We have spent about 4 seasons getting the back garden in shape.

Cleaned out the previous 15-20 years of neglect by previous owners. The weeds have taken a complete control of the garden and had grown like trees. We clear all the roots as well.

  • Planted some fruit trees, flower plants and installed a surface level Gardena drip irrigation

  • Took a couple of seasons to bring the lawn into a decent shape. The Grass People were helpful.

  • Our front lawn work is still pending

  • This season, we are planning to add a few more fruit trees, replace over-ground irrigation to root-level irrigation and put in place some raised decking boards for the trees and flower plants

  • As a side project, we plan to build some DIY side boards, side tables, kitchen an bed room cup boards.

We need some recommendations

  1. The lawn doesn’t have any major weed or moss problem as we have done a lot of work in the past. We are looking for an organic or a good liquid lawn weed and moss killers. Mo Bachter is one. The grass people’s 3-1 non-organic fertiliser is another. What do you guy use? We are looking for something, which won’t kill the lawn.

  2. We have a gardena drip irrigation. We are thinking of grabbing some hunter popup sprinklers for the lawn and their root-zone watering. Is there a good alternative? I am not sure I want to integrate it with the proposed home automation project.

3: We need a plunge saw and a router. These are for the home use only and not for a commercial purposes. There are so many of them - Festool,
Bosch, Dewalt, Triton, McAlister. I have spent some time watching Peter Millard’s reviews. The Festool is expensive. I am sure there will be a lot of skilled and talented DIYers here. Let’s know what you think please.

Thx!

Edit:

The AVA pressure washer purchase is a part of the project!

    Oh god, perfect timing

    Last few weeks in between the snow!

    Ive done a new fence

    And started to do decking

    Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -

      For grass

      https://elixirgardensupplies.co.uk/

      Sell good stuff, i had a really good product that i used on the front lawn last yr as it was neglected.

      Mine vs next door on left

      Needs its first cut of the yr soon as it dries out then re feeding

      Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -

      😂 well 2 weeks ago was cracking the flags, then is snowed/hail all week.

      Was doing the fence, one minute roasting then hail😂🤦🏻‍♀️ uk weather

      Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -

      Very nice Jake! will check the grass site. We have enough grass seeds for the season. Thx

      Amazing thread, always inspiring to see DIY projects outdoors or in!

      We’re renting between house purchases at the moment so no home improvements but I’ve been busy making wallets as a bit of a DIY project.


      Another item for your tool list is a biscuit jointer, strong invisible joints in a variety of materials, you can even ‘biscuit’ joint mitres.👍

      @LMSC, for the lawn, one thing you can do is not use a grass box, i.e. leave the clippings on the lawn. It then turns into nutrient for the grass. Saves taking time and effort to remove the nutrients the grass has grown, and then spend more time and money adding nutrient back. Also, you shouldn’t really need to water grass, unless it’s newly planted. Yes it will go yellow and stop growing if it gets very dry, but it will spring back. Save the water.

      For a plunge saw I can’t recommend the Festool HK55 highly enough. You can use it as a regular circular saw, you can do plunge cuts, you can do angled cuts, and with the rails you can do perfect straight cuts. Yes it’s expensive, but they have very good guarantees and continue to supply parts. It’s also less than hiring a chippy for a couple of days. We fitted our kitchen and utility room, as well as building desks etc, and it gave a very good finish.

      For a router I’m happy with our dewalt, but didn’t do as much research into that. Probably the biggest decision is what size, ¼” or ½”. It’s tempting to think ½” so you can do everything, but you end up with a massive device that is hard to use for more delicate tasks. I decided to go ¼”, and if I ever need a ½” (which is pretty much only needed for fitting worktops) then I’ll hire one.

      I hope that helps

        hornbyben i.e. leave the clippings on the lawn

        Good thought; We did this for 2 seasons. That turned into moss and weed nightmare. Please don’t ask me how. We think it fed the moss and weeds, which grew faster.

        hornbyben Also, you shouldn’t really need to water grass, unless it’s newly planted.

        There is always overseeding at the start of the season. Otherwise, we water the lawn once or twice a week if it is drier. 😊 Yeah, agree, expensive and we need to conserve water and save some bills.

        hornbyben Festool HK55 highly enough.

