@KeenOnGreen Thanks for sharing images of your garden. It looks beautiful and now I understand what @Greenbird meant about not using cinders. They will definitely be lost in the space. Now I'm debating whether to leave the slope as it is 🤔. If I do want the split, would the height of one sleeper be okay? How would the installation work?
Our use of the garden would be mainly relaxing and sometimes entertaining friends with kids. Hence was thinking of 2 split areas so people can have their respective spaces to some extent..
If the drain cover is set so that it matches the slope, you might need to get whoever owns it (water company?) out to reset it level with your terrace.
Personally I would keep the slope, put in curved or zigzag paths, fill the rest with planting, and use the patio area for seating. I wouldn't bother with grass - pain in the bum lifting a mower up the steps a couple of times a week.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
I think the real trick of good garden design is achieving a sense the mystery. @KeenOnGreen has executed it really well with high walls and tall planting to divide the garden into these 'rooms' that designers are always talking about.
Another lesson I've had to learn... ignore any sense of trepidation or an urge to rein in any wild ideas. We are usually too cautious in design approach. Take an idea you like and double down on it.
@v.walia9 - why not turf it, and live with it for a while. Even if you just turf it, you won't be able to use it for a little while, so that the turf takes properly, but it would let you see how it works - or doesn't for your needs. The house I lived in when my girls were born, had a small, very awkward shaped, back garden with a slope in two directions. We left it just grassed for quite a while, and the girls loved rolling down the little slopes, and generally playing around on it. Once we built an extension, that's when we altered it, and built a retaining [timber] wall and created all the various areas. Ours was done with exterior ply, all waterproof lined, and then faced with decking to tie in with the raised deck we built. The girls grew with the garden, and enjoyed their playhouse which was slightly hidden.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
If the drain cover is set so that it matches the slope, you might need to get whoever owns it (water company?) out to reset it level with your terrace. That's a good point, never thought about it. It seems to be flat in the area it's placed and the 2nd terrace I was thinking of building would be behind the drain cover.
Personally I would keep the slope, put in curved or zigzag paths, fill the rest with planting, and use the patio area for seating. I wouldn't bother with grass - pain in the bum lifting a mower up the steps a couple of times a week. Ya I'm in two minds now regarding the slope. Seems to be a lot of things to consider.
I think the real trick of good garden design is achieving a sense the mystery. @KeenOnGreen has executed it really well with high walls and tall planting to divide the garden into these 'rooms' that designers are always talking about.
Another lesson I've had to learn... ignore any sense of trepidation or an urge to rein in any wild ideas. We are usually too cautious in design approach. Take an idea you like and double down on it.
Thanks for linking to that video, it does seem easy enough and doable. Would railway sleepers work well too? Just thinking from cost perspective.
How deep is the foundation for the brick wall, especially at the points where you will be digging out next to it?
What will you do against the dividing fence to retain the soil without risking rotting the fence?
How deep is the drain and where do the pipes run?
The brick wall runs down to the patio level. Not sure about how deep the drain is but therr are 2 more square and 1 round man hole in the patio area.
Unless the otherside of the wall is patio level along its whole length it's likely that the foundations will step up to follow the slope.
I'd lift the manhole cover and check. It's an odd place for a manhole. You might (should) have a drainage plan in your purchase details though so maybe check there too?
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Posts
Now I'm debating whether to leave the slope as it is 🤔. If I do want the split, would the height of one sleeper be okay? How would the installation work?
https://youtu.be/5gqo9yArXMY
I think the real trick of good garden design is achieving a sense the mystery. @KeenOnGreen has executed it really well with high walls and tall planting to divide the garden into these 'rooms' that designers are always talking about.
Another lesson I've had to learn... ignore any sense of trepidation or an urge to rein in any wild ideas. We are usually too cautious in design approach. Take an idea you like and double down on it.
The house I lived in when my girls were born, had a small, very awkward shaped, back garden with a slope in two directions. We left it just grassed for quite a while, and the girls loved rolling down the little slopes, and generally playing around on it. Once we built an extension, that's when we altered it, and built a retaining [timber] wall and created all the various areas.
Ours was done with exterior ply, all waterproof lined, and then faced with decking to tie in with the raised deck we built. The girls grew with the garden, and enjoyed their playhouse which was slightly hidden.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...