"Jason Hallway" wrote in message
...
Below is the plan of the garden of a house I have just purchased. The
conservatory is just an oblong shaped bricked wall of approx 5 foot tall
as
a base which holds up the glass frames. The garden is level with the top
of
the base, so that it has stairs leading up to it:-

approx 35 foot
--------------------------------------------
| | |
| |____________ |
| h | |
| o | |
| u conservatory | garden |
| s | | approx
20
foot
| e ____________| |
| |__ |
| stairs |
| |--- |
-------------------------------------------

First impressions are that the conservatory is far too big for the garden,
and I'm tempted make it smaller and put it in the corner where the stairs
are. This has the advantage that it could be used for storage if need be,
as
could the walkway next to the house back wall.

There is the temptation to just pull the whole thing down so as to open
the
garden up, but there is still the problem of the garden being five foot
above the walk way, and level with the neighbours' gardens on both sides.
If
I lowered the garden, it would effectively increase the height of the
boundary fence to 5 foot over what is now -6 foot, making 11 foot in
total.
So that I may end up plunging the garden into a dark pit.

Does any kind people have any advice on what they would do or what I could
read to consider my options?

Thanks in advance.


Live with it for a year, make constant plans and the argue them to shreds!
Don't under any circumstances reduce the size of the conservatory (they are
never big enough)

Can you organise access to the garden from upstairs in the house?

The wall that retains the garden at present could probably grow a fern
collection and be a really attractive feature in its own right.

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collections of Clematis viticella (cvs) and
Lapageria rosea