Gardening and Landscaping Projects
From the start, I must stress that I am no gardener. But what do you do when you have a garden front and back? As one of the lower orders, I cannot afford to pay somebody to undertake landscaping projects and subsequent maintenance. The only option is to get stuck in and make some sort of effort. On this page I am displaying a few images of projects, the aim being to inspire people to have a go. Believe me, if I can enjoy some success then anybody can.
An easy project and creates a very low maintenance area of the garden. I was at a factory in Tetbury and was told they were closing down. I spotted a pile of genuine railway sleepers, the type that were actually used by the railways. Unlike the sleepers found in DIY stores, they are tremendously heavy and long-lasting. A £20 note secured four of them which were put on a lorry I was driving by fork lift. It takes two people to lift one of these beasts. At the front I used some damaged solid oak panels that were in a skip. Most of the pots were second-hand, a couple found at the council tip. The small mill stone came from a recycling yard at Belbroughton. A small water feature in the middle lends a pleasant aural effect. I left the planting to La Goddess du Vélo.
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Apart from carrying railway sleepers from a roadside drop, along with cutting them by hand, this was a relatively easy task. La Goddess du Vélo had expressed a desire for some raised planters in which to grow some vegetables such as courgettes, along with some salad.
By far the most difficult task was cutting the railway sleepers by hand. My right arm was, at times, aching somewhat. I bought the sleepers at a very reasonable price from Fence-Rite, a firm based on part of the former site of the Corngreaves blast furnaces.
It was quite easy to level the sleepers on a bed of gravel. After completion of construction I intended to scrape out the gravel from inside the beds, filling up with rich soil mixed with our homemade compost. As the inside was not going to be seen I used heavy duty brackets in the right angles to hold the sleepers together. Each bracket took eights screws to affix so it was all pretty solid. That's a lot of brackets and screws!
By simply cutting the sleepers all exactly the same size as required, it will all slot together nicely and, combined with the dark ends, makes for a nice chequered effect. As can be seen, these are going to hold a lot of soil.
Once completed it was time to grab a big paint brush and liberally cover the wood with a clear stain. However, I must point out that due to the wood being completely level, water does not run off and sits in puddles. I should have created a shallow slope of one or two degrees. The price to be paid is they have to be stained almost every year. I did line the insides so that the soil, after rain etc., does not accelerate wood rot.
As can be seen in the above photograph on garden planters, I had started a project laying a garden path. This is quite an easy task in terms of skill level, though there is a bit of physical work involved. Moreover, this is something that can be done on the cheap so do not go spending a fortune buying new bricks - and be prepared to empty some local skips of rubble.
A legacy of the original occupiers of our old house, we had a wonky garden path comprised of slabs and concrete. I took the slabs up and retained them for the base of my new path. I broke up the concrete with a sledgehammer and used it as part of my hardcore base in places. Taking up the slabs allowed me to dig up some of the bindweed which plagued this side of the garden. It is a bastard to remove completely and tries to pop its head up in the hedgerow before I tackle it with secateurs. I got ALL of the paving blocks free-of-charge. I was cycling past a house at Saltwells when I spotted a bloke throwing them in a skip. After enquiring what he was doing, the occupier said he was fed up with weeding the path and was having a tarmac drive instead. I relieved him of the offending blocks and managed to transport them in several trips [using buckets to prevent trashing the car]. If you are not so lucky, keep an eye out for those who have bought too many blocks for their drive - you see them stacked up against the house or garage. Make them an offer! One can also buy them at a low price from yards dealing in old bricks and slate.
I laid the old slabs back on the levelled ground and covered them with a weed-proof membrane before shovelling an few centimeteres of sand on top. Around the time of this project a neighbour was having a new roof so I nabbed quite a few of the old joists being removed from the house. These were in good shape and formed the sides of my path. They are hidden midway down the blocks on either side of the slabs and staked into the soil. These formed a frame for the sand being shovelled in but raised enough to hold the outer blocks in place. All one has to do is level the sand with a piece of wood. After laying the blocks on top of the sand. I put what seems too much sand in but this is levelled by hammering the blocks with a rubberised mallet.
Once in place pour kiln-dried sand over the blocks. This will fall into the gaps and will need some assistance with a brush. And that is it really - even a numpty like me can undertake this task. As you can see, I have a sloping garden so I just went with the flow. The wood I used on the sides can be seen here as I was doing something to the site next to the path. This just needs staking well to prevent subsidence.
The path runs for much of the garden and ends at a neighbouring property. I have not yet tested the Harry Potter sign by running into the wall just to check for magic. So, apart from forking out for bags of sand and some gravel, this project cost next to nothing.
