How to build a sleeper raised bed
As well as retaining walls timber sleepers can be used to create raised beds. A great variety of shapes can be created using these, but the shape of the sleepers only really work well with shapes based on right-angles. This…
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Fixing trellis to a wall
Trellis is a very effective way of training climbers against a wall and can either be bought or made from scratch. Fixing it to the wall though can present problems but with a little care result can be both durable and effective.…
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How to make trellis
Trellis can be purchased ready made from garden centres and DIY stores but it is in a limited range of sizes, you only have one spacing for the lathes and it is often quite light weight. A far better way…
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Notching the top of a post to take a 150mm horizontal beam
Equipment: Summary: To work safely and well you need the post on a stable and strong support at a comfortable height to work at. If you don’t have any sawhorses most DIY stores sell foldable ones. You may also find…
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How to lay crazy paving
Crazy paving has fallen right out of fashion; killed first by release of the modern mottle coloured concrete riven flags by Bradstone in the early 1980’s followed by the cheap imported stone flags from the Far East more recently. That…
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How to design a drive
With drives, probably more than any other thing in gardens, the most important thing is it actually functions as it is intended. No matter how nice it may look, if it does work as a drive it is a waste…
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Parts of a Wall
Garden walls are constructed from 5 distinct elements: Subgrade The first, the subgrade, is the ground the entire structure stands upon and so its stability and load bearing ability determines on whether the wall is going to remain standing. For…
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Drive dimensions
This is a short collection of notes on the dimensions of a private drive. These are for guidance only and should be checked before being used. Local regulations and restrictions may apply and you should check before starting any work. The drive…
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Fatsia japonica
One of the classic garden plants for shade Fatsia japonica is much admired for its large, glossy, evergreen leaves and easy temperament. It grows happily in any reasonable garden soil and does particularly well in shade, though not so well…
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Eucryphia × nymansensis ‘Nymansay’
This may not be a very popular plant; I fear the name may put off some, but it should be far better known. Not only is it an evergreen with attractive foliage all year round but every late summer it…
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Brick wall thickness
The convention for describing the thickness of a wall is relative to the length of a brick so goes like this. It may seem counterintuitive, and often causes confusion, but as its long established deviating from it will lead to…
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Photinia ‘Red Robin’
This is a very common shrub in gardens – that is not to say it isn’t very worth while one to have in your garden. It has a lot of desirable features to recommend it. It will happily grow in…
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