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Bond, English
This is one of the commonest method of constructing a brick wall which is more than ½ a brick thick and consists of alternating courses of heads and stretchers.
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The minor wall building materials
Metal Though important in building is garden use is rather limited but can if used carefully can be very effective. The term metal encompasses a vast range of material, many used since ancient times, and the suitability of a particular one will depend on the individual use planned. Reinforced concrete This material combines concrete and…
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The main wall building materials
Brick One of the oldest and most durable building materials; its variability, flexibility, durability and strength has made a ubiquitous walling material. Traditionally made from dried earth the centuries of use and development has lead to a very sophisticated produce now mass produced in millions each year in the UK alone. The earliest bricks were…
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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 these reasons the wall foundation should be onto undisturbed ground that has not been built…
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Walling Materials
Historically walls have tended to be built from the nearest suitable materials and this has to very individual regional building styles. Since the advent of modern mass transport this has begun to be broken down; except where local planning restrictions have protected it. That is not to say the local traditional building style has to…
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Types of garden walls
Free standing The simplest walls are free standing and these are normally used when boundaries are walled. In the UK garden walls above 2 metres high, unless they face the public highway when its 1 metre, require planning permission. That said this is only a basic guideline and local rules or covenants can often apply…
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Garden walls
The wall is one of the oldest manmade structures, and its use in gardens is as old as gardens themselves. The word comes from the West Saxon weall which in itself comes from the Latin vallum meaning a rampart and in the garden walls are used as a natural development of earth ramparts. Initially walls…
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Drive design
With drives, probably more than any other thing in gardens, the most important thing is it actually functions as the drive. No mater how nice it may look if it does work as a drive it is a waste of money. As ever there has to be some compromises, you may what a turning circle…
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Paving materials
The trick when designing your patio is to make it blend into the surrounds while adding to them. To do this you are free to use every trick in the book. You can use materials which contrast with their surrounding or complement them but care should be taken when trying to match materials as…
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Brick
A small regular building unit traditionally made from fired clay but occasionally concrete. They have been used for thousand of years in various sizes and still are available in a range of sizes; with different standard sizes in different countries. In addition to the normal cuboid shape bricks are also many other shapes available for…
