When you get the keys to your new build home, the excitement factor is high, everything is fresh and pristine and then you peer out the window and the outdoor space is generally anything but inspiring.

Simon and his partner got the keys to their new home in August 2018 and it is safe to say that their garden wasn’t much of a garden at all, here’s their story.

Tell us briefly how the garden was before you began updating it?

As with most new builds, the house builder provided us with topsoil and slabs, nothing more. Our garden also had a gradient, sloping away from the house, which made the space mostly unusable.

What did you want to achieve from the garden?

We wanted to create the ideal space for entertaining friends and family and give it a sense of purpose. We’re also keen gardeners, but sadly we don’t have much free time. With this in mind, we also wanted to create space for plants that would be easy to maintain.

The garden before....

How did you hear about WoodBlocX?

When we decided that we needed to level off the garden we started searching online for retaining walls. A few clicks later and we arrived at the WoodBlocX website.

Did you look into any alternative materials for the walls and seating?

We considered using reclaimed railway/timber sleepers but quickly decided it wasn’t an option worth pursuing. Using sleepers would have not only cost more due to the waste, but the effort that comes with having to lift, cut and attach them together was also off putting.

How did you find working with the team and using the free bespoke design service?

Incredible. We worked with Lachlan who was extremely helpful (and patient!) as we refined our design multiple times to make it perfect. When you’re in our garden you can immediately feel that the design is unique and has been designed to fit and maximise the space.

The garden after...

Tell us about the different elements of your new garden

Our garden is now split into two levels. The first level has a slate floor covering and is supported by two WoodBlocX retaining walls. We also worked an inset seating area into one of the walls maximise the space and provide a place to put the shopping down when you walk through the back gate.

We then have a semi-circular set of WoodBlocX steps that take you down to the lower level of the garden. As our neighbour’s land is around 50cm higher than ours we have a retaining wall that supports their garden along the fence - this also provides us with a perfect raised bed for growing trailing plants along the fence (currently Sweet Peas). Moving further down the garden we needed to continue the retaining wall, but we wanted to ensure there was still space for seating. The space at the bottom of our garden appeared as an obvious place for a cosy seating area, but to do this while also needing a retaining wall was a challenge. During the design process we worked with Lachlan to create the perfect shaped benches that would also act as retaining walls. This has saved us space and money as we now have permanent seating that, unlike other garden furniture, doesn’t need to be stored away during water in a shed that takes up space!

Our designer Lachlan says...

“Simon’s garden was a great project to work on and a great customer to work with. We had to go through a few iterations of the design, but this is all part of the design process. We always ensure that our customers receive exactly what they need for their project regardless of what it is they want to achieve. For an intricate full garden redesign like this one, it was paramount that we focussed on the details to squeeze the most out of the space and budget, whilst fulfilling the original brief.”

If you need help transforming your garden or to find out more about our free bespoke design service click here

It can be tricky to get creative with standard garden furniture, whilst there are lots of different types and materials available most stick to standard designs, our garden furniture, on the other hand, can be anything you like! We can create bespoke designs that fit your garden perfectly and you don’t need to worry about annual maintenance, covering or storing it away over winter.

Our modular timber system gives you design flexibility to either fit seating perfectly into a space, create standalone structures, or incorporate planters, ponds, walls and steps and transform your garden.

Ideas for small gardens

Standard, Narrow or Wide Bench
Choose from standard, narrow or wide, place in front of walls, on the patio or in a quiet spot under a tree.

Corner Planter Bench
Maximise space by making use of corners to bring seating and planting to small spaces.

Ideas for large gardens

Long Planter with Bookends
This is a truly multifunctional bench with lots of space to seat up to four people and planters either side to bring some colour and fragrance.

Four Sided Planter Seat with Central Bed
Create a seating centre-piece to enjoy different areas of the garden, place on a large lawn or patio, plant flowers, herbs or even a miniature tree in the planter.

Garden makeovers

Gardens large and small can include bespoke garden furniture designs, in fact, most of our customers take this option, that way it can be designed to fit perfectly in garden, plus other elements can also be added such as walls, steps and space for planting. We offer a free design service to ensure our customers get exactly what they need for their garden. Click here to find out more.

