Hard Landscaping Maintenance
How you maintain and care for your garden is the key to giving it a longer lifespan and keep it looking at its best.
Read on to hear our top tips for maintaining your timber in your garden.
Fences
Fences are an important feature of any garden to keep looking tidy and maintained. Depending on the wood used for your fence will determine whether you need to apply any treatment to it.
If you had your fencing installed by us, it would have already pressure treated prior to the installation – so it will already be protected from rot, decay and insects for then first year or two of its life.
Although this gives excellent short-term protection, we would recommend applying a further treatment every few years (depending on treatment used) which will prevent weathering and the growth of mould and algae.
If you don’t like the weathered look, there are many suitable treatments available and the best having the quality to repel water, protect against UV damage and mould.
Cedar
Cedar is a great material for garden projects and can look great treated or untreated depending on the look you’re trying to achieve.
Due to its abundance of natural oils, cedar deteriorates slowly. Therefore, even if left untreated it can go for many years before needing to be replaced.
If you want your cedar to look brand new in the long term, you need to apply an ultraviolet protecting oil immediately after installation.
We typically use and recommend a clear OSMO UV-Protection Oil. The recommendation is that two coats are applied to new cedar, and the oil slows the change of colour by a factor of 12. Depending on the rate of weathering your cedar is exposed to, the UV oil needs to be re-applied every 3 to 4 years.
Pictured is an example where one-half has just one coat of oil at this stage, and the other half is about to have it applied. You can see there is more of a richness to the side with the oil applied.
Oak
Oak installation requests are popular amongst our clients for their projects. Certain types of Oak are highly resistant to insect and fungal attack. But if left untreated the oak will weather to a silver colour in around a year. If required, a lighter colour can be retained if the wood is treated or sealed before it is exposed to the elements.
Bonus tip: We recommend that you check the colour on an off-cut of the same timber if you do intend to treat it so you can ensure the colour is exactly what you want before applying it to the main structure.
It is always advisable to allow the tannins (oils) inside the Oak to bleed out before sealing, you will notice these as brown run marks on the oak, this "bleeding" will only occur early after installation and once it has finished it will not return.
Similar to the cedar wood, we recommend applying the UV protection oil to prevent it from sun bleaching.
If you’re a client, make sure to head to your MyHabitat page to find more information packs on all aspects of your garden for maintenance tips and advice.
When maintaining any part of your garden, ensure you are referring to any products instructions carefully and if you have any doubts, please contact us as we’d be more than happy to help you!
Browse our latest projects, here.
Tags:
garden maintenance - top tips