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planning a landscape project | |||||||
| installation and care of hardscape elements | ||||||||
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Below are some general guidelines for installing and maintaining landscape structures. Most of the builder supply companies listed below offer DIY classes throughout the construction season. These classes should be beneficial to people with a working knowledge of basic construction techniques. Feel free to use the contact button above to send any specific questions that you do not find answers to below, or even if you get stuck on something during construction. |
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| First steps to every landscape project
- Sketch out a plan or design on paper. File for any needed permits with your local municipality or homeowner association. Order materials, rounding up your math; leftovers are better than than running out. Gather tools and safety equipment. What you can't borrow from the neighbor you can rent from a local tool and equipment rental shop. Call OUPS at 800-362-2764. This is very important. You do not have to be a professional landscaper or contractor to use this free service. Plus you do not want to cut your neighbor's cable, especially if you are using his shovel. And then there is a law as well. Lay things out on the ground. Use spray paint, string line, garden hose, anything handy, just not the flags marking the utility lines. Make adjustments as needed. Sometimes what looks great on paper looks different on the ground. |
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| Building a paver patio, walkway or
other flatwork project using dry-lay techniques - Excavate about 8 inches deep. Compact the sub-grade, then fill the hole with #411/46D crushed limestone and compact in lifts being sure that the compacted base material grades away from your house at about 1inch per 10 feet of run. This should be a consistent, flat grade with no humps or dips. Screed out a consistent even bed of sand, around one inch deep. Lay the paving material using guide lines to keep everything square. Cut any pieces needed to fit the laying pattern. Edge the perimeter with proper paver edging and spikes. Sweep sand into the joints, compact with a vibratory compactor, repeat a couple times. Revisit in a month or so, after a couple rains to sweep some more sand into the joints. Maintaining a paver patio or other dry laid flatwork - Some people claim that there is no maintenance required for a paver patio. This is almost true. A properly installed paver patio, driveway, etc. that never receives any maintenance should last just as long as one that receives perennial maintenance. However, some simple, regular maintenance will guard against color fade and weed germination. Sweep sand into the joints once a year. A fine sand is best for most applications, however pavers with large joints or voids may require a course sand. Just do not use any product with mortar in it. There are several brands of polymeric sand available at the pro shops listed below but it is really only needed in certain situations and they work best when applied during construction. Chemical sealers are available to prevent color loss from UV damage and general weathering. These sealers are really only needed on concrete pavers although there are some designed for use on clay pavers but there is no real need since clay pavers/paving brick do not exhibit color fade from weathering. The pavers will last just as long without being sealed although the color will fade from concrete pavers. Color loss is less of a problem in areas protected from weather and sunlight. Driveways usually suffer the most. The closest thing to a zero maintenance dry laid paver system is one built in the shade with clay pavers. It will require no color sealer and if the environment is conducive the joints will fill in with moss preventing the need to sweep in new joint sand. You may get an occasional weed but keeping the rest of your garden weed free will prevent most. This of course means you have to view moss as plant and not a weed. |
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| Building a retaining wall using basic
dry stack construction techniques - Excavate - dig out a shelf / trench deep enough that the first course will be below grade. Compact the sub-grade either with a mechanical compactor or mall. Spread and compact a few inches of aggregate to provide drainage and serve as a leveler for the base course. Lay your stone or block keeping everything level with an appropriate batter. Be sure to stagger your joints and throw in a dead-man and jumper once in a while. It is a good idea to use some levels, string lines and line levels. A level wall is a happy wall. Back fill each course as you build, with an appropriate material for the job, usually gravel. Grade out the area in front and behind the wall to promote positive drainage. Retaining walls should require very little maintenance, if any. Occasionally a cap stones will get knocked around, just push it back into place. If you are using concrete landscape block you can glue down the cap with an exterior concrete adhesive. Sometimes an old wall will come apart. If it failed at just one or two spots it can usually be repaired using the construction techniques described above. Take the bad section out in a V shape, stepping each course further back into the existing wall left and right. |
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Building a wood structure - |
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Construction material suppliers - |
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