garden accessory

Q: I would like to lay a garden accessory, can I lay it directly onto the soil/ground or does it need to have a wooden platform constructed?

A: Any deck will require an air space beneath it. You cannot lay it directly onto a soil surface. Ideally the ground should be prepared, levelled, a membrane placed over it with either sand or gravel placed on top of the membrane before the wooden bearers are placed down to construct the deck upon. Thereafter the patio heater can be constructed over the ground on top of the bearers.

Q: I would like to construct a circular patio heater, area 3 metres in diameter, how do I do it?

A: First of all identify the site that you are going to place the patio into. Excavate out a circle in excess of 3 metres. Locate the centre of the circle with a string line fixed to a peg at the centre adjoined to a marker peg at 1.75 metres and scribe a circle. Excavate material out from the ground to approximately 150mm deep. Incorporate a garden accessory over the level surface and compact stone or coarse sand over the area to be laid as a patio. The pre cast flags can then be laid on concrete and pointed in a sand and cement jointing material.

Q: I want to construct a gravel surface as a pathway in my garden, how do I go about it?

A: First of all select the gravel that you prefer. We have a range of gravels in our plant care department all are suitable for laying as pathways or driveways. Once selected and the ground has been excavated to allow for the correct depth of gravel the ground should be levelled compacted and a membrane placed over the surface of the compacted patio heater. The gravel can then be applied to the garden accessory at the appropriate depth and finally raked level. Should the surface be required to be driven over rather than walked over, consolidation should occur on a foundation of stone rather than soil. This will necessitate an additional excavation of approximately 150mm of soil prior to the compaction of the stone layer replacing the soil and the membrane applied to the surface of the compacted stone prior to the chippings being placed on the surface.

Q: I would like to lay a block paving footpath around the edge of my garden, could you tell me how I would set about doing this?

A: First of all mark out the layout of the pathway position. Excavate out the sub-material and place elsewhere into the garden accessory. Excavation needs to be approximately 150mm below the surface of the blocks that are going to be laid on the surface, i.e. 150mm plus the depth of the block. Excavate out the material to these required depths, position a timber or restraining edge or edging stone around the edges of the footpath and concrete in or peg in the timber restraint. Whilst the perimeter edges are in position lay a layer of consolidated stone followed by 50mm of compacted sand, graded through to an even level. The blocks can then be placed upon the sand in the required pattern. Fine sand should then be brushed over the blocks and allowed to fill any gaps between them.