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Many lovers of beer build a man cave in the back garden but I wanted to create a peaceful retreat for La Goddess du Vélo who enjoys being buried in a book whilst listening to the birds. Although a long time ago, I could remember some of the skills imparted by our demented woodwork teacher so launched into a construction project. I made it up as I went along so if you are thinking of having a go you do not need a whole load of drawings or plans.
I cleared a space at the top of the garden, between a mature tree and our middle pond. We love frogs so we have three ponds. There was a bit of an issue with bindweed and other stuff in this corner and, with the tree roots, this made it hard to clear. Mind you, I spent a couple of days getting as much out as I could. I decided to put down a weed protection membrane and cover with gravel. It is a sloping site on both angles and, to clear growing tree roots, avoid problems of rising damp in the shed woodwork, and to have a level building, I elected to build it on metal posts driven into the ground. So, it was time to wield my sledgehammer.
Getting the posts in the correct position and lining them up with the correct level is an element in which I took care. It all has to be perfectly level so I pfaffed about with my spirit level for ages. I used chunky 75mm timber to create a sturdy floor. One does not want a boingy floor when walking around inside the completed shed. I hope our late woodwork teacher, Bernie Richards, was nodding with approval when I spent a day cutting all the joints in which to place the floor joists. The corner posts are also 75mm as I wanted a sturdy building. I bought two sets of stained-glass windows to incorporate into the shed. I picked these up on ebay for a ridiculously-cheap price. Lots of people are still swapping original windows for double-glazing so there are bargains to be had. I paid £15 and £45 for windows from houses in Derby and Essex respectively. A courier delivered them for £40.
With our British weather one is unlikely to enjoy a prolonged dry spell in which to complete the project. I invested in two large plastic tarpaulin sheets so that rain did not stop play. It is a bit awkward working in the created confined space but at least one can crack on rather than abandon the project whilst waiting for the weather to pick up. By the way, I have owned that Black & Decker work bench for over 30 years and, despite taking a battering, is still going strong.
Having bought all the stained-glass, I needed to find a nice door from an inter-war house. The owner of this house in Hertfordshire had replaced the windows and clearly decided to take out the lovely sold oak door that featured a stained-glass window. I cannot understand why folks ruin the integrity of their house for bland plastic stuff. Still, it was put on ebay and I picked it up for £72. By the time I had paid the courier it worked out at £100 - a bargain for a solid oak door that weighs a ton. The added bonus is, as keen recyclers, we are extending the life of the door. One needs to buy all of these parts in advance because the shed frame has to be built to accommodate them. It is no good trying to find a door or window to fit an aperature after the event. So, if you are undertaking a similar project my tip is to source everything beforehand.
Things are starting to take shape - I have my floor joists fitted and have made a start on the roof beams. The central joist is a solid 75mm piece of timber but, although the others are thinner, I fitted a cross-member to add strength. I have a spirit level attached to the left corner post just to make sure the whole frame is not moving a few millimetres through me climbing up to fit the roof beams.
Here I have the frame complete. As I am a novice and have taken my time in order not to make a mistake, to get to this stage it has occupied me for the best part of a week. Still, I think it is a good foundation on which to continue the project.
Despite being in June, the frame is under wraps. It has either rained again or it has become a crime scene with CSI investigators inside trying to figure out how I buried a neighbour under the shed.
I have attached the underflooring to support the thermal insulation boards that I dropped in between the joists. If one is to enjoy a shed in the colder months then every effort should be made to make it toast. The boards are not cheap mind you. There are online videos showing how to cut these with accuracy and no mess. I cut mine in the car park of B&Q so I could get them in the car! As can be seen, I have started to attach the wood exterior - flat on the inside but tongue-and-groove with curved lapwood on the outside.
Once fully insulated beneath, the floorboards are laid on top. I planned to cover these with a laminate floor so that is three layers of wood with insulation between. Enough perhaps to keep out the cold.
I did not have a lot of luck with the weather and found myself working under cover. This makes for quite a crammed workspace. I made use of some thermal boarding to create a temporary roof. Still, things are coming on and I have fitted the lovely door.
Hooray, I have one side almost complete and have installed a window arrangment that will fill the shed with light whilst providing a good view when sat inside observing wildlife in the garden. The wood for the sides, though treated for exterior use, came naked. My tip is to stain these before fitting them to the frame. I covered them with three coats of Ronseal wood stain, billed as lasting ten years. This is always over-optimistic - I will be re-coating every four or five years.
I seemed to be making decent progress at this stage of the project. One can start to see things coming together which is a bonus. I made a four-window arrangment on what is the front of the shed. These were measured to accept four clear-leaded windows to provide a good view of the pond. We should be able to watch our frogs without them being spooked.
