Find a Landscaper you can trust in Glenfinnan.

Uneven lawn? Well, for an outdoor space which looks great and serves its purpose throughout the year, there’s a need to learn how to level your garden. While its best left for a professional to handle, there are also some simple steps you can follow to ensure your DIY task turns out a success whether you’re preparing to lay a patio or deck, landscaping the whole space or tackling a lumpy lawn. A level ground comes with a bunch of benefits which includes maximizing the functions of your yard, helping with drainage while also enhancing your property’s curb appeal. Good news is, you can level your sloping lawn by hand. Want to know how? In this post, we’re going to take you through the processes involved in levelling an uneven lawn. Let’s take a look!

You can simply level your lawn using your hand if you aim to make your lawn a more even surface or to install a patio or deck. If your goal is only to make the lawn more even, you should have it in mind that, even though lumps and bumps aren’t always pleasing for most people, it can actually create a good drainage for your home.

Top dressing is the solution for depressions that are about 2cm to 3cm deep. To resolve this, simply get a top dressing mixture or make yours using two parts of sand and topsoil and a single part of compost. Use this to fill out the depression evenly and make compact using a rake or your feet, then water. Leave this for two days before applying grass seed alongside a thin layer of topsoil, then water as needed.

If you have a deeper depression, simply dig out to around 4cm to 5cm and remove any lumps of soil or stones. Once done, proceed to top dressing as explained above and grass seed to fill out the bald spot.

How To Landscape A Garden

Are you thinking about landscaping your garden? Well, not only will this make your property more visually appealing, but can also go a long way to add value to it. Landscaping a garden can be a very difficult project which should be left to a reliable professional who can guarantee the best results the first time, especially if you lack proper training or experience in the field. This way, you get to save time and extra money that can result due to possible costly mistakes. However, if you’re confident enough about your skills, here’s a step by step guide to help you through the garden landscaping process.

• Start from the front yard. This is the first place you’ll see when you get home and visitors will admire when they stop by.

• Hardscape first. Tackle all the handscaping projects before setting out the plants. The hardscapes include the sidewalk, drive way, porch, decks, fencing and the likes.

• Toil in the soil. When it’s time for the garden, you can start by amending your soil with organic matter before you set out the plants.

• Plan next to your house. When it comes to landscaping a garden, functionality is just as important as the beauty. With that in mind, never allow your foundation planting to cover your house, but to embrace it.

• Selecting the right plants. Study the landscape, observe when the sun rises and sets and determine the best plants for those conditions, you can consult with a local garden centre for more information.

• Plant shapes and textures. You can include some design elements to your landscape simply by taking advantage of the plants’ shape and texture.

• Finishing touches. These includes adding stuffs like containers, window boxes, hanging baskets both to add a little more functionality and a bit more colour to your landscape.

• Maintenance. To enjoy your beautiful landscape for a longer period, it has to be maintained.

1. Plan your shed base You must have a sturdy base for your shed, otherwise the frame won’t stand properly and could stop the door from opening. Decide whether you’re going to have:
   • A concrete base laid on hardcore
   • Concrete slabs on sharp sand
   • Treated wood beams on hardcore or shingle
   • An interlocking plastic system
   All bases should be laid on firm, level ground as far as possible.
2. Treat wood with preservative To help your shed last as long as possible, you should coat all the wooden parts with timber preservative before you put it together.
3. Put the shed floor together Some will need more assembly than others, but you need to make sure that the floor panel is attached to the joists; follow the manufacturer’s instructions for the correct spacing.
4. Put up the shed walls
   • Mark the centre point of each wall on its bottom edge, then do the same for the shed floor so you can line them up together.
   • Stand the gable end on the base and line it up. Check that it’s vertical with a spirit level – you might need someone to support the panel while you do this. Use a temporary holding batten to keep it in place.
   • Fix a side panel to the gable end panel with countersunk screws, then add the second side panel in the same way.
   Don’t attach the panels to the floor until you’ve fitted your shed roof.
5. Fit the roof
   • If the shed comes with a support bar, put this in position before you put the roof panels in.
   • Nail the roof panels in place, ensuring there’s a parallel and equal overlap at each end.
   • Roll out some roofing felt from front to back, leaving a 50mm overlap at each side. Secure it with clout-headed felt tacks at 100mm intervals.
   • Apply mastic sealant to the outside corners, then fix each corner trim with 30mm nails.
   • Add the fascias and finials, predrilling 2mm holes to avoid splitting the wood. Nail them through the felt into the shed using 40mm nails.
6. Add the shed windows
   • Slide each windowsill into the tongue and groove cut out, then put the window cover strip in position, fixing it to the vertical framing.
   • From inside the shed, put the glazing sheets into the window rebates, making sure the bottom edge of the glazing sheets sit on the outside of the sill.
   • Fix the window beading on the top and sides with 25mm nails.
7. Fix the walls to the floor Before you do anything, make sure you check that the centre marks on the walls line up with the marks on the shed floor. Then fix the wall panels to the floor with 50mm screws, aligning them with the joists.
And that’s it! But if you’re not confident in building a shed yourself, there are plenty of professionals available who will be happy to help.

