Grass

	The original lawn - photographed July 06. The lighter green areas were quite coarse grass: the darker green is turf laid after the house conversion. The red areas are die-back which occurred both in Summer and Winter.
	After edging and covering with 20cm of soil and levelling by dragging an aluminium ladder across it for several days. Lenka is attempting to consolidate the soil with a roller - the roller was ineffectual. Hot work in the hottest month of the hottest year on record. The pile in the foreground are the lumps raked out of the soil.
	The new lawn was sown on 1st Sept 06. A bottle of champagne was opened immediately afterwards! The grass had all sprouted by early Oct 06, but some areas were a lighter green due to nitrogen deficiency? An autumn fertiliser was applied shortly after.
	In Spring 07, lesser celandine covered large areas. A few daffodils flowered. Both of these were relics in the original soil. Birch trees have been planted into 1m diameter circles cleared of grass.
	Bare-root apples planted in April. At the end of May 07 the uncut areas contained flowering buttercup - mostly meadow but some bulbous too.
	A close up of the longer grass on 22nd May 2007, before seed stalks grew. The blue flower was the solitary flax. Frogs favour the long grass for their summer habitat.
	The mown pathways were kept to about 25mm. In the longer grass areas flowering stalks grew to about a metre. It was mown down to 70mm using a Hayterette in mid June 07 and the mowings (mostly stalks) raked off to decrease the soil fertility. The mowings were mixed with straw and put in the compost bin. Some of the original grass near the bramley was left long to allow its attractive seed heads to set. Heavy rain at the end of June flattened the brown bent thus ruining its appearance. The lighter colouring of the cut grass on the right was probably due to the mower blade being blunted by the grass stalks.
	August 07; just a few scarlet pimpernel and lesser trefoil flowered along the margins of the mown paths - a very narrow habitat that allowed wildflowers some respite from the vigorous long grass whilst not being mown. One red clover in the long grass. Meadow buttercup plants growing well in the longer grass: creeping buttercup in the short grass - this and the white clover was Verdoned! End of August the self heal finished and set seed.