I have a stepped garden. On the middle of three levels there is a three foot
wall with the upper layer beyond it. Immediately before the wall is the
middle layer which is currently lawned.

The wall is damaged but too expensive to repair due to it holding up a
higher level of garden.

I want to cover the wall up and have dug out 8" deep gulley 1' wide along
the base of the wall with the intention to make it into a bed. I intend to
put a layer a lawn sand in the bottom then a layer of compost then topsoil.
The rest is THICK clay.

I then want to plant some EASY CARE plantlife that will provide some colour
to the garden and that will cover the wall quickly!

I was thinking a variagated ivy at each end, some quick growing conifers
(that grow to 3') and then some colours. This is where I come unstuck cos
plants ain't my thing!

Does anyone have any ideas? What would you do?
Anything will help and will add to my drawing board!

Thanks in advance,

Standan

In article , StanDan
writes

The wall is damaged but too expensive to repair due to it holding up a
higher level of garden.

Good heavens, if it's only three feet high, surely you can repair it
yourself . . . or at least have a good go at it!

I want to cover the wall up

You mean the damaged one?
Surely if it is holding up the upper terrace, it will be pointless
trying to cover it up as the upper terrace will eventually fall out
through it?

and have dug out 8" deep gulley 1' wide along
the base of the wall

So, have you gone below the wall foundations?

with the intention to make it into a bed. I intend to
put a layer a lawn sand in the bottom

Why on earth lawn sand?

then a layer of compost then topsoil.
The rest is THICK clay.

I then want to plant some EASY CARE plantlife that will provide some colour
to the garden and that will cover the wall quickly!

I think you are going about it the wrong way.
You want stuff growing *down* it.

If I were in your shoes, I would have a bash at repairing the wall
myself. Then every so often I would build a rock plant in that would
grow downwards. I would also plant lots of aubretia, alyssum, phlox etc
and possibly some ivies at the top of the wall because it is far easier
to introduce a good amount of compost/sharpsand/soil at the top of the
wall than the bottom of the wall and it will drain far better.
--
Jane Ransom in Lancaster.
I won't respond to private emails that are on topic for urg
but if you need to email me for any other reason, put ransoms
at jandg dot demon dot co dot uk where you see

Thanks Jane,

Repairing the wall was my first idea but having had 5/6 builders in, they
all quote me over £1500 because if the wall is taken away to be replaced the
top terrace is likely to collapse altogether! They have suggested building a
second wall immediately infront of the broken one but the garden is small
and I really can't justify spending £1500 on something so small at the
moment.

Lane sand has been recomended because of the thick clay and apparently this
wil assist with drainage.

Do ivies etc gow better donwards than upwards? I could do this, immediately
at the front of the upper level I have a row a strawberries which are
fantastic but I could foregor a couple of these for the ivies!

Thanks again

StanDan


"Jane Ransom" wrote in message
...
In article , StanDan
writes

The wall is damaged but too expensive to repair due to it holding up a
higher level of garden.

Good heavens, if it's only three feet high, surely you can repair it
yourself . . . or at least have a good go at it!

I want to cover the wall up

You mean the damaged one?
Surely if it is holding up the upper terrace, it will be pointless
trying to cover it up as the upper terrace will eventually fall out
through it?

and have dug out 8" deep gulley 1' wide along
the base of the wall

So, have you gone below the wall foundations?

with the intention to make it into a bed. I intend to
put a layer a lawn sand in the bottom

Why on earth lawn sand?

then a layer of compost then topsoil.
The rest is THICK clay.

I then want to plant some EASY CARE plantlife that will provide some
colour
to the garden and that will cover the wall quickly!

I think you are going about it the wrong way.
You want stuff growing *down* it.

If I were in your shoes, I would have a bash at repairing the wall
myself. Then every so often I would build a rock plant in that would
grow downwards. I would also plant lots of aubretia, alyssum, phlox etc
and possibly some ivies at the top of the wall because it is far easier
to introduce a good amount of compost/sharpsand/soil at the top of the
wall than the bottom of the wall and it will drain far better.
--
Jane Ransom in Lancaster.
I won't respond to private emails that are on topic for urg
but if you need to email me for any other reason, put ransoms
at jandg dot demon dot co dot uk where you see

In article , StanDan
writes
Thanks Jane,

Repairing the wall was my first idea but having had 5/6 builders in,

When I said repair it yourself, I meant, yourself. Forget builders, you
don't need them for such a small job. We have 3ft high terraces that are
retained by dry stone walls that we have built ourselves!!!!!

they
all quote me over £1500 because if the wall is taken away to be replaced the
top terrace is likely to collapse altogether!

