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Sleeper border for patio

mrmwinkmrmwink Posts: 4
in Garden design
All,

I am looking to use sleepers as the border for my patio area. The sleepers are 200 x 100 x 2400, my plan is to lay them fat side down and be embedded in the ground with the inside edge then being the edge for the patio. What I wondered is if there is any need to do anything more than simply levelling off and compacting the earth, e.g. concreting them into place, given they are around 40kgs+ each they certainly wont be going anywhere!

The outside edge will have earth / shingle between them and the current fencing.

Cheers

Posts

  • K67K67 Posts: 2,506
    We didn't do anything other than bury them but ours come out at right angles to a raised bed and are screwed into it at one end but as you say they don't move. The only problem is if the ground sinks or swells so they might be more stable on a concrete strip it doesn't have to be very thick or you could drill down through the sleeper and wack in metal bar into the soil.
  • mrmwinkmrmwink Posts: 4
    K67 said:
    We didn't do anything other than bury them but ours come out at right angles to a raised bed and are screwed into it at one end but as you say they don't move. The only problem is if the ground sinks or swells so they might be more stable on a concrete strip it doesn't have to be very thick or you could drill down through the sleeper and wack in metal bar into the soil.
    Good to know, cheers.

    I did find some metal sleeper stakes on ebay which looked good, but then I could easily just use some timber and make my own stakes to secure the corners at least!

  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    Our landscapers jus drove long wooden stakes into the ground (behind the sleepers) and then screwed the sleepers to the stakes and backfilled with earth. That was 4/5 years ago and so far they haven't moved. They were new sleepers though, not so heavy as the old ex railway sleepers.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    My old ex sleepers needed nothing as they are so big. Just level earth under them.
  • mrmwinkmrmwink Posts: 4
    Lizzie27 said:
    Our landscapers jus drove long wooden stakes into the ground (behind the sleepers) and then screwed the sleepers to the stakes and backfilled with earth. That was 4/5 years ago and so far they haven't moved. They were new sleepers though, not so heavy as the old ex railway sleepers.
    Thanks, what was my thinking!
  • Johnny CrosbyJohnny Crosby Posts: 54
    My patio was laid in January this year, and the firm who did the job filled a 6 inch deep trench with cement / hardcore and laid the sleepers on the outer wall on this with some metal rods through them into the ground. The inner wall of sleepers were also laid on a similar mix. They seem totally solid, and retain both the infill under the patio, and the soil in the planting area. The flowers are just starting to spill over the walls, and I am looking forward to August, when the whole thing should be a mass of colour.
  • mrmwinkmrmwink Posts: 4
    Johnny Crosby said:
    My patio was laid in January this year, and the firm who did the job filled a 6 inch deep trench with cement / hardcore and laid the sleepers on the outer wall on this with some metal rods through them into the ground. The inner wall of sleepers were also laid on a similar mix. They seem totally solid, and retain both the infill under the patio, and the soil in the planting area. The flowers are just starting to spill over the walls, and I am looking forward to August, when the whole thing should be a mass of colour.
    Very nice, building up like that I fully agree they need bedding and fixing, I'm only looking to lay a single level as a border so think it's overkill
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    Yes, Fire we used old "proper" railways sleepers as steps in our last garden, OMG were they heavy, I have watched some of these "instant" garden shows one bloke carrying admitted smaller ones, as they they were match wood, so am guessing "sleeper" just refers to the style, not the fact that they actually are geniune railway sleepers.
  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053
    Weight will also depend on whether they are hardwood or softwood. 
    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
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