Landscaping

A worn-out lawn turned into a fountain garden

Finished September 2026

A round planted bed edged with two courses of block paving, a two-tier stone fountain at its centre and new lawn all around it — Planted up, with the fountain in the middle: the garden as we left it.

WorkLandscaping
SurfacesBlock paving, gravel and turf
FinishedSeptember 2026
Photographs14

The back lawn had gone thin and uneven, and the strip down the side of the house was under long grass.

Both areas started the same way: the old turf came off, and a stone sub-base went in and was compacted. Everything laid on top of a base is only as level as the base underneath it.

In the garden, the circle was set out in kerbs and every sett in the ring was laid by hand. Topsoil went inside it, then the stepping stones and the base for the fountain, and new turf around it up to the edging. The planting and the fountain went in last.

Down the side of the house the strip was dug out and based the same way, then edged, filled with gravel and set with stepping stones, with planting down both sides.

How it was built

14 photographs, in the order the work went in

A back garden of worn, uneven grass with conifers along the boundary and a low stone wall at the front — The back garden before we started: thin, patchy grass.

A stripped back garden covered in compacted crushed stone, with a curved kerb line marking out a circle — The old turf off and the stone sub-base compacted, with the circle set out in kerbs.

Setts being laid one by one along the curve of the ring, with loose stone around them — Every sett in the ring laid by hand.

The inside of the block-edged circle filled with levelled soil, three round stepping stones and a central stone base — Topsoil levelled inside the border, stepping stones set, and the base in for the fountain.

Fresh turf laid around a shaped bed with a central stone base and round stepping stones — New turf laid around the bed, right up to the edging.

A finished circular bed seen from above, edged with two courses of block paving around a gravel centre, with new turf all around it — The ring finished: two courses of block around a gravel centre, turf up to the edge.

A new lawn with round stepping stones leading up to a block-edged circle at the top of the garden — The new lawn, with the stepping stones running up to the circle.

Down the side of the house

A narrow strip beside a house under long grass, between a low stone wall and a conifer hedge — The side strip before we started: long grass between the wall and the hedge.

The side strip dug out, with a compacted stone base and edging running along it — Dug out and based in stone, ready for the gravel.

A curved gravel path with large stepping stones, edged with darker gravel beside a stone wall — The gravel in, and the stepping stones set on the line of the path.

A winding gravel path with stepping stones between beds of bare soil, seen from the top of the strip — The same path from the top, before the planting went in.

A finished gravel path with dark stepping stones and flowers planted along both sides — Finished: gravel, stepping stones, and planting down both sides.

The finished gravel path and its planting seen from above, over a stone wall — The same path from above, over the wall.

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