Spring marks the perfect time for homeowners to embark on landscaping endeavours, with tasks ranging from lawn maintenance to clearing vegetation. 
The milder weather and additional hours of sunlight provide ideal conditions for working outdoors. It is also a great opportunity to create an inviting outdoor space for relaxing and entertaining when warm weather arrives.

In this guide, we'll delve into various essential DIY landscaping and gardening tasks and the equipment needed for each. Additionally, we'll explore the realm of hardscaping, taking a look at tasks such as breaking up paved areas, constructing stone-lined ditches or tiling outdoor patios. 

At MPH, we offer a comprehensive range of equipment necessary for getting your outdoor space ready for the summer ahead. We also provide chemical toilet and welfare unit hire, to help keep the inside of your house free from outdoor dirt. Speak to our team for more information.

Lawn care and vegetation management

Initially reserved for the aristocracy, lawns have gained widespread popularity due to their increased ease of maintenance and reduced cost. Moreover, machines such as lawn mowers, scarifiers, petrol rotavators, wood chippers and excavators have made general landscaping and farming work accessible to the general public. In this section, we'll explore some common jobs and the machinery employed to accomplish them.

• Lawn mowing and scarifying: As grass starts to grow new roots and leaves, it begins to require more maintenance. By mowing frequently, upward growth can be inhibited and sideways growth can be stimulated, creating a dense and healthy lawn. Mowers like the Honda HRN series feature Smart Drive®, allowing for comfortable speed control of the mower. The 536 VK petrol lawn mower allows for either mulching or bagging of clippings. Over time, dead grass leaves and dead roots will create a layer of thatch that can prevent water and nutrients from entering the soil. A Camon LS17 petrol lawn scarifier will remove this layer using sharp, rotating blades that cut into the thatch. After raking away the debris resulting from dethatching, the lawn becomes primed to absorb water and nutrients effectively. Following this process, overseeding will breathe new life into the lawn.

• Preparing the soil for new grass: Compacted soil resulting from foot traffic is not ideal for cultivation. Decompacting can be done with various hand tools, but faster and more efficient methods are available. A rotavator like the Camon C22, also called a cultivator, uses sharp rotating blades to tear up hard soil and break up roots creating the right surface for new plant growth. This is useful not just for planting new grass, but also for general gardening purposes such as planting vegetables or decorative plants.

• Moving or lifting lawn: In situations requiring lawn relocation a petrol turf cutter proves essential, enabling the removal of a section of lawn below the root level. A compact machine like the Garden Master GMTC2 employs a blade to reach beneath the roots and cut a sizable turf section. The extracted turf can then be rolled and transplanted elsewhere or stored for replanting. Proper soil preparation and decompaction are crucial to facilitate root growth in the area where the grass is to be replanted. Additionally, it's imperative to promptly replant any removed and rolled turf, ensuring it remains out of the ground for no more than 24 hours.

• Vegetation clearance: Cutting down trees, shredding bushes into mulch and uprooting stumps are just some of the tasks expertly handled by specialised excavator attachments. Flail mower attachments will shred trees quickly and efficiently, while ripper tooth attachments will allow for stump removal. To facilitate tree felling in land clearance jobs, additional equipment like wood chippers may be employed for shredding purposes. Stump removal is seamlessly executed using stump grinders, producing mulch suitable for various applications such as enhancing garden beds or paving temporary footpaths.

Hardscaping

Looking after a lawn does require some dedication, and in places where they are hard to grow other options might be necessary. This is where hardscaping comes in. This is a term that refers to all of the man-made features used in landscaping. It includes paths, paved areas, walls, fountains, rockeries and so on. In this section we’ll explore some hardscaping ideas and the equipment required to carry them out, starting with demolishing existing structures.

• Removing paved surfaces or concrete structures: Demolishing old patios, driveways or walkways is made efficient with breaker attachments for excavators. For smaller projects such as dismantling steps or clearing small paved areas, regular breakers are often preferred. Various breaker options, including hydraulic breakers, electric breakers and anti-vibration breakers such as the Sullair MK 250, are available to minimise user fatigue. Additionally, dumpers and skip loaders efficiently manage the task of moving soil and debris, with skip loaders such as the THWAITES MACH201 offering a high lift action, for convenient dumping of debris directly into a skip.

• Retaining walls and stone-lined ditches: Constructing multi-tiered gardens with retaining walls, levelling gardens to ensure optimal drainage and excavating trenches, embellished with stone lining (to replicate a charming forest stream in your garden), are among the tasks expertly handled by excavators. Tilting buckets are instrumental in crafting graded slopes for trenches, while ripper teeth assist in eliminating obstructive roots.

• Paving with gravel, tile and pavers: When laying gravel, pebbles, pavers, flagstone or tiles, compacting the soil beneath is essential. This process, usually done with a compactor plate, ensures a smoother path for gravel and pebbles, reducing mud accumulation during rainfall and enhancing weed resistance. For pavers or tiles, compacting the soil creates a level surface for the foundation. Ideally, tile installations require a concrete foundation, while pavers can utilise a geotextile fabric foundation that permits water drainage while blocking debris. This fabric is then covered with gravel and sand layers. For cutting and shaping pavers, flagstone or concrete, both a masonry table saw and a cut off saw are indispensable. While a masonry saw enables straight cuts, a cut off saw like the Stihl TS410 is versatile, facilitating curved cuts and material removal.

When considering the addition of tiles onto an existing concrete slab, a concrete grinder is crucial for smoothing out any uneven surfaces. For significant concrete removal tasks, opting for a concrete scarifier like the Vonarx FR200 is the most effective choice. Unlike a planer or grinder, which use rotating discs, a scarifier employs flails to efficiently shave off concrete layers.

Beautiful and functional outdoor spaces often require a combination of landscaping and hardscaping. There are countless blogs, magazines and tutorials on the subject. Once you have found the inspiration for your project, speak to MPH and let our team recommend the best tools and equipment to bring your vision to life.

Spring into action with MPH

At MPH we stock a comprehensive range of tools and equipment for all of your springtime projects. Contact us today to ask for helpful advice from our friendly team.

Call our depot on 020 8351 3434 (option 2)
Email: info@mrplanthire.co.uk
Install our handy app via Google Play or Apple Store
Or use our contact form.