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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.

Does Landscaping A Garden Add Value?

When taking a good look at the image of new homes or perhaps you’re just thinking about getting one, one thing that several people will look out for is the garden. The thought of owning a perfect little oasis is all homeowners’ dream.

In a recent study conducted by Rightmove, it was discovered that to more than 60% of home buyers, an access to a garden was a priority. And according to the Royal Chartered Institute of Surveyors, this demand for garden is set to grow by 20% over the next 2 years.

Therefore, it’s obvious that having a beautiful landscaped garden is always a great asset to possess. But exactly how much value does a garden add to a property?

According to the studies carried out by Foxtons, it’s suggested that a garden can add as much as 20% to any property’s value, however, it should be expected that this value can vary based on a number of factors. In urban locations such as London, where there’s really not much outdoor space, possessing a garden can add an enormous amount to your property’s value.

However, if you happen to live in sub urban areas such as Wilmslow, where almost every home possesses a garden, what will influence the amount of value a garden will add to your property depends on it’s size as well as it’s unique features.

What’s more? Another important influence of a garden’s added value is the time of the season in which you’re selling your property. For more value, the best time to sell is always in the spring or summer when there are several gardens in bloom and multiple colours to please the eye. However, when it’s autumn and winter, the idea of staying outdoors for a quick get together or gardening is always very far, hence the value that’ll be added at this point may be low.

If there’s a fence dividing yours and your neighbour’s properties that needs maintaining or replacing, you’ll want to know who owns it. Start by checking your deeds to see if there’s an existing boundary agreement. If there isn’t, have a chat with them to see if you can come to an arrangement yourselves.

1. Start in one corner of the sub-frame and position the first board across the inner joists. You want the deck board in the opposite direction to the inner joists, ensuring that it’s flush with the frame. Position any end-to-end joins between the deck boards halfway across an inner joist so you can screw both boards into the joist for stability. Make sure you keep a gap of between 5-8mm to allow for expansion of the wood.
2. Begin to screw your deck boards to the joists. You’ll need to secure the deck board to every joist is covers along your deck frame. Use two screws for every joist. Mark where you’re going to add your screws, ensuring that they are at least 15mm from the end of the board and 20mm from the outside edges. Drill pilot holes for the screws, being careful to only drill through the deck board and not the joist. Then screw the decking screws into the holes.
3. Continue to screw in the deck boards, ensuring you leave the correct expansion gap. You can stagger the deck board joins across the deck for more strength.
4. Sand down any cut ends if you need to before applying decking preserver to protect the timber from rotting.

• Decking joists
• Coach screws
• Coach bolts
• Combi drill
• Socket set
• A saw suitable for your project and the thickness of the timber
• Pencil
• Decking preservative
• Sandpaper or sander

1. Measure your deck frame and cut to size if necessary.
2. Make 2 pencil marks on each end of the frame’s 2 outer joists to mark where the coach screws will go. They need to align with the centre of the adjoining outer joist. Then, use a flat wood drill bit to drill recesses into each mark. Make them the same depth of the screws that your using’s head and wide enough for a ratchet or socket to tighten them.
3. Using a thinner drill bit, line up the outer joists and drill a pilot hole through the middle of the recess. These pilot holes act as a guide for the screws and stops them from splitting the wood.
4. Fit the coach screws with either a drill driver or socket and ratchet.
5. Repeat the process for the inner joists once you’ve assembled the outer frame.

Pitting, also referred to as spalling is the event whereby “pits” or small holes start showing on the surface of your concrete driveway which makes it appear both worn and uneven. Concrete driveway pitting is a common but highly frustrating problem for most homeowners. You’ll see some concrete driveways that’ll only start to pit after a couple of years, but this is not true for all concrete driveways as others will start to show signs only after a couple of months. So how do you tackle this issue? Well, it’s relatively simple to tackle, however if you’re not confident or lack the necessary skills, we’d recommend you get in touch with a reliable professional who can guarantee the best results for help. In this guide, we’ll take you through the concrete driveway pitting repair process.

