Garden DIY

DIY Ideas for you to build in your garden

Rose Arches
Pergolas
Raised Timber Vegetable Beds
Benches & Seats
Sand Pits for Children

Use this rustic timber rose arch as an idea for your garden. Create a focal feature over a path with fragrant and pretty flowers. Lead through from one area of the garden to another area that is hidden from sight of the main lawn or house patio.

Various styles work well depending upon your garden style. Rustic timbers and round timber poles as well as steel or iron hoops can be effective in cottage style gardens. More intricate steel and wire designs can fit in with more formal traditional garden schemes. Arched or pointed prepared timber styles can be used almost anywhere.

Pergolas

Create a wonderful area to sit under on a hot summer's day or an eye-catching walkway leading you along a path to another part of the garden.

Use different materials depending upon the density of shade required or style of the garden. Timber, steel, wrought iron, stainless steel, round steel or pvc tubing / drain pipes / reinforcing meshes etc.

Clad with different climbing and fragrant plants.

Install elements of trellis in different styles between the posts in both square, rectangular, arched, diagonal styles or use more modern effects such as stainless steel, coloured toughened glass, acrylic sheeting, coloured canvas or sail materials.

Raised Timber Vegetable Beds

I have recently been asked to price a clients garden to include three raised vegetable beds as the lady suffers with a severe back condition and struggles to bend down to ground level for long periods of time.

We have considered a number of options some of which include using treated half and full round machined timber rails for the sides of the raised beds. Whilst these will no doubt work well for beds that are only raised 200 or 300mm (20 or 30 cm) we felt that at 600mm tall(60cm) there was a need for a stronger solution.

The plans and view shown on the picture below are therefore constructed using sawn softwood timbers that have been put through a vacuum timber preservative treatment process after being cut to size. This should ensure their long life for some years. The side will be of 200 x 38mm section timbers with the posts of 75 x 75mm section. The cross rails will be screwed to the interim posts at a position just below the final soil level so that they do not show. We are proposing to use a special timber fixing called a "Timberlok" screw that gives a very secure tight joint and screws in without splitting the timber using a hex head driver on the end of a battery powered drill/driver. You need to use two fixing screws at the ends of each 200mm wide board for a secure fixing. Please feel free to print out the picture and build a similar one to suit your own sizes.

This is a quick, simple and very effective way to create a smart raised planter for any flowering plants, herbs or vegetables. It's really important that you obtain pre-treated timbers if it is pine or other softwood and that you ensure that all ends that you cut are treated with a good timber preservative against rot and insect attack.

Benches & Seats

Ideal for placing under a shady tree, on a paved focal position, beside a lawn or tennis court. Use to simple effect against formal hedging beside a gravel, paved or grass path in between sections of a perennial border. Create a focal point at the end of an avenue of pleached trees or formal hedging.

Construct hexagonal or octagonal bench seats around the base of established formal or fruit trees for summer shade or as a point from which to enjoy a view or special part of your garden.

Sandpits

The simplest is the pre-formed plastic variety found in any major or local toy shop, garden centre, children's store. They are not very pretty from a garden enthusiasts view point and they tend to kill of your lawn in patches. It is better to put them onto harder areas such as paving.

Make sure that you cover them up after use, otherwise all the local cats will really enjoy using them as a toilet!

You can build timber sandpits into decking, lawns or paved areas with a view to turning them into flower borders once the children have grown out of using them.

Always ensure that you use good quality planed and preservative treated timbers.

Use good quality galvanised or passivated screws or galvanised nails to fix the timbers together. Make sure that all screw and nail heads are set below the surface of the timbers to avoid accidents and cuts. It is always best to plane or sand off timber edges and cut corners to remove splinters.

Use proprietary PVC bins (at least 2). Make your own bin with two or three separate compartments. Use bricks, concrete blocks treated timbers, pallets, tin sheet, sleepers etc.

Why not Do It Yourself? It's really easy to make this three bay composter.

Buy The Plans Now for just £14.99p (GBP) inc Vat in the UK (£12.76 exc. Vat outside the UK)

Buy the plans for a two or three-bay treated half-round timbers Compost Bin from us for only £14.99p (inc Vat @17.5%)

They have a detailed material purchasing list, cutting list and fully dimensioned plans and sections.

Full instructions for a reasonably competent DIY'er.

Click here to see pictures of the finished product.

Time required _ about 1 day for 2 people.

Buy The Plans Now for just (GBP) £14.99p inc. Vat in the UK (£12.76 exc. Vat outside the UK) (allow 7-10 days for delivery)

If you want an easier life, buy a ready made compost bin, but don't forget to shred the contents first and ensure that they are well mixed to avoid large clumps of the same material. Lawn cuttings should be mixed up well with other garden and vegetable waste to allow the air, insects and worms to do their job in rotting the compost well ready for use. My 90 year old father, who used to teach gardening swears by adding a bit of garotta regularly to his compost as it increases in size. It helps the green vegetable waste to rot down quicker for use on your veggie plot or flower borders over next winter.