Straight talk and good stock from the yard
A timber yard can look busy and still be a bad bet. This is the practical checklist we would use before handing over a card — storage, moisture readings, grading honesty, offcuts, delivery and the questions that separate a proper yard from a convenient one.
Five satisfying Saturday projects built entirely from shelf-sized timber — a planter screen, a boot rack, a garden bench, shed shelving and a log store. Each with a materials list, an honest skill rating, and the one place people usually waste money.
Five outdoor species judged the way we judge them in the yard: by how they behave after ten wet winters, not how they look on the day you load them into the car. Includes a match-the-species-to-the-job table and a hard look at what recent UK weather is doing to timber choices.