I'm landscaping the garden and I'm about to start making some raised beds because I live in a bit of a clouty, claggy swamp. However the fella that lives behind (and about 5' below me) has levelled his garden leaving a very aggressive angle up to my garden level, meaning that my garden has sunk quite a bit.

I'm planning to drop 7' concrete fence posts along the deviding line with the top 1' used for a concrete base board. Hopefully this will give the back of my garden some suppost against sinking further.

I'm just not sure if there is an easier way to dig these holes (or does anyone have other suggestions?).

Hire a hole borer & use drainage pipe filled with concrete

Id expect that will only ever be a very inadequate fix.

We had to excavate some big footings and put in a proper retaining wall to rebuild our garden boundary after years of neglect before we bought the place.

thius wall is 6' high on the other side, goes down a couple of feet further bleow that and is 2' wide at the base with rebar pinning.

Something like this?

http://www.hss.com/g/62720/Post-Hole-Borer-Manual.html

Only goes to a metre though.

You can hire post hole borers from most plant hire shops.

They're either mechanical and look like two long handles spades with a pivot so they end up a bit like very big tongs or petrol powered ones with an auger bit which simply "drills" the hole (these do need 2 people to operate tham though otherwise the auger bit stays still and the engine spins you around it, fun but can be painful :wink:)

Post hole digging tool!!

Seriously, I have one. Its just a blade on the end of a bit of steel but works really well.

Edit: Digger looks a bit big for the garden!!

pile it and be done with it?

bit messy, but basicly involves augering out a hole, then grouting it up again as the auger is retracted.

not sure how small they go, ive only ever seem 60ton monsters

…. a quick google indicates that you can get them based on standard hydraulic tracked units.

a "terrier" sized one (though thats an env drill) will fit through a doorway, so should be fine.

google: "Techno Drill TD308"

A friend of mine had a neighbour who did similar. All was fine till a real down pour when most of her garden ended up in his. I would be worried if he's just dug out his level without anyform of retention. Which as you report slippage sounds like what he's done.

Personally I'd get a planning dept surveyor to have a butchers. If there is a problem it's your neighbours responsibility to put right.

You probably have a right of support. If your neighbour has removed the support to your garden, he is responsible for reinstating it.

Edit: Digger looks a bit big for the garden!!

you should see how it got into the garden 🙂

I'd be inclined to chase the neighbour to provide proper retention.

I'm with the 'your neighbour needs to sort it' brigade.

He's stuffed up your garden, he should be putting it right and getting it done properly. i'd speak to the local planning dept to see if they suggest anything

How about the stone filled galv' cages? I've seen them used to retain some pretty big areas and heights.

Gabions are nice but pricey by the time you've got enough and filled them with rock or hardcore.

you should see how it got into the garden

I wouldn't have liked to be the digger driver!!

BTW – How did it get out, not sure you can just reverse that operation?

he built his own ramp of earth to get out, landscaping after himself as he went.

very talented 360 operator. Could make that 7.5 tonner dance on its jib. 🙂

I'd like to chase the fella behind me for it, except I've not seen anyone living there for an age now, plus not too sure the planning regs are the same in ireland, but that is something I'll look into – harder to prove now as I've removed 2 tons of soil when building the patio and dumped it in the slippage.

I don't really want to forking out the fotune it would cost to fix totally, in 2 years I hadn't noticed the slippage, it was only the patio fella mentioning it and we looked through some old pictures of the house.

Looks like 6' deep is out my league though.

your proposed solution is unlikely to prevent movement as the fence posts are likely to move independantly of each other as they are installed in ground that is moving. the 1ft or so you have below the lower garden level is unlikely be sufficient to stop any movement.

retaining structures are usually fairly hefty for good reason. a rule of thumb for a proper piled solution would be 2/3 embedment beneath the lower level.

you may be able to prevent further movement by installing ground anchors and geotextile to the slope face but this will mean plant access is required to the lower garden.

Contact building control/planning dept as in time there is a possibilty that you could lose a large section of your garden into your neighbours.

Depending on access and working space, you could have alook at using a reinforced earth slope.

You probably have a right of support. If your neighbour has removed the support to your garden, he is responsible for reinstating it.

First thing I thought…… if his workings have caused the subsidence then it's down to him, surely?

you should see how it got into the garden

drunk drove it in on the way home and you took it captive?
IGMC….

experienced digger drivers are incredible.

they actually get easier to drive as they get bigger, as they are smoother and more accurate with all the weight behind them.

and while some drivers are incredible, the BEST driver ive ever seen was a woman (and the only female driver ive met too)

she could pass me hand tools and cool boxes with a 40ton monster.

anyone remember the dancing diggers? (before H&S made them crap)

the additional 2 tons of soil you have added to the top wont help! 😉

if its not somehting you are overly fussed about wait till it collapses and then they will do the retaining work for you. 😀

might be worth planting some quick growing shrubs/trees to the top of the bank as the roots may help tie the bank together.

there is not really a quick temporary fix for something of this scale unfortunately.

mini/sheet piling from hte top down will certainly work but it wont be that cheap.

If you live in swamp (your description) you will struggle to mobilise sufficent passive resistance on any cantilevered pile to retain your ground. Likewise settlements for traditional retaining structures founded at shallow depths on what sounds like pretty poor ground are likely to be quite large.

/sighs…

Looks like I'm just going to have to see what the local planning office say then… bugger.

I might just well build something quick and easy then and expect it to collapse at some point then….

cheers

Dig some drainage channels sloped in his direction. End of swamp with the bonus of a 5 foot deep swimming pool for your own use.

well, given that the diffference in levels now seems to mark the boundary between your properties couldn;t you just keep tipping wheelbarrows of soil off the end of your garden to 'shore it up mate' until he decided he needs a wall to enforce the boundary in it's original position?

kevonakona – already done that under the guise of getting the footing for the patio right, it's still a claggy mess, but now I'm not swimming when I step out the back door.