If you’re planning on hosting a few BBQs in the upcoming months, or perhaps just want a beautiful garden to relax in, it might be the right time to give the place a bit of TLC and a makeover.
Giving your garden a makeover doesn’t have to mean forking out hundreds of pounds to have a professional come and do it, with building merchants North Wales, you can buy all the supplies yourself and give it a go. It doesn’t have to be a huge change, but knowing you’ve successfully completed some DIY on your own is a great feeling.
Before making any drastic changes, take a look at your garden and try and think of what it is lacking. If it’s looking a bit dull, adding flowers and plants can make a huge difference. If you have sheds in your garden, adding a bit of paint or re-varnishing them is also a good way to make a change.
Laying Stepping Stones
Once you’ve selected slabs to match your garden, arrange them on the lawn where you’d like them to go.
Cut around the slabs with a large shovel, take them off, and dig the soil out to allow for 50mm of gravel. Gravel works to support the slab, and needs to be compacted down before placing the slab back on top.
Alternatively, you can fill the dug out section of soil with cement, which will ensure your slabs will stay fixed down for much longer. For the best cement, one part water, two parts cement and three parts sand is the recommended measurement.
Laying a Gravel Pathway
Before picking up your shovel, determine exactly where your path will go, and mark it out with string so you can keep it even and steady once you begin digging.
Once it’s all planned out, excavate the designated area down to around 4 or 5 inches. You’ll then have to add wooden edging boards to the sides of the path, holding them in place with wooden pegs.
It’s always best to choose edging boards which have been treated to withstand wet weather.
To secure the edging boards to the pegs, you’ll need to use a drill. Once the boards are secured, it’s time to add a layer of weed-proof material to the soil path. This can be cut to size with a utility knife. Allow the material to slightly overlap to the sides of the edging boards.
Now that the weed-proof layer is done, it’s time to add a crushed stone base. This should be about 2 inches high. After adding the stone base, you’ll need to ensure that it is compacted down. A rammer or a roller will get this job done quickly for you.
Once the stone base is compacted, you can then add your gravel. Rake the gravel along the path and leave to settle. You’ve now got a lovely gravel path in your garden!