The second arch is in place

When you read the title it sounds so easy. I can assure you it wasn’t!

We thought that after the first arch was done it would get easier but the second one proved to be much more difficult than the first one. There were several difficulties. One is the fact that the path is sloped so when making the uprights to the ladder part of the arch one leg of the ladder needs to be longer than the other to take in the slope but the horizontal parts still need to line up accurately.

The other thing is that we were working in amongst a tangle of growth some of which is the rose and therefore very prickly. This arch had a much more heavy amount of growth on it. The whole process was really difficult with the ladder parts coming apart many times while we were trying to get it positioned. The weight of the growth really didn’t help matters.

We struggled all afternoon with it and had to clamp the horizonatal parts and leave it overnight to set. It was glued and nailed.

The next morning I didn’t have any lunches to deliver so I set about getting the growth secured to the new arch. This was also much more difficult. This arch was so overgrown that the growth had joined up between this arch and the first one (yet to do) and had made a tunnel effect. We had always intended to keep the growth to each separate arch but this wasn’t the case in this part as it had grown out of control.

The growth needed to be pushed back to the wooden struts but with the rose from the first arch entangled in with it, I would have been ripped to shreds handling it. The only thing to do was to painstakingly cut the rose to separate the two arches. Once I had cut back the rose I created a gap between the two arches.

I was then able to push the growth (honeysuckle and clematis) back to the wooden arch and tie it in. It took me several hours to get the job done. I was really pleased with it once it was done. We should now be able to keep each arch contained. It has also let in a lot more light to the path, the patio area and through the cabin windows.

We think that this was the most difficult one to tackle so we are hoping that the rest won’t be as bad to do. My husband did say that if we had done this one first he may have given up on the job. Tempers were rather frayed during this process and we both have rose scratches to show for it.

Work begins on the second arch

The second arch is completed

The growth on this arch is now separated from the next one

The two arches from the other direction

We will be very glad when all four arches are completed but we think that it will all be worth it in the end.