Advice & Ideas Needed for Our Garden

Now that is nice. Beats my MS Paint drawing

I like the borders both sides and the path. Is the back of the garden all slabs in your design and the path with railway sleepers with gravel around them.

i wonder how much that would all cost me if i was to do that.

 

Yes, assuming of course that you have enough of them or can get similar ones to those in your picture.
You have some already, so might as well use them up.

Yes you should be able to get some reclaimed ones, or if you prefer concrete copies then fill around with gravel.

The bench is pretty easy to make up or you could get one from a second hand shop and refurbish it.

Total cost would depend on where you buy and how much you can do yourself.

 

You could also go for wooden decking or even better , the composite types that need no maintenance and look just like the real thing.
They are available in sections which makes it easy to install (and cut to size) and often garden centers have them on special when new stock is about to come in or they have a limited supply of discontinued stock.
Luckily the area you would want to cover is quite small so it would be sufficient.



You could also upgrade the "walls" with new stone cladding.
Again, these days there are plenty of options using manufactured "stone" and by doing some research, you could get some real bargains.

As for the plants and flowers, I like the tropical look but that could be difficult to achieve in the UK.
I know very little about plants and flowers so best wait for more knowledgeable members to give their comments as to which ones are suitable for over there.
Assuming of course you like that look.



You could probably achieve something like shown above for less than you think.

 

Many Thanks Dave. Like the ideas but i dont think my budget would be able to create something like the last few designs.

Chris

 

No worries Chris.
Hope the designs gave you some ideas and you can always pick out bits and pieces that you like that fit your budget.

 

Well I have cut the grass for the first time this year and its not in great condition so I have posted on another thread in the lawn section asking for advice and ways to improve the grass / lawn

 

Not much progress on the garden but have managed to clear all the weeds and roots out from the two raised beds and one border. Other border to do over next few days.

 

I was thinking of a digging the soil away from the wall then removing the top 6 blocks that have pushed forward and re lay with sand and cement but the problem is I have never layed a block or brick in my life.

 

Just knock of the old cement with a hammer and chisel, damp down the masonry to control suction, put a little more mortar than you'll think you'll need in a line down the centre of the masonry, tamp the block down with the handle of the hammer and point up

Probably a load of vids on youtube that would guide you through it.

 

The only thing I can add, re cement, is that I found when I was doing my patio (that was the first time I'd ever mixed cement, not counting uselessly 'helping' my dad when I was little). I'm pretty sure that if any part of my patio fails, it will be the end I started at, because by the time I got to the middle I'd pretty much mastered the art of mixing cement and getting it down before it started to set.

What I discovered was that it magically turns runny again if you agitate it. So when I was filling in all the gaps between the stones, instead of trying to force the cement into the gaps and then scraping half of it back out (by accident) when trying to achieve a smooth finish, I found that if I slopped some in place, then gently but rapidly tapped it with the edge of the triangle flat trowel like thingy, it just went runny and filled all the gaps all by itself.

Oh, and 'triangle flat trowel like thingy' is a perfectly valid term, as long as your occupation is 'button presser' and not builder

 

Haha I think the 'triangle flat trowel like thingy' being referred to would be a pointing trowel.

Unless the top blocks are loose I would just rake out the joints and re-point them.


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The blocks have moved.

 

Yea sorry not sure how I missed that.


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