Sloped Garden Transformed With Sandstone Patio and Sleepers, Ledbury

Sandstone Patio and Retaining Sleepers, Ledbury

A sloped garden is one of the most common reasons people feel like their outdoor space is working against them. The client at this property in Ledbury had a decent sized garden. Plenty of room to do something with. But the slope across it made the whole thing practically unusable. You cannot put a table and chairs on a slope. You cannot lay a patio on a slope and expect it to be level. And when a garden is not level it tends to just become an area of ground you walk past rather than one you actually use.

She knew the garden had potential. She just could not see how to get there. That is where we came in.

Understanding the Problem

Before we even talked about materials or finishes, we had to understand what the ground was doing. The slope was significant enough that simply laying a patio over the top was not going to work. You would end up with a surface that either followed the gradient or one that was propped up incorrectly at one end. Neither is acceptable.

The right solution was to create a proper level. That means retaining the ground, backfilling behind the retaining structure, compacting everything correctly and then building the patio on top of a solid, level base. It is more work than a straight patio installation but it is the only way to do the job properly on a plot like this.

The Retaining Sleeper Structure

We installed a timber sleeper retaining structure to hold the ground back and create the level platform the patio needed. Sleepers are well suited to this kind of application. They are strong, they handle the pressure of retained earth well and they sit naturally in a garden setting without looking out of place.

The sleepers were set in correctly, tied back and built to take the load of the backfill behind them. That part matters. A retaining structure that is not built properly will move over time as the ground shifts and the pressure builds. We see it on jobs where this kind of work has been done cheaply. The sleepers bow, the patio behind them starts to lift or settle unevenly, and within a few years the whole thing needs redoing.

Once the structure was in and solid, we backfilled the void behind it, brought the ground up to the correct level and compacted everything down. The base for the patio was then built on top of that. Getting the levels right at every stage is what makes the finished result look as clean as it does.

The Patio

For the patio surface we used Kandla Grey sandstone, supplied by Talasey. Kandla Grey is an Indian sandstone with a blue grey tone that works well in most garden settings. It does not fight with brickwork, it does not bleach out in the sun and it ages well. For a garden patio that is going to get regular use it is a practical choice as well as an attractive one.

The slabs were laid in a mixed coursed pattern across the full width of the newly levelled area. Jointing was done properly and the whole patio was finished with correct falls so water drains away from the house and does not pool on the surface.

The result is a large, flat, usable patio where before there was a sloped patch of garden the client could not do anything with.

The Difference It Makes

This is the kind of project that genuinely changes how a property feels. The client went from having a garden she was not using to having a patio she can actually sit on, a level lawn area alongside it and an outdoor space that works for her.

The sleeper structure tidied up the edge between the patio and the lawn, the Kandla Grey gives the whole area a clean, quality finish and the garden now does what a garden should do.

Sloped gardens in Ledbury and across Herefordshire are more common than people think. The ground in this area does not tend to be flat and a lot of properties are left with gardens that never get properly addressed because the groundwork required puts people off. It does not have to be that way.

Thinking About Your Garden?

If you have a sloped garden in Ledbury, Hereford or anywhere across Herefordshire and you want to know what can be done with it, get in touch. We offer a free site visit and written quote. We will come out, look at the ground properly and give you a straight answer on what the job involves and what it will cost.