Steps

One of our specialties is wooden steps – think the kind of thing you see on a woodland path, or when visiting a National Trust property. These are an inexpensive and quick solution for a garden on a steep slope, which is of course very common in Sheffield. Some of my clients are lucky enough to have a gate leading into woodland, and steps of this sort can provide easy access, rather than scrambling up or down a steep bank. The steps tend to be made from sleepers or posts, retained either with heavy duty metal pipes or rods, or sometimes attached to posts set into the ground with postcrete. They are then either earth filled with a layer of limestone crusher compacted on top, or given a timber top similar to decking. Over time, they blend in really well with their surroundings as planting grows up around them. They can be shaped to suit the hill. I often incorporate a curved or even spiraling feel into them.