Shoots & Leaves: Spring is a time for remedial works to garden walls

Shoots & Leaves: Spring is a time for remedial works to garden walls

There is something very special about a walled garden and if you’re lucky enough to have one it could well date back to the time your home was built. With little but a brick foundation it’s incredible that they’ve survived so well and for so long and the fact they’re often leaning, undulating, bowed and discoloured gives them extra character.

Recently we saw a wall where the level had been raised up behind and a house built on the higher level. The garden wall was suddenly acting as a retaining wall, something it was never designed to do! Underpinning and structural concrete retaining walls were required to prevent the ground slipping, the wall collapsing and with it the risk of the building too!

At Shoots & Leaves we like to preserve and maintain these walls where feasible and
ensure they last for many years to come. Traditionally, these walls were built with a lime-based mortar which over the passage of time has broken down. The two ‘skins’ of the wall often slip and the top ‘header’ course comes adrift allowing material to deposit inside the wall and plants (most notably ivy) to thrive, the roots growing down between the brick skins.

Hew’s Gardening Tip: Remember that prior to working on any garden wall it is important you establish ownership and get an ‘amicable agreement’ in place or party wall agreement if required.

For a free, no-obligation quotation call Hew Stevenson on 020 8563 7733

Shoots & Leaves: WLAC Charity Sponsor

Shoots and Leaves
020 8563 7733
235 Trussley Road W6 7PP
hew@shootsandleaves.co.uk
http://www.shootsandleaves.co.uk/

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