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How to...
Create a garden design master plan
Garden design - the master plan
Step 1 of a garden design master plan. An outline
Step 2 of a garden design master plan. Fine-tuning
Design for easy gardening
1. Make gardening easy with careful design
2. Paths/patios soon for easy gardening
3. Planning your low maintenance garden
4. Weed control in a low maintenance garden
5. Lawns - grass/non-grass for low maintenance garden
6. Lawn alternatives for a low maintenance garden
7. Gravel/chippings - low maintenance lawn alternative
8. Bark/cocoa shell - low maintenance lawn alternatives
9. Blocks/flags for a low maintenance lawn alternative
10. Reduce watering & automate for low maintenance
11. Permanent plantings for low maintenance
12. Interesting planting schemes for low maintenance
13. Ground covering plants for low maintenance
14. Sources of rockery stone and paving
15. Sources of mulching and weed control materials
16. Sources of automatic watering equipment
Design garden paths & patios
1. Paths and patios - essential garden ingredients
2. Path and patio design points - outlines and colour
3. Which materials for paths and patios?
4. Plants as a finishing touch to path edges & patios
5. Costs of paths and patios
Create a garden in a week or so
1. Is it possible to make a garden in an week (or two)?
2. First, plan & prioritise to make a garden in 1 week
3. Then structures, lawns, plants to make a gdn in 1 wk
4. Plant ideas (flowers, grasses) for a gdn in 1 week
5. Hedges, climbers, shrubs, trees for a gdn in 1 week
Landscape a new site from scratch
1. Starting a garden from scratch
2. First things first on a new site for a garden
3. Dealing with existing weeds on a new site
4. Clearing and levelling the ground on a new site
5. Dealing with steep slopes/topsoil on a new site
6. When moving soil around a site - remember
7. Wet ground and drainage on a new site
8. Building work next on a new site
9. Framework planting next on a new site
10. Final jobs on a new site
Create quick cheap boundaries
1. Quick and cheap garden boundaries
2. Ground preparation for boundaries
3. Fences - types for boundaries
4. Walls - types for boundaries
5. Quick hedges for boundaries
6. Hedge trimming - when and how to cut
Prepare ground/plants for sowing & planting
1. Getting the ground ready for growing
2. Seeds' needs
3. Soil preparation for sowing
4. Preparing ground for a lawn (seed or turf)
5. Lawn alternatives for slopes
6. Preparing ground for planting
7. Tender, half-hardy or hardy plants - definitions
8. Advance preparation of plants for planting
9. Plant preparation at planting time
Buy plants - quick guide to the basics
1. Guide to buying garden plants - a quick read
2. What plants are on sale?
3. Value for money - which plants?
4. Check for pests & diseases before accepting plants
5. What to look for when buying plants
6. What to avoid when buying plants
7. How to treat plant purchases
Create & care for lawns - the basics
1. A new lawn from turf or seed?
2. Preparing the ground for turfing or sowing
3. Sloping sites and lawns
4. Mowing grass lawns
5. Mower choice for different lawns
6. Grass lawn maintenance - weeding, feeding, watering
7. Grass lawn maintenance - wormcasts, molehills, moss
8. Grass lawn maintenance - autumn leaves & winter cold
9. Non-grass lawns - what to use and how to maintain
10. Planting alternative lawns
Control weeds - quick guide to the basics
1. Weeds - know your enemy
2. Annual weeds & control
3. Perennial (long-lived) weeds & control
4. Completely overgrown areas - weed control
5. Mulching for weed control
Choose & plant windowboxes & troughs
1. Advantages of windowboxes & troughs
2. Types of windowbox and troughs
3. Siting and fitting a windowbox
4. Planting windowboxes and troughs
5. Plant care - in windowboxes and troughs
6. Evergreens/permanent plants in windowboxes/troughs
7. Summer planting ideas for windowboxes/troughs
8. Edible plants for sunny windowboxes/troughs
9. 'Wild' flowers for windowboxes/troughs
Make garden compost
1. Why make garden compost?
2. A tiny garden? Use a wormery to compost waste.
3. Setting up a compost bin
4. Composting - the process
5. Air for composting
6. Fuel for composting
7. What to put on a compost heap
8. What to leave out of a compost heap
Add a third dimension to your garden
1. Add a 3rd dimension
2. What type of feature for a 3rd dimension?
3. Pergolas and loggias for adding a 3rd dimension
4. Arbours, gazebos and summerhouses for 3rd dimension
5. Plant suggestions for growing over structures
6. Bridges for low-profile height
7. Water features
Choose and use trellis, arbours and arches
1. On the up - trellis, arbour & archways
2. Achieving the right effect with trellis etc
3. Source of trellis, arbour, arch ideas
4. 1st consideration - which materials?
5. Off the shelf or DIY?
6. Trellis options
7. Metal or wood?
8. Climbing plants
9. Mfs of metal trellis, arbours etc
10. Mfrs of plastic & wood trellis, arbours etc
