1. Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum)

These are quite fashionable in Australian gardens and tend to grow well in the mountain zones and Tasmania, in Sydney, Perth as well as areas in the south. They have a wide range of leaf shapes and colours as well as varying growth forms.

2. Ginkgo (Ginkgo-biloba)

These autumn trees are large and slow-growing. They have 2-lobed leaves that resemble the maidenhair fern and that turn a beautiful buttercup yellow before falling. They do well in Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart as well as in the mountains and cool elevated sites found in Sydney and Perth

3. Tupelo (Nyssa Sylvatica)

They grow up to about 10 meters tall and look great in autumn because the tracery of dark stems as well as branches contrasts very well with the foliage that is orange, yellow, red, and crimson. They do well in Hobart, Melbourne, the cool elevated sites found in Perth, Adelaide and Sydney

4. Liquidambar (Liquidambar Styraciflua)

These are deciduous autumn trees that are large and fast growing. They can grow up to 30 meters in height. Their autumn foliage is great with various colours like orange, yellow, scarlet and purple. They do very well from Sydney to Perth as well as in areas in the South

5. Chinese Pistachio (Pistacia Chinensis)

These are great for your autumn garden. They are beautiful with brilliant orange, yellow and scarlet foliage in autumn. They tend to make excellent street or garden trees because they only grow to about 10 meters tall

6. Flowering Cherry (Prunus Serrulata)

These autumn trees are mainly planted because their spring blossom display is breathtaking. The foliage turns orange, vivid yellow and scarlet in autumn.

Other autumn plants that you can include in your autumn garden include the following.

1. The Japanese Viburnum (Viburnum Japonicum)

They are great in autumn. They have fragrant white, summer flowers which are followed by bright red berries which when displayed against their deep green foliage make for a wonderful sight

2. The Climbing Purple Apple Berry (Billadiera Longiflora)

They produce purple fruits that are lovely. Their climbing nature makes them perfect for growing up sheltered trellis or walls.

3. Autumn Crocus (Colchicum Byzantium)

They put on a great display of colourful flowers. They have lilac flowers that pop up in autumn just before the foliage that appears later in winter. In order to provide a dense mass of colour, they look best when planted in clumps.

There are various autumn trees and plants available for your autumn garden. You should not have a problem finding something for your garden.

Treatment of pine ensures that it has long-term protection from decay, fungi as well as termites that can attack and destroy timber that is not treated. By using treated pine sleepers for outdoor projects, you extend the service life of a given structure as a result of improved durability of the timber itself. This therefore helps reduce replacement as well as maintenance costs.

It is worth noting that although CCA preservatives are quite toxic to decay, fungi and termites, you can safely use treated pine. Even animals and plants that come into contact with treated pine sleepers will be perfectly safe. However, some specific applications like beehives, birdcages and fishponds require that proper care is taken.

Some of the common precautions that you should bear in mind when working with and handling timber that is CCA treated include:

• Wearing gloves to avoid splinters
• Wearing a mask when machining the pine to avoid inhaling sawdust
• If possible, machining treated pine sleepers outside so as to avoid airborne dust from treated wood accumulating inside
• Wearing eye protection when nailing and machining treated timber
• Avoiding exposing sawdust near food or areas used for food preparation
• Ensuring that you wash your face and hands before drinking, eating or smoking
• Laundering separately clothes that have accumulated sawdust from treated wood
• Disposing CCA treated off-cuts by burying them in an approved landfill as CCA should not be burnt.

As for all other timber products, treated pine has got to be well maintained. The truth is that although timber is treated against insect attack and decay, it is not treated against splitting, ageing, twisting or swelling. The fast growing nature of the pine species as well as the various chemicals that are used in treated pine sleepers mean that the timber can easily be affected by moisture, temperature and changes in humidity.

Although there is no guaranteed method of eliminating disfiguring of treated pine, you can reduce this problem by using good quality paint, oil as well as water and UV repellent products. Also, nailing, screwing and fixing your treated pine sleepers correctly will ensure that they look good for a long time to come.

1. Getting Ready

Before you place your retaining wall sleepers or your retaining wall blocks you have to first figure out where you want to place your wall. Also make sure that your wall will have a good and stable foundation, drainage gravel, and correct backfill.

