wanting to do up my garden

alanhiggyno1

hi guys want to do up my garden badly this year.im uploading a few pics as for ye lovely people to put ideas to me on what ye would do..i did put down the stones 2 years ago as there was no drainage at all so garden has 3 big soak pits but not doin the job as well as it should or i thought it would.where the grass is like a swamp at the minute so would love to start there.when i dig down past the stone its all clay.i would be greatful for some clever ideas.thanks all

alanhiggyno1

here are the pics lol http://imageshack.com/a/img540/2895/s0OTJW.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img913/5931/1OJ8KR.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img537/7853/DKLdKp.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img540/1523/lmvVP3.jpg

I'd pick those apples 1st:eek:

alanhiggyno1

Deleted User wrote: »

I'd pick those apples 1st:eek:

least of me worries lol..u got any ideas

well its a blank canvas so can do what you want. First of all you have to get the drainage sorted. Some one will advise you on that as I live in the countryside and drainage is not as much of a problem.

After that it depends. You can have a nice winding path down the middle to a patio/seating area. You could build some raised flower beds along those walls and plant things to screen them off or paint them.

It all depends on budget and preference. Have you ever seen Super garden. lots of ideas there

Sonnenblumen

The ground conditions look very poor, you'd be wise to have a serious re-think before doing any more 'gardening'. For starters ground conditions appear to be a major obstacle, it doesn't look feasible to consider having a nice lush lawn and besides all those pebbles are too high. For drainage to work it must be at least 300mm below ground level.

I would suggest you excavate and remove soil to a depth of 200-300mm and backfill with hardcore, compact the surface, blind it and fit a synthetic grass lawn. For ornamental planting I would recommend you consider building perimeter raised beds (500mm high and at least 600mm wide). You could add some of the excavated soil as first fill in the raised planter and supplement with fresh topsoil/compost etc. At least this will provide new plants with good well conditioned free draining soil.

Also worth considering rendering (plastering) the boundary walls and painting, will make a significant difference.

Suggested works will involve plenty of costs, which can be implemented on a phased basis to suit budget. Cost more initially but payback will be long term thriving garden, which can be used throughout the year and in my opinion providing you the best value and best return for effort + spend.

The first thing you need to do is plan it, the rest is implementation.

alanhiggyno1

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

The ground conditions look very poor, you'd be wise to have a serious re-think before doing any more 'gardening'. For starters ground conditions appear to be a major obstacle, it doesn't look feasible to consider having a nice lush lawn and besides all those pebbles are too high. For drainage to work it must be at least 300mm below ground level.

I would suggest you excavate and remove soil to a depth of 200-300mm and backfill with hardcore, compact the surface, blind it and fit a synthetic grass lawn. For ornamental planting I would recommend you consider building perimeter raised beds (500mm high and at least 600mm wide). You could add some of the excavated soil as first fill in the raised planter and supplement with fresh topsoil/compost etc. At least this will provide new plants with good well conditioned free draining soil.

Also worth considering rendering (plastering) the boundary walls and painting, will make a significant difference.

Suggested works will involve plenty of costs, which can be implemented on a phased basis to suit budget. Cost more initially but payback will be long term thriving garden, which can be used throughout the year and in my opinion providing you the best value and best return for effort + spend.

The first thing you need to do is plan it, the rest is implementation.

drainage is gonna be tackled first.what should i do with the stones i put down 2 years ago

Sonnenblumen

alanhiggyno1 wrote: »

drainage is gonna be tackled first.what should i do with the stones i put down 2 years ago

A few options

(1) remove and discard all stone from the excavated area or

(2) set aside temporarily in bags to be used as a first fill in Raised Beds or as a first fill under any area you plan on hardcoring

(3) no need to worry about mixing pebble with soil (good for first fill use in raised beds

Tip - if the soil is reasonably good, try to salvage as much of it as possible during any excavating works, soil is more expensive than pebble. But usually very wet sites, the soil quality is usually poor and often clay or worse, making it unsuitable for ornamental planting. In such cases, it is wiser to remove it from site for disposal.

alanhiggyno1

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

A few options

(1) remove and discard all stone from the excavated area or

(2) set aside temporarily in bags to be used as a first fill in Raised Beds or as a first fill under any area you plan on hardcoring

(3) no need to worry about mixing pebble with soil (good for first fill use in raised beds

Tip - if the soil is reasonably good, try to salvage as much of it as possible during any excavating works, soil is more expensive than pebble. But usually very wet sites, the soil quality is usually poor and often clay or worse, making it unsuitable for ornamental planting. In such cases, it is wiser to remove it from site for disposal.

soil is so bad im afraid..after i put all stone away into a bag should i put fresh top soil and then gravel or what should i do to make it alot beter

alanhiggyno1

alanhiggyno1 wrote: »

soil is so bad im afraid..after i put all stone away into a bag should i put fresh top soil and then gravel or what should i do to make it alot beter

its also all clay after digging 2 to 3 inches deep

macraignil

Painting and possibly pointing and plastering the walls could brighten the place up.