✓ Prepare the pits by cleaning the area, clearing out all debris and more. The small pits can be cleaned with a stiff brush while a sturdy broom will do a good job for larger pits.

✓ Make use of a hose to spray the concrete pits and flush out all remaining bits of waste.

✓ If you’re tackling series of small pits, simply use a caulking gun filled with pre-mixed epoxy and specially formulated for concrete to fill the pits. Clear off the excess eproxy ensuring that its level with the concrete surface. Once done, simply leave for at least 24 hours before the application of a concrete sealant to prevent the wear and tear of the new concrete.

✓ Chisel out a little concrete and clean with a pressure washer. Once done, apply a concrete resurfacing compound mixture into the holes and use a trowel to level off.

✓ Ensure that the repaired concrete driveway is protected from rain and foot traffic for at least 6 hours (or 24 hours for vehicles).

Whether you’re starting a garden from scratch or adding plants to a garden that needs a big of work, the biggest step in planting a garden is preparation. We’ll give you a few tips on how to plant a garden whatever your garden’s size. Check your soil The most important thing to do before you start to plant a garden is check your soil type. Different plants suit different soils, so you should choose ones that will like the soil in your garden. If your soil is sticky and muddy, it’s referred to as clay soil, but if it runs through your fingers when you pick it up it’s known as sandy. Ideally, you want something between the two to help your plants’ roots spread easily. If you have heavy clay soil, you’ll need to add well-rotted manure or compost to improve the structure, but if it’s sandy you’ll need to add organic matter to improve its fertility. Make a plan Don’t just start planting wherever – make sure you’ve got a plan of where you want everything to go. Do a simple drawing or cut out photos from magazines or the internet. How to plant bare root plants and trees When you’re planning what to plant in your garden, make sure you choose the correct amount and size of trees you’re going to plant. In a small to medium garden you only want one or two trees, and you don’t want anything too large that might spread too far. When you’re ready to plant, make sure there’s enough room for the roots to spread. Look for the soil ‘tide mark’ near the base which will show the depth that it was planted before, and use that as your guide. Dig your hole to the correct depth and width and fork the sides so it’s easier for roots to get in. Add some well-rotted manure and place the plant in the hole so the roots are spread out and fill the hole with soil. Planting potted plants Dig a hole deep enough for your plant – put the pot in the hole to check whether you’re there yet. You want around 2cm around the outside and don’t make the hole any deeper than the pot. If your plant has a tight root ball from outgrowing its pot, gently tease out the roots – it won’t harm the plant. How to plant plug plants in your garden Plug plants are usually mail-order plants that you get in spring and are a great way to start planting a garden. You must handle them carefully and water them before planting. Fill a small pot with compost and make a well in the centre, then drop the plug in. Gently pat the soil around it. You might need to pot them again to the next size up later on, and harden them off outside before planting them in the ground after there’s no risk of frost. With these few tips you can easily get started with planting your garden. But if you need some help and advice, get in touch with local gardeners who will be happy to give you a quote.

On a hot summer’s day, we often seek our garden lawn as a cooling place to sit and get some relief from the sun. However, since artificial grass is made from plastic, lots of people ask whether it gets hot, or whether it stays like natural grass. The answer is, it’s somewhere in between.

Of course, we all know to stay in the shade in midday sun and this is when your artificial grass will be at its hottest. Unless it is an extremely hot say and your lawn is in direct sunlight, you should still be able to walk on your artificial grass. The best thing to do is test it using the back of your hand before anyone walks over it with bare feet or children go to play on it.

In the shade, artificial grass should always maintain a cool temperature, although it will never have that refreshing feel of cold grass on a hot day. It will also cool down extremely quickly as the day goes on, so if your grass does get too hot it shouldn’t be unusable for too long.

Artificial grass has to meet high safety standards and most are UV stabilised, which means that they can withstand high temperatures without melting or getting extremely hot. It’s worth remembering that hot countries like Dubai use artificial grass, so the occasional hot day in a British summer should be enough for artificial grass to handle!