There is a variety of methods available to ensure that your paving drains properly, for example draining into a lawn or soakaway. Correct drainage of paving is a requirement for planning permission. See our guide on planning permission for paving for more information.

Laying artificial grass is a popular project – it’s a great way to create a smart, low-maintenance garden. There are plenty of professionals around who are experts at installing artificial grass, but it’s possible to DIY too if you’re feeling confident.

Lots of homeowners choose to replace their existing turf with artificial grass, so lay it on soil. To do this, start by clearing the area of any greenery or turf. Then remove any extra soil to a depth of about 40mm. You might want to leave the centre of your area slightly higher than the edges for a more natural look.

Next, you need to add a weed membrane and a sharp sand sub-base. It doesn’t really matter which one of these you do first, but you might find it easier to lay the weed membrane first and then use the sand to weigh it down, to a depth of about 35mm. Use a rake and plank to make the sand level, and compact it with a plank and heavy hammer. It doesn’t need to be completely flat – gentle slopes are fine. The weed membrane should overlap joints by 300mm.

After you’ve done this, you can lay your grass. Roll it out, trim it to size and fasten it in place. Make sure the ends of the grass rolls are staggered so they don’t end in a line. Lay the artificial grass with the pile (the strands) leaning towards the house so it looks nice and full when you’re looking out from the house. If you’ve decided to use edging boards, you can nail the grass into the tops of the boards. Or, if you haven’t, use ground pins to anchor it into the soil. Brush the grass and you’re done!

Everyone wants their garden to feel luscious, spacious and welcoming. But if you’ve got a small garden, it might feel like there’s no way to stop it looking cramped and unappealing. Luckily, there are ways to make a small garden look bigger – and they don’t have to cost the earth. Plant high You can’t expand your garden outwards, but you can go upwards. Harness your neighbours’ walls and fences to plant climbers and trailing plants to add height to your garden. Hanging baskets are a great option too. By using all the space available to you, it creates the illusion that your garden is bigger than it really is. Remove bulky bushes Now you know to plant high, you might realise that there are some shrubs and bushes that need to go. Large bushes spread out and take up too much space, making it feel crowded. If you’ve got a bush for security reasons, consider replacing it with a fence and adding climbers or tall plants around it like we suggested. Create depth An easy way to make a small garden look bigger is to create depth with different textures. Around borders, plant fine-textured plants in the background with course, large-leafed plants in the foreground to give the impression of a deeper space. This is a great idea for shallow, sloping gardens. You can use vibrant colours in the front with a backdrop of green to draw the eyes back. Blend into the background Consider using similar colours, shapes and plants to blend into the view beyond your garden, so it blurs where the boundary of your garden is. If plants and trees creep over from your neighbours’ gardens, don’t trim them back – merge them with your own garden’s style. Stick with a few favourite plants Another mistake people make when trying to make a small garden look bigger is they plant too many different things. This makes your garden feel cluttered, so stick with seasonal combinations; a good rule of thumb is to have at least 3 different flowering species at any time.

1. If you’re cutting artificial grass at a fence or wall, fold over the turf so you can see where the backing material meets the edge.
2. Using a very sharp pen knife, cut the backing material into the perimeter, using it to guide the blade.
3. Push the artificial grass back against fence or wall and check that you’ve cut away enough. It’s always best to err on the side of caution and cut less to begin with.
4. When you’re happy, brush the pile to make it look natural.

Being a strong and durable product requiring little maintenance and expected to last over 2 decades, it’s little wonder resin is now a popular material amongst homeowners in the UK to build their driveways. However, there’s always the issue of the driveway fading, cracking or even becoming worn and tired. So is it possible to repair resin driveways? The answer is yes, a resin driveway can be repaired, however the best approach to use largely depends on the issue being faced. As a confident DIYer it’ll be very easy to do, but if you lack the confidence then calling in a professional for help would be a better option. So let’s take a look at how you can repair your resin driveways.

For cracks, the best reparation approach would be to chisel it out. Once done, then you can proceed to breaking the stones to form a rough edge. It’s important to make sure that the matrix of the stone remains unaffected. Make a new mixture of resin bound stone and pack it in tightly to the gap. While doing this, we’ll recommend making use of a plastic trowel to avoid burnishing. This fresh mixture will then create a smooth and perfect surface by interlocking with the edges. You can follow similar procedure for patches but these are larger holes or damages than cracks and as the name suggests are mostly likely to remain noticeable but will prevent further crumbling of your resin driveway.

For homeowners, who aren’t so keen about the patch repairs, you can opt for an overlay especially in the event whereby the majority of the surface has failed. Although many usually shy away from this approach because of the perceived high expenses, but the fact is that the approach is actually cost effective as you won’t have the need to spend more money in the long run.