Garden Sleepers

Sleepers are a wonderful choice for earthy, natural flowerbed or pathway edging in your garden. To install them, follow our steps:

1. Mark your desired layout with a string line.
2. Dig a shallow trench along the line, slightly wider than your sleepers but matching them exactly in depth. 
3. Ensure your sleepers are the correct length and resize with a saw if needed. If you will be including corner sleepers, these will need to be cut at a 45-degree angle to fit together properly. Or alternatively, butt the sleepers up square to create the corner 
4. Lay your first sleeper, using a spirit level to check that it is level.
5. If your sleeper is not level, add or remove soil as needed.
6. Drive stakes into the ground at either side of your sleeper, spaced 40mm apart, until it is secured.
7. Repeat steps 4-6 as you move along, screwing sleepers together with landscaping screws to create longer borders. 
8. Backfill gaps around sleepers with soil. Add bituminous paint to any areas where there may be excessive moisture buildup, such as where the soil will touch. 

Sleepers can also be used for rustic raised flowerbeds, creating a look that’s perfect for cottage gardens. Follow our steps to build yours:

1. Clear your flowerbed area of excess soil and vegetation. Ensure your soil is firm and level. 
2. Dig a small trench around your flowerbed that is slightly wider than your sleepers and two-thirds of the depth.
3. Ensure your sleepers are cut to the appropriate size, resizing with a saw if needed.
4. Lay your first layer of sleepers, similarly to how you might lay sleeper garden edging. Ensuring sleepers are level with a spirit level, driving stakes at either end of each sleeper to secure them, and backfilling gaps with soil. 
5. For a tall raised bed with multiple sleeper layers, drive retaining stakes into the corners and along the interior walls of your raised bed.
6. Add your next level of sleepers, securing them to the sleepers below with timber screws that are one-third longer than the board depth.
7. For additional support, screw your sleeper to the retaining stakes along the inner wall, too.
8. Extend the durability of your raised sleeper flowerbed by lining it with landscaping fabric before adding soil.

Sleepers are incredibly handy for creating retaining walls that hold back soil to remedy a sloping garden. Here’s how:

1. Begin by measuring the slope depth.
2. Dig out your soil to create a level surface, ensuring that you remove rocks and debris.
3. Mark where your sleepers will be installed.
4. when laying sleepers in the desired area, drive stakes into the ground to secure the sleeper and use timber screws to fix the sleeper to the stakes. 
5. Lay sleepers along the edge of the dug area.
6. Fill the gaps between sleepers with soil or gravel.
7. Compact your soil/gravel for stability.