New Rock Garden

I have been deliberating for some time on what to do with a small overgrown flowerbed in the garden. It had a very large Hypericom Hidcote shrub growing in it, which had a holly bush and brambles growing through it, and it also obscured a view up the garden. I also have the problem of one lawn being raised higher than the other, therefore making it difficult to merge the two. I have decided to have a raised bed built with local stone created between the two lawns and I will plant it with rock garden plants, which should enjoy being in the sun all day during the summer. Here is a photo of the area cleared of the shrub, a pampas grass and some ferns ready for us to start the work.

Mallards in the Garden

Last summer we had a female Mallard raise her ducklings in our garden. She did start off with four, but one died and when they were all quite big we had a Fox get into the garden and kill one of the ducklings, which prompted us to move them all across the road to our neighbours very large pond or small lake as quickly as possible before the Fox returned for the rest.
Well you can imagine my surprise when Mrs Mallard returned this spring and three weeks ago I suddenly saw her and seven ducklings strutting around the garden. Sadly the weakest one died and then suddenly overnight two disappeared. I can only assume a Crow, Rook or perhaps a Sparrowhawk swooped into the garden and took them. So today we are down to four. My plan is to move them to my neighbours garden on the May Bank Holiday weekend when I think they will be big enough to cope and I do not want to leave it any longer in case we have another Fox attack.