Easy to build

Our wooden BlocX and dowel system is totally unique, it means there’s no cutting or sawing, no nails, screws and no waste, simply follow the instructions provided to build your structure. We have also recently introduced a removable dowel so if you make a mistake just unscrew it and start again. This feature is also fantastic if you’re moving house and don’t want to leave your beloved WoodBlocX raised bed, planter or pond behind! To see how easy WoodBlocX is to build watch this quick video.

Maintenance and materials

WoodBlocX are made from pressure-treated, British, wood and are guaranteed to last for at least 15 years without rotting or distorting. All you need to do is install your design following our customised guidelines and you can be sure your seat is safe, sturdy and durable.

The wood will age naturally to a soft grey, or they can be painted any colour you like. To find out more about the ageing process click here.

To find out more about our wooden garden furniture seating, benches and chairs click here

Our modular system is ideal for building raised beds, planters, garden furniture, walls and steps and it can be used for a few other garden essentials including edging and kerbing and decking, shed and greenhouse bases too.

The versatility of WoodBlocX means that all structures can be designed so that they are completely bespoke to your garden, whether it is completely flat or sloped, plus you can build them on soft surfaces including earth and grass or hard surfaces such as concrete, tarmac or paving.

Edging, borders and kerbing

Keep flower beds and borders from spilling onto pathways, protect vegetable patches and create beautiful pathways in front and rear gardens using our timber edging, kerbing and border options.

There are lots of different edging options available on the market; plastic, metal, railway sleepers, wooden boards, brick and other manufactured stone, each has its benefits but WoodBlocX Garden Edging can really help your garden to take shape.

Just like our other garden structures our edging, borders and kerbing is quick and easy to build, long lasting and requires no heavy lifting, its practical and attractive, the unique modular design means you can follow the contours of your garden, making it one of the best alternatives to railways sleepers available.

Browse our timber edging, borders and kerbing options here or input your own measurements using the quick calculator tool.

Decking, shed and greenhouse bases

WoodBlocX can be used to create a firm and level base for garden structures such as sheds, greenhouses and decking to sit on. The strong pressure treated blocks are made using the strongest part of the tree and are design to stand up to excessive weight and strain, so much so that it can be used for retaining walls, making them an ideal base material for large garden structures.

Decking, shed and greenhouse bases built in shady areas can be affected by damp and algae growth therefore it is best to select a position in the garden that is dry and gets a good amount of sunlight.

Working out the size of the base can be tricky especially if the area is sloped or has uneven ground, if you’re unsure or just need some help working everything out get in touch and our team will work with you to create a design that fits your garden and decking, greenhouse or shed perfectly.

To find out more about WoodBlocX kerbing, border and edging options click HERE or for bespoke bases for decking, greenhouses and sheds click HERE.

Our wooden raised bed kits are available in every size and shape from standard rectangles through to circles, our customers love using WoodBlocX because our modular system makes building them so simple, plus each structure is long-lasting and looks beautiful, here's is a look at our bestselling designs of 2019 so far...

Octagonal raised beds

Providing different levels and sections of planting this design is right at the top of our bestsellers list, placed against a wall or as a centre piece it provide a large and accessible growing space the interesting angular shape is completely different to standard raised beds and is ideal for anyone looking to make a statement in the garden.

Bestseller - Octagonal Dual Level Raised Bed / 2.548 x 1.524 x 0.55m

Rectangular raised beds

Rectangular wood raised beds are always a firm favourite, the simple shape is timeless and will work perfectly in all garden and property types from modern to traditional, place up against a wall or fence or in the open to make it accessible from all sides. WoodBlocX raised beds are a great alternative to railway sleepers, the unique design of WoodBlocX makes your structure extra-strong so it won't easily distort, unlike other wooden products, so you can be confident your raised bed will not give away.

Bestsellers
Raised Bed Best Seller / 2.25 x 1.125 x 0.45
High Raised Bed / 1.875 x 1.125 x 0.65m
Raised Bed / 1.5 x 0.75 x 0.45 m

Low-level raised beds

Not everyone has a raised bed for accessibility, many of our customers simply want to create a beautiful frame for their beds and borders for growing their own fruit and vegetables or for plants and shrubs. Low level planters are ideal growing tall edibles such as broadens and raspberries and for gardening with children as they keep everything contained.

