Hand fork
Trowel
Secateurs
Hoe
Safety
Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Always protect your eyes, ears and hands when using power tools. Wear a dust mask when using cement powder. Wet cement is corrosive. Always keep children out of harm’s way.
MORE TOOLS
Often the best way of getting tools is to buy them when the need arises. For example, you have a spade and fork, but you soon find that you need a shorter, lighter spade, or a fork with a more comfortable handle, so you get another one. If you are less keen on the construction aspects, larger and/or more specific tools like a compaction plate (power tamper) or cement mixer are best borrowed or hired (rented). You could also borrow a few tools, and then buy your own when you know what it is about the borrowed tools that you like.
MATERIALS
Brick and stone
Brick and stone can be purchased direct from the producer, from builder’s merchants and from architectural salvage companies.
Concrete paving block
Selection of bricks
Flat stone
Rock
Building stone
Walling blocks
Cobblestones
Artificial stone paver
Imitation setts
Decorative gravel
Border tile
Edging and corner post
Buying earth and turf
Earth is best purchased by the cubic metre or yard in a giant bag or by the truckload. The more you get, the cheaper it will be. Be careful that you do not buy in poorer-quality stuff than you already have.
Turf is sold in rolled-up strips about 30 cm (1 ft) wide and 60–90 cm (2–3 ft) long. The cheapest way is to buy it direct from the grower. They are usually quite happy for you to pick up a small number of strips.
Concrete and mortar
While there are as many ‘best’ recipes as there are builders, the following work well. The numbers signify the ratio of ingredients (by volume) to each other, measured in the same manner (such as by the shovelful).
Concrete
3 aggregate + 2 sand + 1 cement
Mortar
3 sand + 1 cement
Wood
Wood in all its forms can be obtained variously from timber (lumber) yards, builder’s merchants, garden centres and specialist suppliers.
Useful wood sections
Trellis
Bark chippings
Log roll
Sleeper (tie)
Ponds and water features
All the items and materials needed for creating ponds and water features can be obtained from garden centres, water-garden centres and specialist suppliers. For large ponds choose a flexible liner. Geotextile is a soft textile material that is laid underneath flexible pond liners and helps prevent the
