With a newly planted garden you should initially water every day for the first 2 weeks. This should, of course, be offset by local weather conditions. If there have been heavy soaking rains then there is no need to water that day but if it has been exceptionally hot and windy, then you may need to water twice. Rule of thumb is if the plants are wilting then they need water. The same applies for lawns on a hot day. If a new lawn is drying out, it will start to flatten and turn more grey/green rather than its usual lush green and will always dry out more on the edges and joins.

In general new lawns should be left a minimum of 2 weeks in the summer months before walking on them. This is so they can establish their roots in the soil below and you can test this by lifting the corner of the turf and seeing whether it has ‘knitted to the ground’. Another sign is when the turf really takes off and needs to be mowed. Remember that with the new soft leaf buffalo varieties you should always mow them ‘high’.

Paver selection is dependent on a number of factors. In the last 10 years the amount of different pavers on the market has increased substantially and recently there has been a huge increase in natural stone products imported from Asia. The general quality of a lot of these products nowadays is excellent, with the man made products becoming much more consistent in size, thickness and colour, and natural stone products competing cost wise. This said it comes down to ‘horses for courses’. If you are looking for a paver for your driveway you should be aware that a light coloured paver may show tire marks. Alternately a dark coloured paver on a patio or pool surround in full sun in the middle of summer can be uncomfortable for bare feet. Competition is fierce and prices have dropped considerably so shop around.