PUSHING THE BORDERS

I think it was Charlies Thread on his greenhouses that reminded me how willing people are to do the hard landscaping and building themselves. There seems to be lots of threads on the various forums about projects people are undertaking, so I thought I would do a quick poll to find out how will people here would be to do things themselves and what type of projects members have built in their gardens.

Which one of these groups do you fit into?

1) Building god. Do everything themselves; from digging up trees to building brick / block structures. Has every thing required to take on these projects, most likely stored in a garage or workshop they built themselves.

2) The keen DIYer. Recognises that a lot of the work can be done with a little bit of searching the internet to get simple tips. Will build decks, small walls and paving but knows there is a limit at which point help is needed.

3) I know a man who can. Lets face it, even if there was time to fit the project in, there is no way it would still be standing next week let alone in 10 years time. Much simpler just to call in the experts and get the job done properly.

No 3..I'd like to say DIY God, but no! What can I say I'm artistic :geek: , a visionary :ugeek: , an Idea's man. I just don't have the confidence to undertake something that might have to stand the test of time. I'm lucky I know a few fella's that can. I help, I paint, I carry!

My talent's are that I can destroy, I love it! It's my Martial Arts attitude. My wife says that I leave a trail of destruction behind me, I am Spartacus!!!
But unlike Spartacus my wife tells me to clean up after myself. :roll: I build raised bed's, that's as manly as it get's.

Next week I'm putting up fences and a gate that is wide enough for a wheel barrow, after having a stupidly small gate for years that I had to handball things through.

My Brother's helping me!! :lol:

Wayne

I like to think I'm in the second group, I will happily take on projects like fencing, decking, building seating areas, but falter at any real structural work using blocks such as building a 5 foot wall etc.

I'm far happier with wood though and would happily build a shed or quite large structure out of wood as long as nothing had to go on the roof and so it so it wasn't load bearing.

The new house is going to give me more of a chance to practice my brickwork as I would love to be able to build a workshop with a green roof, but most likely I will end up getting a bricky in to do the walls to ensure there is no risk of them falling down, and that they meet building regulations.

I think now due to my bad back my big project jobs are limited. I have done in the past a Polytunnel with the help of my Dad and also 100ft of fencing along one side of the garden. I always wanted a big pond but the thought of digging out tons of heavt clay soon put paid to that idea. I have to say the next project I take on will be a new shed our current one is falling apart so it's all about soft landscaping for me from now on :D

Always done my own but then again Im a carpenter.

Definately no 2. Have built a nice dry stone wall and decking patios etc but there is a limit as my carpentry and brickworking skills are somewhat, ahem , rudimentary! Love doing these manageable projects as the planning and execution really take you off into your own little world where stress cannot penetrate.

Without doubt the biggest job taken on in the garden, apart from digging out 20m2 of psuedosasa japonica, was digging out 120 foot of 100year old mixed hedge and replacing it with 18 six foot fence panels all without any help at all. Did get my son to paint the new fence though !

Not sure what group I fit into - all my buildings are crooked.
On the other hand, a few years ago I bought myself one of these:


Carn View 9 061007 by John Jearrard, on Flickr

It was great!

(sold it again after a while).

You can do some serious gardening in one of those.

:lol: I think that puts you firmly into the first group. I had a dinky version when I was young, but never went so far as to by the full sized version :lol:

Well, it was building my house, of course, which holds up half the garden on the roof ;).

I don't really like elaborate hard landscaping in my own garden, although I can admire a well-done job in someone else's garden. I just keep it quite sparse, to the point of being severe: railway sleeper or bark paths, a very simple 3m x 3m Tegula patio, lime-rendered walls and rough-timbered (but geometrically precise) fences, no expensive materials or bits of sculpture. But I'm extremely OCD about the geometry. The angles and line-ups have to be just right, even if I'm the only one that notices and it gradually gets lost under the vegetation.

There's the architecture and then there are the plants. No "features", it's not my thing.