CROUCH END SLOPING GARDEN

Client brief

Create two flat useable areas, one for a garden lodge and the other to be used as space for children to play all year round on a steeply sloping garden

As the garden sloped up towards the rear boundary, the prevailing height of the ground level meant that the lodge would sit to high above the boundary line, therefore breaking planning regulations.

There were also a number of mature trees sitting in the higher ground. The garden also sloped dramatically from right to left with the right boundary fence being considerably higher than the left.

Solutions

• As the access to the garden was through the house, large scale removal of material was not possible. We opted for a cut and fill approach.
• First, we dug out the bank at the rear of the garden to match the footprint of the garden lodge to the correct level to allow the final height of the roof line of the lodge to sit a the correct height for planning.
• Since we only dug out the footprint of the lodge, the mature trees were able to remain in situ at the higher level and the root system was not damaged or disturbed.
• The embankment was retained with an oak timber retaining wall with some of the spoil from the dig out used to level out the ground behind the wall for planting purposes.
• To achieve a space the children could play on all year round, we opted for artificial grass.
• To achieve a flat and gently sloping lawn, we applied the same cut and fill methods, cutting into the bank on the right and depositing on the left. The spoil from the embankment excavations was also used here. Here, we used an oak retaining wall to retain the ground along the right-hand boundary to match the rear retaining wall.