What You Need

• Garden Gloves
• Safety Glasses
• Small Broom
• Road Base
• Hammer & Bolster
• Spade
• Wheelbarrow
• String Line
• Compactor
• Rubber Mallet
• Spirit Level

2. Mark Where Your Wall Goes

You will have to make sure that you lay out the first layer of your retaining wall sleepers or your retaining wall blocks exactly where you want them to be. That’s why you need to mark out your wall. Straight lines are easy – you just use a stake and a string line. Curved outlines are a bit trickier, but you can easily mark out the curves with the help of a garden hose.

3. Dig the Trench

Next, dig out a 300mm-600mm wide and 130mm-150mm deep trench. Make sure the leveling pad fits. Also, remove any debris from the trench as well as roots. Level and compact the soil at the trench’s bottom.

4. Add Leveling

After you’ve cleared the trench of debris, spread road base on the bottom of the trench. Keep the base level (use a straight edge) and compact, using the base of one of the retaining wall blocks to tamp it to the required height.

5. The First Course

Place and align retaining wall blocks side by side in front of the compacted road base, use your guide to make sure your blocks are in place. Butt the blocks together and tap them into place with the rubber mallet. Next, backfill behind the blocks with drainage aggregate. Then lay down the second course, and backfill again.

6. Finish Your Courses

Continue adding blocks and retaining wall sleepers until you’ve reached the required height. Remember to backfill and compact as you go. Also, make sure that the blocks are free of loose stones before you fit them together.

7. Secure the Area

To make sure that no soil works its way through your retaining wall and end up messing with your retaining wall sleepers and blocks, place a landscaping fabric behind the wall and up the hill behind it a few feet. Finally, to clean up the area, add some soil to the areas that need to be leveled off.

1. Install a Path

Sometimes all you need to experience a new side of something is to actually see that side. And you can give yourself and visitors exactly that view by leading them somewhere they haven’t been to yet. To this end, an easy path can easily be installed. Simply use flagstones, which you can get from your local landscaping supplies dealer. Border your path with some ferns and flowering plants and you’re all set to see that new side of your garden.

2. Play with Fake Stones

Faux stones can be used for garden edgings. Since garden edgings are not only used for lining raised garden beds, but also to provide added neatness and beauty to your garden, utilising faux stones can help you achieve the character that garden edgings provide. You can get your fake stones from your local garden supplies dealer.

3. Mulch, Mister, Mulch

Mulching doesn’t only keep your soil intact, moist and fertile, but it’s also a good way of giving your garden a well-kept look. Choose from any of the mulch that your landscaping supplies dealer carries and apply it to your garden to achieve the desired results. You can also play with the colors of the different types of mulch to achieve different effects.

4. Pot Some Flowers

Placing some flowering plants into pots (which you can easily get from any garden supplies or landscaping supplies provider) can give your garden some really concentrated bursts of color. This is a neat tip when you need to liven up your otherwise colorless garden. Also having some potted flowering plants in the ready can give you control over where you might want to add that particular burst of color.

5. Play With Rocks

Another way that you can put a bit more dimension and character into your garden is to build a rock garden inside your already existing garden. You can easily use the rocks that are already available in your garden or you could go to your garden supplies dealer and get the particular rocks that you want. Either way, whether you want a simple and straightforward rock garden or a Japanese-inspired rock garden, installing some rock structures and plants into a focal point of your garden can add that extra oomph you might be looking for.

Advantages of Aggregate Driveways

1. Unlimited Design Options

Sure, an aggregate driveway might look rough and unfinished (and sometimes that’s how some homeowners like it), but if you want to have better control of the results of putting an aggregate driveway into your property, you need not worry. There are a myriad texture and colour choices to choose from, and you can easily customise the appearance of your aggregate driveway to suit your taste.

2. Needs Little Maintenance

After you have sealed the finish and have added what little touchups the aggregate driveway might need, you will not have to put too much time in maintaining your aggregate driveway. Aside from the periodic cleaning that aggregate driveways might need, they require very little attention.

3. Provides Better Traction

The rugged surface of the aggregate driveway provides fantastic traction and prevents less slipping and sliding as compared to brushed concrete. This makes it a lot safer for kids to play in. That’s another bonus for aggregate driveways if you have kids.

4. Durable

The aggregate driveway is also very tough and can withstand a lot of punishment. This makes aggregate driveways the perfect structures to use for heavy traffic areas such as garages and entry ways.

5. DIY-Possible

You can easily take on an aggregate driveway construction project yourself. It doesn’t take too much to build this type of driveway. In fact, all you need is some muscle power, some basic tools and materials, and a little bit of know-how. Doing the project yourself will also considerably lessen the cost of installing an aggregate driveway in your property.

