Yes very true but also as long as they are not in ones pockets 
That all sounds very satisfactory but surely you could run to a lift? A paternoster might allow for a bit of fun.
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Great to see your project coming along so well, good progress in 4 days. My project now into day 30, seems never ending !
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Steve, that’s one huge project compared to my little effort, your shed quality looks good, lots going on with defined areas, all very interesting, hope the cost isn’t going to bankrupt you!
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@Debs and @SurreySteve Both interesting projects and since moving back to England I’m quite astounded at landscaping costs, so I am hoping I can do some of the grunt work myself and just get the specialists in to do the err special stuff.
Tim
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We’re coming in about double our original budget, frightening costs involved.
That coveted PS555DR is going to have to wait another yearl!!
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Orange Dream will look lovely in a pot.
Looking down on my crazy acer/fern mini border in the yard this morning. The colours really get going in November.
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At last! A picture of some plants in the gardening thread. Lovely colours.
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This is a magnificent show, an expertly arranged palette of serene colours and textures that is a sheer pleasure to the eye.
Are you a qualified botanical horticulturist? 
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I’d be interested to know what type of soil you grow the acers in.
I’m on heavy clay soil and struggle to grow them.
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They are planted in basic compost from bags, mainly ericaceous with some grit added.
I installed narrow borders around the yard a few years ago – about 2-3 feet out from the boundary walls. Deliberately overplanted them with acers and ferns to give some impact in what is a very small yard.
I clad the brick walls with some timber and painted it black, which really makes the leaf colour stand out and gives the illusion of depth – like yours I believe.
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Thanks. Similar to my garden, I’ll have to increase the grit to improve the drainage.
When the ground workers return tomorrow they will continue the transitional sand-stoning journey along the ally way beside the house. The contract area for this job is to go as far as the gate posts. (The front garden is a project for later).
But i have a concern: my plan is to plant out a few climbers that can use the gabion wire for support, however seeing how much base core and cement is being installed under the slabs, planting out the clematis and jasmine root balls between the pave way edge and the old brick wall foundation may not be feasible, or even possible.
I really hoped to plant them so the roots were in the ground rather than the limitations of a pot which may succumb to drying out in summer, or extreme frost in winter.
One way is to omit a few slabs here and there and use that ground area to dig down to earth, but this may compromise the integrity of the pave way edge, or make it look odd…
I could buy in appropriate sized pots to contain the jasmine and clematis, or perhaps oblong shaped troughs. Would this be good enough for these climbers to thrive okay?
But it’s beginning to dawn on me that old wall foundation protrudes out from the gabions just a bit too far…
Photo taken in June 2022
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One possibility is to build a very narrow, tall border. It would need to extend from your wall a little further than the horizontal concrete footings but only by about six inches (to allow for drainage). Those wooden posts would be helpful. Then build up to just below the horizontal wooden frame support. You’ll be able to fill it up with compost/grit and have c.3ft depth of soil for all sorts of climbers, which like cool roots. A few wires on the upper woodwork and you are away. Perhaps something like this, which I had constructed a few years ago…
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A quick snap from this afternoon, which shows how the border is built out from the wall – only c.6 inches extension at the base.
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I would always plant in the ground where possible. Containers are so much more work and cost, especially if they are big enough to sustain large creepers indefinitely. It should be easy enough to miss out a few slabs and put some edging around the gaps.
Also, the lower the creepers, the more of those hideous gabions they will hide. I don’t think the stems will have any trouble bridging the gap created by the old foundations, they just might need some support while they are getting established.
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I like your way of thinking, Chris.
Will discuss the options tomorrow with the slab layers. They’re very approachable and friendly, it may even help them out by not needing to lay a few slabs, or need to cut.
They are aware that an amount of that boarder edge will be left gullied with stones for soak-away.
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Perhaps they could cut a few slabs to make some edging which would finish off the gaps nicely rather than just looking like there were a couple of bits missing.