Landscaping solutions for common problems

Here we take a look at the professional landscaping solutions for these four common problems.

1. Ground stabilisation

   When it comes to hard landscaping, a stable foundation is essential. Without a stable base, a new driveway or patio can quickly become cracked and uneven. Choosing the right ground stabilisation membrane for the landscaping application is vital to creating stable groundworks and ensuring good drainage too. While a general purpose geotextile fabric, such as Groundtex, will work perfectly well in many applications, some, such as laying a new driveway, will require a specialist solution. Drivetex is a professional driveway geotextile fabric that can be used beneath MOT Type 1 or 3 aggregate or hardcore to provide separation from the sub-grade (soil), spreading the load and helping to prevent sinking and rutting.

2. Drainage

   Long, wet winters can be troublesome for gardens. How waterlogging is best tackled depends on the area. On grass, simply spiking it with a garden fork can help. A more robust solution, such as a French drain lined with Draintex non-woven membrane, could prove best for particularly troublesome areas. In plant beds, permeable weed control fabrics, such as Landtex, help drain excess water away that would otherwise starve the plants of oxygen. On gravel, unsightly puddles can be avoided by installing Gravelrings gravel grids, which have an open mesh base to allow drainage.

   When installing soakaway and water attenuation crates, wrapping with a highly permeable fabric, such as Draintex, allows water to percolate through but prevents the soakaway from becoming silted up. Draintex also acts as a filter membrane in French drains by separating the aggregate from the soil, which otherwise can reduce the capacity and efficiency of the drain.

3. Weed control

   Unwanted weeds can be the bane of a landscaping professional’s life. Understanding the best way to tackle individual species, and knowing whether they’re annual or perennial, can help. Managing weeds without chemicals is preferable, with regular hoeing, hand weeding and scorching. A highly effective method of controlling weeds is a ‘prevention rather than cure’ approach, by installing a geotextile membrane such as Weedtex, Landtex or Groundtex. These professional landscaping fabrics work by allowing nutrients into the soil but starve weeds of the daylight they need to grow.

4. Gravel retention
   
   When not laid correctly, gravel can spread and spoil the overall appearance of both soft and hard landscaping features. But it’s an easily avoidable problem – simply laying the right gravel retention system, such as the Gravelrings grid system, keeps gravel in place.

With 20 years’ experience, Growtivation understands the needs of landscaping professionals and has concentrated on providing high performance solutions with our Product That Works range.

Find out more about the Growtivation Product That Works range by downloading our Product Guide.

To find out where you can buy Growtivation products visit our online Where to Buy facility or contact the friendly team at Growtivation for advice on 0800 197 8885 or email [email protected].