Terracotta pots on display

But first - April showers, in May! Yes, after something like 10 weeks without rain, we had big downpours at the weekend, and today we have had what you might call "heavy showers" and I spent the afternoon dodging in and out of  my client's garage for shelter.

All the gardens are gasping in relief for the rain, and the weeds - well, they are just growing visibly, the little tinkers. Still, it keeps me in work......

Right, here's a new little project which I did earlier this week: my client asked me to take out a shaped section in the grass so she could stand a selection of her beautiful and huge pots on it, one of which would then have a magnolia planted in it.

Here's my shape: I decided triangular would be appropriate - the client wanted corners, not a round or oval - and I made it only just big enough, to emphasise how big the pots are.

In fact, I cunningly made it so that when mowing, the mower just skims the edges of the pots, without touching them, and yet cuts all of the grass.

Here it is, lined with membrane and filled with gravel.

I rather got the impression that it was to have a wooden edge, but never mind, it looks nice like this.

And we can always add a wooden edge later, if we find that we need it.

Now, how's this for a contraption?

One of my clients has a very deft husband, who builds all sorts of interesting toys for use in their garden.

Croquet is his passion, and here is his  fertilising gadget.

Great, isn't it?

Like all his home-built items, it gets towed around by the sit-on mower, and it has to fit through a particular gate, which restricts the width.

Finally for today, here's the Yard again, I took two car-loads of plants up there yesterday afternoon, and filled up some of the newly-made benches.

Oddly enough, my front garden is not noticeably depleted!

Memo to self: better make some more rough benches.....