Gorey - Garden clearance

1619

Hi all,

Am looking to remove large amount of sub-soil/grass from my back garden in order to level it. Garden is approx 23ft by 29ft but runs upwards at a slight gradient, 0 to about 1.5/2 feet. I think there is a substantial amount of clay within the soil as the ground is EXTREMELY difficult to push a shovel into.

I thought about hiring a small skip 6/8 cy and wheelbarrowing it from the back of the house to the front but any of the skips I've enquired about don't have a front drop down door.

Has anyone else encountered the same difficulties? and if so what solutions did you come up with.

Would appreciate any assistance/ideas.

bmaxi

Usual solution is a couple of scaffolding planks up the front of the skip.
The area around Gorey is part of the Macamores and the soil consists mostly of marl, which is like a bog in wet weather and like concrete in dry. If you could get a mini digger into your back garden you'd save yourself a lot of hardship.
What do you intend to use the garden for, rotavating might be necessary?

1619

bmaxi wrote: »

Usual solution is a couple of scaffolding planks up the front of the skip.
The area around Gorey is part of the Macamores and the soil consists mostly of marl, which is like a bog in wet weather and like concrete in dry. If you could get a mini digger into your back garden you'd save yourself a lot of hardship.
What do you intend to use the garden for, rotavating might be necessary?

I can get a micro digger in at the back of the house its just I'm limited by budget. I was quoted €350 for a 20cy skip with just soil being put into it and €550 for soil and other material.

The guy next door to me levelled his garden a few years ago and said that when he was removing his soil he found a small portion of proper soil and then underneath was builders rubbish, wood, plasterboard, roof tiles etc which the builders had chucked into it and threw a small amount of soil on top to bury it all. My next door neighbour suggested I ask a local farmer to remove the excess soil but I don't know any.

I just want to be able to use the garden and have at least half of the garden level enough so that you can at least put out a patio chair and table and actually use it. Even trying to mow it is a nightmare as its running at a gradient so I could never actually get a nice even cut on it. I normally have to use a strimmer and that doesnt do a nice job on it at all.

redser7

Did you consider terracing it? It would mean you wouldn't have to dispose of the soil/subsoil. Create a bank (block or sleepers) and have two level planes, one higher than the other. You could slab one portion and lay grass on the other. 23 x 29 is a managable size. I'm sure it would be a tough DIY job but maybe this is something you haven't considered yet and with summer coming it's the ideal time.

magicbastarder

you could mix gypsum or sharp sand into the soil, with some organic material, to make it more open and workable?

1619

That might be a good idea actually, are railway sleepers difficult to obtain in Wexford area?

1619

magicbastarder wrote: »

you could mix gypsum or sharp sand into the soil, with some organic material, to make it more open and workable?

Is gypsum available at garden centres? My apologies but I'm a real novice when it comes to gardening.

redser7

1619 wrote: »

That might be a good idea actually, are railway sleepers difficult to obtain in Wexford area?

Sorry I've no idea but I would imagine you can get them easily. Ask around garden centres or even builders providers.

Some on here can help you formulate a design much better than I could.

1619

redser7 wrote: »

Sorry I've no idea but I would imagine you can get them easily. Ask around garden centres or even builders providers.

Some on here can help you formulate a design much better than I could.

Great, I'll phone around later this afternoon and see how I get on. Might see if the local library has books on small garden designs also.