Garden Improvement Ideas Using Railway Sleepers

Gardens can very quickly become unruly and require your attention. Next time you get in there and tidy it up why not upgrade it with some extra features?

Railway sleepers are an extremely low cost addition to any garden. They are extremely versatile and can be used to enhance the look and feel of your garden
and home. The only limits to what you can do are your imagination and your
ability to move around the railway sleepers.

Protect and distinguish your flower beds by raising them with railway sleepers. Laying a railway sleepers lengthways on its side as a border to your flower bed protects your flowers from creeping weeds and adds a permanent section to the garden. This will raise the depth of the flower bed so you can add another layer of soil when planting for next spring.

Railway sleepers add a much more natural touch than a brick wall and as a single object you do not need to worry about parts falling down, as you would with a brick wall.

Hardwood railway sleepers can be used to landscape your garden, acting as retaining walls. In this case hardwood sleepers are your best bet as they are more

hardwearing and will potentially be withstanding a considerable load of earth
and turf. Once again, the wood looks much more suited than brick work, however
other types of rocks can be used to create a natural and aesthetic landscaped
garden.

Garden walls can be very troublesome as plant roots and the weight of earth and turf push them over and weaken them. An advantage of using railway sleepers as an
alternative is that as a large, solid object a single railway sleeper is
considerably stronger than the equivalent length in bricks. Oak railway
sleepers can make excellent garden walls if you prefer a lighter coloured wood.
Treated used railway sleepers are great if you prefer a darker coloured wood and
are cheaper!

If you are getting garden decking then why not use a railway sleeper or two to create the steps? You can get railway sleepers in a range of woods, so can get one which

matches your decking, or simply treat the sleepers so that they match.
Depending on the length of your steps you could get away with only using one sleeper or may need three. As they are solid they are more secure than constructing steps, they simply need to be anchored to the decking and ground
and each other. This would add a more natural, interesting look than brick steps or uniform steps which match the decking.

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