Garden - Need help!

Hi

Me and my OH have just bought a new build house and it came with a big slap of mud in the back. The recent good weather has prompted us to do something nice with it. We are both new to the world of gardening and would like some help please.

The garden itself is fairly small but it slightly slopes upwards from the house. The lowest to the highest point is approximately between 0.5 and 1 meter. We decided we would have decking from the back of the house. A small flat bit of turf and a raised bit a the back which had a shed with steps going up from one of the edges.

Yesterday on an impulse we started shifting some of the soil and rubble left by the builders only to discover that we could only dig down so far until we hit hard rock. I'm presuming this has been filled in by the builders with a layer of soil thrown over the top. I don't really know what to do now. I have attached a picture of what it looks like now and what I had planned to do. Does anybody have any help or inspiration please.

 

Hallo Jon and your OH,
Yep - new build won't have the soil that an established garden has. That takes quite a long time to cultivate. But, Spring's here and there's lots of help and encouragement to be found on Gardeners Corner,
you just watch....they'll all be around when the sun's gone down,

Jenny namaste

 

The hard stuff you're hitting could be the excess bricks/mortar etc that just just been used to bring the levels up.

Unfortunately this would be a lot of work to remove but patience would be worth it by looking at your plans, good luck with whatever you decide.

 

Hi and welcome, a good blank canvass to start with, it is tempting to get over ambitious early on, IMHO, it is better to take your time.

Instant gardens are the realms of TV. (and very expensive!!!)

You are probably correct regards the soil, I live on the end of terrace and my house is roadside, which was built in 1965, I have been gardening here for 15 odd years (sometimes with very little enthusiasm ) and still shift out loads of stone (both big and small) and concrete EVERY year. I visit new builds very regular ( with my work) and I see the sort of rubbish that gets dumped and then covered with a couple of tons of topsoil, it is scarey !

All I can add to that is, you will find a fantastic bunch of knowledgeable people here, a good bit of humour, and a very friendly atmosphere. You will pick up on the "in" jokes very quickly, as everyone is also very honest......

Welcome again and good luck.....

ps just off out to do some in mine.

 

Hello and welcome.

Sorry I don't really have a practical solution to the soil problem, but I do have a completely different idea, just to chuck out there.

The shape of your garden lends itself to being made magically bigger. I'm assuming the photo is taken from an upstairs window, so I'm, not sure where the door is, which will obviously have a bearing on any design you do, but if you partitioned the garden with some shrubs or a light fence of bamboo/reed screening on a light framework, such that you can't see the whole thing in one go from ground level, it suddenly seems bigger and yet more manageable at the same time. I was thinking maybe from where the fence protrudes into the garden, sweeping across to the other side, with a nice arch covered in jasmine for access to the sectioned off bit. The sectioned off bit could take a completely different theme from the main bit, so that it becomes a secret garden within the garden. It could even be your barbecue kitchen for example, or a little hideout to chill out in.

If you think about what makes places exciting when you're a kid, its the intrigue of not being quite sure what's round the next corner. I guess now I think about it, the same is true of life in general

 

Hello Jon
what a lovely shaped , and fenced garden you have there I agree with Gdnam , the made in a weekend garden , with water feature , is really TV land. Possibly this year if you can get your decking area down and a few container plants dotted around . You can then work on getting rid of the rubbish where required, hard work with lots of trips to the dump . As in most things getting your basics right will pay dividends.

 

Welcome to GC Jon. You say you've hit hard rock. Do you mean natural rock or builders rubble? Also, how far below the soil is it and how big an area please?

Your house is a new build, I wonder if you have any sort of claim against the builder/NHBCC to get this sorted out?

 

Welcome to GC Jon...You could go for the 'easier' option by having slightly raised borders,this would then involve less digging ,you'll need to add plenty of organic matter to get some goodness back into the soil but it would make lighter work than trying to remove all the builders rubbleThe lawn area will take a bit more work but it's swings and roundabouts as you have a head start with any pathways you want to create with a fairly solid base...looking forward to seeing your progress