Need help/advice

[Terrakid]

So i decided to get the garden ready for summer and all i have done is got problem after problem lol btw i am a rookie when it comes to this sort of stuff, But any way i dug up loads of rocks which was like my paths edging leveled it all out as much as possible but i had to take it in like 4 - 5 inches so now i have a big gap between my Path and grass. I was going to to buy proper stone edging and put them down so it tidy it up a little and pack the rest down with soil but when we measured the garden and how much everything would cost it would work out a little bit pricy. I am not cheap but the house we live in is rented an i have already put a lot of time in this house / garden.

Any way my girlfriends dad had loads of 50cm - 50cm decking squares 25 of them so i asked if i could take them to make them in to plant pots but then i had another idea after measuring them all it worked out i could make a little fence going down my garden. I have a little boy who is 15 months old and running around every where so i thought this would work out the cheapest option as i got all the wood for free and i could make it safe so he cant run to the edge and fall off and bang his head.

I went to B&Q and bought 3x2 treated posts so i can cut them down and use to screw the decking tiles in but now where i have dug the soil is really soft can i get away with just putting the posts in the soil and trying to pack it in to get it steady or do i need buy some sort of concrete to hold it together? and would the wood rot and if so how long? i will be paining the wood with waterproof paint but i know that wont stop the rot ect:. I also have no idea where to start or how to do this lol i just want it as safe as possible for as less as possible any help on this would be truly appreciated.

 

[wrathkeg]

if i wanted a really secure fit, i would use something like postcrete (very easy to use). but if you are going to have a post every 50 cm (for the squares), that sounds like a lot of postcreted holes.... maybe have 3x2 posts further apart, then put battens between and fasten the squares to the battens?

you could try hammering the posts in, but unless the ground is pretty firm and compacted and/or you hammer plenty of the post into the ground i am not sure that would work --- at least, it might be wobbly. personally, i find hammering in posts and getting them nice and vertical (and secure) harder than it sounds --- and harder than using postcrete. if i was to try hammering them in i would cut the ends to a tapered point (and before treating them with whatever preservative i was using).

 

[wrathkeg]

oh, i suppose you could use post spikes but i have no experience with those and don't know if you can get them at 3x2.