Wooden Arch

Hi Everyone

My first post.

I have a wooden arch to go into the garden hopefully!! The instructions say to bed it 17-18" deep in the ground which is not so easy to dig that deep.

Any tips from anyone who has overcome this problem will be gratefully received

Stingo

 

18" is not very deep, if your soil is compacted try loosening it with a strong fork first - easier to get round stones and rough stuff. If you have hard rocky areas, try a pick axe.

Of course you must make sure you have had your weetabix

 

Thanks Waco

Should i dig one big hole or four small ones?

Sorry if this seems a silly question!

Stingo

 

Um - yes I did have to think about that one.

If you have four supporting poles, I would dig four holes one for each pole. dig larger than you require and you may want to back fill with hard core.

Have the poles been treated to prevent them rotting? some people set in concrete for strength, but there will be mixed ideas about this depending on what you are using.

 

PS - I am no builder, this is just the way we have done it in our garden in the past. we used to dip wood ones in old engine oil to stop rotting, we even tried wrapping in plastic, but I think this makes things worse as it traps water. Hopefully yours will be treated.

 

th romans used to put posts in with 2 rocks . they had no cement, but i belive there is now stuff called "post-it" for this job, my idea would be to soak end for a week in presrvative, and support with 2 rocks then fill with cement/post-it

 

"Postcrete" costs about �£3.29 a bag. Two bags would be ample for your arch.

 

If your putting timber in the ground then its as well to remember that its not going to last for ever, however if its properly treated it should last a good few years, especially if its quite a large section.
I, rightly or wrongly, always like to fill the hole completely with concrete, its the part that is just above ground level that rots first.
Its always good if you can get a good straight/vertical sided hole, without disturbing the ground too much around it.

 

Thanks for all of those tips, I'll take them on board.