Having got everything agreed on paper or the PC, the exciting part begins.

Hard Landscaping

If the garden is large, split the construction into garden sections. Then, execute the following hard landscaping for each section (books from the Practical Projects part of the Library may assist):

Remove all redundant items of hard landscaping and soft landscaping from the site.

If access to the area permits, erect the boundaries (walls, fences or hedges).

Excavate and lay base materials of paths, steps, patios and ground floors of garages, greenhouses, sheds or summerhouses.

Lay main electrical cables/irrigation water pipes along paths to junctions for beds, buildings etc.

Build each of the buildings such as garage, greenhouse, shed or summerhouse.

Build rock gardens, ponds, patios, pergolas, trellis, or frames.

Complete the patios, steps and finally the paths.

 

Soft Landscaping: Soil Conditioning

Before starting the planting, the soil must be conditioned. It is unlikely you will ever again have such a good opportunity to tackle a whole bed, and be able to make use of bulk deliveries of compost, if you have insufficient of your own. Spot treatments later on as you add plants will help, but if everything goes into a well prepared bed, it is more likely to thrive. Chemical fertilisers are no substitute for material which actually improves the structure of the growing medium. It’s a bit like taking vitamin tablets in substitution for eating fresh fruit and vegetables.

To convert a sand, silt or clay soil to a loam in order to provide the best condition for growing plants, together with improving its water-retentive properties, organic matter must be added to the soil.

After clearing the area of all perennial weeds and large stones, one of the following should be done.

In the ideal world, double dig the area with organic matter (garden compost, well-rotted farmyard manure, straw, hops, leaf mould or spent mushroom compost) which should be added at both levels of digging, in the autumn, (unfortunately, double digging is a very time-consuming procedure, so if you are paying someone, it will be expensive), or a more realistic option is to rotavate the area. Spread 10cm (4in) thick layer of organic matter and rotavate that in.

If time and money are very limited, then mulching the area with a 10cm (4in) thick layer of organic matter. Leave the ground to settle. If the manure is not well rotted, it is important to give it time to neutralise, or any plant you insert into it will get damaged. It takes about a month.

 

Planting
Plant the plants in the following order:-

Trees with their 0.61m (2ft) high stakes and ties,

Shrubs,

Groundcover,

Bulbs, and last

Lawns.

 

Irrigation

All plants need water to get established and so the designed submerged irrigation system is likely to be a worthwhile investment. Properly done, it means using water effectively, and not wasting it on bare earth or losing it by evaporation. Sprinklers and sprays are inefficient, and hoses or cans are hard work.

Mulching

Lay the irrigation system round the plants and place a 10cm (4in) thick mulch on top, before watering the plants in.

 

No matter what situations life throws at you...
no matter how long and treacherous your journey may seem...
Remember, there is a light at the end of the tunnel....!