Bestsellers
Low Level Raised Bed / 1.875 x 1.125 x 0.25m
Herb Garden / 1,5 x 0,75 x 0.35m

Short and slim raised beds

UK gardens are getting smaller, but having a small garden doesn’t mean it can’t look stylish, by utilising the space correctly you can create something unique and beautiful, whether its a multifunctional kitchen garden our an outdoor space to relax. Our slim raised beds and planters can be used as window boxes, or use an L-shaped design to make a feature of a tired corner.

Bestsellers
Slim Raised Bed / 1.875 x 0.75 x 0.45m
Short Rectangular Raised Bed / 1.5m x 1.125m x 0.35m

Our website features hundreds of kits or all shapes and sizes for building raised beds, planters, ponds, garden furniture, walls and steps. If you can't find exactly what you're looking for get in touch with our design team who can create a something bespoke for your garden free of charge.

All of the best things get better with age, wine, whisky, cheese, gardens and WoodBlocX! A key characteristic of our timber raised beds, planters, retaining walls, steps, ponds and garden furniture is that the wood fades to a beautiful silver/grey colour over time.

The fading doesn’t affect the quality of the wood, your WoodBlocX timber raised bed will last up to 15 years without any annual maintenance. To ensure our customers get the best lifetime out of their WoodBlocX garden structure we only use slow-grown sustainable Scots pine, not from the heart of the tree which tends to be weaker, all of our wood is locally sourced and rough-sawn to give it a beautiful natural texture. We then pressure treat it using a water based preservative which penetrates almost 100% of the wood and means our products are ideal for organic gardeners or anyone who prefers to steer clear of chemical-based products.

Colour changes

Here are some examples of the ageing process of our raised beds. One of our customers installed their original L-shaped planter more than eight years ago and ordered a brand new large raised bed and multi-tiered corner raised bed to border the garden.

There is no annual treatment needed but if you would like to add a splash of colour to the garden all of our structures can be painted with a quality outdoor paint.

Our timber raised beds and planters make a fantastic chemical-free, strong, long-lasting and attractive alternative to railway sleepers and wooden boards for raised planting in the garden, our unique modular system can also be used for ponds, steps, retaining walls and seating.

Browse our pre-designed kits, add your preferred measurements to our time-saving calculators or get in touch with our team to get a free design for your garden.

Rob Smith knows a thing or two about gardening, he won the 2015 BBC Big Allotment Challenge, is a regular writer for popular magazines; Kitchen Garden and Garden News, he is also a seed guardian for the Heritage Seed Library and has a range of grafted vegetables and cut flowers, its safe to say he’s a busy man!

Rob has recently installed two WoodBlocX natural wood raised beds in his kitchen garden that will be used for very different purposes. His garden is sloped and he has his work cut out with the soil, as it is mainly clay and rock, so to successfully grow anything he needs to raise the level of planting and add new soil, making raised beds are the perfect solution.

“Most of my raised beds are made from corrugated metal, so I plumped for a couple for wooden raised beds to break things up, plus they’re slightly deeper, allowing me to grow a wide variety of edibles.

"I wanted to make sure that any wooden planter I used was free from chemicals, after all I’ll be eating the plants I grow in them and don’t want anything leaching into the soil. I went for a WoodBlocX raised bed as no chemicals are used in their construction and they're easy to put together, just like giant building blocks.”

Rob Smith

Circular raised bed

Admittedly the circular bed is a little trickier to build than our other raised bed designs, due to its curves and the angles, but the challenge nor the rain on the day caused any set backs.

Rob selected the circular planter design specifically to install a flowering crab apple tree, which will help to pollinate the other eating and cooking apple varieties he grows, making it a great addition to the garden.

Since building the circular bed and planting the crab apple tree (the variety is ‘red sentinel’) the base has been planted with box hedging to divide the space into four where flowering plants that attract bees and butterflies will be added.