Two Most Common Methods of Making Aggregate Driveways

1. Surface Dressing

In this technique, ornamental aggregate materials (such as decorative stones, gravel, crushed glass, or sea shells) are poured over freshly poured cement. The aggregates are poured 5 to 10 mm below the required finished level and then tamped onto the top layer. This very decorative technique is perfect for small projects such as walkways and patios in your garden.

2. Wash-Expose Method

This second technique uses water to wash away the freshly poured concrete layer – but only the top 2 to 6 mm – to expose the aggregates which were already mixed in with the cement. This is the technique generally used when you are making large commercial projects where you need exposed aggregate driveways.

1. Plan Your Attack

Even if you were going to have the project handled by professionals, you still need to know which areas of your garden you want your watering system to cover. Draw a rough plan on paper and get some measurements. This will give you a good estimate of what and how many irrigation supplies you will need for the project. Remember to space your water sprays a meter apart to get the best coverage.

2. Get Expert Advice

You don’t want to be doing it wrong, so before you start buying the irrigation supplies that you think you need, have an expert look at your drawing. Visit an irrigation supplies shop and ask them to turn your rough plan into a reality. They can easily give you a detailed plan and an expert estimate on the irrigation supplies that you will need for your particular irrigation project.

3. Lay Out You System

Once you have all of the irrigation supplies that you need, you will start laying out your irrigation system. Run your 19mm polypipe tubing over the areas you’ve designated to be watered. The polypipe is the main irrigation pipe. This is also where the sprayers connect to.

To prevent losing too much water pressure, try to abstain from cutting or joining with T-joints or elbows since you lose about a tenth of your water pressure with each joint. Instead try curving the tubing instead of cutting and joining.

Also, if the pipe has to go through a path or driveway, tunnel under them and push the hose through. It’s also a good idea to cover the ends of the plastic tube to prevent dirt from getting inside the pipes as you handle them. You should do the same when you need to go through a retaining wall.

4. Check the Water Pressure

Connect the main tube to your primary water source, which in this case is your garden tap and turn it on to check that you have an unimpeded flow of water to your pipes. When you’re pretty satisfied with the water pressure of your system, turn off the tap and place the joiners.

Make sure that you secure the piping that covers the joiner by placing a ratchet clip over it. Also seal with a pair of multigrips to make sure the seal doesn’t dislodge later on. This will save you a lot of trouble.

5. Install the Spray Heads

Different irrigation systems, need different spray heads. Choose one which works best for your garden and install your (3.9mm) risers and spray heads onto the main irrigation pipe.

6. Finishing Touches

When necessary, you should what most everybody does with their irrigation systems and
dig a 6-8cm deep trench where you can bury your pipe. Another thing you can do is to hold down the pipe with strategically placed wire pegs.

What You’ll Need

• Tri-Sodium Phosphate
• Concrete Patch/Floor Leveler
• Concrete Sealer
• Sandstone Tiles or Granite Tiles
• Mortar
• Trowel
• Grout
• Grout Float

1. Clean the Surface

Sometimes you are left with a dirty and uneven surface to work with. If that is the case, don’t even bother installing your sandstone tiles or granite tiles just yet. Leaving dirt, grease or oil on the surface of your existing patio floor can ruin all of the hard work you will be putting into your patio tiles.

What you do first to prevent this is to clean the surface before you go to work. Use the TSP, which is a common cleaner used to remove dirt, stains, and even grease and oil. Dilute a small amount of TSP in a pail of warm water and scrub the surface of the patio. Rinse and then let dry.

2. Even the Surface

When cleaning the surface, you might encounter that there might be portions with dips or cracks. You need to fix this before you start laying your sandstone tiles or granite tiles. Use the concrete patch and leveler and take the time to level the surface of your patio. This will ensure that your sandstone tiles or granite tiles will be secure once you install them on the leveled surface.

Once the repairs are made to even the surface, top it off with a concrete sealer to prevent the moisture from outside from settling underneath the sandstone tiles or granite tiles and doing some serious damage in the long run.

3. Plan the Design

Planning first and tracing your outline before you start placing your first sandstone tiles or granite tiles will ensure that you will end up with a beautiful and neat design. Also, planning ahead and cutting the tiles appropriately will also keep you from having to start all over again because you encountered a problem. Mark out your plan with a chalk line.

