When you’re planning the landscape of your yard or garden, consider adding a set of steps. You can use anything from round-cut logs to concrete, brick, or stone to create the look you want. Each material varies in difficulty, and also in the style the stairs will add to your landscape.

When planning the size of your steps, try to make them similar to indoor steps, particularly if they are in an area where you will use them often. The tread should measure about 10 inches from front to back, and each should rise about 7 and a half inches. Make sure that the treads are a little lower in the front of the step than in the back, or rain water may collect in your steps.

If you are using anything other than round logs to make your steps, be sure they have a good foundation. It should be in the ground about 6 inches below the frost line to make the steps stable.

Although concrete may not be the most attractive material for garden steps, it is often used. To make concrete steps, first you’ll need a form for pouring the concrete. These wooden boxes should be placed on top of each other, forming your stairway. Mix 1 part Portland cement, 3 parts sand, and 6 parts gravel, and then pour the cement into the form. The treads should be made level using the flat edge of a board.

Another way to make concrete steps is by using pre-formed concrete blocks. While you’ll still need a foundation, it is much easier to build a stairway from concrete blocks. Make sure that you bond the blocks together well. You may also want to consider coating the stairway with a thin layer of concrete to obtain a good appearance. Brick steps are made in the same way as concrete blocks, although they do require a little more masonry skill due to the many joints.

The main difficulty of constructing stone steps is finding the stone. While you may be fortunate enough to have stones available on your property or some stones left when you had the chance to work on patio landscaping, otherwise you’ll need to purchase them. This can make them an expensive choice, although they are also a very attractive and rustic way of building steps. If your stones are very large, you won’t need any masonry bonding. If the steps are freestanding, you’ll need to use mortar.

Wooden rounds cut from logs make beautiful steps, and they are easy to construct. Just set the bottom round into the earth. The next one should placed so that it partially covers the bottom log, leaving a riser. Fill in the ground under the upper round, and then repeat this step until your stairway is complete. This is also an excellent solution for a long slope that is slightly too steep for just a path. Logs can be set into the earth to provide occasional steps along the way.

Image by hankword via Flickr

Yard and garden landscaping for the home is not much different than landscaping on a larger scale for huge complexes and businesses. Your yard can look as great as the greenest golf course or the most well-manicured office complex. All it takes is some ingenuity, some work, and some of your spare time. Designing your own landscaping is fun and exciting, as you transform your yard into one the entire neighborhood will envy.

There are several products on the market to help you with your landscaping ideas. You can use software to design and visualize your new yard before you’ve shoveled one bucket of dirt or planted a single flower. There are also plenty of websites and books out there so you can find out what experts think about your climate and geographic area and how that can effect your plans.

There are even great television shows and do-it-yourself catalogs full of ideas and plans to make your landscaping imagination take off. You’ll find out that a lot of landscaping upgrades and ideas are actually very easy to execute and don’t require nearly as much elbow grease or sweat labor as you might have thought. Whatever your final plans are, make sure you’re flexible enough to modify some details if need be and that you’ve got the budget to go ahead with your plans. Remember that landscaping can be done over time and doesn’t have to be completed all at once, so budget accordingly.

Keeping mistakes and problems to a minimum is all about planning and know-how. Make sure you understand what you’re going to be doing, how it’s best done, and how to get it done safely. Doing the research required is not arduous work, but it is very important. There are a lot of resources out there to help you learn what you’ll need to know, so utilize them. Keep in mind that most home improvement stores have experts on hand who can show you how to do many things. They’ll often do this for free, so take advantage of this resource.

Before you begin digging, planting, and building, you’ll want to call your local utilities to have them come out and mark where underground power lines, gas lines, and water and sewer might be. They can usually tell you the approximate depth and will gladly mark it for you in paint or with stakes so you can work around or over them safely. In some areas, it’s against the law to begin digging without getting this done.

While you’re getting that done, check into zoning restrictions for your neighborhood and make sure that your plans are OK. For most, these restrictions usually only apply to larger “permanent” structures and do not apply to foliage, short walls, and other landscaping items. It’s a good idea to check anyway, just in case. Make especially sure to check if your neighborhood has a “housing covenant” which you signed when you moved in. These are often very restrictive, especially for non-standard changes like zeroscaping and alternative desert plantings.

Once you’re squared away with the legalities and the utilities, you can start work. Make sure you’re having fun and don’t worry if you can’t complete all of it in a weekend! It’s a project, not a job, so take your time and go easy on yourself. Your enjoyment of the process is just as important as the process itself is! Happy landscaping!

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