All the wood on the sides has now been installed. I forgot to mention that the shed is, by now, quite a heavy building. With all the wood that I had to carry up the garden, I anticipated this. Therefore I installed nine supporting posts along the main joists beneath the structure. These are the flat type 75mm post shoes mounted on stone slabs to ensure zero movement.
Time to become a roofer and make the building waterproof. I went for a belt-and-braces approach and fitted a membrane over the roof beams. A lot of people have a felt roof but they can leak and need replacing over the years. I opted for a more permanent approach and bought Envirotiles in slate effect. Made from recycled plastic, these provide a lightweight roof, advertised as 80 per cent lighter than traditional or concrete tiles. They are reasonably easy to install - well, even I could do it!
With the roof on, I could install attractive wood beneath the overhang and fit the fascia. I opted for a large overhang which should afford some weather protection for the shed. I was also going to install a bench in front of the building and the roof will afford some shower-proof protection when sitting outside. I fitted brown guttering with a downpipe feeding into a large water butt behind the shed.
The water butt can be seen here hiding from general view. The exterior is now virtually complete - time to make a start on the interior. And you thought it was all done-and-dusted.
It took quite a bit of time to fit the interior. This would have cost a small fortune except I fortunately had a batch of leftover real oak flooring that came my way. I just about had enough to complete the interior walls. Between this and the exterior wood panelling is the same insulation boards used between the joists, making the building fully insulated. It is warmer than the house!
I installed insulation boards between the roof beams and for a neat finish on the ceiling I used some rosewood and walnut laminate flooring. If one requires electrical sockets don't forget to factor this in when installing the floor and side panel. I bought a long run of cable, fed it through a protective sheaf and buried it along a channel the length of the garden. Oh, I hammered in a massive spike for extra earthing. This was all pretty straightforward but if you are not confident get a professional sparky to wire up the place.
The large overhang allows for a bench to go in front of the shed. Perfect place for lunch on a sunny day.
One has to think outside the box with limited space so for a table I nipped down to the charity shop and picked up a second-hand table and then cut if half to create two side tables. I fitted what is probably a greenhouse heater just to take the edge off in the winter months.
I came up trumps on ebay and sourced two oak folding chairs for the price of a night on the beer. Also, somebody in the local area listed a slimline bureau which was ideal for a compact shed.
Plenty of room for the insertion of some Swedish comfy seating, though this was second-hand so pretty much all of the interior is fitted with recycled stuff.
Again from ebay, a couple of bookcases for some light reading in the shed. Wherever possible we sourced second-hand stuff or recycled items throughout the project - it is amazing what builders put in a rubbish skip! Still, the cost of the project was still fairly expensive. My receipts added up to around £2,500. However, a neighbour, who works in the building trade, took a look around the shed, noting the quality of materials and estimated that a professional shed builder would probably charge about £8,000 for this type of building. So, quids in really, plus we have added an extra room to the house. Go on, give it a go.
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Fed up with replacing rotten fence panels? Then why not stick something between your concrete posts what will last for decades. If you are planning to stay at your residence for more than a few years, and/or confident that you will still be alive and kicking when the current fencing falls apart, here is one way to avoid the decay - of the fence that is, one cannot stop the body slowly unwinding!
I had a run of five 6ft x 6ft fence panels that were well past their shelf life. The local tip recycles wood but I had no way of shifting the unwieldy panels without reducing their size. So, I had great fun smashing them to pieces - anything from a sledgehammer, tyre lever or size 12 boot will do the trick. But before you expose your garden to the outside world, order the replacement 4 x 2 treated timbers to slot into the gaps created. These come in 3.6m lengths so best to find a timber merchant that will cut them in half before delivering in bulk. I used Fence-Rite at Corngreaves. I calculated it would cost around £75 to fill the space occupied by a 6ft x 6ft fence panel. However, given that it can be £35-ish for a decent fence panel it is a little short of twice the price. My existing concrete posts were 6ft so I had to buy some rough-sawn timber, 49mm x 49mm in order to increase the height. What I did not realise beforehand is how much wood stain I would get through. Two coats of Ronshield 10 year wood stain across so much wood cost £200 and many hours painting. This could be reduced with large size containers but I wanted a stripey effect so bought 750ml tins in six different stain colours. The overall effect though is eye-catching. The trellis panels were £34 from Wickes. Oh, and lots of Optimax screws! So, overall, it is not a cheap project. But never again will I have to buy new fencing. Two elements that are extra is the integrated pergola struts and the finish line sign from the 2024 Tour of Britain, a very long and quite heavy item that I carried home from Northampton on the train and bus.
