The build so far...

The empty site before mayhem

Ground protection and edging first

The steel tanks arrive causing some general curiosity on site

End of second day clearing up..

Third day, we are now 5 in total, good work force, stone has arrived from Lake District and being graded

Hard to know where to start.. The last four days have been so intense.. So much happening in a very short amount of time, the anticipation, the excitement. Each delivery to site is an event, long awaited, months in the planning but minutes/hours in the execution. My workers are all astounding in their enthusiasm and effort to make this come good. It's as much their project and pride on the line as mine. I could not have hoped for more. My two competitors have plots on either side and both have had some very serious problems, slowing them down. Their designs are heavy in construction and cost, and so any set backs due to the sloping nature of the site or the poor weather and high winds seems hinder them badly. However they are both resourceful and I hope they pull through, as we are all in it together, but it does seem to make my build, and all the fun  and laughter our team are having, cause a little tension.

Oxfam contacted me today, they have a huge worldwide campaign for awareness of water usage, drought, and floods. It comes in time with the hose pipe ban over the whole of the north-west after the worst drought in a decade. They want me to support their cause through my show garden and its marketing potential, as water is an important feature. I'm not sure what this will involve yet, but possibly a photo shoot on the garden.

Tomorrow I am leaving for 24 hours, driving the biggest van I legally can, (huge) to come back to Oxford to collect my boundary wall and wild flower turf. An other intense experience and I'm quite afraid of driving such a large vehicle, with no previous experience, over a few hundred miles. I'm sure it will be fine and a great adventure like the rest of it, but just an other cause for nerves and adrenaline. I must sleep now, the days are long and hard, and I have only just begun.