Buildings in Garden

Garden buildings are more common in the United Kingdom, but have great practicality here in the US. They are very practical and add a touch of fun and class to any home. A garden building can be a place to store equipment, a nice carport, a gazebo, a greenhouse, a play area or just about any type of functional and beautiful out building you can imagine. They can be inexpensive or expensive depending on what you want.

If you are looking at a garden building consider your lifestyle, if you are longer with children you may want a place where the children can safely play in your backyard. If you are older and enjoy gardening you may want a nice greenhouse so you can continue gardening during off seasons. You can also make a garden building that has a hot tub in it so you can have enjoyment and privacy. You are really only limited to your own imagination when coming up with an idea for your own garden building.

You have options; you can go to a store like Home Depot and purchase a ready made building or work with a custom builder to find something unique for your needs. Having something custom made will cost you the most money, but if it’s something you will have for years the value is probably worth it.

Garden buildings can be stand alone or they can be an addition to your home, something that allows you a place to go and stay out of the elements. Often those attached to the home are used for entertaining, with a nice feel of both the indoors and out. These are often called conservatory buildings in the UK and can be built from wood or aluminum or a combination of both.

Less common usages for garden buildings are things such as dog kennels or chicken coops. Done right even these types of buildings can add beauty and functionality to your outdoor area.

Garden buildings are fun and functional; they are a great place to find peace or to entertain friends and family. Because these buildings will be a part of your home for years to come do a little research and discover your options. Do a little thought on what you really want from one, plan and move forward!

One of the best ways to enhance your garden area is through quality a covered patio and garden lights. They tend to give the evening hours in your yard that added ambiance.

A Small Wooden Building in the Garden

One of the best ways for children to enjoy a nice time on the garden is by installing a wooden building on the outside. In addition to giving your garden a rather rustic and cozy atmosphere, these are the perfect place for children to have fun and play. It is amazing how children like little buildings. Possibly because they consider it their place, they also enjoy playing inside it so much.

It is very important to consider security measures, and assuring that the manufacturer is complying with any regulations. The selected garden building has to be solid, as solid as any building. The wood has to be treated against insects and protected against fire. The better choice for windows is PVC. Although plastic looks cheap, it is incredibly resistant. Only if you choose a secure garden building, you will be able to let your children play in it with peace of mind.

We must also address the quality of the wood, since the weather will be merciless with it, as with any kind of window. In many garden buildings, the pieces are made from pine and have a three-year warranty against everything. Beware of vendors who offer a short warranty. Even they know that their products are of little value.

Garden buildings are normally designed to be installed anywhere (beach, mountain or city) and the roof should be coated with asphalt. Asphalt insulates well, which makes garden buildings the best place for toy storage, balls and all sorts of objects, like tools. It is difficult to see anything other than an asphalt roof. A roof made of wood is mostly a bad idea, especially if you live in a region where it snows. Your garden building won’t survive any winter if it has a wooden roof.

The floor is often made of grid, which allows the air to flow. This prevents the entry of moisture and keeps the garden building intact. Most buildings are made of wood and prefabricated panels. Even the window, doors, and the floor are prefabricated. Mostly you will only have to screw the parts together, which is quite easy, even for the most inexperienced person.

Regarding the decision of buying or building yourself, it is almost sure that you will necessarily have to buy the parts and build it. There is no point in building it from scratch. There are plenty of manufacturers who offer any size, shape and price of garden buildings. Making a good garden building is more difficult than it seems, especially, making one that can stand the onslaught of weather.

Tips About the Ground Below it

Choose wisely the place where you build your garden building. Preparing the ground below the building is very important. Some garden owners do not consider this last point to be important, but it is essential, if you want a stable garden building. A soft ground below your building can cause ongoing issues.

Check following points regarding the ground:

As a first step a good cleaning of the ground is needed. It is necessary to clean grass and especially any roots that can then turn up into a tree. Some people spread salt, to avoid anything growing below your garden building.

You must clearly mark the spot where you are going to build the garden building. Normally, the old but always useful method of stakes and string is the best choice. Dig a trench where you will put the concrete sub-floor.

A good depth of the trench is often necessary, something between 10 and 15 inches. Then you throw into the trench gravel, spread it on equally on the ground.

