Summer work and summer chafers

I’ve now started work on the raised beds and steps closest to the house. I’m planning to build the beds out of fence posts and deck boards. We’re also going to clad our “feature sleeper steps” (estate agent speak) since they ooze tar when it’s warm weather and so we can’t sit on them. We could just buy pressure treated ones but it seems a shame to get rid of these ones so cladding with deck boards it is.

It was a really nice evening this evening. The garden had a beautiful scent in it from a bumper crop of evening primrose (Oenothera biennis) in and around the wildflower meadow. Unfortunately it was getting a bit dark by the time I took a photo:

The garden was also full of summer chafers (Amphimallon solstitialis) these fantastic beetles are on the decline but seem to do quite well in Bristol:

I also noticed a few leaves with the familiar semi-circular cut-out caused by leaf-cutting bees. They are one of my favourite bees so it’s good to see them back again this year.