Introduction
On purchase the plan was that Diana would look after "the gardens" and Greg would look after "the grounds". The Garden was be all the open space around the house but not going beyond the decking at the rear. There wasn't really a garden to the front. Apart from a shed that was disintegrating, it was entirely laid to gravel, the car park for the fishery that used to operate from Ruston House. To either side there was little more than some grass with shrubbery along the borders. To the rear there was no more than a few feet of decking.
As with other sections of the site further photos may be found in the archives which may lead to more material being added to the site. It is recommended that you visit the What's New page where you can find how subscribe to our newsletter that will let you know when additional material in posted.
The Garage
When we bought Ruston House there was no garage but it was our plan to get one built. There is now a Garage Sub-Section to this area of the site linking relevant pages. To navigate through the sub-section use the links at the bottom of garage-related pages. These will also include a "Garage Pages:" section in the main navigation menu rather than a "Garden Pages:" section.
2015
2 October 2015 - The Cart Shed In Use
With planning permission for our cart shed granted in March we were free to arrange the build. We decided it might be prudent to have a certain amount of tree pruning done, so the build itself finally commenced on 9 July. By the 22nd the main oak frame was in place. The day before our wedding, on 12 September, any spare timber was cleared from the site and the cart shed become the bar at our reception!
12 September 2015 - The Cart Shed Build Completed
Although declared "completed" by the day before our wedding, with any spare timber cleared from the site, it wasn't truly "finished". However, we were able to fill the cart shed with the tables and chairs as it would become the bar at our reception the following day! The finishing touches were still to be added. It was in the following week that the roof timbers were partially boarded to provide over-winter storage for Just 17's sails and other gear.
25 August 2015 - A Tale Of Two Gazebos
The replacement for the pergola is a metal affair that is called a "Grill Gazebo". It was finally erected and in place on 1 August. With the replacement decking around the main garden done, I was free to move to that side of the house to build a brand new patio. This was intended to take another gazebo. Part way through putting its frame together a problem was discovered.
22 August 2015 - The Cart Shed Build - Week #7
As explained in the previous report there was a lot going on at this time and that is probably why there were no photographs taken during Week 6 of the build. However good progress was clearly made in this week. Now the cart shed is clad in the planned wavy-edged larch and has already been stained black. Work has moved on to tiling the roof and by Thursday most of the steeper front edge had been hung with tiles that closely matched those on the house.
8 August 2015 - The Cart Shed Build - Week #5
By Monday the plank that forms the main ridge of the roof was in place and installation of the timber that is to support the tiles on the front of the cart shed is well advanced. Before midday on Tuesday all the timbers supporting the roof are in place. I don't recall why I took a break from photographing the construction of the cart shed, but there was a lot going on, mainly in lead lead up to our wedding including construction of "The Tree House", the erection of two gazebos and a lawn being tended after decking was replaced.
1 August 2015 - The Cart Shed Build - Week #4
Progress seemed to have slowed by the fourth week after the start of the build. At this stage I can't recall if the problem was that the orders for more timber were delayed or David needed to attend to other regular clients, or that he took a holiday. However, more timber had arrived since last week's report, and there was some internal framing had been added.
25 July 2015 - The Cart Shed Build - Week #3
By the Wednesaday the main oak frame was in place. The heavier timbers had been lifted into place with the aid of a hand cranked winch that looked a little like a fork lift truck, not a great deal more complex than the blue painted supports still on site. Work progressed steadily. The oak frame was in place, more timber had been delivered and the guide timbers to work out the pitch of the roof were in place.
18 July 2015 - The Cart Shed Build - Week #2
With the brickwork completed we were awaiting the arrival of the timber to commence building the frame of the cart shed. The first pictures of the week show it had rained revealing, under the front of the car, the lack of a completely level floor to the cart shed. From time to time David did not come to Ruston House. Perhaps it was the rain that kept him away until the Wednesday this week, by which time the first of the timber deliveries had taken place.
15 July 2015 - New Flower Bed And Patio Relaid
There's been lots of work going on around the grounds over the last couple of months. The bed against the southern wall of the house was created at the beginning of the year by the Green Team. Since then Diana has planted it and now her work is beginning to show fruit. Work is also going on to re-lay the patio after the pergola was taken down, all part of the preparations for the wedding in September!
11 July 2015 - The Cart Shed Build Starts
With planning permission for our cart shed granted in March we were free to arrange the build. The build itself finally commenced on 9 July. David had arranged for someone to lay the few courses of bricks that were to lift the timber off the concrete base. I don't recall it being discussed but, at that point, it was realised that the pad had been laid too close to the boundary with the cottage's land. The overhang created by the roof and gutter that meant that the fence had to come down.
26 May 2015 - Our Trees Are Clipped
In planning for the proposed Cart Shed we had decided we needed some of our trees. The surgeon turned up to do the job. While he was up the trees, we spent time thrusting the cut branches through his chipper, spraying the output into two large tarpaulins. He tackled the trees that would be either side of the new garage. We thought that cutting down large branches once the new building was underneath would not be the best idea!
11 May 2015 - New Bench And Baskets But Broken Decking
I was out when a cold caller knocked on the door but the tale concludes with us ending up with our "Banana Bench". The plan was to place it on the "lawn" where the Ruston Bench had been since mid-February. By this time the decking around the lawn was beginning to collapse and it was clear would need to be replaced before our wedding. We had begun to remove the planks that were weakest so that no one could fall through them by accident.
28 April 2015 - Front Beds Ready For Seeding
The decision had finally been taken to remove the hedge. By the 3rd the sifting of the soil in the bed had been completed. The Green Team had also taken the chainsaw to all the lesser hawthorns and other shrubbery. The front was to be truly "Open Plan". One of the advantages that we hadn't really thought about in taking the decision to open up the front garden was that we would be able to see more of what was going on in the field opposite.
28 March 2015 - Hedge Goes And Bed Preparation Starts
This time last year I was talking about the need for improvements in the front garden. By October much had been done with the ground prepared for the proposed garage, but that had left a decision to be made about how to deal with the newly created bed near the road. The recommendation was that grassing it would be the best plan.
18 February 2015 - Front Beds Planted Up
On Sunday 15 February we began planting up the flower beds that had been created around the house the Previous October. The beds all needed a lot of digging to remove stones and hard core that had formed the bed of the fishing lake car park in earlier days. Round the side of the house are a pile of slabs, destined to become a new patio.
