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Garden help please!!!

artur72artur72 Posts: 1
in Problem solving
Hi all,

im new to the forum so please be gentle. 🙂 

Myself and my wife moved into a new house and below is a picture of the end of our garden. As you can see there’s a bit of a drop at the end. I’m not 100% sure why on earth the builders have done this but we would like to somehow level this dip off. Problem is that if we just level it the soil will have to come up to around a third of the way up the fence so was wondering if maybe to put a border of sleepers at the bottom so there’s no pressure on the fence and then just raise it up to the height we need and then fill it in with topsoil. 

I’m no down and out gardener but ai don’t mind doing some DIY so any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Sorry that’s the picture isn’t the right way round  

Thanks in advance. 

Posts

  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    You're right to keep the soil off the fence, but sleepers will also rot, in time. I think a retaining wall of something that won't rot would be better. Maybe you could do something with short concrete fence posts and concrete gravel boards, but I'm sure someone will be along soon with a better idea. If you wanted a full-height fence above your new soil level, I think you'd need a proper retaining wall and then a fence fitted above it. Whether that's practical depends what's on the other side.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718



    Building a retaining wall and levelling would strike me as a lot of expense and effort for not much return. My thinking is to take up the grass where the slope starts, plant some shrubs or fruit trees and call it good.
    Rutland, England
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    Agree with ;Ben put a bed there
  • FritillariaScotlandFritillariaScotland Posts: 67
    Wow @BenCotto, I love practical people! The perfect solution! 
  • ErgatesErgates Posts: 2,953
    What is going on under the corner of the summerhouse? Is that a decorative arrangement of wood cladding or is that propping up the summerhouse?

    Who owns the fence? If you raised the level of your garden towards the fence, you risk invading the privacy of whoever is on the other side. You would need to build a retaining wall, and then put up a 2 metre fence on top. If you didn’t, whoever is on the other side would be forced to put up an excessively tall fence to maintain their privacy, which would be very expensive and possibly not even doable. Rather unfair on them.

    I think you need to accept the dip, and make a feature of it. The fruit trees sound like a good idea.
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    I second Ben Cotto's advice, much the easiest option.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • AstraeusAstraeus Posts: 336
    If 'level' is a third of the way up the fence (including the gravel boards, which will be either 6" or 12") then you're looking at protecting around 12" of the fence itself.

    You could put concrete paving slabs on their end at the base of the fence as it is now and backfill against them. It'd protect the fence from soil contact and allow you then to grow grass up to the fence, if that's what you wanted to do 
  • FlyDragonFlyDragon Posts: 834
    I agree, a nice line of trees.  If you pick the right ones you can attract lots of birds and beneficial insects too. 
  • brackenbracken Posts: 91
    Have you considered using gabions to keep the soil away from the fence.  They can look really attractive planted up with alpines.
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