Ken is the quiet man talking to my wife Jane on the left of the photo. On the right is his JCB. All I can say is that Ken + one machine is a ground working force of unnatural capacity.
The garden and barn that make up Oaklands used to belong to the Manor House next door. A very odd conifer rectangle surrounded the filled in remains of the old swimming pool - at least until Ken arrived. Next to the pool a tennis court of course - long since overgrown but surrounded by the remains of its fence posts and mesh fence. You may remember we excavated a bunch of Harrods lawn tennis equipment including a brass net tensioner and a line painter at the beginning of the Summer.
We were a little anxious as to whether agricultural work would prevent Ken's arrival but maybe just a week overdue he turned up on site with his digger and set about the place with wild abandon. Thoughtful yet brutal, work that might have taken me year by hand during infrequent visits was ripped into completion in 5 short days.
I am probably far too easily impressed however any man that will drive his digger into a giant lit bonfire of unwanted conifer has my vote. He was meticulous and efficient and very very pleasant. We found ourselves trying to argue to pay more at the end of the week. The transformation is amazing.
On one side with the really bad conifers cleared out of the hedge line we can now borrow the field and large ancient bluebell wood on the other side into our view.
With the conifer square gone we now have fully 150-200 m of view from the gate to the edge of our wood. This will all be planted/restored to wildflower meadow and in the centre of what used to be the tennis court a 25 m long wildlife pond is going to be sited.
It feels really uplifting to get back the light and air into the main part of the garden space. It is now a giant open rectangle of two acres at least in that part - a huge blank canvas really to lay down the bones of the garden plan on. The birch grove. The curved hoggin path from the oak tree via the vegetable beds to the greenhouse, potting shed, wood shed and eventually the main woodland ride entrance. The meadow and pond with its larch deck.
I think out of everything we have done in 6 short months this feels like the biggest leap. I cannot imagine what we could achieve if we could secure Ken for a month. He came on a recommendation from a childhood friend of Jane's parents - local cider farmers. I am sure that Ken had better things to do. When it is quieter for him after the Autumn I'd love to see what he could do with a section of the wood !
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