In article , says...


"asvensso" wrote
I am very interested in buying a flat in central London that I have
recently viewed. This is a basement flat in a converted Victorian
terraced house.

When I viewed the flat, I was a bit puzzled by the layout and would like
some advice if possible. This is what it looks like: it is a slice of
garden 14m long and 4m wide. At the end, there is a high brick wall and
two tall trees. I was not able to establish what kind of trees. One of
the trees has a Tree Protection Order (TPO) from the council.

As I walk out of the french doors from the bedroom, I walk into a small
paved patio and a few steps take me up roughly 1m high to the rest of
the garden. The garden is "raised" at that level for about 8m. This part
has a lawn and a flowerbed on the side. After the 8m, there is another
elevation of 1m with small steps up by the trees.

I can fully understand that the back end of the garden needs to support
the TPO trees so has to stay somewhat elevated, But what about the
middle bit? It is framed by a brick wall, making it all looking a bit
untidy somehow. I can add that the previous owner has built a bedroom in
an extension which comes out a bit into the garden. For some reason this
building stands surrounded by this elevation leaving a space of 30cm to
the wall of the elevation. This looks like a hazard for anyone walking
around in the garden to me.

I guess the original building did not make use of a basement exit to the
garden before so the middle level may well be where the original level
was. Ideally, I would like to remove the middle bit and level out the
garden to get a more even surface and a better view. Does anyone know if
there are any compelling reasons why the garden is laid out this way?
Has anyone undertaken a major project of removing a chunk of garden like
this - is it hard to organize/expensive/issues with drainage? And
lastly, any ideas how much soil and space a 15m leafy tree would need to
be healthy?

Apologies for long message.


A friend of mine had a basement flat with an effectively raised garden and
during very heavy rains her flat flooded twice. Be careful, water will
always move to the lowest level.


Can't "know" the reason, but my guess would be that the middle section is
semi original as is the top section there having once been a slope that
has been terraced, the lower section may have been dug out when the house
was converted to making living space in the basement.

The top section with trees should be left well alone without advice from
the council tree people. Rule of thump is trees need the same space
around them as their height.
The middle section could be removed to the lower level but you would need
deep pockets, land fill tax is something like £250 per ton and thats just
to dump it, its probably going to be in the region of £350 per cubic
metre to dig it out and get rid of it (I am guessing a bit here), and
since its also likely to be holding up the surrounding walls fences and
neighbours gardens that would involve a lot of costly retaining work,
with the result your bit is now the lowest and will flood everytime it
rains heavily. Unless of course your raised bit is where they put the
spoil when digging out the lower part!
You would also need to do a carefull survey of any services like water
drains and even power.

It would however be feasable to remove some of the middle level to
increase the size of the patio, check local skip hire places as to how
much capacity the skips hold and how much they cost, this should give you
a lowest possible price assuming you did the work

--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea