Garden projects. Newly built with aged aesthetics ideas.

The number 1 thing needed to achieve an aged look when building a new project is a good material. The go to material for this is usually natural stone. This can be used in many ways to give a traditional look. Firstly is the dry stone wall. This has probably been a building method since the Stone Age, and can look brilliantly effective in the right scenario. It can be used as a retaining wall, however I really wouldn’t go to tall if you are planning on doing this as they really aren't to structurally rigid. The concept is very simple, place one rock on top of the other, using soil to steady the rock it wobbles when placed, and also back fill the wall with soil as you go up. If you attempt to build one yourself, it is incredibly easy to use all of the nicest stone early, and be left with the uglier, and awkward shaped stones at the end. To stop this from happening, traditional stone masons, or builders, will tell you that once you pick a stone up, it goes into the wall. You aren’t to put that stone back onto the pile if it doesn’t fit too nice.

Another technique used in building stone walls is a standard mortared wall. This is a much sturdier wall, and can be built incredibly high, and can also be used to retain soil. There are many different types of stone that can be used for this, but it’s important to use something local to your area. As we have worked all over the UK, we have come across many types of stone. Yellow Cotswold stone always looks effective, but I do enjoy using the Forest of Dean grey stone that is very local to myself.

Another additional technique to building stone walls is to use the traditional lime mortar. For anybody that isn’t very skilled with a trowel, I wouldn’t recommend trying this, and it is a very annoying to work with. It is very dense, tricky to mix consistently, and can dry very fast. In this instance, we were ordered to use lime mortar is the property was a listed building.

This next project was something a bit unique, and a bit “Chelsea flower show like”. A new driveway up to a large welsh cottage Was constructed. A pair of gravel strips for the tyres of the car, filled in between with standard lawn turf. The turf was let to grow long, and also let to go to seed to add to the traditional effect. To the side of this, and on the banks, we installed wild flower turf. This is a fantastic product that I have spoken about before in previous posts. A set of sleeper steps, with a banister was cut through the bank and up to the cottage. Once this project had matured, the result was outstanding.

One more product to mention, is millboard decking. I have touched on this product in previous posts, but it can be used to give an aged look with brilliant success. This small decking area was built in just 2 days over a pond we constructed over a decade ago. It was built with a brand new product, and gave the impression it has been there for many years.

As usual any questions, feel free to throw them my way. Anything I can help you with, I most certainly will. Thanks for taking an interest.