Project
Retaining Wall and Lawn Drainage
Improving an uneven, mossy lawn by installing drainage and creating a raised flower bed as a retaining wall.
- Location:
- Exeter
Our clients had a mossy lawn that would flood each winter due to its hillside location and heavy clay soil. Surrounding the lawn was a breeze block wall, and grass bank that was hard to mow due to its steepness.
Our clients wanted a flower bed on the bank and a healthy lawn that no longer flooded. We suggested replacing the block wall with a treated-timber retaining wall with integrated planting and edge seating. To improve the boggy lawn, we recommended installing a series of drainage pipes and a soakaway under the lawn.
As machinery was needed, it was more cost effective and less damaging to the garden to do both projects simultaneously. Especially as the site was difficult to access due to the steep slope and steps.
We removed the grass and created a serious of channels lined with geotextile membrane. Subsequently, we installed a network of drainage pipes connected to a large underground soakaway crate. We installed these beneath the lawn surface and backfilled with gravel. The use of a tracked barrow to move the imported topsoil up the steep hill was a necessity. We then raked the topsoil level and seeded the area with a premium grass seed mix specifically for clay soils. To accommodate the new soil levels, we also extended the sleeper stairs.
Alongside this work, we installed the treated sleeper retaining wall. We secured them with posts in concrete hidden behind the wall for a better aesthetic. Thereafter, we used the imported topsoil to fill the new beds, wheich we then planted with a selection of low growing flowering shrubs and plants.
Our clients were very happy with the results.
