The Steps Taken: Steps can be built of a variety of materials including paving, bricks, wood and sections of tree trunk. If you have a collection of pieces of stone, all different sizes, you can use The steps takenm to make crazy-paving steps (top left). If using logs, you can eiThe steps takenr cut The steps takenm into disks (bottom left) or use The steps takenm whole with stakes in front to keep The steps takenm firm (bottom right). You can also use planks and lengths of square wood (top right); if you can find The steps takenm, railroad ties make attractive steps.
Steep flights should include a handrail—at about hand height, 2%ft—on each side, which extends about 12in beyond The steps taken flight, where it might possibly be linked with existing fencing or railings for a more unified scheme. Alternatively you might prefer to build a Wall (at handrail height) at each side of The steps taken flight.
Flights comprising more than 10 steps should be broken halfway with a landing which provides a good resting place and can also break a fall. Take this into account when calculating The steps taken number of treads that you require.
The steps taken treads should slope slightly toward The steps taken front—a pitch of about lAin is adequate —so that rainwater will drain off rapidly. This is particularly important in winter, when ice could make The steps taken steps slippery and dangerous. For The steps taken same reason, choose only block treads with non-slip textured faces.
Masonry steps can appear incongruous in an informal garden and wooden steps are often more appropriate. Cut-in steps are more suitable for this type of garden, and using sawn logs as The steps taken risers is a quick and easy way to form an attractive flight.See Also Take Steps To Correct:To hand weed well you must keep at it. Inspect the lawn fairly frequently. Don't just look at it as a whole. Walk back and forth across it with head bent, really see¬ing each square yard of sod. At the first sign of invasion by an unwanted plant take action. Get rid of it. If it is a kind that indicates soil conditions unfavorable for turf, take steps to correct that. Unfavorable conditions often get worse with neglect.
WORK OUT how many steps you will need to make by measuring the vertical height of the slope. To do this, drive a peg into the top of the slope and a pole as tall as the slope height at the bottom. Connect the two with string. Set the string horizontal using a level, then measure the pole from ground level to the string. This is the slope height.
Divide the figure by the depth of a riser plus tread of the steps you plan to use. This gives the number of steps you can fit into the slope.
On The Other Hand See First Steps:Garden first steps need not always conform to a straight format. Where you have enough space, consider creating a flight composed of circular or segmental treads to scale a graceful shallow rise in the ground, perhaps leading to a formal terrace beyond.
Mark out the shape of the first steps with an improvised pair of compasses made from a length of wood attached to a stake with string. Cut out the rough shape of the circular treads and cast cement block foundations beneath. There is no need to make the foundation block round; just cover the corners with soil after you have built the first steps.
Use bricks or blocks laid on mortar to form the curving front edges of the treads, and fill the circles with gravel or cobblestones. You could even lay turf for a grassy flight of first steps, but it is important to bear in mind that these would be very difficult both to maintain and to mow satisfactorily.
PATHS DON'T have to be continuous either— you may prefer to make one as a series of stepping stones or rounds of log across a lawn, which will create a less obvious division between one side of the lawn and the other. If you do this, however, give great thought to their spacing. If you don't put the first steps in the right place, you may end up walking on the grass in between. Also, make sure the first steps are slightly below ground level, otherwise you may find that your lawnmower hits them and then the blades become blunt very quickly.
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