yawningdog wrote:
I am buying a house that I will demolish & replace with a new one. In
the garden, the existing lawn descends gently down to a nice
stream/river. But, between the upper parts of the lawn and the stream
is an area of 1,500 square meters that consists of soft wet ground.
This entire area is covered with Giant Hogweed and some clumps of tall
trees.

This area could look lovely if I could raise & clear the ground and
extend the lawn from the house down to the stream.

No doubt but why is a lawn necessary?



This is what I am thinking about doing, but would be grateful for any
comments or easier/cheaper suggestions...

1) Cut the stalks of the largest Hogweeds and lay flat. ( I am fully
aware about how dangerous this stuff is).

I have no idea at all about hogweed

2) Lay 1,500 sqm of weed fabric over the entire area to keep out the
Hogweed and restrict the rubble fill from sinking into the mud..
3) Demolish the house and use the brick rubble to raise the lawn by
about 40cm and incorporate a French Drain system to the stream.

Does this house really contain 600 cubic metres of rubble? That sounds
impossible to me. My guess is that you would be bringing in many truckloads
of fill.

4) Lay another layer of weed fabric over the brick rubble.
5) Lay down 30cm of top soil

How much will that cost? Around here it would be of the order of the price
of a new car. You are talking about 100 mid-sized truckloads of soil. This
is turning into some major earthworks.

6) Seed for the lawn.
Am I going over the top here?

It looks that way to me. A back of envelope estimate is looking like the
price of a small house for this job.

I need to create a drain'able surface
but do I need so much fabric? I don't want to give the Hogweed a
chance to come up. Will the top soil remain in place over the weed
fabric or could it wash away?

Thanks, Guy.


If you are prepared to spend the sort of money that your outline would cost
you would be better off hiring expert advice. There are probably much
better and cheaper solutions to the problem.

David