After completing this step, we recommend placing a plastic membrane that exceeds the size of the trench. An alternative is to pour asphalt on the trench. A proper isolation of the floor is essential to keep the garden building dry, since a lot of humidity creeps through the floor. If your garden building is made of wood, then humidity could also damage the material of the building.

Take your time for performing each step. If you used asphalt, wait until it is completely dry before you build anything upon it. Asphalt is only rock solid after drying completely, which takes a couple of days.

Remember that the base has several functions: thermal insulation, insulation against humidity, being a solid base to build upon and avoid anything growing below it. Therefore, in most cases, you’ll need to use asphalt instead of plastic, even if the later if much cheaper. In the long term, you will not regret spending a little bit more money.

The base of the garden building is as important as the basement of a house. If it is not build properly, the house can collapse. Follow carefully all the recommendations of the materials you use. Different cement types require different drying time. Some are not developed for outside use. Equally important is to choose the right kind of wood, if you are building the garden building from scratch. Most woods are not treated for outside use, which can be very harsh, especially in cold or rainy regions.

Once you’re done with your building make sure to accentuate it with superior outdoor patio lighting, it makes all the difference for an esthetically pleasing surrounding.

Small Garden Buildings for Organizing Tools

If you are one of those who take care of your own garden, you certainly have a number of tools to do the work, some large, including machinery, lawn mowers, rakes, shovels and many more. Additionally, you probably also need a place to store bulbs, fertilizers and a hose.

Clearly, it is essential to have a place to keep all this in an organized way. It could be the garage, but sometimes there is not enough space in it for the car and the tools. In addition to the lack of space, it is better to keep things at hand, since we never know exactly what we will need at a specific time.

If you also don’t have a big garden you always could buy a small garden building. Some garden buildings are as small as a telephone booth. Even in this case, if it is well organized, there will be plenty of space to store everything that you need for your garden. Before buying it, check if it has enough racks and shelves, even if you can build the shelves according to your need. Thus we will always have everything at hand and in an orderly and accessible way. Even if you buy one of the smaller models it is still possible to store a number of tools. The most important is that you keep everything neatly organized.

There are small garden buildings of plastic and others made of wood. The later is more expensive, the former is cheaper and easier to build. Plastic definitely doesn’t look as good, but it last almost forever. There is not much you can do wrong when buying a plastic garden building. Even the cheapest are tough enough even under harshest weather. However, do not underestimate how long a wooden garden building can last. If the wood is of quality and treated properly against fire, insects and humidity, then it can also last for a long time. And by a long time, I mean several years.

However, if you take pride in the atmosphere of your garden, then you’ll want to go with the wooden building. The garden building is an element that needs to integrate seamlessly into your garden. The resulting garden building is even a decorative complement to the landscape as a whole. Since manufacturers know that garden owners indeed buy wooden garden building for aesthetic reasons, they also offer a variety of very attractive garden buildings.

Tips for Buying a Garden Building

Each garden is different and if you like taking care of your garden personally rather than outsourcing the work in your garden, then probably you bought several tools, supplies, bulbs, garden furniture and everything else. Possibly, you are out of storage capacity. However, have you ever thought about a garden building, where you can store everything related to your garden?

The reality is that we reach a time when the volume exceeds the capabilities of our home. In short, if this time came for you, you’ll need to build or buy a garden building.

The first thing to consider is that you’ll need a place which allows flowing of air, easily accessible, secure and which does not interrupt the passage of persons or esthetically spoild your views. Choose a place where the ground is flat and you are sure will not accumulate rainwater. Drainage must be optimal and the garden building should have a few hours of sun and shade. Otherwise, it will become a frozen place in winter or an oven in summer.

The questions if you should build from scratch or buy a pre-fabricated module almost always prompt the answer that you should go with the later. Even if you have advanced DIY abilities, it is often cheaper to buy a module and it yields better results. Choosing to buy a module building means that you’ll get pieces which fit perfectly into each other, a base which is solid, and a roof which will not leak.

When shopping for a garden building, don’t go for the cheaper option. Make sure the wood is treated against fire and humidity. Make sure it stands the kind of weather where you live. Remember that the wood will have to stand snow, rain, sunshine and wind. If you want the wood to last more than one year, you’ll have to go for quality. Also don’t buy too small, since you’ll soon discover that you cannot get enough storage place, since your storage needs will also change through time.

