Gardens have become more a of sanctuary than ever before during the current world situation. Investing in some beautiful recycled plastic garden furniture can help to make your garden the oasis you dream about.

If you are looking to radically change your garden space there are plenty of options. Two of the biggest are to add lawns or paved areas. Although these two are opposites they both create a different attractive aesthetic effects. Some of the most beautifully landscaped gardens are ones that combine different styled spaces and different areas dedicated to lawns, decorative gravel and paving.

If you are looking to add a patio of paved area to your property click here for our helpful paving how to guide.

If you are looking to brighten up your garden with a new lawn you can save money by laying it yourself.  It is a task that can be carried out by anyone with some careful planning and determination. Here is a helpful guide on how to proceed.

First of all, you need to choose the landscaping materials you’ll use. You should choose the topsoil according to its and your soil’s quality. For example, if you have a low site quality or you aren’t sure about it, you should get highly fertile topsoil with a fibrous base. As for the turf, it should be very dense to obtain better results.

Steps

1.    It’s important to prepare appropriately the ground. You can hire a rotavator to achieve this goal or you can turn over the soil with basic hand tools. Either way, the soil must be screened as much as possible because larger stones etc. may impede drainage.

2.    Now that the base ground is ready, you need to distribute the topsoil. While you’re deciding the thickness, you should keep in mind that it will compact later. If you notice an area with low soil quality, pile more soil and when it has filled up the site you have to level it out as much as possible. You can use a piece of spare timber, for example. After that you can trample down the areas of weakness by walking across the site. It can be also useful to jump on the spare timber you used before to both level and compact your new soil.

3.    Before you lay the turf, you’ll have to water the topsoil to make it moist and lightly rake it so they can bind. Abut the top of the turf tightly to the one above it to ensure there is no gap and then slowly roll out the turf. Another person needs to hold onto the top of the turf to prevent it from moving. You can also use the piece of timber to make sure that you’re not kneeling on levelled soil.

4.    Initially you may want to cut out the turves to reduce wastage during the laying but the real shaping should be the last thing to do. The turves should now be lightly pressed down to connect with the soil (for example, you can hold vertically a rake and press against the turf, but don’t use a roller on it while it’s new). You should water your new lawn very often and keep off it for approximately three weeks; if you have to walk on it, try to use a plank. Don’t forget to mow the turf regularly – you can start to mow a week after laying it.