4. Place The Tiles

When you’re done planning and outlining your work area, mix some mortar and install your tiles. Using your spacers, follow the chalk outline to keep your patterns square. When you set a tile, remember to clean it off with a damp rag as you go as this will make cleaning up later much easier. Let dry as per manufacturer’s instructions.

5. Grout Tiles and Clean Up

Apply grout between the tiles, taking care to make sure that you eliminate any low spots. Let the grout dry. Once dry, clean up the patio floor.

6. Enjoy!

There you go. Now your patio has a bit more character and a new lease on life. Time to enjoy all of that hard work and spend some time in your patio.

But, before anything else, what is mulch exactly? Well, mulch is just about anything which you can lay over your soil to help reduce water loss, prevent the erosion of your top soil, and prevent the germination of weeds in your soil or garden.

Organic Mulch

Organic mulches are any of the different types of mulch which are made from natural matter – they can be plants, sawdust, or even paper. All of the types of mulch break down in time into humus, which is a very important ingredient of fertile soil.

1. Bark, Wood Chips, Sawdust

These organic mulch types can easily be used since they are readily available at very little to no cost. Bark and chips are also some of the different types of mulch that resist compaction and decompose very slowly. When used properly they can also be very attractive. For example, a good half-foot layer of sawdust works well in mulching garden pathways.

One of the drawbacks of using these kinds of organic mulch is that they aren’t very nutritious and can very well rob the soil of nutrients. It is therefore a good idea to use nitrogen fertiliser when using these different types of mulch.

2. Straw

Straw mulch such as pine straw or normal straw (not “hay” since it contains many weed seeds) is great when used as winter mulch or to mulch a vegetable garden. It is inexpensive but may be a bit hard to find in cities (unless you have pine trees nearby). These mulch types conserve moisture, suppress weeds, and insulates well.

3. Shredded leaves

Shredded leaves can be used as a summer mulch. They, however, decompose quickly, so you might need to add a new layer of shredded leaves when the first layer decomposes. Shredded leaves are used instead of whole leaves since the latter then to mat together and may hinder the soil’s water absorption.

4. Newspaper

Two to three layers of newspaper is all you need to keep down weeds in your veggie garden. However, to keep the paper from blowing away, use another mulch to weigh it down. Shredded paper can also work just as well.

Inorganic Mulch

1. Crushed Stone and Gravel

Available in a wide variety of textures and colors, these mulch types can be very attractive when used properly. However, these mulch types are more or less permanent, so choose wisely which ones to use and how to use them since once these accidentally get mixed into your soil, it will take a lot of hard work to remove them.

2. Plastic

Plastic mulch can be effective in preventing weed growth and retaining soil moisture. A drawback however is that it keeps the water from getting into the soil. Thus it is best used when there is an irrigation system that can be installed underneath the plastic mulch.

Cleaning Bricks

One thing you need to be mindful of when cleaning bricks is that you don’t want to damage your bricks and end up doing more harm than good. If you’re bricks aren’t all that soiled, you can easily use the following solution to clean your bricks:

• 110g shaved naphtha soap
• 100mL hot water
• 225g powdered pumice
• ½ cup ammonia.

Prepare the mixture by dissolve the shaved soap in the hot water. Then set it aside so it can cool. Once the water is cool enough, you can now add the pumice and ammonia. Mix thoroughly.

To use this mixture, apply with a paintbrush then you should let it set for an hour. Once the mixture has completely dried, you can now remove it with a stiff-bristle brush. Finally rinse with water. Afterwards, clean the bricks one more time with a little bit of dishwashing soap mixed in with warm water.

Cleaning Pavers

Since pavers experience regular foot traffic, they become very vulnerable to mold, dirt and stains. If your pavers aren’t all that heavily soiled, simply sweep thoroughly with a broom and then wash with a homemade solution of warm water and detergent and they’ll be as good as new. For the rather persistent spots, just apply with the broom some more. When you’re done, rinse with the garden hose and let dry.

High Pressure Washing

Using pressurised water is a quick and effective way of removing mold and many types of stains. It’s also a very quick way of cleaning your brick pavers. However, you should be careful not to use pressure above 3,000 psi as it can damage your brick pavers.

Removing Different Types of Stains

Sometimes a particular stain needs a particular kind of treatment. Before you go ahead and start cleaning with different methods, it is best if you know the type of stain since using the wrong method and the wrong cleaning agents can easily stain your bricks. Likewise, preventive care is still the best way of keeping your bricks and pavers clean and seemingly brand new. Just remember to make the necessary safety precautions when handling cleaning agents.