Rectangular raised bed

Lots of our customers buy our rectangular raised beds for growing edibles as the height makes planting, watering, weeding and harvesting much easier. Rob is utilising his to grow varieties of perennial vegetables, which are ideal for busy gardeners, as they will look after themselves all year round with a just little watering and mulching.

Rob’ top perennial veg varieties include:

• Turkish rocket
• Bath asparagus
• Perennial kale
• Sea kale
• Earth chestnut

To keep up to date with the progress of Rob’s perennial veg and to see how well his crab apple tree pollinates his apple trees over the summer follow him on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.

Shop our circular and rectangular raised beds here, if you can’t find what you’re looking for get in touch and use our free design service.

Our maintenance-free wooden planters are ideal for patios, driveways and balconies, made from high quality Scots pine, which is treated with a water-based preservative to make them hardwearing and long lasting.

If you’re looking to reduce the amount of plastic products you use in the garden a WoodBlocX planter is an excellent choice and it will look great surrounded by terracotta pots too. Here’s six reasons to choose a WoodBlocX planter for your next container purchase.

Make a statement

Doorways flanked with planters either side make for an inviting entrance, twisted bay trees, fragrant lavender bushes or shaped buxus. Our Large Planters are ideal for making a statement at the front and rear of the house or at the base of steps and in front of gates.

Small spaces

Our planters are available in range of shapes and sizes, they are ideal for gardens of all sizes. The square Small and Large garden planters are popular options for smaller gardens, patios and balconies, whilst the Slender Planter can run along a wall or be used to divide a space.

Versatile

WoodBlocX planters are really quick to build thanks to our unique modular system, the lightweight wooden blocks and the simple dowel system means that planters can be built really quickly, in less than an hour in some cases. The lightweight pieces make our planters idea for use on balconies as parts can be easily carried up stairs.

Indoor and outdoor planting

Our Small Garden Planters are not restricted to just being outdoors either, conservatories, garden, sun rooms even hallways and kitchens to bring natural planting indoors. Use as a pot for indoor plants such as yuccas, cheese plants, or for olive trees that can be placed outside during the warmer weather and brought indoors when the temperature drops.

Traditional and modern finishes

Tailor your planter to your garden style with a choice of capping options, the traditional capping overhangs the planter lightly and is our bestseller. The modern option finishes flush with the rest of the structure providing a more minimalist finish; our Contemporary Planter Bench is a great example of our flush capping.

Colour

WoodBlocX planters can be customised with colour, choose a paint colour to brighten up your outdoor space or simply plant them up with plants that provide colour through the seasons, add cascading varieties to really utilise the space.

Customer photos

We offer a free bespoke design service to all of our customers so if you need to tweak your planter design slightly to suit you and your garden simply call or email us ad we will be happy to help.

SIMPLE!

To browse our wide range of wooden raised beds, planters, ponds, seats, retaining wall kits, or to use our free bespoke design service click the button below.

Our guide to Retaining Walls

If all gardens were flat they would be very boring! That’s not to say a flat garden is boring, but many of us have gardens with challenging terrains, slopes and sheer drops to contend with.

This is where garden retaining walls come into play, and there are many benefits of retaining walls; from simply serving the purpose of retaining an area of earth or to landscape a garden creating flat platforms and interesting focal points.

There are already many styles of retaining walls in the UK so there are lots of different options you can go for. Our modular system has proved very popular with customers looking for an alternative to brick, stone, gabions and railway sleeper retaining walls. Below we’ve provided a rundown of the materials you can use to build retaining walls in your garden and how the WoodBlocX™ retaining wall stacks up against them.

Brick and Stone

Brick and stone retaining walls are a common choice, but these materials can prove very expensive and need regular maintenance. You will need to include foundations to build on to create a stable structure. To build it yourself would really be a challenge, you need to ensure the bricks are laid straight and level and the mortar mix is correct. If you’re not experienced in bricklaying it is best to enlist the help of a skilled tradesperson. This can be costly and is another added expense you wouldn't get with a DIY product.

Gabions

Gabion retaining walls are made using gabion baskets and cages. They provide a more industrial look and are generally used for retaining earth where water is close by and for extremely high retaining walls. No foundations are needed with gabions, but you will need some heavy individual stones to fill the baskets which can be very hard if you are building by yourself.

