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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.

Garden slabs are a joy to behold but only when done the right way. Well, the installation of paving slabs shouldn’t be exceed digging a little here and there, buying a small amount of mortar and pressing down the garden slab, right? Absolutely not! But we must admit how great it would have been if only it were that easy in real life. Let’s be honest, in reality, laying garden slabs does not only require you to prepare your sub-base painstakingly and mix your mortar using the appropriate materials, but you’d also have to work with accurate and precise paver placements to guarantee the patio’s longevity. Consequently, this happens to be a stressful and quite tricky challenge. If you lack the required confidence to pull this off, we’d recommend you hire the services of a seasoned professional who can guarantee the best results and also save you time and extra cash that may result from possible costly errors. In this guide, you’d gain more insight into the garden slabs laying process.

To get started, you’ll need sharp sand, cement, shovel, wheelbarrow, pointing trowel, rubber mallet, spirit level, jointing compound, hard-bristled brush and tarpaulin.

1. Mix a layer of mortar for each paver.
2. Apply the mixed mortar onto the sub base by using the trowel.
3. Slot the first flag in place and ensure not to stain the paver’s surface with the mixed mortar.
4. Using a rubber mallet, carefully tap the paver to the mortar bed. Once done, ensure the surface is even with a spirit level.
5. Take a measurement of the gap between the pavers
6. Repeat the above steps until all pavers have been perfectly laid
7. Leave the pavers to dry for about 1 to 2 days. You can protect it using a tarpaulin if concerned about rain.
8. Use the jointing compound to fill up the paver gaps to bind together the pavers. Ensure to wipe off any excess compound using the hard-bristled brush.

Yes, although you should make sure that the terrace or decking is able to support the weight of a hot tub. Usually, you will need to have a structural survey carried out on the area. Seek the advise of a hot tub retailer or installer about the logistics of installing one at your property.

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.

1. If you’ve not got an overhang or it’s a fixed deck, fit starter clips along the outside edge of the frame and secure with screws provided with the composite decking. If you are working with an overhang, put the first board into position not exceeding 25mm. If you’re adding a fascia, put an off-cut of board under the overhang so you know it’ll be flush with the fascia.
2. Pre-drill all fixing points, measuring in 30mm from the edge of the board. Secure the board to the joist below with composite decking screws.
3. Slide a hidden fastener clip in so it sits within the groove of the deck board. It needs to be in the centre of the joist to keep the boards secure and ensure an expansion gap of 6mm. Tighten the clips until just tight, and repeat so there’s a clip at every joist.
4. Add the next board, ensuring that the fastener clips sit within the groove – make sure you don’t force it. Repeat step 3.
5. Continue steps 3 and 4 until you’re at the final board, which you should secure in the same way as you did the first.

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.

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.

1. Place a post in the corner of the frame you created with the pegs and string. Measure and mark out 100mm from each side.
2. Dig out this soil to a depth of 700mm (watch out for cables or pipes). You should have a 300 x 300mm hole. Repeat for the other 3 corners.
3. Using a brick bolster, split a concrete block in two. Put a section of the block in each hole.
4. Get a length of post longer than you need and place one in each hole. You can cut it down later.
5. Create props on each post to hold them in place until you’re ready to add a cement mix. Check that they’re level. When you’re happy that they are, secure them in place with a concrete mix, making sure you create a slope in the concrete so that rainwater runs away from each post. When the concrete is set, remove the props.
6. Create a string line around each corner post and find the centre point between each. Place a timber batten at each point, ensuring that they’re not spaced any more than 1500mm apart.

1. Working from the corner where the deck will be at its highest above ground level, measure and mark on the post where the highest part of the frame will be.
2. Measure from the far side of one post to the opposite and cut sections of joist to size. Line up a piece of joist with the mark you made and temporarily secure it. Factor in a 2mm fall for every metre of decking so rainwater can run off.
3. Secure the frame to the other corner post, ensuring it’s at the right level. Do this for every side of the outer frame.
4. Using 100mm coach screws with washers hanging on the end, secure each end of the four sections of frame.
5. Mark out where the centre of the support posts will be and secure all of these posts to the frame, except the centre post.
6. Add your central support joists. These should run in the same direction as the deck boards will run. You’ll need to measure from the inside of the frame on one side to the inside of the frame on the opposite side. Attach the joist in the same way as you did for the other posts. Repeat so the centre post is in between two sections of frame and secure the posts with concrete.
7. Trim down all the posts to the correct height using a saw.
8. Add your weed-control fabric and weigh down with gravel across the entire area.

1. Measure 400mm from the centre of the outer frame and mark a line. This will be where the first joist is positioned. Repeat at 400mm intervals down the length of the frame – if the last one will be more than 400mm, add another joist to create enough support.
2. Attach a joist hanger to each end of the joist.
3. Place the joist in position so the centre lines up with the 400mm spacer mark.
4. Secure using external grade screws once you’re happy that the joist is flush with the frame.