Non-motoring > Levelling a garden Miscellaneous
Thread Author: SteelSpark Replies: 13

 Levelling a garden - SteelSpark
I've seen a couple of houses recently that have ticked most boxes, except for the fact that the rear gardens have sloped steeply, so much so that they have been stepped with one of more retaining walls.

Typically the gardens have been about 75ft long, with the rear of the garden being about 6ft higher than bottom of the house, and with two 2ft walls, one at about 25ft from the rear of the house and the other about 50ft. Obviously that still leaves 2ft to make up, so the lawn in each section still slopes noticeably down towards the house. The neighbours gardens have been similar, perhaps with only a single step and the lawns steeper.


Not very good for kids, but nobody has been able to answer my question of how feasible it is to level all, or some of the lawn.

Of course, you can't raise the whole thing up 6 ft, because then you will lose 6ft from the back of your house.

So, as an extreme, I wonder how feasible it is to lower the whole garden, obviously having to deal with the fact that the neighbours and garden backing onto the property would be at the original height, so presumably would need retaining walls.

In a less extreme case, I wonder how feasible it would be to turn the first step into a 6 ft step and then have the rest of the lawn level.

Hoping somebody can provide some guidance on whether it is possible and, if so, how much it might cost.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 Levelling a garden - Dog
Any foto's Steely?
The way I look @ fings is ~ if 'they' can build a tunnel form Engerland to Gaul, or put a man (or 2) on the Moon -
then anything can be done, if you've got the green folding stuff.
Having owned 6 properties of all shapes & sizes, I'd be 'inclined' to just level the immediate section,
then terrace the remainder.
 Levelling a garden - SteelSpark
>> Any foto's Steely?

Sorry no. Maybe I can get some if I go back.

>> Having owned 6 properties of all shapes & sizes I'd be 'inclined' to just level
>> the immediate section
>> then terrace the remainder.

Try to picture what you are thinking here. When you say the immediate section, do you mean the bit nearest the house?
 Levelling a garden - henry k
>>I wonder how feasible it is to lower the whole garden, obviously having to deal with the fact that the neighbours and garden backing onto the property would be at the original height,
>>
My garden is flat. My neighbour decided to have his garden "landscaped" and it is now about six inches or so higher than mine.
My garden now gets flooded more often.
Just something to consider.
 Levelling a garden - SteelSpark
>> My garden is flat. My neighbour decided to have his garden "landscaped" and it is
>> now about six inches or so higher than mine.
>> My garden now gets flooded more often.
>> Just something to consider.

Thank, yes I was wondering if flooding might be an issue.
 Levelling a garden - Zero
It is possible, but it is far more complex and expensive than you think.

For example, a 6 foot slope over 75 feet, you want to level the garden the rear of the house. YOu have to remove 40 tons of soil- that means very large lorry access.
You expose the foundations of the back of your house wich then might decide to slide down the hill, so that neds to be piled. Drains and soakaways get exposed, You will need very strong retaining walls to hold back 6 feet of neigbours gardens on both sides and stop their houses sliding down into your garden. Your garden would qucikly become a lake because al the gardens from next door would drain into it.

Leveling out by extracting garden is a No No.


A 6ft drop in 75 feet? that not exactly steep is it, and perefectly liveable with as your neigbours have showed. A great chance to terrace your garden and make features of it.
 Levelling a garden - SteelSpark
Thanks Zero, so good point here regarding levelling that I hadn't considered.

What do you think about the alternative of making the first wall 6 feet and filling in the rest of the lawn to level the last two thirds to the same 6 feet? I am not sure if that is what Dog is suggesting too.

If they first 25 feet were patio, or just a sloping lawn, with then a sudden 6 foot jump, and the 50 feet of flat lawn, I would be happy with that. No idea what it would cost though.
 Levelling a garden - Dog
When we lived up on the moor, we had 2 acres of land, on part of it there was a big humph, on another part there was a dip, so I had some agricultural contractors come in and level the whole field, then rotavate it, roll it,
then seed it.
The only reason I did it was so the eye would be drawn to the furthest point of the field to emphasize its size when I came to sell :)
With another house, the previous owner had made a raised level lawned area in a garden which previously would have sloped down towards the house.
He was a big chap, a builder, and he did the work himself + his Toyota pickup.
Re: building retaining walls, a friend of mine built 6ft high walls all around his garden
instead of the usual larchlap fencing!
And lastly - our house and garden is about 4ft higher than next door, and likewise the other side is higher than ours, so I wouldn't be too concerned about rain water run off.
 Levelling a garden - Herr Sandwichmann
Zero, no need for expensive lorries, we could all pitch in, fill our trouser pockets with soil, and the excess'd be gone in no time.

Happy house hunting. We're doing the same at the moment - frustrating so far, but something will come of it....
 Levelling a garden - SteelSpark
>> Happy house hunting. We're doing the same at the moment - frustrating so far but
>> something will come of it....

Thanks, same to you. Yes, very frustrating. Anything decent that comes on, goes quickly, then there are loads more on with crazy prices, which nobody buys, but the sellers won't budge on price. A good one, with a realistic price can go in days, there other that have been on for over a year.

For the good ones, it seems that they go for beyond the peak prices in 2007 too.

We will keep plodding on.
 Levelling a garden - Zero
Thought about decking?
 Levelling a garden - SteelSpark
>> Thought about decking?

I have, but really want a lawn for the kids. But then perhaps beggars can't be choosers...
Last edited by: SteelSpark on Sun 11 Apr 10 at 00:28
 Levelling a garden - VxFan
>> Thought about decking?

We'll have none of that fighting talk here ;o)
 Levelling a garden - Netsur
I live in a house with a rear garden that lopes upwards. We have a rear patio that is about 12ft deep, then a 4ft retaining wall and then the garden which slopes up by at least another 4ft for about 50ft.

My children have played football and cricket on it and its great for sunbathing. I have also thought about levelling up or down, but the cost and effect on the rear of the house make it unfeasible.

I could see that you might want to level the top section down, leaving the two intermediate retaining walls. This would cost far less that the whole garden - alternatively, you could level the bottom section up as long as the new retaining wall was a reasonable distance from the rear of the house.
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