chuck the stones you find in the garden now.

Malcolm

[ideasguy]

Thanks Laurie and Malcolm.
The bench repair will have to wait for a couple of weeks. The weeds have leapt up from nowhere when my back was turned

I collect all the stones I dig up Malcolm. I'll bag them up for the next project. Ive been putting it off for years! More about that in another episode

Heres a photo taken looking across the sweep lawn to the new seating area.


And heres a detail shot of the plants I planted in the bucket to the left of the seat:

1) Fuchsia 'Genii' AGM - one of my favourite Fuchias - not just because its a new addition to my Genie stable  - its worth growing just for its beautiful golder foliage - this one from a batch of cuttings taken a matter of weeks ago. Its so easy to propagate.
2) Anaphalis triplinervis - common name Pearl everlasting - lovely silver foliage and masses of white pearl like flowers.
3) Begonia semperflorens - with deep purple leaves - I tried growing these from a packet of seed this year. Was quite late sowing the seed. Only managed to get 4 plants, but I'll definitely try them again next year - a bit earlier!)

and the planting plant on the right:

1) Campanula lactiflora 'Pouffe'   (supposed to make 24ins - mine grow to 6ft! - this is a small division taken this year so its only a temporary measure to provide nice foliage and pale blue flowers)
2) Dianthus 'Magic Charm' - my all time favourite Dianthus - pink AND white flowers on the same plant, and flowers for months on end - again, this little plant is a new division this year)
3) A green leaved Begonia semperflorens from the same batch of seed this year (see above)

The stones used for the base are 20mm Golden Flint.
The difference in colour in the two photos?
The second one was taken just after I hosed the stones.

[roiphil]

great job and a nice place to sit and relax