Getting ready for wall repair

I had decided I wanted the retaining wall that forms the boundary between the upstairs garden in the downstairs garden rebuilt; I was scared it was going to collapse. But when I was showing the stonemason around that I would later give the job, I was reminded of how inaccessible that wall is. That end of my garden is a bit wild; from the lawn, access to it is blocked on the right by my garden shed, and on the left by a huge Himalayan honeysuckle. And I had had my doubts about that honeysuckle. It is a bit out of control. And it is pretty; but it also means that the part of the garden behind it, that in theory could be a lot prettier, is just entirely blocked now. So when I decided to give the stonemason the job I promised him I would remove it. In the long run, it is what I would have wanted to do anyway!

The honeysuckle seen from above; you can’t even see the garden shed

The honeysuckle seen from the front

Originally the stonemason would start in October. That would give me some time to get rid of the honeysuckle. But then I got a message from him; a hole had appeared in his diary and he could start earlier. So that meant that the shrub had to go earlier! 

He would start on the Thursday of the fieldwork; the one day I had off. So in the morning I donned my gardening gloves, grabbed a saw and a pair of secateurs, and set to work. And it is a sizable shrub; I basically just cut it off close to the ground, and removed it. Digging it out looked like a much bigger job. But for now at least the builders had access!

After!

With that shrub gone the garden already looked fundamentally different. A lot more open and tidy! And in the near future, it will look like a building site, but once the wall is back up again, I will have to make that part of the garden look civilised. I think in the end it will look an awful lot better for it! And I won't have to be particularly afraid that all my work will be undone by a wall collapsing on top of it!