Railway Sleepers

Railway sleeper retaining walls are popular and single lengths of railway sleepers can be used to build a wood retaining wall for the garden; but the individual pieces can be very large and heavy. To secure the lengths in place you will need reinforcing bars and a large drill bit to create the holes for the bars. The old treated sleepers contain harmful chemicals too, which can have an unpleasant odour and leach into the soil. New untreated versions are available, but they will become susceptible to rot after only a few years.

WoodBlocX™

WoodBlocX™ supplies wooden/timber retaining walls for the garden. The quick-to-build retaining walls offer a fantastic alternative to brick, stone, gabion and railway sleepers.

Our retaining walls are the natural and beautiful choice for landscaping your garden, and with everything you need supplied directly to your door there’s no need for foundations or substantial groundworks to build the walls. The BlocX™ themselves are light and easy to handle and building requires no heavy lifting. WoodBlocX™ use wood from sustainable sources and we only use a water-based preservative. You can rest assured that your new easy to build retaining wall is eco-friendly, and suitable for organic growing too.

WoodBlocX™ can help you with your next project with our free design service; either speak to our team of designers who will work with you to create something that is totally bespoke to your garden or use our new retaining wall calculator which will give you an instant price for the size of retaining wall that you need. We provide a full retaining wall building design guide and general instructions with all purchases.

For retaining wall ideas and design guides and to see how to build a garden retaining wall using WoodBlocX™, simply head over to the retaining wall section on the website or speak to one of our friendly customer service team on 0800 389 1420 if you have any questions. 

For more helpful garden tips and inspiration check out our blog page, and to find out more about our timber raised beds, planters, walls, garden furniture, ponds and more all made in Great Britain, head to our home page.

Q. What is the best position for a raised bed?

A. Once you have decided where you would like to build your raised bed, note where the sun rises and sets, the amount of light that falls on that particular spot will help you decide whether it is the best place to build it or not, for example, if your raised bed has shade cast over it for most of the day and you plan to grow certain plants or vegetables you might struggle.

Q. What surface can a raised bed be built on?

WoodBlocX raised beds can be built on any surface and there is no need for foundations or cement, build them directly on soil, grass, paving, tarmac, concrete or even sloped gardens, their unique design, which incorporates a series of strong dowels means structures can withstand ground movement when built on a reasonable surface.

Q. What soil should I fill my raised bed with?

A. This totally depends on what you plan to grow. Raised beds are a great solution for gardens with poor soil as you can select the type you use. Filling the space with a rich compost mixture would work really well but would also be very expensive. We advise customers to use a good topsoil mix and add a soil improver or compost mix to the top layers. Sandy soil is the best all-rounder. Using a bought-in topsoil rather than using up any surplus from the garden gives you much more control over weeds. Soils can be made richer through using your own homemade compost or manure, but check whether these mixes are suitable for what you plan to grow and remember plants and vegetables can be supported with soil and liquid fertilisers too.

Q. What can I grow in a raised bed?

A. You can grow almost anything in a raised bed! Many of our customers favour them for growing edibles because the extra height makes the regular cycle of sowing, maintaining, weeding and harvesting really easy. Depending on the surface that your raised bed is built on you may need to consider planting deeper rooted varieties in taller beds rather than low-level beds.

Raised beds are ideal for organic growing as you can control exactly what is used in them, also ericaceous plants such as rhododendron and camellia can also be planted using an acidic soil mixture.

Q. How do I calculate the soil quantity for my raised bed?

A. If you are filling your raised bed completely then a simple way to work out how many litres is length(m) x width(m) x height(cm), but if you are adding a drainage layer to the bottom subtract the height of the layer from the equation so you don’t over order.

Q. How do I maintain my raised bed?

A. Our raised beds are maintenance free, the wood is pre-drilled and then pressure treated, we expect them to last 15 years or more without rotting, cracking or warping. Our structures are joined by a series of dowels that help to create a rigid structure which can withstand tension forces (each dowel joint will withstand up to 0.9 tonnes of shear force in our tests).

Q. Can I build raised beds on a sloped garden?