Real landscaping doesn’t mean putting in a garden that looks pretty, but takes three hours a week to maintain. Good landscaping takes an outdoor space and makes it more functional, while also looking nice. Whether you’re trying to level a slope, create an easier planting space, or get rid of an annoying mud patch, there are affordable solutions.
Railway Sleepers: More Versatile Than You’d Think
The popularity of new and reclaimed railway sleepers in landscaping has risen tremendously, and for a good reason. They’re hefty enough to retain soil without needing complex support systems, look better than concrete, and are surprisingly affordable for how long they last.
If the soil in a garden bed is poor, or if gardening at ground level is too difficult, railway sleepers create a raised garden bed that’s higher than ground level and is an instant gardening space. If they’re stacked two or three at a time, they create a planting bed that is at a height that’s easier to work with. They also retain heat better throughout the spring.
When it comes to tiered slope gardens, to be cost effective, wooden sleepers are great as as retaining walls and for making level terraced gardens that have usable space rather than one long sloped garden. To get it right, it is important to ensure that the bottom sleeper is level and buried. If it is not, it will be hard to keep all the sleeper level once the wall is built.
Sleepers are also great for garden edging. A flat sleeper placed between the lawn and the border makes it easier to mow, provides a solid border for edging, and prevents the grass from getting into the flower beds. It’s a good cost effective edging solution compared to brick edging and is less effort to do.
Durable Patios
When laying a patio, the most important factor is the base. If you do not get the hardcore and sand layers right, within a year, you will have sunken slabs and weeds all over the place. Unfortunately, this part is a bit unglamorous, but achieving 4 to 5 inches of compacted hardcore is the major factor that determines the longevity of the patio. This is the difference between the good quality ones and not.
Sizing up an outdoor space
People tend to make patios too small. If you want to have a table and four chairs on a patio then you need to have enough space on all sides to pull out chairs and walk around. Add an extra meter to the sides of the footprint of the intended furniture and more if space permits.
Budget and home construction style are the two factors determining material options. Indian sandstone is expensive but improves the looks. Concrete slabs look boring and plain but modern options are perfectly decent and secsaps come in big sizes. Maintenance free porcelain is good if you can spend a little more as it is the current trending material.
Adding structure with hard landscaping
Gardens need bones and look good in winter when everything else has died out. Paths, walls, stairs, and edges make good complementing structures. Without the “bones” a garden looks like a bunch of plants thrown together, which can look tacky.
Defined places and spaces are a beautiful way to add structure. Oak posts work well supporting pergolas and losing the softwood. Oak is solid and permanent, rather than appearing to be held together by hope.
Risers are an important yet often forgotten aspect of sloped gardens. Timber risers filled with gravel are easy to build and work well. The most important thing is height consistency. Someone can injure themselves on steps if there is an irregular height or ‘wrong’ feeling.
Neglecting Drainage Issues
If there is standing water on your patio or lawn after a rain shower, there are drainage issues to resolve. It’s possible the ground is sloped away from the catchment area, so you’ll have to regrade it. Ditching the issues and placing plants that thrive in wet soil works to ‘fix’ the issues. For persistent boggy areas, drainage pipes can be useful. Soakaway areas can be great! Not everything needs to be ‘fixed’, but wet areas are often embraced.
Gravel: The Unsung Hero
While many people overlook gravel, it’s great to use for pathways, surrounding the raised beds, and also for locations where nothing else work. It’s inexpensive, drains well, aesthetically pleasing, and can be done in less than one afternoon without special tools. Sure, gravel spreads and needs to be topped off once in a while, but that’s way less maintenance than battling mud all winter.
Be sure to use a landscape membrane underneath or you will be doing a lot of weeding. And finish it off with landscape or metal edging, for a neat finish, as gravel that gets away is a pain to pick up off the grass.
Planning Before You Start Digging
The biggest error people make is jumping in without a proper plan. Spend a full week observing the garden at different times of day. Where does rainwater run off to? Where is the natural foot traffic? Which areas get sunlight? Where do you like to spend time when you go outside?
Focus the design of your landscaping around your actual usage patterns of the garden rather than your assumptions. If you never sit at the bottom of the garden, don’t build a fancy seating area down there. Place it where it will actually get used.
Remember to break down landscaping into manageable projects. Work on one landscaping project at a time and live with it for a season before tackling the next project. You will be able to make better landscaping decisions this way.