Levelling a sloping garden

[jeepster]

hi all,

my garden slopes away, approx 3 feet over its 30 foot lenght.

neighbours on both sides of us have levelled their gardens by adding top soil..
I am going to raise the level by 12inches at the deepest point and about 6 inches at the shallowest. we have a substantial fence at the bottom of the garden with concrete posts and gravel boards. which will hold the soil back.

i was going to drop some harcore / gravel against the gravel boards to aid drainage.

before adding top soil i was going to remove the existing turf and rotovate.

is this a good idea, although i will be adding top soil this year i was going to let the ground settle and put down new turf in the new year

should i add sharp sand to the new topsoil to improve drainage.

finally is there any way of calculting how much top soil i will need.

cheers

 

[big-all]

I am going to raise the level by 12inches at the deepest point and about 6 inches at the shallowest. we have a substantial fence at the bottom of the garden with concrete posts and gravel boards. which will hold the soil back.

not shure i understand this bit if you are saying you plan to pile your earth against the the fence it will rot in a few years may also overload the fence and posts

if your saying you plan to dig away 6" from beneath the fence and posts you will weaken the fence and it may blow down

 

[jeepster]

I am going to raise the level by 12inches at the deepest point and about 6 inches at the shallowest. we have a substantial fence at the bottom of the garden with concrete posts and gravel boards. which will hold the soil back.

not shure i understand this bit if you are saying you plan to pile your earth against the the fence it will rot in a few years may also overload the fence and posts

if your saying you plan to dig away 6" from beneath the fence and posts you will weaken the fence and it may blow down

hi,

each fence panel has 2 concrete gravel boards and a 9 foot concrete post.

i cant see six inches of soil pushing it over.

anyhow, would you remove the current turf and rotovate or just rotovate.

or not do ant rotovation just put the soil on top.

at the gardens most sloping point i will be putting 6inches depth of new soil, the depth will drecrease and i move up the garden.