or sod, is sold in rolled-up strips about 1 ft (30 cm) wide and 2–3 ft (60–90 cm) 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.
MATERIALS
WOOD
Wood in all its forms can be obtained variously from lumber yards, builder’s merchants, garden centers and specialty suppliers.
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).
MORE MATERIALS
As garden design is becoming more and more popular, so many materials and products, such as decking, garden shelters, butyl pond liners and concrete sculpture, are being sold by dedicated specialty suppliers. The recent popularity of decking has meant that decking companies and companies only selling decking materials are springing up everywhere. You can make contact via local directories or by the internet; that said, however, one of the pleasures of garden design is travelling around searching out good suppliers.
Ponds and water features
All the items and materials needed for creating ponds and water features can be obtained from garden centers, water-garden centers and specialty 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 liner from being damaged by sharp stones. A pump is often used in small water features.
Geotextile and flexible pond linings
Rigid liner (formal shape)
Rigid liner (informal shape)
Plastic pump
Rigid cascade liner
MARKING OUT THE SITE
At long last, you can don your work clothes and start marking your designs out on the ground. Once the stakes have been banged in and the various curves and lines have been marked out with string, you will have a clearer picture of how it is all going to look. Along the way, you will need to make decisions about such things as levels, where to put the earth, when to start digging holes, how much land to give to lawns, and so on.
Will it work in practice?
USING YOUR MASTER DRAWING
Having drawn up a site plan to show existing features, and then used this to create a master design that shows how you ideally want the garden to be (see here–here), take several photocopies of both plans, and put the originals safely to one side. To transfer the master design to the garden, read off the scale (say one grid square on the plan equals 1 ft or 30 cm on the ground) and work out the actual measurements that will be needed in the garden. Mark out the shapes using stakes and string, sand trickled from a bottle, or a can of spray chalk.
Slopes and holes
Assessing the degree of slope: Bang in two stakes, at the highest and lowest points, so that they are flush with the ground. Bridge the stakes with a length of wood and check with a spirit (carpenter’s) level.
Levelling a slope: If you do not mind hard work, you can either bring in materials to level the low ground or dig into the slope and move the soil from the highest to the lowest point.
Easy options with slopes: Incorporate the slopes into your design using steps, terraces and waterfalls; alternatively, build a raised deck that stands above the slope.
Dealing with holes and mounds: Turn holes and mounds into exciting design features such as ponds, bogs and rock gardens, or use the earth from the mounds to fill the holes.
Marking out squares and rectangles
Use stakes and string to fix the position of one side. Bang in subsequent stakes to fix a second side in relation to the first, and so on. Use a tape measure to check that opposite sides are equal in length, and parallel. To achieve perfect squareness, measure the diagonals and make small adjustments to the sides until the diagonal measurements are identical.
Marking out circles
Make two marks on the ground – one to fix the center of the circle, and one to fix the most critically placed point on the circumference. Pound a stake in at the center. Cut a length of string and tie a loop at one end and slip it over the stake. Tie a loop at the other end so that it centers on the critical circumference point. Slide a bottle full of sand, lentils or rice into the loop, and use this to scribe the circle out on the ground.
Marking out ellipses
Pound in two stakes to mark out the total length of the ellipse, and one to fix the center. Pound in two stakes to mark the total width of the ellipse. Tie a length of string to make a loop that tightly encloses the two end stakes, and one or other of the width stakes. Slide a bottle full of sand, lentils or rice into the loop at one or other of the width points, remove the two width stakes, and scribe the ellipse out on the ground.
Marking out curves
Take a pile of stones and mark the curve out on the ground. Stand back, look at it from different viewpoints, and make adjustments. Live with the curve for a while. When you are happy with the curve, mark it in with sand or chalk and remove the stones.
Remember that long, broad-sweeping curves are generally easier on the eye
