Help Required Please!

CannyAnnie_3

CheekyLittleMonkey wrote:

Hi Guys

We have been only twice to view, the second time Saturday just gone. It was very sunny day. The garden gets no sun whatsoever apart from a small beam of light to the left of us which filters through between houses. The ground is very squishy and boggy.

Hmm. I think I'd be concerned myself. The fact that it gets no sun is definitely BAD news, but don't forget it's February and the sun may come into the garden more in the summer when it's higher in the sky. In my garden there's not more than a glimmer of sun in the winter, but in the summer it's much more reasonable. It's still a shady garden though and veggies tend to prefer sun.

The boggy ground may have nothing to do with the shade, though that won't exactly help. It's more likely to be to do with the sort of soil, which may be heavy clay in which case it will be fertile, but incredibly difficult to work, and will definitely tend to waterlog in the winter. (Mine does this too.) It may on the other hand be subsoil and builder's rubble, which won't grow anything except grass, OR it may be a mixture of the two, i.e. heavy soil on top of a layer of something else. From the state of the grass that's there, it sounds awfully much like one of the last two scenarios, we haven't had a cold autumn and winter and if the ground had been fertile at all I would have thought the grass would have taken better than that. Since you can hardly start digging holes in it when you don't own the place, it's very difficult to assess.

You could pursue the thing about the possible drainage installation, since that has been mentioned already, they must know it's a problem. Failing that you could do what I eventually did, which was build semi-raised beds all the way round my garden, to keep the plants from getting drowned. That works OK and you have much more of a choice about what the soil is like since you fill them yourself.

It's a really difficult one. Wish you luck whatever you decide.

Annie X

smk77

CheekyLittleMonkey wrote:

Hi Guys

I'm back and I am one very cheesed off 'monkey'! We went to our new home to be on Saturday to measure up etc and get some ideas regarding the garden.

I'd appreciate any advice on this one please as I'm now quite dubious about going ahead with the purchase.

We have been only twice to view, the second time Saturday just gone. It was very sunny day. The garden gets no sun whatsoever apart from a small beam of light to the left of us which filters through between houses. We have the shadow of the house on the left hand side falling all over the garden (it is also slightly in front/ahead of our house) if you understand what I'm trying to say? On the right, we have our garage, which is separate from the house/detached. This also throws its shadow onto the garden. Grrrr.
We spent 3hrs there and absolutely no sun. Went outside to assess the situation, grass/turf has not knitted together at all, there are big gaps/lines between pieces. The ground is very squishy and boggy. The garden was laid to lawn in September (I asked the sales office) us now being in February, surely it does not take 6months to see some improvement? My guess is that its because the garden gets no sun at all, nothing is able to dry out. Along the edges of the grass that border the patio'd area, is all wetness seeping over. I have aired my concerns with the sales office and was told that this has been passed onto the construction manager to deal with and that they are considering putting in some kind of drainage.

Now, this house is a new build which is the last one on Phase 5, they are now building Phase 6. This house was 'held' on Phase 5 to use as a 'show home' because they do not have a 'show home' of this type on Phase 6, although they do have about 8 of these houses of the same model to sell (I also think they have sold) on the new phase.

The house is 3 storey. I'm thinking that they knew this all along, that this was the reason why it hadn't sold. That this was the reason they had reduced it 20k from the asking price of today. I mentioned this to the sales office today and she told me that this was not the case at all and it was purely a case of keeping that house on hold for viewings.

The aspect of the garden is slightly north west for those that asked previously.

I'm very annoyed having been looking forward to lying in the garden and doing a spot of gardening etc. Any views/thoughts would be welcome. Thanks. x

CheekyLittleMonkey, I really wouldn't worry too much. As mentioned by the previous poster the sun is so low in the sky at the moment. It also has no strength and when it's not behind the clouds it's only there for a few hours. If the garden is slightly north west I assume you mean more west? IF that's the case, at mid-day the sun will be on the side of your house and creeping into your garden. In the summer months the sun will be so high that the height of your house will only affect the areas closest to the house. Your neighbours houses will probably not cast any shadows in the summer. Use any areas that might be in the shade for things like garden shed etc.

If your builder has plans on their web site for the development then I don't mind having a look and telling you what I think. Send me a private message with any details. When I bought our house I looked into the direction and the shadows etc in great detai so I've been in your situation before.

As soon as it begins to warm up a bit and the sun gets a bit higher then your garden will dry out.

The grass will not have knitted together since September as it wont have grown. If they'd laid it in March and it was September now the lawn would be perfect. Also, it may have been put down poorly so that's something you'll have to sort out but filling the gaps with some soil. The grass will spread to the areas you have filled with soil.

As for it not selling and the reduction of £20k then given what I have said then perhaps people have thought the same as you. If there appears to be drainage problems (which i think will be ok in a couple of months) then people aren't going to be interested and will look at the next phase.

All I'd suggest is that you express your concerns about the drainage (perhaps in writing?) and ask for them to look into it if the problem doesn't clear up. See if you can get them to make a suggestion as to what they can do for you should it not improve.

My garden is soggy at the moment but by April/May it'll start to dry out and will be too hard to dig in the summer! Even the bits that never see the sun because of the shadows from the fence!