My garden needs a makeover

stuart45

I'd leave the wall as it is. The joints look quite full. I wouldn't replace any of those bricks either. People often try and repoint and end up making a mess of the wall. It often happens with lime when they hit it with the churn brush too early, and end up with lime stains everywhere. Luckily, your bricks look like a hard burnt one, which are easier to clean up later when it's been DIY pointed.

moneysaver1978

If you are wanting to add lawn edging but MSE style, you could do this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QI9bEVpKt4&ab_channel=SilverCymbal

We did this last year and it's been great for us!

WIAWSNB

Jemma01 said:

Whacha meannn boring fence colour 🤣 I'm obsessed lol, it goes nicely with green and doesn't clash with the brick colour, feels xmasie 😁. The thought of having a garden wall is brilliant, the driveway def needs something.

Oops, guilty of fence offence. :-)

Seriously, it lets the whole garden down... :-p

That wall is great, and will stand for many years with no issue. Stuart is the resident 'wall/block/brick/render/pointing/general building stuff' expert, so I'd be reassured. 

Jeez, that fence, tho'... Brick coloured ma botty...

There ye go...

Grenage

stuart45 said:

I'd leave the wall as it is. The joints look quite full. I wouldn't replace any of those bricks either. People often try and repoint and end up making a mess of the wall. It often happens with lime when they hit it with the churn brush too early, and end up with lime stains everywhere. Luckily, your bricks look like a hard burnt one, which are easier to clean up later when it's been DIY pointed.

Can confirm, I definitely did this.  The lime stains are still there, mocking me.  Looks fine when it's raining...

WIAWSNB

By the way, Jemma, this pic also shows what timber can look like when 'oiled', as opposed to 'painted'. But it has to be clean timber to begin with.

Pros and cons beyond the aesthetic choice; oil is easier to 'slap' on, but will need doing so more regularly - I doubt you could leave it more than 2 years without the timber starting to grey. Paint needs a bit more care in applying - to guard against brush strokes and runs, for example - but can be expected to last a good few years before requiring a fresh coat.

Yorkie1

Nice stripes and well done!

Jemma01

Got around to finishing the last bit on the left side, I'll wait for the rain to even it out (it's been dry and sunny for 17 days now, rather odd but great!), I want to scoop out some of the soil.



Thanks @stuart45 I'd take an advice how to avoid falling into typical errors, and how long I should wait (or better the signs I should look for to know if it is ready to be churn!) and the type to mortar to buy, looks like there are lots and my fence needs to be hardwearing. The wall to my right has fallen bricks, it doesn't look like the same quality, will take a pic tomorrow. 
@Grenage would be very kind of you to share a picture of what that looks like

moneysaver1978 said:

If you are wanting to add lawn edging but MSE style, you could do this 

We did this last year and it's been great for us!

ooh that looks lovely, I was going to attempt this on a part where the grass is adjacent to the wall, but it got dark too quickly; thank you so much for sharing, I thought I had a better use for my shovel 🙈

WIAWSNB said:

Jemma01 said:

Whacha meannn boring fence colour 🤣 I'm obsessed lol, it goes nicely with green and doesn't clash with the brick colour, feels xmasie 😁. The thought of having a garden wall is brilliant, the driveway def needs something.

Oops, guilty of fence offence. :-)

Seriously, it lets the whole garden down... :-p

That wall is great, and will stand for many years with no issue. Stuart is the resident 'wall/block/brick/render/pointing/general building stuff' expert, so I'd be reassured. 

Jeez, that fence, tho'... Brick coloured ma botty...

There ye go...

😂😂 fence offence, love it
That is gorgeous I can't lie 🙈 but my fence has no chance of looking like this even if I strip off the colour (which I won't cuz it's nice 😁), I'll see what the deck turns out like, the sides look in very good condition (painted), so I'm doubtful I'd be able to move away from a paint (I don't mind the maintenance every year).
Re-painting, I'd be using a paint spray + a brush occasionally, if it won't rain tomorrow I'll make a start on cleaning the fence.

Yorkie1 said:

Nice stripes and well done!

awh thank you 🥰 much appreciated

stuart45

Jemma01 said:

Thanks @stuart45 I'd take an advice how to avoid falling into typical errors, and how long I should wait (or better the signs I should look for to know if it is ready to be churn!) and the type to mortar to buy, looks like there are lots and my fence needs to be hardwearing. The wall to my right has fallen bricks, it doesn't look like the same quality, will take a pic tomorrow. 

There's a lot of different mixes and pointing styles. The mix you need would be similar just a touch weaker than the mix the wall is built with. For example if it was built with a 5/1 sand/cement mix, you'd repoint using a 5.5/1 mix.
If it's built with a lime mortar use lime to repoint.
When using lime with a flush joint, you hit it with the churn brush when it's green hard. The brush should stay clean when using it. If there's mortar on it the joints are too wet.

vic_sf49

If you do want to edge the grass/border...

I've used 6ft x 3in x 3in fence posts, painted in black Ducksback. Dig a channel, then lay them down, so they sit just below the edge of your grass. 

Then when you're mowing, one wheel of the mower can run along the wood, rather than falling off the edge. I had quite a difference in height between grass and soil, so needed something.

Posts were cheap from my local fencing place, rather than the big orange diy place.

But I went for an easier option in my back garden, as there was more undulation, and used pavoir bricks / block paving bricks (20cm x 10cm x 5cm). Also from a local place, that were 20p each, but that was 5 years ago.

Dug a straight line channel, and stuck the bricks in, following the contours of the lawn. I have clay soil, so they're held pretty firm.

Once you've dug most of the channel, an old firm paint scraper, slices a nice straight edge. But dig it slightly wide, and you can fill along the edge with soil or compost.

Fence posts held up well, and got re-used for project number two after seven years.

twopenny

Next quick trick for the lawn

Use a half moon lawn edger.

https://www.diy.com/departments/aamen-heavy-duty-lawn-half-moon-lawn-edging-tool/7436415147109_BQ.prd?srsltid=AfmBOoqKDInaDsBdsRGApi2RojgzElhQTPD6sPzC0JtM07XDVSf5-J9Obno

Slide between the bricks and the grass. It tucks the grass down and leaves a lovely neat edge for hardly any effort.

On the fence side it will cut a neat edge into the grass and look smart.

Love the garden with the wall and brick edging.

And yes, if there's a tree in that corner the roots will keep it dry and not so great. Stick a pot/sculpture,seat on that part and forget it