The fountain

The only ornament in my garden is a cement fountain. I saw the ensemble in a hardware-cum-garden shop and had to have it. I still cannot believe I let the delivery guys drag it over my wood laminate living room floor. Actually, I cannot believe the three or four of them managed to drag it at all. The thing weighs about hundred tons.

The pebble pattern around the fountain was hand-arranged. The area was first covered with garden cloth, then with a layer of river sand, and finally with pebbles. Since then the pattern has been disturbed many times, mainly by me walking over the pebbles, and one anxious afternoon by a visiting toddler who thoroughly enjoyed himself throwing my pebbles around.

I still think the plants – a kind of grass, I believe from New Zealand – were perfect for the spot. Unfortunately, they would not grow the way I wanted them to: flat against the wall, in a fan shape. So they had to be removed.

My next project is to grow a thick veil of jasmine behind the fountain, about half way up the wall. I hope the jasmine will cover the patches of the paint that have peeled off in the meantime, due to moisture from the up-the-hill garden, which now has lawn and plants instead of brick paving. I do not hold it against my up-the-hill neighbours, but I do hold it against the builders who neglected to damp-proof the back yard partition walls.

The jasmine plants that are expected to perform the important function of covering the damaged partition wall are now mere babies: