Levelling a sloping garden

Owlet · 22-04-2020 9:51pm #1

Evening all. We are moving to a new house (once lockdown is over) and would like to make garden more child friendly. The previous owner has poured love and energy into the garden but it just isn't practical for our needs.

I would like to know, very roughly, how much it costs to level a garden and lay down lawn. It isnt a huge slope but enough to mean you can't safely put down a slide etc. We would leave the trees and existing patio. I've tried emailing a few places but no one has got back to me yet. Pics attached.

Just wondering if this is likely to be under €1k, under 5k or more than 5k. We've really no idea! Based in Dublin. I don't think we need a fancy design service. Anyone got a ballpark figure for this kind of work? Thanks.

Owlet · 22-04-2020 9:57pm

Having problems with pics. Trying here.

Lumen · 23-04-2020 10:19am

What's the area, what's the height difference and over what length, is it sloping up or down away from the house?

Standard approach is cut-and-fill: skim off topsoil, move subsoil around, put topsoil back.

You can't get rid of the slope, you can only move it around. So every bit of flat you create has to be compensated by slope somewhere else. You're going to end up with either earth banks (maximum grade 1:2 without retaining, 1:3 for growing plants or less for mowing), terraces with low retaining walls, or higher retaining walls which require proper engineering.

When I was thinking about this I went to the the Iveagh Gardens in Dublin which was near my office at the time, measured the slope of the banks and steps, sat on them, took some pics. I haven't been brave enough to start the groundworks yet though.

AFAIK you can't change the level by more than 1m without planning permission.

Also consider drainage.

In your calculations you shouldn't aim for complete flatness, it's better to have a couple of degrees slope to absorb some of the height difference and help with drainage. It will still feel flat.

looksee · 23-04-2020 2:46pm

You could easily accommodate a slide without levelling the whole garden. Just dig in a little level bit to put the step end on so that it is level with the end of the slide. You will have a little rise around the step end of the slide but it would have to be a very steep garden to create issues.

Think in terms of levelling just bits to use - put a trampoline in for example. You may never have a football pitch or a tennis court, but that's the way it is with gardens!

As Lumen says, you will create all sorts of issue if you start levelling, mostly at the edge where the level will change between y ou and next door, and at the end of the garden where you will have either a cliff or a drop. If there are trees you could easily destroy them by either cutting roots or covering trunks.

Edit, I just got some clearing, trench digging and soil shifting done and it cost me a bit over 1000. Think in terms of how much time for a digger and driver. Possibly 3 to 4 hundred a day for a driver with a small digger, they can shift a lot of earth and leave a flat surface in a day or two, but you will have a lot of work to do (much more than you anticipate) unless you are paying someone to get it to a 'finished' state, in which case at least double the figure. You will also find you will have to include some steps or wall to accommodate the dug out end. Its think of a number time really.

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groovyger · 13-06-2023 10:03pm

Hi there. I see it’s been awhile since anyone posted on here but let’s give it a shot. When we first moved in to this house my ex husband had the back garden completely done with decking. Over the years and despite my efforts it rotted to the point where it was dangerous. My son and I ripped the whole thing up one day and while it’s not majorly horrendous it still needs some bumps flattened out here and there. It’s obviously the original muck and dirt as it was a new build. I know what needs to be done it’s just I’m not in the physical shape to do it myself and I was wondering who I could get to do this as everywhere I’ve looked seem to want the landscaping done as well. I’m trying to keep costs at a minimum so my family have offered a few weekends to do the actual landscaping for me. Sorry for the long winded message!!

looksee · 14-06-2023 7:07am

A photo would be helpful as its difficult to know what you are dealing with.

It may be that all you need to do is get a shovel at some lumpy bits then go over it with a (hired) rotovator, rake and level it, then seed it for grass or whatever you are looking for. Or it may need builders' rubbish dug out of it, there could be lumps of concrete, lengths of pipe, old sacks of cement, roof tiles, sand, gravel, plastic bottles and lunch wrappers, all of which will have to be got out of it before you can do anything useful.

Is there actually soil there or have large parts of it been removed so all you have is subsoil? What do you want the final result to be?

groovyger · 14-06-2023 4:46pm

This is what the garden looks like now. I hope to put down some black tarp for weed prevention and then cover it with stones.

looksee · 14-06-2023 5:03pm

You are going to have to put in some sort of low retaining wall across the garden, with some steps, to accommodate that steep slope. At a guess it looks to be about 3 blocks high, but its hard to tell. Would your helpers have the skills to build a low block wall? Its not difficult, but you will need one person who knows what they are doing. It will mean working out the height, digging back a little way to make space for a foundation strip, putting in the wall and incorporating some steps that will have sides to them to hold back the gravel. You will need to get blocks - probably standard 4" blocks laid flat, that uses a lot of blocks but blocks on edge would not support the bank. Plus some slabs or whatever you use to make steps. Sand, cement, and hire of a mixer for the weekend.

If you have helpers who know what they are doing they will tell you what to get, but there is no alternative to putting in a wall of some sort. After that putting down geotextile and stones is easy. I wouldn't really recommend textile and stones but the alternatives would be pretty expensive so it might be the best solution for the present. I guess that soil is not bad and with a bit of cultivation would make a lawn, but again that's your decision.

standardg60 · 14-06-2023 10:53pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120715188#Comment_120715188

Maybe it's an optical illusion but it looks perfectly flat to me going by the blocks. A bit of a lip at the patio but that could be levelled off easy enough as long as water doesn't collect there. Looks straightforward enough to lay weed membrane, not tarp, and cover with pebble.

Levelling a sloping garden

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