Landscape pro reveals the number 1 mistake Brits make when picking paving slabs – they’ll look so much grubbier to
IT’S that time of the year when green-fingered Brits will be working on their gardens to get them ready for summer.
But before you dash to the nearest garden centre for all the essentials, one landscape expert has revealed a key mistake many people make when picking paving slabs.
DIY-loving homeowners are constantly looking for ways to upgrade their outdoor spaces to create a both beautiful and functional environment.
One of the best ways to do this is by incorporating garden paving slabs into your landscaping plans.
Versatile and durable, paving slabs offer countless design options beyond traditional walkways and patios that typically wouldn’t last as long.
Unlike other outdoor paving options, such as gravel or mulch, paving slabs are also relatively low maintenance.
They provide a clean and consistent surface that can resist pesky weeds and requires minimal upkeep, as they can be cleaned with a hose or power washer.
However, now one industry whizz, Pollyanna Wilkinson, has advised Brits to be careful of one common error many make when transforming their outdoor space with paving slabs.
She told fellow gardening guru Jojo Barr: ”It’s amazing how many clients we get who phone us and they’ve laid their paving.
”And they’ve gone for something quite bright […] and they’ve not looked at the sample on a sunny day, and they’re like ‘Yeah, it’s really bright’.
”Something we are so mindful of is getting those materials out on the floor on a sunny day – because you would be amazed how much brighter these things look.
”And you know, it’s an expensive part of the garden, the hard materials, so it has to be the right ones,” she told on The Ins and Outs podcast.
When choosing the paving slabs for the garden glow-up, the expert advised to ”go a lot darker thank you think to achieve quite a pale aesthetic”.
Fellow guru Jojo chimed in: ”It’s a bit like when you go to the beach, […], like a white sand beach at the Maldives or something like that.
”The sand is so white that it’s blinding, it’s almost too white.
”It actually knocks you out if you don’t have glasses on,” she chuckled.
It may sound obvious, but choosing paving slabs that are lighter in colour will also make your garden look grubbier – as all the dirt and moss will be more visible to the eye.
Garden features that add the most value to a house
A well-kept garden can add anywhere between 5-20% to the value of a property.
Sellhousefast.uk carried out a study and consulted 36 estate agents, garden designers and property professionals from across the UK.
And the experts revealed the garden feature which adds the most value to a property is a shed.
- Shed – 82%
- Patio or paving – 76%
- Secure fencing, walls or gates – 72%
- Outdoor lighting – 66%
- Sturdy decking – 62%
- Water features eg. fountain or pond – 58%
- Modern garden furniture – 54%
- Artificial lawn/grass – 40%
Previously, the gardening pros also revealed how to make an ugly fence disappear with an £8 Wickes buy.
Co-host JoJo revealed that a listener was struggling with an unsightly fence.
“We’ve got a 3m high fence all along the back of our garden, what can I do to help soften it?” the listener asked.
“I was thinking of painting it black but what else can I do given we don’t want to lose too much more garden space to full on hedging.
“There are two trees behind the fence, a cedar and an oak stealing all the nutrients from the soil hence needing to build the fence.
“The wall in the first place of the hedging behind it is very sparse, the wall is north west facing and under much cover so it’s slightly shady.”
Pollyanna explained that there is a very simple and cheap solution to the issue.
“My answer will always be the same,” she said, “Paint it dark and grow things up it.
“We are not painting it dark for you to look at the darkness, we’re painting it dark for you then to grow plants on it.
“The darkness is making it vanish, it’s making your ugly wall/ fence disappear.”
Painting a fence can be done cheaply with a can of shed and fence stain coming in at £8 if you head to Wickes.