        I was scared someone like you will recommend this. It is good but bloody expensive. The plunge saws are safer to use. One stupid question though. Can that be used to cut tiles and thin metals, of course it may require a special blade . I do however think it is not designed to cut tiles and metals. The tiles require a wet file saw, I thought.

                LMSC Can that be used to cut tiles and thin metals, of course it may require a special blade.

                I don’t think so. I’ve only ever used it to cut wood. Get a quote for a carpenter to make you something, then it’ll seem a whole load cheaper 🤣. The tracks are what make the big difference as you get perfect cuts. The precision is amazing. If something is slightly too large you don’t get out the sander or plane, you just take a mm off with the saw, and I do mean a mm. You can easily cut within the width of the blade.

                Probably the big question on whether it is worth it is how much are you going to do? I’m nearly 40, and have already fitted a kitchen, utility room, made a fitted desk, built a desk and chairs for the kids, boarded the loft, decked a garden playhouse … the list goes on. The quality and ease of use make the initial outlay negligible compared to the value I’ve got from it, and I expect many more projects for it in the future. If I was only doing one job it might be better to rent the tools you need rather than buy.

                    LMSC I can recommend the hunter pop ups with rotator nozzles. The best irrigation I think there is for borders is netafin pressure compensated hose. It gets the water direct into the soil. I like easy-irrigation.co.uk as supplier. Small but helpful. Do you have a proper irrigation controller? Once thing to be careful with on lawns is your pressure, especially in summer when water company can turn pressure down. My 2 popups worked beautifully until June and then didn’t. I now need to move them onto separate zones as well as add in a third this summer.

                        hornbyben then it’ll seem a whole load cheaper

                        We were quoted £1500 plus VAT 3 years ago to make a cup board of size 10’ x 8’! 😁

                        hornbyben Probably the big question on whether it is worth it is how much are you going to do?

                        I have a few on my lists, which I am keen to do as a hobby.

                        simonc hunter pop ups with rotator

                        Yes. I am looking at this

                        https://www.waterirrigation.co.uk/shop-by-brand-1/hunter/hunter-i-20-commercial-rotors.html

                        simonc proper irrigation controller

                        We have a gardena 6 zones digital timer controlled irrigation along with 6 zones distributor. At the moment, We are using only one; plan to use 3 more of these for the lawn, front and split the watering for plants. We will still have 2 spares. 😊

                        simonc netafin pressure compensated hose

                        I will look into this. Thanks. We were thinking of the root-zone watering.

                        https://www.easy-irrigation.co.uk/leaky-hose-border-watering-c-240_161_164_168/hunter-root-zone-tree-watering-p-2052?zenid=uman16pd73q418chj11i85unj6

                        Thx everyone!

                                    @LMSC I’ve got the Bosch GKT55 and have been really pleased with it. Very similar to the Mafell (rumour was Mafell make it for them).

                                    My dad has the festool TS55F. It is very nice, but a jump in price. Interestingly we both prefer the bosch guide rails. They’re easier to put together and the join feels sturdier.

                                    I’ve also got the GOF1600 router which has never disappointed. Easy to use, bags of power. The big benefit with festool routers is the dust extraction - second to none for ease of use.

                                    I’d also go for the festool domino jointer if you need something like that. Makes things so easy.

                                      LMSC ah I meant to ask about whether you meant shrub or tree root zone. That looks nice if you can dig or they are new trees.

                                      I use these with drip hose in the top as I put into existing tree root balls and couldn’t dig.

                                      https://deepdrip.co.uk/index.php?p=contact

                                        With regard to routers I would agree for most work you do not need a. ½′' router, they are heavy and cumbersome.

                                        They come into their own when jointing worktops with a jig, for general projects routers with 8 and 10 mm collets are fine, soft start and variable speed are beneficial.

                                        I have a Makita biscuit jointer, the head /face plate are very adjustable to suit all manner of work .

                                        Think about the projects you wish to do and prioritise the use for the tools you buy.

                                        Check the suitability of the blade for your saw, the general purpose one that comes with the saw is just that, if you are cutting sheet material and more teeth are beneficial, ripping softwood less teeth / bigger gullets are better.

                                          Compost bin project. Will finish over Easter.