Sleepers are a great way to organise space in a garden. They can be handled easily and fitted quickly. With the right preparation and planning, with sleeper border edging, you can give your garden a makeover in no time.

At Wade, all of our garden products are treated with Tanalith-E for safe, non-toxic, long-life performance that won’t harm plants or wildlife. For a rapid refresh or ultimate upgrade, garden edging sleepers can get your garden looking good without demolishing your budget.

Whether using oak or pine sleepers, there are few wrong ways to install them in your garden. Here’s our guide to getting the best start on your project.

Preparing a Plan

Sleepers come in two standard sizes, 1.2 m (4 ft) and 2.4 m (8 ft) in length and are 100 mm x 200 mm (4” x 8”). While they are not hard to cut with a circular saw it is best to plan as few cuts as possible.

Measure up the garden area that you want to edge to determine how many sleepers are required to do the job. You may need additional materials to complete your garden makeover, but to begin with, deciding on the layout is key.

As experienced gardeners know, to fail to plan is to plan to fail. They also understand that structural or landscaping work is best done at the end, or just before the growing season. Having said that, with careful planning, a smaller urban garden can be transformed in just a weekend.

Top Tip: Perfect Symmetry

Symmetrical layouts always look better than an awkward, imbalanced cut at one end. Locate the centre of the edging line and decide whether that will be a join or the midpoint of a sleeper. Cut the end sleepers to the same length for a balanced finish.

1.2m Green Treated Garden Sleepers

View Product

1.2m Brown Treated Garden Sleeper

View Product

Tools Required

A Helping Hand

The first thing to organise is another pair of hands. Sleepers aren’t too hard to move on your own, but the job becomes much easier with two of you (and more fun).

Gardening Equipment

Gardening tools are required, a spade, rake and a wheelbarrow are all a good idea.

Saw

A circular saw is your first choice, but a hand saw will do as long as it’s sharp, and you don’t mind taking the time. In both cases, it is a good idea to use a square carpenter’s pencil to mark up the cuts.

Experienced carpenters will tell you to measure twice and cut once. That way you lessen the chance of cutting a sleeper in the wrong place. Always refer to your plan!

Level

The other essential tool is a spirit level. You can follow the lie of the land if it’s a gentle enough slope, but level sleepers always look better and last longer. Use a short level to check the short face too!

Screwdriver

You may need a screwdriver to fix sleepers to posts or to join them together with galvanised plates. A battery driver will make lighter work of it, and you can use it for pre-drilling holes too where required.

Club Hammer

A club hammer is a tool used by bricklayers and masons to chop blocks and bricks to size, but they are perfect for knocking in small wooden stakes or lengths of rebar into tough ground.

String Line

The simple string line is one of the oldest, and most accurate tools ever invented. Stretched between two points it is the perfect way to set out a straight line!

Top Tool Tip: All Square

Most hardpoint saws also double as squares. Hold the handle tight up against the edge of the timber with the blade laid flat and mark the cut with your pencil. Don’t forget to mark the vertical as well as the horizontal to make sure the cut is square.

Setting Sleepers on the Ground

For best results, your sleepers should be placed on a flat and level surface. It is possible to lay them directly on the ground, but it is always best to remove any grass, stones, and other plants first. Dig a shallow trench, up to an inch deep to clear any debris and to retain the sleeper.

Experienced landscapers have a saying, one in the ground and two on top. This refers to what they believe is a prime ratio for setting items in the ground. If you are setting the sleeper on its 100 mm face then the trench should be at least 65 mm (2 ½”) deep.

Use the spade tip to gently loosen up a further inch of soil, then place the sleeper directly on it. The loosened soil should flatten out and take up any variance in level. Check for wobble and tap it down with a boot, club hammer or spade handle.

In small, flat and level gardens you may not need any additional means to secure a sleeper. They weigh around the same as a bag and a half of cement, so laid flat, it’s not going anywhere.

Top Tip: Damp Proofing

Some say that you should use a DPM (Damp Proof Course) or some sort of waterproof sheeting between your sleeper and the ground to protect it from moisture ingress. If you are using properly treated landscaping timber, this is not strictly necessary and may in fact stop moisture from draining away.

If your garden is especially prone to wet conditions there are more effective methods of protection. Coat the surfaces and edges in contact with the ground with a proprietary bituminous sealant, and install French drainage to take water away.

