With each week that passes at Rydal, the structure, layout and strength of Mawson's design is revealed.

The best way (so I'm told) to observe and photograph this unfolding pattern is from the top window of the Hall. I must see it for myself when I'm not bedraggled, carrying half the garden on my arms, face, hair and boots.

From the start, I was keen to work through the clearance of the main beds in a systematic manner rather than trying to blitz the entire terrace. This works practically in a climate that on Tuesday delivered something close to Monsoon and on Friday, warming, glowing rays of early autumn sun.

Of the four main herbaceous borders, three are now cleared and the last beast sits in waiting. The clearance work in this will start after a new drainage run has been installed. Once the water starts moving from the border, what was a part-time boggy marsh habitat will once more become a good growing medium. These borders will have a range of herbaceous plants that would have been available at the time of the gardens conception (1911). Of the four borders, two will peak in early summer and the remaining two will have their moment in late summer. All four will have a good spring display.

Last week in the old walled garden we prepared the site for the new glasshouse, which involved significant earth moving activity. Using a mini digger and dumper truck, local contractors Pattinson's have begun clearing large areas of old topsoil and creating a new access route to the site. Work was initially hampered at the start of the week due to the quagmire like qualities of the ground. By Thursday, the earth had dried out sufficiently to allow work to move on. Building the new lean-to glasshouse will mark the re-awakening of a productive area of the garden that has been resting for far too long.

This Monday, the contractors (Cox and Allen) will arrive to start work on the main terraces. The areas most urgent to restore at Rydal are the original cast stone elements. Over the past 90 years, the effects of the Lakes climate have taken their toll on the cast concrete the condition of which ranges from sound to disturbingly absent. In places, the pieces have simply fallen away or broken from the original footings. Mawson extensively used this material in his gardens up and down the country. Over the next 12 months it will be painstakingly restored framing the geometry of the garden as it was initially intended. The legacy of five years hard work is set to begin.