Oakham · 2024
A sunken stone terrace under two old maples
A shady, sloping corner turned into a circular stone terrace with built-in benches, drained properly and lit for the evenings.
- Garden area
- 140 m²
- Weeks on site
- 4
- Final cost
- £29,600
The brief and the build
The owners had given up on the bottom of their garden. It sloped towards the house, held water after rain, and sat under two maples they did not want to lose. We designed a terrace that sits into the slope rather than fighting it.
The ground was dug out in a circle, with the roots of both trees mapped and bridged so nothing over 25 mm was cut. We laid a linear drain across the top of the slope into a new soakaway, then built the terrace in riven flagstone on a full mortar bed. Two stone benches sit on their own footings so they will never rock.
Around the edge we planted ferns, hostas, epimediums and hellebores that are happy in dry shade, and ran low-voltage lights under the benches and at each step. It is now where the family has breakfast from April onwards.
“Fellgrove was the only quote that listed the sub-base depth and the drainage. Two winters on, nothing has moved.”
