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First and foremost, to save your time and money when it comes to lawn renovation, there’s a huge need to figure out why the lawn isn’t doing well in the first place. A lot of times, when changes are made to the basic lawn care practices, cultural practices or site conditions, any need for a renovation would be thrown out the window as the lawn would be given a new life with good health and vigour. However, if you feel renovation is the best option for your lawn, then you’ve come to the right place! In this post, we’re going to consider the best time to start a lawn renovation to help put you on the right path. Let’s take a look!

There are two times during the year that are most suitable for lawn renovation. Firstly, the best time for renovation of a lawn is usually from mid-August to mid-September. Secondly, another great time to achieve this goal is normally during early spring as the lawn is starting to turn green and grow.

So, when do you consider lawn renovation?

• When the quality of the lawn is simply poor and unacceptable.
• During the introduction of lower maintenance turf varieties into an existing lawn.
• When 30% to 50% of the lawn is dead or is experiencing sparse growth which may be due to several factors like drought and heat, low soil fertility, insect damage, moderate soil compaction and more.
• When the lawn is soft and spongy will walking across. Plus, if it also responds terribly to the application of fertilizer and water.
• When grassy weeds or broad-leaved weeds covers about 30 to 40 percent of the lawn area with insufficient turf cover to fill in the bare areas once the weed removal is done.

Gardens need regular maintenance and without it they can get really out of hand. When you’re thinking about how much gardeners charge, you should bear in mind the state of your garden and whether you need a one-off tidy up or want a regular ‘manicure’ of your garden to keep it looking neat and tidy. Gardeners generally charge in two different ways for their work depending on the job: with an hourly rate or with a fixed price. Generally, gardeners will charge an hourly rate of between £20 - £40 depending on their experience, the job and where you are in the country. They may also charge a minimum call-out charge since a lot of their day will include unpaid travel from job to job. If you don’t need your gardener for a full day, for example if you just need your lawn mowed, then they will probably charge a fixed rate. It’s unlikely to have anything to do with their hourly rate. We’ve found that the average fixed cost of a gardener is around £250 - but this of course includes small jobs like weeding and mowing to larger jobs like pulling out shrubs and replanting, so you may find that your gardener charges more or less than this. Bear in mind that most gardeners will charge a price that doesn’t include waste removal, since lots of people have compost heaps or garden waste bins. So if you need them to take the garden waste away, expect another £100 - £200 on top of your quote.

How To Plan A Landscape Garden

If you’ve decided to go for a landscape garden, this might imply putting in new gardens entirely or probably just coming up with a planting plan for the current year. However, because you want a beautiful landscape garden doesn’t mean you can just go out, get a couple of plants and decide to plant them anywhere that looks good to you once you get home.

For a much better landscape garden, doing some proper landscape garden planning can go a long way to help you get the results you desire. So how do you plan a landscape garden?

• Set Goals

The first step is to determine how you want the garden to feel and look, how it’s going to be used or what’s going to be used for as well as how you’ll work to boost the small ecosystem.

• Site Plan

Identify what you already have on the site like the plants, paths, gardens etc, and draw them out perhaps on a graph paper. Once done, you can make some photocopies and start playing with different ideas.

• Site Analysis

Carry out an in depth site analysis to identify the areas that’s sunny and shady areas as well as the ones in between. This way, you can figure out the best place to put the plants and other items.

• Functional Diagrams

This is stage at which you go through both the site plan as well as site analysis and start to identify the right spots to position the landscape garden’s items.

• Planting Plan

Here, you’ll decide which plants you’ll like to use on your landscape garden while also identifying what plant goes where. You’ll have to draw them at size close to what they’ll grow to become, so as to ensure there’s sufficient space for them once they grow big and tall.

