Building down in garden?

RedTen

RedTen

RedTen

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Joined
23 Jun 2007
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552
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South East
Hello!

I'm sat planning my dream garden (currently have a typical new build - all grass, no colour) and thought it would be nice to build downwards. A nice low level patio and fire pit in the corner.

The problem however is I'm struggling to find real world examples - do people not dig down due to drainage issues or is it generally just not worth the expense?

Below is a very modern take on it. My grass would be level with the door so I'd have to dig out a substantial amount of soil to step down into it but it seems like a great way to make a 'cosy' space in an otherwise overlooked new build garden?

Any thoughts or guidance appreciated.


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Dig out as little as possible, would be my advice. Just trying to dig down for paving alone is a nightmare.

Saying that I suppose with that kind of amount of soil needing to be moved you could hire in a digger, but obviously that puts costs up.

Drainage is something you'd need to consider and if you're digging down as you've got the potential to go below a natural watercourse - but it's not an insurmountable problem. Being "worth the expense" is something that's obviously open to personal circumstances.

However, I do know what you mean. We'd considered sunken seating in our garden (yet to even get started on any of it) but think we've settled more on the "garden rooms" type idea where low comfy seating combined with box hedges, pillars and canopies create cosy spaces without the added costs of digging down.

Essentially, we feel, what makes something like that feel cosy is a defined area, reduced sightlines and windbreaks - I wouldn't focus too much on the lower level aspect of it.
 
I looked at something similar a while back and all of the examples that I could find were show gardens in the Chelsea flower show etc that wouldnt stand up to drainage issues in a real world property etc.
 
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the previous owner did this in my back garden. i think he done it all himself too. he dug out a large square in the back left corner. the stuff he dug out he then made 2 raised beds, 1 larger than the other. in the middle and right of the back of the garden.

so my back garden has 4 different levels to it. ground level which is monoblocked, stone and grass. lower level which is patio (wooden). 1 slightly raised bed grass, it has a stone surroundings with cement holding them in place. then another higher raised bed again with a stone surroundings.

i have no issues with drainage.
 
In a new build you want to make sure there's no services in the ground around the garden.
The other thing to consider is that the ground will likely have been made up to give everyone reasonable gardens, so it's very likely that a few inches below your grass there's all sorts of junk from a building site in there, will be a very expensive operation imo
 
the_r_sole said:
The other thing to consider is that the ground will likely have been made up to give everyone reasonable gardens, so it's very likely that a few inches below your grass there's all sorts of junk from a building site in there
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This.

With the cost and hassle involved in removing earth/rubble etc from building sites, most new build estates are essentially a tip which then has some turf put on top.
 
I have a new build. Opted to not have the garden turfed so it was a bit of a mess, but I did my own thing and it looks great now. Opposite to you actually, I built upwards with a retaining wall due to a fairly big slope.

As echoed above the 'quality' of your garden probably isn't great if mine was anything to go buy. Basically a builders yard underneath a small bit of topsoil. I have trouble with clay as well, so drainage was a small issue.

So digging out your garden to go down probably isn't a bad idea, gives you a chance to clear out a lot of building waste that is probably littering the top just below the turf. Drainage shouldn't be an issue. If you are digging out most of your garden for the above effect then a little bit more for french drains if need be is neither here or there.

I knew there was a purpose built french drain running underneath my garden so my drainage runs into that from my patio. Strip of drainage under my patio doors, with more drainage either side where the fence sits which just looks like a small pebble border.

Look forward to seeing your garden when it is done.
 
Trifid said:
The problem with this is you are more exposed which the OP is trying to solve by digging down.
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If its outdoor privacy that the OP wanted he should have though about that before buying a house on a modern development.

Like the other guys have said, depending on how much cut and fill has gone into the site there could well be a load of crap under his lawn , including construction waste, there is the water table to consider but proper land drainage would circumvent it to a point.

The easiest way would be to import aggregates and build up the levels to achieve the staged garden in the picture.

Maybe a gazebo or a pagoda would provide a cheap, cozy area thats not overlooked
 
Another issue may be that the extra foot or so of depth may rob you of quite a bit of sunlight. Depends on your location / surroundings but a cosy area in the shade might not be so desirable.
 
The fence is the pic is staggered so I would guess that the garden is on a natural slope. Having moved from a house on a slope (okay, it was a hill), tiered gardens might look nice but in practicality, I would never have one again.

Depending on your house, how easy is it to get materials in or out of the garden? Is it a clay soil? Is it a new site (ask yourself why its the first time something has been built there)?

Despite what I've said I do like the image though (the slope is a lot less aggressive than my experience)
 
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