If it is good clay I would make a natural pond if this was my garden. Compacting the clay at the bottom of what area is dug out could mean a pond liner might not be needed. When excavating the pond I reckon there is likely to be a few good sized stones that could provide nice edging for the pond. The excavated material could be used to build up the soil level in raised beds when combined with organic compost.

Raised beds if drainage is poor could be a good way of creating space to grow a variety of plants as being at a higher level the water will naturaly drain to the lower parts of the garden. Using railway sleepers stacked on top of each other can contain a raised bed and also provide somewhere to sit (Just remember they are not always exactly the same length).

I found planting an area of clay ground with small trees and shrubs led to improved drainage compared to other areas of the garden where mainly shallow rooted plants were growing. I have found black currants, gooseberry, red currants, raspberrys, strawberrys, pears and apple trees have all grown well on clay soil with just a good application of organic manure or mulch each winter.

You should really consider how you want to use your garden space. For me making space to grow fresh fruit and vegetables would be a priority but everyone has different ideas. A pond might not be very practical for some people but I like the idea of having a few frogs to keep the slugs and snails off the vegetables. Some people like birds so hanging a feeder off the apple tree could encourage birds to visit the garden. If you have children using the garden they might want grass and some goal posts. Its a good idea to visit some good garden centres and see if there are particular plants you like. Always consider what will fit in the garden when fully grown.

lazybones32

Unless you want to go for a bog-garden (which can be very attractive) I suspect you'll have to tackle the drainage issue first.

Soakaways are only good if the water can soak away freely underneath but if they are essentially holes filled with stones, the water can't drain away anywhere...looking at the first pic, is your house in an Estate? I've seen first hand how many of the 'lawns' were prepared by building contractors and it is not good practice. Compaction, poor drainage and shallow depth of soil are common problems.

Can you connect a land drain to a drain pipe close by - without having to tear up paths? Or inserting kerbing/sleepers and raising the lawn by whatever height?

alanhiggyno1

lazybones32 wrote: »

Unless you want to go for a bog-garden (which can be very attractive) I suspect you'll have to tackle the drainage issue first.

Soakaways are only good if the water can soak away freely underneath but if they are essentially holes filled with stones, the water can't drain away anywhere...looking at the first pic, is your house in an Estate? I've seen first hand how many of the 'lawns' were prepared by building contractors and it is not good practice. Compaction, poor drainage and shallow depth of soil are common problems.

Can you connect a land drain to a drain pipe close by - without having to tear up paths? Or inserting kerbing/sleepers and raising the lawn by whatever height?

i would like to raise the lawn yes and it is at the end of a estate

wildlifeboy

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

fit a synthetic grass lawn.
The first thing you need to do is plan it, the rest is implementation.

I was paying attention up to there..do not put in a synthetic lawn lol..bloddy awful yokes

alanhiggyno1

wont be putting fake grass down as u said dont i like it..what im gonna do first is put stone away in bags and maybe gravel and then fresh soil to riase ita few cm and see where i go from there

lazybones32

alanhiggyno1 wrote: »

i would like to raise the lawn yes and it is at the end of a estate

Dig the entire area over to a depth of at least the depth of a shovel - don't worry about mixing subsoil if you will be adding new topsoil after to increase height. Be careful for cables and pipes...

Lay your borders/edging.

Add the topsoil to the required depth. Level soil and sow seed in ideal conditions.

Was going to suggest drilling holes in the back wall to allow more water flow out into whatever is behind the estate but that shouldn't be necessary.

alanhiggyno1

lazybones32 wrote: »

Dig the entire area over to a depth of at least the depth of a shovel - don't worry about mixing subsoil if you will be adding new topsoil after to increase height. Be careful for cables and pipes...

Lay your borders/edging.

Add the topsoil to the required depth. Level soil and sow seed in ideal conditions.

Was going to suggest drilling holes in the back wall to allow more water flow out into whatever is behind the estate but that shouldn't be necessary.

thinking of doing something like that with adding a few paving slabs in there somewhere with a few raised beds

macraignil

If you are raising the level of the garden be careful water does not start to flow towards the house when there is heavy rain. Any possibiliy of putting in a drain should be considered if you have heavy clay soil.

alanhiggyno1

macraignil wrote: »

If you are raising the level of the garden be careful water does not start to flow towards the house when there is heavy rain. Any possibiliy of putting in a drain should be considered if you have heavy clay soil.

to be honest i dont know where to start with this...

macraignil

alanhiggyno1 wrote: »

to be honest i dont know where to start with this...

Looked at the photos again and I don't see any obvious place to channel off excess water. The clay soil in my parents back garden is higher than the path around their house. When we had heavy rain it used to lead to water flowing onto and flooding the path at the back of the house until I put a drain to channel the water around the side of the house. Just thought I would mention their situation in case you got a similar problem from bringing in fresh soil and raising the level of your garden.