What I can't understand is, if the wall is in a bad state of repair, how
is it managing to hold up the terrace anyway? And, if it is in such a
bad state of repair, it is going to collapse eventually, even if you
plant plants in front of it ((

I have to say that we have had terraces before and we have terraced
areas before. One was a length of about 30 feet and height of about 4
feet. We just dug the bank away (it didn't collapse), put in some of
those posts and slotted those concrete retaining slabs between the
posts. It worked fine, the bank did not give way and, to my knowledge,
it is still there 15 years later. In this house, I have removed a stone
wall that was holding up a bank 2 feet high and rebuilt it with no
problems. You say your soil is clay so collapse is not going to be as
likely as if it were sand.

They have suggested building a
second wall immediately infront of the broken one but the garden is small
and I really can't justify spending £1500 on something so small at the
moment.

How long is your terrace, because if, as you say, it is small I think
your builders are having you on.

Lane sand has been recomended because of the thick clay and apparently this
wil assist with drainage.

No way . . . again duff information. Drainage can be achieved only if
water has somewhere to drain ***to***. If you dig a hole and fill it
with something like sand or boulders it will 'drain' until the hole
fills up and then you are back to square one!!!!!! Instead of having
waterlogged soil, you have a hidden pond.

Do ivies etc gow better donwards than upwards? I could do this, immediately
at the front of the upper level I have a row a strawberries which are
fantastic but I could foregor a couple of these for the ivies!

We have many ivies growing horizontally, vertically upwards and
vertically downwards. BTW, your strawberries can grow downwards as well,
if you will let the suckers fall over the wall!!!!!!

You say your garden is small, how small? Some people reckon 4 acres to
be small!! How long is this wall? In your position, I would have a go at
repairing the wall myself. After all, if it collapses some day in the
future, you are stymied, aren't you, and will have to have a builder in?
You don't have to demolish the whole lot in one go, you can do it a bit
at a time!!!!!!

But I would not plant at the bottom if the soil is clay - much better to
plant at the top
--
Jane Ransom in Lancaster.
I won't respond to private emails that are on topic for urg
but if you need to email me for any other reason, put ransoms
at jandg dot demon dot co dot uk where you see

"StanDan" wrote in message
. net...
I have a stepped garden. On the middle of three levels there is a three
foot
wall with the upper layer beyond it. Immediately before the wall is the
middle layer which is currently lawned.

The wall is damaged but too expensive to repair due to it holding up a
higher level of garden.

I want to cover the wall up and have dug out 8" deep gulley 1' wide along
the base of the wall with the intention to make it into a bed. I intend to
put a layer a lawn sand in the bottom then a layer of compost then
topsoil.
The rest is THICK clay.

I then want to plant some EASY CARE plantlife that will provide some
colour
to the garden and that will cover the wall quickly!

I was thinking a variagated ivy at each end, some quick growing conifers
(that grow to 3') and then some colours. This is where I come unstuck cos
plants ain't my thing!

Does anyone have any ideas? What would you do?
Anything will help and will add to my drawing board!

Thanks in advance,

Standan

forget the conifers, there are smaller ones but they are generally slow, no
conifers come with an off switch! Ivy will do the job but if the wall is in
poor condition it will get in amongst it, and even that will need work at
some stage.

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

The message
from "StanDan" contains these words:

Repairing the wall was my first idea but having had 5/6 builders in, they
all quote me over £1500 because if the wall is taken away to be replaced the
top terrace is likely to collapse altogether! They have suggested building a
second wall immediately infront of the broken one but the garden is small
and I really can't justify spending £1500 on something so small at the
moment.

Five-sixths of a builder seems to me to be a generous assessment......

Lane sand has been recomended because of the thick clay and apparently this
wil assist with drainage.

Down as far as the clay - then to where?

Do ivies etc gow better donwards than upwards? I could do this, immediately
at the front of the upper level I have a row a strawberries which are
fantastic but I could foregor a couple of these for the ivies!

Some do. If the wall is sufficiently damaged, you could grow white
allyssum, lobelia etc (from seed) in the cracks - also thrift and
saxifrages, small pinks, Veronica fruticans, Veronica serpyllifolia or
other creeping varieties, Kikxia elantine & K. spuria, Cymbalaria
muralis ((Ivy-leaved toadflax).

Those shouldn't contribute to any further damage.

Periwinkles will hang nicely too.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/