Side entrance

WOW! Well done! I love it! I love conifers. How old are they? I have the same, they are growing quite fast, hopefully in time to cover what could be the well area, it is the largest bit of concreted I have in the lawn.

Good idea,maybe a couple of pots with spring bulbs in would look nice ,not much maintance there Brill!!!

Another option with the sleepers to make them non-slippery is to varnish them and sprinkle kiln-dried sand on them while the varnish it still wet. You then have a finish like sandpaper (this is the method dinghy sailors use on the inside of their boats)

Hi Michaella They have been there about five years but I do trim them. If they are happy they grow away quickly. I do feed them with liquid folia feed each month during the summer and I do water them. I have a blue one on the other side of the garden (I always forget it) I never water or feed it its hardly grown at all in 10 years. So some care has rewards for me. The up right one (in the first picture) I planted last year it stays slim but tall. I think this type of planting can look very striking in large areas with some tall ones and blue ones..

Thank you Andrew that sounds better than chicken wire but where do I get kiln dryed sand from and how much?

Waste of bulbs Swanky I only see it with the wheely bins.

Those sleepers are bloomin' heavy aren't they? We have them under our summer house as a solid base & even the burly men we had shifting them were sweating! It all looks great Denise...I like conifers that stay low to the ground.

Love this. Very elegant and looks like its always been there. Brilliant idea to steal :0)

Thank-you Spindle steal away.

Great idea Drc no weeding sounds good to me looks lovely:~))))

From a builder's merchants but you'd need to buy a bag of the stuff. Perhaps someone on Freecycle has some left over? You only need enough to sprinke on each sleeper

thanks Andrew but whats freecycle?

It's like EBAY but people advertise things for free rather than to sell. There are lots of freecycle groups in areas of the UK - just google it to find the group nearest to you

thanks Andrew

A great way of dealing with a little used area of garden. I can imagine how much hard work went into the construction but well worth it. Although they're not very popular at present, I like conifers of all sizes and shapes and think they have much to contribute to the garden. Are you sure you wouldn't like to look at some daffs when you go to the wheelie bins?

You can't persuade me Lily2 introducing bulbs there would give me all those dead leaves for weeks and introduce weeds. It looks the way I wanted it to look I love the pebbles after its rained will that do?

Ooooh no, bulbs in pots I meant. I have all mine in pots which I either stand on gravel or paving or sink into flower beds then put them out of sight till January when the new leaves are appearing. I quite agree about the unsightly dying leaves and of course it will do as it is - it looks lovely :o)))

Lily2 I am just about to put a photo in my pics of what I did with an area under a widow 10 years ago no bulbs there either!

Had a look, no bulbs required there, it looks great. I have lots of ground cover plants and gravel in my garden and some bark but never tried slate. Anything that cuts down weeding is good what with the ground getting harder to reach! :o(

Slate is colourful I find and it behaves well

Great idea for low maintenance!!