How to Make a Garden | English Garden Design Ideas

[Music] former language gardens have been around for centuries and often include signature details such as straight lines organized flower beds and a place to sit and enjoy it all now whether big or small installing an english garden is going to require a little bit of planning along with a little bit of a green thumb to do it right let's take a look what we need to do first before starting any project outdoors that requires digging call 811 to have underground utilities marked so we can plan around them next it's time to pick a location english gardens tend to have a lot of sun-friendly plants so you're going to want to pick a place that gets a lot of sun now full sun is six to eight hours per day this homeowner already started a garden but wanted something with a little more character so we're going to use the existing space you don't have to be an artist to put your plan down on paper when drawing your plan use straight lines and symmetry to guide your design english gardens typically feature boxy manicured hedges however you can get the same look with less maintenance with raised garden beds so that's what we've built into our plan and to help keep the area defined we'll install a picket fence around the perimeter another signature feature of english gardens is a focal point either a water feature or a sitting area we've added both to our design with a garden bench and a fountain we've also put two small ornamental trees next to the bench you can get the same effect with an arbor and a climbing plant like ivy we've also included a garden path as english gardens are designed to be spaces you walk through and spend time in you can use grass for your walkways but just remember it means you'll need to mow it in our design we're planning for a more natural crushed stone path and of course we finish the design with lots of plants with our plant mapped out we can start measuring and prepping our area now we're taking advantage of this existing gardening bed but we're going to be extending it out a bit mark off the entire area using stakes and string at the far corners i made some batter boards so it would be easier to square up the layout to do that use the three four five method measure three feet along one string four feet along an adjacent string and adjust them until the diagonal equals five feet then mark the corners with a stake use landscape spray paint or stakes and string again to map out your boxes and walkways this is just to check the layout now it's time to dig up some dirt which is the perfect time to call a landscaper if your garden is large we're digging our space down about four to five inches to accommodate the paver base shovels work too but it's going to take some time to finish a landscaper can use some of the removed soil to help level out any low spots like we have at our corner with the dirt removed now is a good time to run any utilities such as electrical or plumbing for irrigation you can always do this later but you'll need to remove some paver base to bury the lines with the utilities installed we're going to tamp the soil to create a firm surface you can use a hand tamper or a rented plate compactor next cover the area with landscape fabric to help block weeds then cover the entire area with paver base to create a solid foundation about two inches thick spread it out wet it and tamp it down try to get the area as level as possible a rotary level can be a big help just follow the directions and work it around the area and we've left the base about a foot away from the perimeter for now so we can dig our fence post holes later after the paver base has been installed reset any necessary strings to line up the raised beds i attached a screw to the deck then used the three four five method to square up the corners then i measured out the width of the walkway from the deck and set another string to keep the bed straight in our garden we're going to be installing raised beds using retaining wall blocks now raised beds are great because you can fill them with soil that's probably going to be better for your plants than what's already in the ground set the blocks on the paver base check them for level and tap down if needed once a few blocks are level adjust the strings to the top of the blocks and check it with a line level continue laying the blocks to form the shape of the bed for the second course stagger the joints and dry lay the blocks if you need to make a cut mark the block on all sides cut part way through on all sides using an angle grinder with a concrete blade and finish the cut using a hammer and chisel a rented wet saw can cut through the blocks fast mark the top of the block line up the blade start the saw and make the cut it works like a radial arm saw here's a tip use a hammer to distress the cut edges when the second course looks good remove the stones a few at a time to apply concrete adhesive underneath continue installing additional courses our blocks are about four inches high so i'll use four courses build the other beds the same way [Applause] next i'm going to fill the beds before i build the fence i'm going to be using a mixture of topsoil and compost now if the topsoil that you took out of the space earlier is still in good shape you can reuse it with some compost and potting mix if not you can buy it in the bag you want a ratio of 60 topsoil to 30 compost to 10 of potting mix or whatever the soil instructions recommend we're using a mix specifically designed for raised beds if you plan on having deep rooted plants remove some of the paver base inside the bed then just fill up the bed [Applause] i'm going to add the plants later [Applause] to help define our garden area i'm going to be installing a wood picket fence these come in eight foot sections and attach the posts for the pose i marked the layout then dug the holes [Music] i anchored them with concrete and let it set then continued down the line after a few hours when the posts were secured i filled in the perimeter with paper base now when we go to attach our fence panels we're going to want them a couple inches above our yard but we're also going to want them to be even to check this i found the high point in our yard and then made a mark and then i used a string and a line level to get a straight line around our entire perimeter now if you have any low spots like we did down there you can just fill them in with soil i decided to install landscape edging before attaching the fence then i attached the fence using exterior screws make sure the bottom is a few inches above the ground and make sure the joints line up over a post you might have to remove some of the pickets to cut the posts we're going to cut the post close to the top of the fence with the saw for our gates i've just cut down some shorter sections of fencing and added this diagonal support brace to keep it straight then i'll secure the hinges and secure it to the post check the swing then attach the latch we've made our walkways four feet wide to keep them uniformed throughout but typically three feet is a good size that will not overtake the space in most cases our pathway butts up against our raised beds but where it doesn't i added the landscape edging for our walkways we're going to be using gravel [Applause] ours is about a quarter inch in diameter which is going to help with weed control and it's going to be more comfortable to walk on with our paver base down we placed a layer of gravel about two to three inches thick we raked it lightly wet it then tamped it down now comes the fun part adding all the colorful plants to start place them where you want them to go work taller plants towards the center of the beds and work low lying plants towards the front or closest to the walkways plan for plant growth as well every plant you choose should have information for size and spacing listed on the pot or tag these tags will also tell you how big to make the holes for planting most english garden friendly plants are meant to fill in over time however with new plantings you're going to want to spread mulch over the soil to help lock in moisture and nutrients mulch that's heavily ground will look and perform best keep the mulch layer thin too only about an inch or two then water and keep watering every day until the plants are established you may want to consider setting up drip irrigation hoses to keep your plants moist but not too wet and you don't want to bury the tips because they can get clogged on the other hand you can use a soaker hose just below the surface for either system use a timer to make watering even easier one of the most signature plants in an english garden is the rose bush rose bushes add color and fragrance so we're going to use them throughout our space you'll also want to consider other flowers in varying heights daisies lavender and poppies are popular choices we also added gerber daisy which is an annual you can add herbs like rosemary and basil for color variety and great aroma we filled in low-lying areas with a ground cover called creeping flux ornamental shrubs like boxwoods and different varieties add green all year long now we can add some more personal touches like our garden bench and water fountain creating your own english garden is an effort that's going to pay off with hours of outdoor enjoyment we took an ordinary backyard garden and added raised beds stone pathways a picket fence and accessories to create an inviting garden retreat you

Channel: Lowe's Home Improvement

Views: 719,020

Keywords: how, to, lowes, how-to, how to, diy, lowe’s, how to make a garden, how to build a garden, English garden design ideas, English garden design, English garden ideas, how to build raised beds, how to make raised beds, building raised beds, raised beds how to, how to raised beds, raised bed ideas, raised bed design, raised bed gardening, garden design ideas, how to make an English garden, how to build an English garden, garden how to, gardening how to

Id: soJFwvrb6cQ

Length: 11min 20sec (680 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 01 2019