To DIY or Not to DIY

Before you break out the tools and get started on a DIY garden project, honestly gauge your skills versus the difficulty of what you’re about to undertake. Here are some points to help you with the decision.

Whenever we see a beautiful garden, we see elements that we would love to recreate in our own gardens. This could be something as simple as a low stone wall or a garden path. Or something as complicated and spectacular as a retaining wall or water feature. Once we’ve decided we want to recreate such an element, we need to decide how to do it. Is it a viable DIY project or should we call in the experts? Remember: sometimes the cheap route ends up expensive!

While this is a design article, and so the aesthetics of a project need to meet the expectations, many projects also need to be correctly designed and installed to be safe and useful.

Paved Surfaces, Garden Floors and Walkways

Garden floors, driveways, paths and walkways are practical elements, and so structural integrity, stability and ergonomic utility are key.

Most homeowners can easily place the odd stepping stone in the garden. But installing a driveway or properly paved path or patio can require professional expertise in both design and application.

A poorly laid surface can unravel very quickly and become unsightly, uncomfortable and unsafe. So it is best to consult a properly qualified, reputable paving contractor to carry out this type of work.

Retaining Walls, Terraces and Sunken Areas

Retaining walls are an ideal solution for terracing a sloped area in the garden or for creating raised beds. But care needs to be taken when constructing them.

Walls of any sort need some sort of foundation, which ultimately determines the quality and integrity of the wall itself.
Building a small raised garden using cinderblocks, poles, sleepers or bricks is well within the skill set and capabilities of the average home gardener.

Sunken areas are no more than retained spaces. And, apart from structural integrity of the retaining walls, the other main consideration would be drainage. The degree to which expert advice is needed for this type of feature will depend on how extensive it is. But at the very least a competent builder should be involved in the construction.

Where slopes and retaining walls are concerned, however, it is probably best to consult an experienced designer, engineer or contractor.

READ MORE: Every garden needs a water feature!

Steps

Apart from a few simple steps up a gentle slope in the garden, steps that are appropriate for purpose, safe, ergonomically comfortable and robust require a measure of careful planning, design work and suitable construction skills.

While it is true that many step designs are simple affairs, some are much more complex. In both cases the same principles apply to their arrangement, structure and layout.

The most basic relationship that exists in the structure of a step is the relationship between riser (height) and tread (depth). This relationship needs to be taken into account when designing the step. Length (what we call the run) as well as height (or the fall) of the area into which a series of steps must fit, forms the basis of the design of a full set of steps.

Steps forming part of the same flight must be consistent for ergonomic comfort and not of varied and diverse dimensions. Steps must be safe, non-slippery, comfortable and visible. Moreover, certain rules apply to appropriate inclusion of landings for pause where staircases comprise many steps, as well as the minimum sizes of such landings.

So once again, there are many examples of installing simple steps that are well within the reach of most of us. But when it comes to more complex challenges the best option may be to speak to the experts.

Water Features

Water features can range from bird baths and easy-to-install pre-formed ponds to involved cascades, fountains and swimming pools. This family of garden features includes many pick-up-and-put-down products that require little or no installation expertise and carry virtually no risk of something going wrong.

Having said this, it is perhaps also true to say that much heartache and unwarranted expense has been caused by shoddy or ill-advised water feature installations. As we move on to more complex and larger features involving water, the need to consult reputable specialists increases exponentially.

Cognisance must be taken of levels and levelling, position, size, function, complexity, configuration as well as ongoing cleaning and maintenance. Importantly, health and safety issues specifically relating to water feature elements must be fully understood and put in place by the homeowner. Over and above this, we need to bear in mind that water is heavy and structures designed to hold water – especially in larger volumes – must be strong, sound and reliable. Surrounding areas that support such structures must likewise carry unfailing structural integrity.

Water elements that require movement or reticulation of water and complicated pump and filtration systems are especially vulnerable to glitches – particularly in the hands of the uninformed.

A word to the wise – electricity and water are uncomfortable bedfellows. So even relatively simple self-contained features that require water movement via pumps will necessarily require outdoor electrical connections that should be carried out by a suitably qualified electrical practitioner.

Irrigation

Irrigation systems can seem deceptively simple. And yet the more we know about how they function, the more we may come to realise how much we have yet to learn.

There are many garden watering systems that operate on simple DIY kits and seem to get the job done satisfactorily, especially in small, uncomplicated spaces. Larger and more diverse spaces are a different story, however, where efficiencies and effectiveness need to be taken into account.

Applied correctly, irrigation should be efficient, trouble-free and cost-effective. Efficiency relates to applying water to areas in the garden according to the needs of the plant group in that area. Properly designed systems also help to eliminate excess overspray and avoid ‘rain shadows’ – areas that somehow get no water from the system. Then there’s the operating pressure in the system that needs to be taken into account. And this is by no means a hit-and-miss exercise but a carefully measured and planned practice.

Trouble-free irrigation calls for correct installation of infrastructure such as pipes, valves, controllers and nozzles to help to avoid damage or breakdown.

Finally, a system can be considered cost-effective when it saves money over time. A system that appears to be a bargain upfront but that operates inefficiently, will probably prove more expensive in the long run than one where the appropriate investment has been made up front.

All things considered, the design and installation of sophisticated and properly designed irrigation systems does indeed require degrees of knowledge, skills and expertise that invariably call for the intervention of a specialist in the field.

Lighting and other electrical installations

Electricity is lethal. Consult an expert or use a specialist for electrical installations unless, of course, you are one.

A Final Word

We have explored some of the more prominent elements found in a garden of landscaped area. But there are many that cannot be specifically touched on given the vast range of possibilities. The choice of whether to DIY or call in the experts is often not always clear-cut. And sometimes we allow budget and cost to sway us – not always with the best results. More often than not, a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Perhaps we should allow ourselves to follow a simple rule of thumb when it comes to DIY and going it alone. When in doubt, don’t!

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