Moss, mushrooms and weeds are all problems that many homeowners face on their lawns. Luckily, with a bit of maintenance, there are ways you can get rid of these unwanted organisms and prevent them from coming back. Getting rid of moss A simple way to remove moss from your lawn is by scarification. This basically means that you vigorously rake your lawn, but only do this in the autumn when the grass is actively growing and it’s not too hot, cold or dry. However, you can also use specific weedkillers to control moss on your lawn, and most of these should be applied when the moss is actively growing. Apply in fine weather by hand or with a push-along spreader, making sure not to apply too much as you could kill off the grass too. Check the instructions, as some will require watering after 48 hours if it’s not rained. Then, get into a scarification routine to help prevent moss growth. Removing mushrooms from your lawn If you’ve got mushrooms in your lawn, it usually means that your lawn is damp and shaded, so it never dries out, and is organic waste-rich. There could be a drainage problem with your lawn that is encouraging mushroom growth, so it’s important to investigate why the mushrooms are growing to prevent them from returning once you’ve removed them. To get rid of mushrooms in your lawn, make sure you scarify your lawn and get rid of all the moss, thatch and dead grass that comes up. If you leave it, this is heaven for mushrooms to grow in. If your lawn is shaded, try to prune and thin surrounding trees to offer it more light. If you do all of these things, it will prevent mushrooms from growing in the future, and then it might be worth using a fungicide to get rid of the mushrooms that are there. But if you just do this step, it’s likely the mushrooms will just come back. How to get rid of weeds To get rid of weeds from your lawn, you can use selective weedkillers that will just kill the weeds and leave your grass alone. But if you’d rather not use weedkiller, you can get rid of weeds from your lawn manually. For large, deep-rooted weeds like dandelions or plantains, use a trowel to lever them out, ensuring that you get the whole plant including its roots. Then use compost to fill the hole it leaves behind, pushing it deeply into the hole. Sprinkle with fresh grass seed, cover with extra compost and water. Make sure you keep the area damp until the seed has germinated. To prevent moss, mushrooms or weeds from returning, the best things to do are:

• Scarify your lawn in the autumn, and lightly in the spring if necessary
• Seed your lawn in the autumn if you need to
• Try to keep trees trimmed and pruned as much as possible to reduce shade
• Use a pre-emergent weedkiller in the spring to catch them before they grow and handpick any that come through
• Mow your lawn regularly in the spring and summer, being careful not to remove more than a third of grass at a time, then before winter give it one last mow and a fertilisation treatment

Driveway surfacing materials like concrete, asphalt and clay brick usually crack because they’ve been exposed to extreme temperatures or put under high pressure. It’s important to repair driveway cracks before they get worse and cause damage to vehicles and perhaps others to trip on raised cracks.

As a home or property owner, you’re generally allowed to build next to your neighbour’s fence as long as it’s on your own side of the property. With that in mind, there are certain laws that regulate how close a fence can be built to buildings on the same lot or neighbouring lots. In addition, there are also local bylaws that provide limitations on the placements as well as height of fences so as to address safety hazards. In this post, we’re going to give you a good insight into how close you can build to your neighbour. Let’s take a look!

In general, if the fence is in your boundary then you’re allowed to build a 2-metre high brick or wooden fence or wall. However, this may differ depending on your location in the UK. As a result, you may want to reach out to your municipality’s building department in order to determine what these rules and limitations are in your area. In the events whereby there are no such restrictions but you’re still concerned, you can try informing your neighbour what your concerns are. However, if they’re not receptive there are some steps you can take to ensure your plans go as smoothly as possible. These steps include the following:

• Ensure to leave sufficient space for both the posts and footings
• Stagger your fence posts in order to make sure you’re not digging your neighbour’s
• Consider using concrete posts as they’re much stronger and will last a lot longer
• Use kickers or plinths for raised gardens and flower beds
• Make use of concrete plinths as they won’t rot over time like a wooden fence.

Try to put your shed in open space, away from trees, bushes and other buildings. This will help to protect it from falling branches and sap. It will also mean that you can access all sides of the shed for repair and maintenance purposes. Make sure you take a look at garden shed planning rules before you pick a final spot for your shed.

If your lawn edges are overgrown, it can make an otherwise well-cared for lawn look unsightly. Luckily, it’s easy to edge your lawn and make it look beautiful again. You should edge your lawn every spring and trim any overhanging grass you notice after mowing. How to edge a lawn There are different types of equipment you can use for different types of edging:

• Edging shears
• Half-moon edger
• Grass shears with a long handle
• Gardening knife
• Long rope or a plank of wood

Depending on how regularly you’ve maintained the edging of your lawn, you might want to do one of the following things:

• Annually in spring or if you’ve left the grass to get out of hand: Decide whether you want a straight or a curved edge along your lawn. If you want a straight edge, lay a plank of wood along the edge and use your half-moon edger to cut along. If you want a curve, lay a rope along the edge and cut along that. Or if you can still see the existing curve of the lawn, you can stick with that.
• After mowing: Use long-handled shears to trim the grass the mower couldn’t reach. If you want to make it look extra tidy, collect up the cuttings and put them on your compost heap or dispose of them.
• Overgrowing grass onto paths: Use a sharp gardening knife to cut the pieces of turf that are growing over the path and pull them away.
• When your lawn is flush with the path: Snip a clean edge along your path with your long-handled grass shears to make it look neat and tidy.
• If you’d rather a low-maintenance option: Spiked metal sheeting is a good material to use to keep your lawn’s edges at bay. Fix it in the ground along the edges to keep the outline of your lawn and stop it from growing into your borders.

The best way to keep your lawn edges looking fabulous is to keep them maintained. Remember to give them a little trim every time you mow your lawn to be the envy of all your neighbours.