Securing Sleepers on the Ground

There’s more than one way to maintain your sleepers in position.

Stake Your Claim

Sometimes you can’t rely on gravity to do all the work of keeping your sleepers securely in place. But fixing sleepers to the ground doesn’t have to be difficult. Chestnut stakes are cheap and resilient and can be cut and hammered into place behind sleepers.

Pre-drill the stakes to prevent them from splitting and use galvanised wood screws to fix them to the sleepers.

Set The Bar

A more robust way to fix sleepers to the ground is to use 25 mm (1”) dowel rebar. Drill holes in the base of the sleepers, not all the way through, then push the dowel rebar into the ground. Lower the sleeper on top and tamp down securely.

Dowel bars come in 500 mm (20”) lengths and are a great way to secure sleepers when making raised beds, stacking sleepers on top of each other, or connecting vertical sleepers. You will need an angle grinder with a metal cutting blade if you need to trim them to length.

Top Tip: Lawn Protection

If you are digging out for any foundation, even if it is simply clearing out a space to position the edging, be aware of where the soil and garden waste matter goes. If you have a wheelbarrow, that’s great, if not, have those garden waste bags handy.

Put any additional soil back on the planting bed to make up the level behind the sleepers. If you are doing a lot of digging spread out cardboard, a tarpaulin, or old carpet to provide a robust barrier and protect the lawn.

Setting Sleepers on a Foundation

Often the weight of wooden sleepers will be enough to hold them securely in place, but there are other options to consider if the ground is less stable, is on a gradient, or prone to ponding. A more permanent foundation should also be considered when stacking sleepers.

A Concrete Decision

If you’re going all-out with your landscaping design, then the best way to make sure your sleepers deliver a lifetime performance is to set them on a concrete foundation. If it finishes slightly proud of ground level it will guard against ponding too.

It will not only keep them dryer but also make them less vulnerable to movement over time. If you have a sloped garden, then setting a stepped concrete foundation, with dowel rebar cast in, will make for a secure retaining set-up for your garden beds.

Sand and Gravel Beds

Drainage is important in any garden, and keeping the base of your sleepers dry is very important. If your garden has issues with ponding or has long periods where it is subject to damp conditions you can use sand or gravel to combat this.

Sand and gravel are great, free-draining materials that will let water by rapidly. Sand can get washed away in heavy rain or become clogged with earth. Mixing sand and gravel together can deliver a firm footing, and good drainage at the same time.

Toad Tip: Amphibious Advantage

Toads absolutely love to feast on slugs and other garden pests. They also enjoy narrow, dark spaces, like gaps between or behind sleepers. They won’t need much more encouragement, but they don’t like being disturbed, so if you spot one leave it to get on with its job!

Sleeper Drift: Keeping It All Together

When fixing sleepers, you can use long landscaping screws to fix them together directly. These are especially effective for corners when edging or on raised bed setups. Use robust plates and galvanised screws to the backs of the sleepers when fixing end to end.

If you are stacking sleepers you’ll want to stagger them as if you were laying bricks, for stability and for looks.

Get in Touch

Call our team at Wade today to get your hand-selected timber sleepers delivered kerbside to your project.

FAQs

How long do sleepers last?

Sleepers can last for years if looked after properly. Not that they need a lot of attention. Annual cleaning up and treating with a preservative will keep softwood sleepers delivering garden goodness for a decade or more.

How heavy are sleepers?

Sleepers weigh in at between 20 and 30 kg (44-66 lbs) or around the same as a standard bag (or bag and a half) of cement or PostMix concrete.

Can I paint sleepers?

Absolutely! With a decent primer, you can coat your sleepers in any exterior waterproof, colour timber paint you want.

Can I use old railway sleepers?

If you are after an aged, reclaimed materials look, we can supply you with new sleepers that will directly fit the bill. The main issue with ex-railway line sleepers is that they are soaked in oil and other hydrocarbons that may contaminate your garden, and in hot weather, make it smell more like a garage than a garden!

Are sleepers eco-friendly?

At Wade, all our sleepers are responsibly sourced and treated with a long-lasting, eco-friendly treatment that is non-toxic to wildlife and waterways. Our sleepers are safe to use next to ponds and are perfect for raised vegetable beds too.

Are sleepers good value?