How to level garden?

Hi All,

We are in the processing of completely renovating our garden which had been hugely neglected by the previous owners.

The issue we have, is that we are attempting to level a very slopped area. We have finished the retaining wall, but we have a 'hole' that is 3ft deep about about 18ft wide to fill in and im not sure the best method of doing so.

We do have a load of concrete rubble and concrete posts that my neighbour has suggested we bury to 'pack out the hole'. Im not sure if that is a good idea, but being the hole is 3ft deep will it really matter?

If rubble is a bad idea, what should be used for the bulk of the hole?

 

I had the same issue with a sloped garden - perhaps my experience will help

My garden is now in 2 tiers - a retaining wall at the bottom and railway sleepers separating the front and rear tiers. Once the sleepers were installed - the excess soil from levelling out the rear tier was used to fill in the front tier. I ended up installing a pond in the front tier - so didn't need to fill in a hole so to speak - as the hole formed my pond.

Your 18ft x 3ft hole - one idea is to dig it out to make it square/circular - line and then form a pond. The soil you dig out could be used to fill in the unwanted parts of the hole.

I wouldn't fill with rubble/stones - with time the stones will rise to the surface and wreck any surface (grass perhaps) that you may have. I've no idea why this happens - but it is constant issue for my neighbour who used stone to back fill.

 

@Dutch02 - I strongly agree with @clanless not to use the stone! My garden is sloped and I have had it terraced. Within the flat areas I have had to dig out masses of stone, bricks and other rubbish. You will only cause yourself problems in the future. You can probably get subsoil delivered instead.

 

The last thing you want to bury is concrete as it may leach lime into the soil, which you do not normally want.

Assume you mean its a circular hole 18ft diameter and 3ft deep - thats one big area.

If I'm calculating it correctly ? 6 mtr diam = approx 28 sq mtr x1mtr depth = 28 cubic mtrs.
A typicaly a 1 tonne bag of topsoil is around 1 cu mtr, so that a lot of soil !

Think you need to contact a local soil supplier and negotiate terms for bulk deliveries of cheaper sub soil and plenty of top soil.

 

Or look locally for someone who wants to dispose of topsoil, it's sometimes offered free to anyone who will collect.