No, I’m talking about the fun projects.
The fru-fru things that aren’t particularly pressing but somehow leapfrog the
more important projects.
Last summer it was making the terrace
outside our back door. This spring it was revamping the edging on the veg beds.
This summer: a Moroccan courtyard area. Because, well, why not?
We’ve got this strip of land between the house
and the summer kitchen that we’ve never known what to do with. When we were
turning the tumble-down barn into a summer kitchen, it became home to all the junk from the barn. Then, when we finally cleared all that junk, it
became home to a pile of nettles and bindweed. It’s an awkward area, too –
dominated by a huge, tangled mulberry tree and, somewhere underneath, our
septic tank. It overlooks the driveway and wood store. It’s just a depressing mess.
So here’s the plan. We’re going to attempt to
pollard the mulberry tree – basically chop the top off that sucker – to rejuvenate it and get it
under control. The whole area will be terraced with stone. We’ll make a few
symmetrical raised beds planted with statuesque, exotic-looking plants – maybe
some hardy palms or something. There’ll be a wraparound bench around the mulberry tree. And
we’ll build a tiled wall with a water feature/sink to screen off the driveway
behind. Add some lanterns. Throw in some colourful cushions. Bung on a kaftan.
And bosh, our very own Moroccan courtyard in the Balkans.
That’s the plan, anyway. Let’s hope it’s more
successful than our never-ending front wall and garden shed projects. The idea
of having a Moroccan courtyard and pretending I’m lounging in a Marrakesh riad is
certainly more motivating than ‘it’ll be nice to have somewhere to put the
rake’. In other words, I know we need a garden shed, but I want a
Moroccan courtyard. Which do you think will get done first?