DIY Garden Design, Ideas, Hints, Tips and Inspiration
DIY Garden Design is here to bring you ideas, inspiration, hints and tips for giving your garden, patio or back yard a makeover to be proud of.
Here you can find some information about garden design, patio timber decking ideas, garden lighting, patio heaters and also a plant guide.
Finding the right Tradesmen
If you planning a big project and would like to find rated tradesmen in your area, why give Rated People a try and see who's been recommended by people like yourself.
Latest Hot Deals!!
- Wickes Launch their Garden Multibuy offers for Spring 2011 (see what's on offer)
What's New
- Bat Conservation: Consider our winged friends when designing ...read more
- Garden Lighting: Add some low cost mood lighting to your garden ...read more
- pH Testing Kit Article: Is your soil acidic or alkaline? ...read more
- Find a recommended Tradesman to help with your garden project
Garden Design, Inspiration, Ideas, Hints and Tips
Designing your own garden makeover isn't complicated, there's no right or wrong way to tackle a DIY garden design, it's your garden and with a bit of effort you can transform even the smallest garden into a lovely place to spend the summer days or evenings.
Things to Consider before starting your Design
Before going out and spending time or money roaming the local garden centers you'll have to first decide on what you'd like to use your garden for. Will it be a place for the children or grandchildren to play, a place for entertaining friends or a quiet tranquil place, to relax in, and enjoy a relaxing evening?
More things to consider
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Timber Decking / Stone Patio Slabs
If you'd like to spend some time sitting in your garden you'll need somewhere for your garden furniture, be it a small deck chair or two or hardwood table and chair set. A patio is a great place to be in the evening, with the french doors open, a glass of wine and the sound of the birds singing in the trees as the sun goes down.
Timber Decking, Garden Decks
Garden Decking is very fashionable these days and a very popular DIY design project for your garden, typically suited for the medium to larger garden. If you like the look and feel of decking but don't want a big project then look out for Wickes Decking Tiles which can be laid onto a solid surface such as concrete.
Don't forget, outdoor decking and timber garden furniture will need the occasional stain or varnish to protect it from the sun and rain.
More Design Ideas using Timber Decking can be found here at DIY Timber Decking.
Stone Patio Paving Slabs
There's no need to keep your 'out of date crazy paving' when you can have a circular patio. There is an amazing assortment of stone paving, from simple patio slabs, stone circles, squaring off kits, octant kits etc. A stone patio is a superb addition to any garden or patio area. It's definitely a good idea to lay proper foundations and a weed block membrane under your new patio slabs.
Popular Paving textures include
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There are many choices when it comes to garden and driveways paving and you can consider the benefits as well as personal taste when deciding with surface to choose.
A new patio area can transform your garden and apart from looking stunning it can be a practical solution creating more space for a seating and BBQ area for the summer or even for storage and platform for a shed.
Barbecues - Eating out in your Garden
Cooking outdoors is a great experience, there is a huge variety of barbecues available with gas and charcoal being the most popular. From a simpledisposable BBQ , drum BBQ to Stainless Steel Barrel , DIY brick built and Masonry Garden Barbecue , the choice is endless.
What better way is there than to spend a warm summer evening entertaining your friends and cooking an outdoor feast on a BBQ? Sounds good? You definately going to need one of these...
Health and Safety is very important and care should always be taken when cooking outside especially with small children running around.
Avoiding Accidents and Injuries
Accidental injury is one of the biggest causes of death in the UK. Even more children die each year as a result of accidents than from illness. To help avoid accidents and injuries around the home have a look at 'Top 25 Ways to Avoid Accidents in the Home' by Claims Helpline.
Garden Lighting, Solar Lights, Garden Candles and Lanterns
If you're planning on entertaining in the evening then you'll need some outdoor lighting. There's a huge variety of classic and modern contemporty lighting styles to choose from to suit your garden and tastes but they come in basically three types
- Electric which require cables
- Solar self charging via the sun
- candle lights and oil lanterns
All three have their advantages and disadvantages.
Electric are more reliable but require cables, solar are cable free and environmentally friendly but need sunlight to charge and candle garden lights are cheap but definitely require careful consideration if children and pets are around for safety reasons.
Outdoor lighting doesn't just provide you a warm glow and mood changing ambient light, it's also a good security feature and so is well worth adding to your garden or decking project.
Read the full article on garden lighting ideas here
Heating, Garden Patio Heaters, Gas Heater, Wood Stoves
Garden patio heaters have became very popular over the recent years. Gas heaters come in popular racing green and stainless steel and use a heat deflector at the top to direct the heat down to the patio.
An alternative to the gas bottle patio heaters are the wood stove or charcoal burner.
The benefit of these heaters are you don't have to worry about having a gas bottle refilled and the safety issues surrounding the storage of the gas bottle.
These are perfect for keeping you and your guests warm during the summer evenings when you want to sit out and enjoy the fresh air and the garden just that little bit longer.
Garden Buildings, Summerhouses and Sheds
Outdoor buildings are a great addition to the garden and provide a range of uses for those of us who enjoy spending time outdoors. From chalets and summerhouses to storage sheds and childrens wooden playhouses there's a wooden diy building for everyone.
Log cabins and Summerhouse are very popular for entertaining, they can be used for hosting dinner parties, as a home office, an artists workshop, some even come with their own covered decked terrace.
They're the perfect place to spend a late summer evening, watching the sun go down or reading your favourite book and perhaps even enjoying a glass of wine.
For more information and to let your imagination run wild, take a look at the huge range of DIY Outdoor buildings from Wickes DIY
Resources
Home Insurance - Swiftcover has taken home insurance back to basics. You'll only buy the cover you need and you will know exactly what you're covered for. Isn't that how it should be?
Air Source Heat Pump - Domestic Heat Pumps are an air source heat pump system that uses renewable low-carbon technology instead of conventional fossil fuel boilers.
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