Newbie DIYer, help needed levelling garden

[Kelvasco]

Hello All,

 

Been abit of a lurker on here for years and currently not self-building but renovating a house. 

 

We are now on to the garden, something I've never attempted before. It's not level in any direction in any real way with a ~2.5m height difference front to back (20m long) and same again from side to side (again about 20m).

 

We'd like to level about 1/3 of this. This 1/3 has a left to right run of approx 0.4m and a front to back run of approx 0.6m, so basically before a big hill starts.

 

Question is, how do you build this up? It will all be laid with new grass after so not structural. Can't find anything definitive online other than 1. dig to 150mm below finished level and rebuild and 2. compact whatever you do add.

 

Option 1

- Dig to 150mm down and levelled.

- Fill with type 1 and compact

- 50mm top soil

- Turf

 

Option 2

- Dig to 150mm down and levelled

- Fill with "as is" top soil and compact

- 50mm good top soil

- Turf

 

Option 3

- Help :)

 

Any help you can provide would be much appreciated as I know this place has a huge wealth of experience. I've added a photo too to give some information, patio area is back of house, we are trying to level the area where the photo is taken, approx 15mx4m area.

 

Thanks.

 

Kevin.

 

 

 

[Mr Punter]

I looks fairly flat.  If there is not much topsoil you may want to strip it, pile it up elsewhere, create the levels by cutting the subsoil from the high side and filling the low side, then spread the topsoil.  It is still good to leave a bit of slope to stop waterlogging.  Perhaps consider a finished gradient of 1 in 40.

[Temp]

Not quite sure I understand what you want to do. Do you want to raise and level an area of grass 6m x 4m roughly in the foreground of the photo?

 

I definitely would not put MOT Type 1 hardcore under turf. MOT type 1 isn't even guaranteed to be permeable. I'd use topsoil only, perhaps use different grades/quality to save cost.

 

Will it need a small retaining wall after it's been raised? Can you get bricks to match the existing wall?

 

[Kelvasco]

Thanks both,

 

Temp, yes. I want to raise about 1/3 of the current garden (15m by 5m approx). This is the 1/3 the photo was taken from, in the photo is the remaining 2/3rds. This is quite a hill so we’re not going to try and level that.

what we want to do is level the bottom 1/3 which needs raising by about 400mm-600mm in places. 
 

thanks for removing type 1 from the picture. I can get some ‘as dug’ soil so thinking to use that.

my confusion was soil vs gravel vs type 1 & also how to build it up. Or am I just overthinking it & Should just do compacted soil and be done.

 

thanks.

 

 

[Conor]

Think the best option is just to get a digger in for a day any simply scrape soil from the back the move it to the front. Only ever use soil under growing areas. Importing stones is expensive. Man with a digger for a day or two will only cost you about £600+£800. A stone base will act as a drainage channel and you'll end up with all the water following whatever gradient is under the stone layer

 

[Declan52]

You could build a small retaining wall out of sleepers. They come in various lengths and if you only need 400mm -600mm high then it's only 2/3 rows. A few fence posts concreted into the ground and some coach bolts will give you an easy and relatively cheap retaining wall.

After that it's up to you if you want to get a digger in to level it out or sharpen the tip of the spade and dig it out yourself.

[timsk]

Hi Kelvasco,

I agree with Temp; using Type1 hard core is an unnecessary expense and not usually used to create a garden lawn. Additionally, as others have said, if you're wanting to make the most of the space, then a retaining wall is likely to be needed. Declan52's solution is the one I'd opt for, but would add that drainage behind it may be necessary - especially if you're using softwood sleepers - as opposed to oak. There's a good YouTube channel called 'The Restoration Couple' in which Tim (not me) covers pretty much all you'll need to know about building walls with sleepers. The title of this one speaks for itself:  OAK vs SOFTWOOD for Garden Projects Additionally, there are lots of videos on installation. If you're not wanting to bother with a retaining wall, then another option might be to level off the ground and have a bank at one end. Visually, this can be quite pleasing, but it's pain to mow! The pic' below is of my last house where I did exactly this: I levelled the ground and banked up the spoil to the left of the steps at the end of the path and then laid turf.

Tim.