Or, as Chris Beardshaw told me on Gardeners’ Question Time on Friday, Project ‘Terrace’.  apparently ‘patios’ are really outre…

Terrace, loggia, patio, whatever, I’m trying to create a flat area to sit with visitors, other plotholders and friends for a cup of tea without tumbling down the hill.

Last week, despite wind, rain and thunder I got as far as making two steps down the space, trying to find a datum.

This week was all about creating two sides within which to create the raised area that I’ll seed with grass in April. It was slower going this week, not least because I managed to get a cold last week (probably all that wind, rain and thunder…)

Firstly I added one last step using another plank of wood off the pile

I was using mainly Victorian rope edging salvaged out of a skip. It’s ideal as it won’t rot, and the first few pieces worked well. I had to play woodpile Jenga to get them out though…

On the path side, I decided to allow the edging to run downhill with the paving slabs to avoid trip hazards.

The other side, by the row of pear/plum/greengage/damson cordons was trickier and I’m still not convinced I’ve made the right decision. I had to ‘step’ it to get the depth and at the end I was forced to use a bit of York stone (again out of a skip) to take the weight. I’ll need to get some better stakes too.

By the time I got to the bottom corner it did look a bit shonky. I think I’ll need to revisit it  next week when I’m less tired.

For now I’ve just levelled the soil by eye. I’ll leave it a week to settle and for the foxes to do their worst, then reset any steps/slabs that have shifted and level the soil using the spirit level. Just in time to seed in April!