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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.

If your deck isn’t going to be flat to the ground, it’s a good idea to have some kind of balustrade to avoid any tripping. If the gap between the deck and the ground is less than 600mm, use a 900mm balustrade. If it’s higher than 600mm, the balustrade should be 1100mm tall.

Generally, a paved driveway is always subjected to regular usage and yours isn’t likely to be an exception, otherwise you won’t be here. Regular usage automatically necessitates regular maintenance of the driveway in order to extend its lifespan, make your property safer and add more value to it. This maintenance will involve a frequent inspection of the paved driveway so as to identify and repair divots, cracks as well as rutting. Paved driveways usually have a lifespan ranging between 15 to 20 years, but this can only be guaranteed when backed by regular maintenance activities. Failure to provide your paved driveway with a regular maintenance will lead to a rapid deterioration within just a couple of years after installation.

The issues commonly faced by paved driveways is usually different based on several factors such as the weather, your location, your property’s sub base as well as some other elements. The ability to identify the problems and solve or repair them on time is key to success while it’s also save you some time and money. In this article we’re going to look at how to go about do-it-yourself tasks that involves minor cracks. More intense damages are advised to be handled only by professionals.

✓ Prepare the area. Clear the debris, weed the plants or vegetation (if any).

✓ Use a strong spray from a garden hose to wash clean the cracks

✓ In the event whereby the crack is deep, simply fill it until it reach about a quarter inch of the surface with sand.

✓ Tamp down the sand to make it more compact.

✓ Apply a patching compound to the surface of the cracked paved driveway.

✓ Leave it for some time to cure.

✓ Once cured, you can then apply your sealant.

When it comes to fence ownership and responsibility, this is often a subject of dispute between neighbours and understandably so. Owning a fence comes with a number of responsibilities such as arranging and paying for the maintenance and more. Therefore, if you’re not yet sure who owns the garden fence, then you’d probably want to have that sorted to make sure your property stays protected at all times. In this post, we’re going to give you an insight into some of the rules guiding fence ownership in order to help you make informed decisions. Let’s take a look!

There’s no rule of thumb on whether you own the fence on the right hand or the left hand side of your property. Therefore, if you’ve heard any “rules that states otherwise, you can fling that out the window because not everyone will own the left hand side to their fence. The first way to determine who owns the garden fence or which side of the fence you’re responsible for is simply by looking. Although this is not guaranteed or a definite way to determine ownership, it can go a long way to give you a good idea. As you would have expected, fences are most likely built on the land that belongs to the boundary’s owner with the further edge of the fence making the actual boundary. As a result, you can determine a fence ownership simply by identifying where the frames are.

Also, you can determine fence ownership using the title deeds for an official and accurate answer. A copy should be given alongside your paperwork which is received when purchasing your house.

Aeration, like scarification, is another vital step to keeping your lawn looking healthy and vibrant. It involves making small holes in the soil to allow air, water and nutrients to get into the grass roots, helping them to grow deeply, and produce a much stronger lawn. It also helps to relieve compaction from the soil, which stops nutrients and air from circulating. But how do you aerate your lawn?

Before you start to aerate your lawn, it’s a good idea to scarify it first to get rid of any moss, dead grass and thatch. This involves vigorously raking your lawn to get all the organic matter up, then transferring it to your compost heap or disposing of it. Light scarification is best in the spring but you can heavily scarify it in the autumn.

If you’ve got a small lawn, you can use a hand-held hollow tine aerator or even a normal garden fork. Dig deep into your lawn’s surface with the fork, or push the aerator into the ground which will pull plugs, or cores, of soil out of the ground to create air holes. You can let the cores dry and then go over them with a lawn mower or rake to spread them evenly across your lawn. This will recycle all the nutrients in those parts of the soil and stimulate bacterial activity to break down unwanted thatch. Don’t leave them, because they will make your lawn look bumpy over time.

If you’ve got a larger lawn, you might find it easier to see if you can hire a petrol aerator. But there are also rolling aerators that have spikes on a cylinder and you just push along, or even aerator sandals that you can wear and just go to town on your grass!

Our gardens are often our pride and joy, so we want them to look their best. If you notice that your garden is uneven, you’ll probably want to do something about it. But how do you level your garden or lawn? A gardener can help you do this and will get the best finish, but if you want to have a go at doing it yourself there are a few steps you can take. Before you start, make sure you’ve got all the following equipment to hand:

• String line
• 4 rods & string
• Tape measure
• Flat shovel
• Water sprinkler or watering can
• A rake
• Earthmoving and compacting equipment
• Spirit level
• 2 x 4 piece of wood
• Wheelbarrow
• Protective gloves and shoes

Then, you can get ready to level your garden.

1. Mark out the area Push 4 rods into the ground around the area you want to level out in a square or rectangle. Tie your string around the rods to connect them all together, ensuring that the string stays tight. Then use your string line to any of the 4 sides to check that it’s level. You’ll then need to measure the height from the ground to the string on all four sides to check how much you would need to adjust the ground to make it level. Make sure you take note of the high and low spots and measure the difference between these spots.
2. Water the ground to soften it If you want to level your lawn, or the part of your garden that you want to level has grass on it, you’ll need to uproot the ground underneath it. To make it easier to dig and lift out the grass, sprinkle some water over the area before you begin. It’s a good idea to do this over a few days to really soften it – but make sure you don’t do it so much that it becomes too heavy and soggy.
3. Remove the grass Push your flat shovel into the ground, around 3-6cm deep, then slide the shovel horizontally to lift out the soil and the grass on top. As you repeat this process around the entire area, make sure you try to lift out the soil evenly to avoid making your levelling task even harder.
4. Add soil Fill low spots with nutrient-rich soil and spread evenly over the area with a rake. If you’re levelling out a large area of your garden, consider renting earthmoving equipment to make it easier.
5. Flatten the soil Next you’ll want to compact the soil to protect it from erosion. If you’re working on a small garden or area of your garden, simply use your feet – get stomping on that ground! You could also use a rake, but for larger gardens consider hiring a compactor. Then, leave the soil to settle for around 3 weeks before doing anything. If you’re doing this in the summer, you can water it sparingly to keep it from drying out.
6. Adjust until you’re happy It might take you a few adjustments to get the level of your garden or lawn right. Use a spirit level along a long 2 x 4 piece of wood to see whether the ground is even, then adjust by adding a little more soil or removing soil until it’s at the level you want it.

That’s it. A gardener or landscaping company will be able to level your garden or lawn perfectly, so consider getting some quotes from local companies.

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.