Hare Hill gardens - Sunday 24th Feb 2013

It always feels a bit special when you have the opportunity to work on part of a NT property that "isn't open to the public" and today was no exception. The gardens at Hare Hill do not 'open' until 9th March but seven of us, together with Peter the assistant gardener, were there today continuing a huge project to open up and replant around the pond close to where people pass when walking between Hare Hill and Alderley Edge.

A lot of "Rhodi" that had been around the perimeter of the pond had already been removed and the pond had been dredged of all the years of silt, leaves and rubbish that had fallen or been dumped into it.

When we arrived, we firstly removed some "Rhodi" roots that hadn't already been dug out and shifted some huge "Rhodi" roots to another part of the garden. We then spent the rest of the day wheel-barrowing the silt, soil and semi-composted leaves that had been dredged from the pond over to the other side and level the ground so it was suitable for replanting at some point in the future. We found amongst the silt lots of pieces of broken glass, broken china, pieces of slate and stones which we removed and put to one side.

It was 'hard, manual graft' but a really enjoyable day; crisp, clear but incredibly cold - it even tried to snow on us a couple of times! It was fantastic being outside on such a lovely day:-)

I was going to be cheeky and say that the multi-tasking hare was a great asset to the group, but that would have been unfair on everyone who worked so hard on the day!!!