My Garden tier adventure (updated pics in last few pages)

[deefadog]

Hi all, well the time is approaching to start my garden.

Background: It is a new build house with a rectangle garden on a slope, i need to tier this into 3 by back and fill.

As Barratts failed to put in suitable drainage, they have agreed to take all the turf up for me at the end of the month (big help) then i can landscape the tiers, they come put drainage in and re-turf.

So my plan:

As i have neighbours on the 2 sides and there is only a feather board type fence between us, and the short timescale i have i will:

1) make a temporary wall each side from wood, staked in the ground about 2 foot from the fence

2) then i can back and fill and find my levels (as i am not sure exactly how high they will be. Not going to do the front walls for the tiers yet.

3) let them do the drainage and re-turf.

4) then on the 2 foot either side i should see how far to dig the trench and put in the retaining wall up each side from breeze block.

5) remove temporary wood wall.

6) add the front walls in

Not sure what i will have as the wall, be it sleepers or a mix of sleepers and decking (walls should be around 3 foot high each).

So does that sound ok, anything i could do better? The main objective here is to get the garden into tiers quickly, then i can spend time on the walls and finishing off during the summer.

Thanks in advance a si have never done anything this big before - kind of daunting.

 

[noseall]

terraces and tiers, leads to terror and tears.

you have my sympathies.

you may even have a lot of made-up ground, so do not skimp on the depth of the foundations for any of the retaining walls.

if you want the job to last, be prepared for a lot of hard work.

 

[deefadog]

Tears is right LoL.

Especially as i live in a town house and my garden is on the first floor, so i have about 20 steps to get to the garden, which means it has to be done by hand!!! Can't even get a micro digger up there, which would save me a weeks worth of digging!!

So does my plan sound ok? I can't think of anyopther way to do this at the moment?

Cheers

 

[noseall]

sounds reasonable.

 

[deefadog]

Cheers, i'll get some pics up later so you can see what i have to do!

 

[deefadog]

OK, here are the pics:

Here is the full shot, it's a bit odd as i had to stick 2 together, but gives you the size:

Here is the cut out i did last year, it took me ages to do this as i liftted the turf of in squares (by Hand, well a spade) and took the earth away and re layed the turf. I ahd to bag the earth and move it down 25+ steps into a skip around the front!

And this one shows the gradient of the garden:

Here is a very, very rough mock up of what i would like to do:

A quick question, when i am going to move the earth forward to create the tiers, is there anything i can hire to make the job easier - would a rotavater help? or does this just do the surface?

Thanks

 

[deefadog]

I have a few questions (please bare with me):

On the left side the panel fence faces towards the neighbors, so i have th posts on my side. Do you think it would be ok to add the horizontal supports on my side of the posts and add feather boards, or would that make it to heavy?

How much of a gap should i leave between the fence and the retaining wall?

The retaining wall will be breeze block and then normal brick to finish the top off, what is the recommended depth of foundation?

On the main areas Would using a rotavater make life alot easier, thinking instead of forking the soil and then shifting it?

Many thanks

 

[deefadog]

Well it has started, they came and took the grass up for me...

Then we began by hand to level things off...

Had a stroke of genius, well i think so and kept some of the grass to use a s a temporay wall to hold the earth back..

Once all the bottom area is leveled out, i can then see how much i have to pull back from the top of the second level, to get things even.

Then let the landscapers from barratt's put the drainage in and i can then get the retaining walls up.

Like i have said, i am having a go at this, so any pointers would be very welcome..

Thanks

 

[Deluks]

Well you're getting there. You must have arms like popeye by now!

Re: your fence question, do you mean to add featherboards so that your fence looks the same on both sides?

If so, an utter waste of time and money IMO. The existing fence posts do look up to it though, assuming they've been put in at a sensible depth.

 

[deefadog]

Hi, yes, arms like popeye LoL - Just need good weather this weekend and i can get the lower part done.

As for the fence -

do you mean to add featherboards so that your fence looks the same on both sides?

Yes that's what i want, but not for it to look the same either side rather i would like to contour the fence with the new levels, other wise when i stand on the new tiers i'll be able to look over next door. I guess instead of putting in the horizontal battons, i could just add the fearther boards to the back of the one that is already there on the left side. A freind down the road did this and it looks really good.

 

[deefadog]

OK, change of plan with the retaining walls, i have seen some retaining walls todays similar in height to what i want to and they looked really good.

Instead of a brick walls i want to use those 100mm diameter round wooden posts/stakes, not sure what they are called?

The height of the walls are around 900mm. I can split this into two smaller tiers if need be.

Can anyone give advice in putting these in or where the best pace to get them?

Thanks

 

[Thermo]

most decent fencing suppliers should do them. They are a pain in the arse to do!

you need to dig a trench and then set them into the trench and put a semi dry mix in around them.They are a bugger to hold in place and line up. You can use metal banding on the back and screw them together, or timberlock them through. Personally i dont like doing them and i much prefer a decent sleeper wall. much sturdier, cheaper, quicker and more robust.

heres one we did a few years ago

Untitled

• Thermo
• 16 Mar 2008
• 1

 

[deefadog]

Thanks Thermo, problem I have is that our garden is on the second level, so I thought these would be easier to move! How are sleepers cheaper? The width is around 10 meters and 900mm high. I was going to use sleeper for the steps though

 

[deefadog]

Voila - Lower terrace is level (at last):

 

[deefadog]

Just a quick question on these round posts, how far should they be below gound?

Also as i have reached the sub-base (solid rocks mostly) Could i have a small trench say 150mm and build up a shutter on ground level of 200mm? So 150mm foundation below ground and 200mm above?

Also I will ebusing paving slabs for the side retaining walls, would in be beneficial to cement in a row of slabs before i put the posts in to make the retainer stronger?

Also just got some prices - I'll need 90 posts 1.2 meters = £285 inc VAT

If i went the Sleeper wall route it would cost - 16 x 8ft @ £26 each would cost £420, not including the timber locks.

Thanks