Patio Project

[Ste-EVo]

Im embarking on a small patio project in our back garden and thought id share the project and the progress here, if anyone is interested.

Im not a trades man, neither are my mates who will be helping me, but between us we know one side of a paving slab from the other and will hopefully get it looking good.

Done plenty of revision, got the ideas for how to lay, just need to put it into practice.

So far...

Ive ordered the Patio Circle (Bowland 2.56m circle) arriving Wednesday. (Pic to follow)
Made a list of all materials and tools required.
Roped in 2x amigo to help, with the promise of helping them if/when needed.
Marked out with canes and string to see where its going.

Property is a recent new build and the house faces south east, this corner gets the afternoon and evening sun. The corner faces west.

Some pics to follow...

Ps. I apologise now for my poor spelling across this project. Hopefully shouldnt impact how the patio is layed... ha.

Edited by Ste-EVo on Monday 2nd March 12:00

Edited by Ste-EVo on Monday 2nd March 12:00

[Ste-EVo]

AI generated image of how we want it roughly to look


Plan is to plant up around it with evergreen shrubs. Such as photinia carre rouge, variegated euonymous, box/ilex, hebes and dwarf conifers. We already have 3x David Ausitn climbing roses across the back fence/wall which will stay as the back drop/screen.

Im open to ideas and suggestions on the planting, but really looking at evergreens for form year round

[Nick_MSM]

Box is lovely, but unless you can keep on top of the caterpillars I'd avoid it. Ilex can be quite fussy on some soil conditions - how about Pittosporum Golf Ball or Tom Thumb? Both tough and would work well.

[Ste-EVo]

Nick_MSM said:

Box is lovely, but unless you can keep on top of the caterpillars I'd avoid it. Ilex can be quite fussy on some soil conditions - how about Pittosporum Golf Ball or Tom Thumb? Both tough and would work well.

Pittosporum Golf Ball Is a good shout, thank you

[Ste-EVo]

Layed the slabs out to trial how they look, should be laying next week.

[Ste-EVo]

And test placed some of the new planting. Im always amazed how much bigger plants look in the shop and how many you think you dont need until you get them home.

Going to learn from previous mistakes and not** cram too many in, but still need a couple more.

Always wanted a fatsia and now got one.

Edited by Ste-EVo on Friday 6th March 19:30

[OutInTheShed]

Ste-EVo said:

And test placed some of the new planting. Im always amazed how much bigger plants look in the shop and how many you think you dont need until you get them home.

Going to learn from previous mistakes and now cram too many in, but still need a couple more.

Always wanted a fatsia and now got one.
]

Our garden suffers from having been planted 15 or 20 years ago, it could do with most of the plants digging up and moving further apart.
It's all very well having a bush that would cost £200 in a garden centre, but two of them wedged together is no longer the best look.
But if I get rid of one, I expect the other will mysteriously die.

There's a balance to waiting for the plants to fill the space.

[Ste-EVo]

OutInTheShed said:

Ste-EVo said:

And test placed some of the new planting. Im always amazed how much bigger plants look in the shop and how many you think you dont need until you get them home.

Going to learn from previous mistakes and now cram too many in, but still need a couple more.

Always wanted a fatsia and now got one.
]

Our garden suffers from having been planted 15 or 20 years ago, it could do with most of the plants digging up and moving further apart.
It's all very well having a bush that would cost £200 in a garden centre, but two of them wedged together is no longer the best look.
But if I get rid of one, I expect the other will mysteriously die.

There's a balance to waiting for the plants to fill the space.

That should have said NOT** cram too many in...

I made the mistake at my old place of having some lovely shrubs in the front garden but they quickly began to compete against each other for space to their detriment.

[tim0409]

Nice little project and addition to your garden. What sort of base are you planning? If it’s hardcore than a bed or mortar I would recommend using slurry primer on the back of the slabs as it (in my experience) really helps the adhesion and longevity of the bond.

Something like this -

https://www.bal-adhesives.com/products/bal-priming...

[Ste-EVo]

tim0409 said:

Nice little project and addition to your garden. What sort of base are you planning? If it s hardcore than a bed or mortar I would recommend using slurry primer on the back of the slabs as it (in my experience) really helps the adhesion and longevity of the bond.

Something like this -

https://www.bal-adhesives.com/products/bal-priming...

Thanks, and exactly that, hardcore wacked, then 4:1 wet mortar and prime the slabs (although some have said its not needed with concrete slabs, I still will).