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The Smart and Safe Approach to DIY Landscaping

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DIY landscaping is a great way to revitalise an outdoor area. Armed with an artistic vision and a few good tools, you can transform a drab and dreary back yard into a garden that is both practical and highly aesthetic.

However, there are aspects of DIY landscaping that, for safety reasons, should not actually be DIY. Some tasks are simply too dangerous to be carried out if you are untrained and unequipped. And while you may be in DIY because of the financial savings, keep in mind that sometimes, hiring a professional can actually save you money.

If you end up knocking a tree branch onto your house, hitting a water pipeline, or causing erosion damage to your yard, you will be looking at some pretty hefty financial costs; which is why the following tasks should be carried out by professionals.

Earthmoving

Earthmoving takes some serious equipment, and that equipment takes some serious training to operate. If your landscaping project requires a lot of earth to be moved, enlisting the help of professionals (like Maudsley Excavations) will not only save you a lot of labour, but drastically reduce the risks associated with digging into your yard.

Be very aware of the location of pipes and power lines beneath your house. Hitting a utility line could have severe consequences, so it is best to find out this information before commencing any work.

Tree Services

Taking down a tree is no small matter. If it is a large tree, or part of a tree, that needs removal, absolutely hire professionals to do it. Houses are damaged by falling trees all the time when landowners try to cut down branches by themselves. Making use of professional tree services will minimise this risk, and remove liability from you if, for some reason, damage does occur.

Stump removal, on the other hand, doesn't pose that much of a threat. Having said that, digging out a stump requires intense, back-breaking labour—it is infinitely easier to hire a service with a stump-grinding machine.

Retaining Wall

Many houses built on sloped land (particularly older houses, when building codes were more lax) will, at some point in their life, face erosion problems. Erosion is slow-acting by definition, however once it reaches a certain point, it can result in catastrophic consequences.

A well-built retaining wall, while certainly carrying out its function of preventing soil erosion, will also be a striking visual feature. Walls can be built from a number of materials, all of which need only to be selected for their appearance and price.

While a retaining wall is certainly able to be built by a lone homeowner in a DIY setting, it does take a certain amount of engineering knowledge to know how to properly contain soil erosion—particularly erosion that has already set in. If you build your own wall, you run the risk of not preventing the erosion thoroughly enough.


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