Does anyone know anything about gardening?

It is hard to tell from that perspective. This is the type you need, narrowing slightly to the front of the blade. Note: it is worth periodically sharpening the cutting edge with an angle grinder and metal cutting blade held at an oblique angle to the top of the blade. Don't sharpen from the underside.

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Yeah mines slightly wider at the front. Thanks, these pro tips are gold. I will take you up on that offer of a call to run through my plan when I get a bit closer to build day(s).

Does the laser level have a tripod?

I've got an vintage travel tripod I use.

Tape measure / measuring stick and measure down?

Don't sharpen from the underside.

Every day is a school day. 👍

The proper thing is a grade rod, but I'm betting a meter rule would be cheaper or just a stick of timber to compare. Seeing the laser line might be a challenge in daylight hours.

Set the laser up on the tripod, catch the laser dot on a bit of dark cloth or similar and walk back towards the point you're aiming for.

Actually, I shall be doing exactly this for a client in 45 minutes. I have to get the step from planned stonework to decking exactly right so that it reaches the threshold of their door about 5m away....

Sounds like a perfect excuse to buy a rotary laser level, have used mine a surprising amount.

Laser aimed, distance downwards measured, step onto decking should be 12cm allowing for mortar and sandstone. Perfect!

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9.15am, a quiet unsuspecting suburb somewhere in South London....

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Hellebore

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Some bald fucker's out front ruining my perfectly good wall!

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The Vladimir Putin school of landscaping (Bsc hons. Gulag 343), coming soon to a Ukraine near you!

Ours is going great, so nice to have some life starting to appear in the garden

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Probably directed at @ColinTheBald but obviously open to anyone.
I've had quotes for the plan I posted a few pages back with 18 sq m of paving using reclaimed bricks ( opinion noted) properly cemented in. They have also suggested re-doing the grass with a more permeable/sandy sub-base to improve drainage.

Question is, do I need an ACO drain and soak away to deal with rainwater or should it drain off into the grass without too much issue? One guy quoting says it's 100% necessary, other says not.

Oh, also. With a shed base for a 5x7 shed.
Concrete vs Probase style base?
It's not a cost issue, I'm just not sure I want a semi permanent slab of concrete in the corner of the garden.

Lovely leaf pattern on that one

I've been wondering this too. Probably going to stick one in for good measure.

A storm depositing an inch of rain in an hour onto an 18m patio would be the equivalent of half a cubic metre of run-off. When you consider the voids between rubble in a soakaway, the overall volume of said hole in the ground would need to be quite large or it could be overwhelmed very quickly. All soakaways depend entirely on the freedom of drainage of the surrounding soil. All in all, I would go without and retrofit a big one if your garden becomes a marsh.

Call me a bald fucker again and it'll be your house next time (source: V. Putin, 'Peaceful Memories' 2021 , Pravda Permanent Press).

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Probably best not to anger the man with the means to bury large items and who knows where you live.

RIP dear garden shredder, you served me admirably. I thought it was just jammed up and was about to lend it out. But after clearing the blockage I thought was there, the motor still stalled. Opened it up a bit more and found a load of chippings where they shouldn't be. Turns out the motor mount had completely broken off the whole way around (blue arrow), letting the crap into its guts and meaning the motor was just hanging against the housing.

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Laurels are shit.

Precisely why they are no longer in the ground.

ground screws?

Aucuba Japonica (vars.), please, agreed, unless you have a moderately sized estate. They have gone to skip heaven, apparently to be joined shortly by the much-mourned shredder, but not before the rest of @stevo_com's front garden (deceased) has come to join them on their final journey.