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GARDEN 22 |
New Wall: 2
(L) A mini digger was hired to move vast quantities of earth and start a new foundation. (C) The new wall was going to be built on a concrete raft that needed to be a metre deep and wide. The old footing revealed that the original builders had only laid a foundation for half the length of the wall. It was little surprise then that the wall was collapsing. (R) The concrete foundation going in. I was staggered to learn that a concrete mixer could actually fit through the back gate!
Once the concrete had set, a retaining wall of block work was built.
This was then faced with flints. Notice the position of the weep-holes in the right hand picture.
(L) A French Drain was added to help water escape and the huge pile of excavated soil was returned to where it had come from. (C) The new wall and the leaning pier of Alfriston are now vertical. (R) The cold frame area is nearly ready to use again.
(L) The wall is upright for the first time in the twenty years I have worked here. (C) It will take a lot of topsoil before a lawn re-appears here. Note the position of the weep-holes in the wall compared to the previous one. 65% of the wall is actually buried below soil level. (R) The path is now fully restored.
After grading off the subsoil and assorted debris, 20 tons of topsoil had to be shifted by hand and leveled off before re-seeding could take place. From a July start date, it took three weeks for the wall to be completed. It will take many more weeks before a new lawn appears and access to this part of the garden is restored.