Our long weekend project

Today is a public holiday here in Belgium (Ascension Day), making a long weekend for us (no holiday on Monday).

We decided to tackle the problem of floodwater running down the drive, and not draining away into the grass (which is slightly higher). 2 tonnes of gravel are being delivered tomorrow, to make a "soak-away", so today we needed to dig out the trench to hold the gravel....
First of all, we marked out the curve, where we will remove the soil. You can see the debris buildup on the tarmac surface, where the standing water gathers...


Turf was cut off


As we dug down, we discovered an armoured cable tube - I guess there used to be power in the garden!!


A little further down, and we find the pipe works for the rainwater removal, which we had installed 5 years ago. Before that, the rainwater used to come off the roof down a down pipe, and then ran down the drive!

Nice and deep now, at least 18", hubby working away, giving an idea of scale (he's 6 foot!)


Six hours of digging, and I think we finally have a good soak-away trench! The land drops away quite steeply about 20 foot further down the slope....

Time to break for the day, and have something to eat!

 

What to do with the leftover turf, and soil? A second project, of course!!

We have extended the "patio bed" across to the deutzia, which is now nicely established!


The turf from below the drive was added to the turf from the pond! I created a sloping turf wall, "leaning into the hill" with the upside down turf. We are hoping that the root-mass will help it to bind it together, and stabilise it.
The topsoil from the trench (which is in fact probably some of the best soil in the garden - so glad that we are using it positively!) is filled in behind the "wall".


I cut a nice sweeping curve to link the deutzia with the little "peninsula" where the DA Rose was (we moved it to the back of the bed about a month ago)


A side shot to show the gradient a little, as the soil is filled in...


Some of the turf has been used to reinforce the back of the bed all the way along - even behind the acer.


You can see the different surface, to indicate the new area of the bed. Those are size 9 footprints on the surface, if that helps!!


And from the other side of the deutzia!

The planting will have to wait until the main project is finished!!

 

Hi Sian if that cable is lead with three core copper cable in the middle the copper is worth good money for scrap.

 

Unfortunately Martin, I think the previous owners thought the same - both reinforced tubing were empty, so they've already cashed in on the copper!!

 

My older brother used to get it from work quite often perks of the job in them days, i used to strip it for him for pocket money i was only a young lad in my early teens.

 

You're making good progress Sian.

 

The gravel has arrived.

...now why did we expect it to arrive in those big 4-handled sacks?!

It took me 15 mins of shovelling to get the gravel from leaning on one of the gates. A bit more work before we can close them...

 

Would I be correct in assuming that hard-core rubble would also be effective at the base of a soak-away?

We have a lot of rubble around the place, and I'm not sure if we have ordered enough gravel. It seems a little daft to buy more gravel, then wonder what to do with the rubble...

On a lighter note, this snoopervision is hard work!

 

End of day 2, and the trench was extended, dug out deeper, and the bottom filled with hardcore.

The good news is, we have an extra pair of hands come down for the weekend, so that should help!


I think my back has had enough now!!

 

Looking good Sian........clearly doing the job correctly. You will feel very satisfied when the work is done

 

Looking good Sian, nice to see you have a drain there if you still have issues in the future which i doubt very much but if you do, put one of these at the bottom of the drive and tap it it into the drains .

 

Good idea!! You know, I'd never thought of that! It would go into our rainwater tank, too!! Good to know that we have a plan B, if ever we need it!

 

Job done!

At first the trench filled in quickly - so quickly that I forgot to take a photo!


And looking up the drive


Most of the work done, as we break for lunch...

Looking up the drive I guess the house doesn't face that much south!!

A little more topped up


Really pleased with how it looks....

 

We had a little left over from the 2 tonnes, so did the side path of the house, although we will need another 2 tonnes to do the back of the house! An autumn task, I think!

First, clear the weeds....


Then cover with gravel


And from above the slope


But we need quite a bit more along the back - just managed to turn the top of the corner!!
I

 

Looks great Sian a good job done .