Soil

You would have thought that having dug a large hole in the ground to fill with water, we would have large amounts of spare soil.  But in fact, our landscapers were running short.  Until they realised that we had a pile.  

When T removed the turf from the pond bed back in June last year, he stacked it up in the composting area (posh name for the corner of the garden hidden by a hedge where all the unwanted stuff (hedge trimmings, grass clippings, pulled weeds, etc etc) is secreted away), covered with a tarpaulin, and it's been maturing nicely.  W expected it to take another year to be usable, but when Jimmy found it yesterday, he had a look, and said it was in good condition for use.  And, not withstanding the economic benefit, it was much more ecologically sound to use that, than to import topsoil from elsewhere. 

W is really pleased, as removal of that large pile has left space in the composting area to construct some proper compost bins - another job to add to his to-do list!