Also check how many people are needed to build the module that you are buying. Some require as little as two and some small versions can be built alone.

Make sure that you have all the tools necessary for building it. Most vendors offer you everything that you need at the same place. In most cases, building a pre-fabricated garden building doesn’t require expensive or unusual tools.

The landscape you create around your garden building, such as garden lights can create an esthetically pleasing addition to any garden building. Consider researching, you will come up with some landscape design ideas that’s sure to please!

Install Landscape Lighting

Out with the old, in with the new! Spring is a terrific time to take care of those projects around the house like cleaning out the garage, painting, or doing some landscaping. Once the weather warms up working out in the yard can give you a great sense of satisfaction when you see your project complete. Building a pergola, installing annual flowers or installing some landscape lighting can be a great way to enhance the appearance of your yard. Landscape lighting is a very inexpensive and easy way to enhance the night time appearance of your home with very little cost. The average cost for a small starter set of landscape lights for the yard is about $20 and can be installed in an hour or so.

Spring also means longer days to work outside, especially with daylight savings time. It’s possible that you could install your landscape lighting and still have plenty of time to do other projects as well as enjoy some time with your family.

Here is a quick method to laying out your yard lights:

1. Pick an evening and go out in your yard with your flashlight and use it to high light the places that you want to light. Look at your walkways, trees, landscape beds, water features and driveways as possible locations for your landscape lights.
2. Determine your budget – this will help determine the quantity and quality of your lighting project. If you want to go for quality and don’t have the resources financially to install all of them at once, then go ahead and do your planning in advance, pick out the places that you will want landscape lights to be and get as many lights as you can afford. Do it in phases – come back when you can afford to finish the project.
3. Install your lights! The easiest method is using solar lights… no running of power to your lights, just install as described by the manufacturer. Nature provides the power.

In addition to enhancing the appearance of your yard, landscape lights can improve the safety of your home as well. Thieves are much less likely to approach a house that is well lit versus a houses that completely darkened at night. They can be spotted by neighbors and passer-by-ers if you have good lighting as well.

Ideas for Landscape Lighting

New technologies are being brought to market on a monthly or even daily basis these days and it holds true for the landscape lighting industry as well. There are some great new technologies that feature LED landscape lighting as well as solar landscape lighting. All you need is a little time and a few dollars and you can add some great creativity to your garden. Here are a few ideas to consider:

Solar Color-Changing Gazing Ball

This is a throw back to the gazing ball that many folks had in their front yards back in the 50s and 60s except this ball is solar powered and offers 6 different colors. It also features a “cracked glass” globe that is lit by a LED bulb and powered by three built in Ni-Cad batteries that are charged by a solar panel and can run for up to eight hours at a time.

Solar eClips Light String

These solar powered lights are a new product on the market that offer a different look and feel for solar landscape lighting. They are versatile because they can clip on to fences, deck railing or can be staked in the ground along a walkway or stairway. The light strings have 14 single LED lights, come with clips and stakes and a 50′ long cord. It charges with using a 4″ square solar panel and can run up to 8 hours per day. The lights themselves are 3-4″ wide and 2″ tall with approximately 32″ of wiring between the lights.

Solar Stepping Stones

Yep, these are stones with LED lighting already built in. They are powered by a solar rechargeable Siemens™ silicone solar cell Ni-Cad battery that can hold a charge for up to 8 hours at a time. There is a light sensor that turns the light on at night and off in the morning. It is a 12″x12″x2″ thick durable polyresin and fiberglass that is very durable and very attractive as well.

Solar Butterfly Lights

Another creative way to add color and light into your garden with minimal ongoing operation costs because it is solar powered. The multi-colored Solar Powered Butterfly light is “11-1/2″ and can be adjusted in height off of the ground to 18″. It is powered with a small solar panel and uses a single LED bulb for light with fiber optics interwoven to create points of light throughout the butterfly.

Solar Plant Light Rings

The Solar Plant Light Rings are great for potted plants because they are small and delicate, won’t overpower your plant but yet powerful enough to provide some great up lighting. They feature clear LED landscape lights powered by a solar panel you can stake up to 14′ away. It comes with a flexible plastic ring that ranges in size from 6″ to 11″ in diameter and is very is to stake inside a pot or in a flower bed if so desired.

These are all great ways to improve the landscape lighting in your home, very easy to install and can add a ton of creativity to your garden.