I think I would seek to creat a level bed by putting in a low retaining wall under where the wire fence is. That should also keep the couch grass out. Natural stone would look nice and in keeping with the rural setting.

Sorry, not really sure what you mean? The slope comes down from the wire, so put the wall at the back of the slope? Dig up the slope? The length of the back garden is probably about 30metres and a wall would be quite costly.

Yup, that's what I mean - dig up the slope, put a retaining wall in to stop the field collapsing onto your land and you end up with a nice flat planting area where the couch grass can't get in. I have no idea how much money you have to spend! lol

Shell, this is obviously a follow on to your last question. So now I need to ask you some questions do you own the agricultural land where the goats are? Are you in a new build? I am asking the 2nd question because the soil looks so poor and impoverished I doubt you will be able to grow anything in it!

Some how from your previous question I had the idea that the land sloped up but obviously it slopes down... This is possibly going to give you drainage problems.

Sid's suggestion is good but, you will still need to dig down and put a barrier in to keep the couch out. The Alternative, which I would hate personally, is to level out, spray with weed killer several times, put down a weed membrane and cover with a good two inches of gravel. You can then place tubs etc on the gravel. BUT you still have to deal with the couch and whin problem!

The agricultural land is not mine, so I cant really do anything with the whin/grass from the other side. It is a new build so it is basically just a bank that was made up from all the excess from building site, although I think it was the original boundary between the two fields. The top of the soil is very dry and clay like but it doesnt seem too bad once you dig down a bit.

The big problem is that there are really big roots within the slope, we have already tried digging it up and it is not doable without a digger. And the back garden is enclosed so it would mean ripping out a gate and fence to even get the digger in. I was literally trying to spend a few hundred pound to tidy it up a bit. Not sure how long we are going to live here so dont want to spend a fortune.

The other option was to fence off in front of the slope and lose a bit of the garden which i didnt really want to do either.

You could try planting informal hedging about two foot out from the fence. Eg Viburnums and Buddleia, Escallonia etc. That should keep the goats from eating it before it grows and you could just hoe or strim the weeds. You do not say how deep, from back to front, the piece you want to plant up is. If you buy supermarket plants at £1.99 - £4.99 they will usually be quite small but of the type which is easy to grow and will establish readily. Plant using bonemeal mixed with some compost to plant the plants, then water them in regularly until they look settled.

Thanks for the hedging idea. From front to back its prob 3-4 foot, so would be made up mostly of hedge, but definitely worth thinking about. Can you suggest anything quick growing that will grow up rather than out?

how about a raised pond at the end of your garden as it would hide all that or put a pagoda and decking down or maybe a mix of both.it would look great and you wouldnt have to worry about planting either.also one side of the pond would keep the plants,wire fence etc out of your garden to.

How about a Japanese Cherry tree Amanagowa is tall and slim with pink flws in May. Spirea Arguta will grow to 6ft with arching stems of white flowers in spring. Ribes, Flowering Currant, About 7 ft and almost small tree like, pink or yellow flowers in spring. Amelanchier Canadensis, reddish young foliage, white flowers, black edible berries in autumn and colourful autumn foliage. Buddleia Davidii flowers in July Aug and comes in many colours from eg white, lilac, dark shades of red and blue. For evergreens - Viburnums, lots of different ones, Camellia ETR Carlyon, two hollies Golden King, a female, which will give you red berries and Golden Queen, a male which you need to fertilise the flowers on the female plant so you can get those berries. I could go on but as this should be your choices why not invest in an easy to read book like my favourite "The Tree and Shrub Expert" by Doctor DG Hessayon. If you look at that you will find lots of ideas to refer back to. Ask again if you are not sure or feel free to PM me.

Sorry but I don't see a 'cheap' solution for you. To keep the couch and whins out is gonig to take both time and money. NP's suggestion might just work. AS this is new build what you have on the slope probably isn;t even good tops soil just rubbish... it looked that way from the photos in your otehr question on same topic.

i totaly agree moon grower realy is between a rock and a hard place lol.

Is there nothing in your house purchase agreement that the builder would leave the garden ready for cultivation. Builders frequently sell off the top soil as a way of getting it off site and then forget to bring in fresh top soil for the new owners. If they are still around I would have a word with the site foreman. They will often help with a solution even if they do not think it is their responsibility.

they often pile all there rubbish in the gardens and bury it to . they dont care though money talks .

Scotsgran it isn't so much the soil in the garden, though I bet it is crap, but the couch grass and whins coming in from the field.

I know what you are saying MG but the site foreman will have access to small plant like a minidigger which could access the site and pull the soil away from the banking to allow a barrier to be installed although I think coming in from a field you will never get rid of the problem unless you build a 4' wall. If he could ferry in some decent top soil then Shell will have a chance of allowing an informal hedge to grow before the weeds eat it up. Hedges do have weedy bottoms home to all sorts of wildlife and if you can't beat 'em join 'em. This is obviously a rural location so an informal hedge would not look out of place. I like all the other suggestions but spending thousands of pounds on a wall or anything else is not an option at the moment.

Thanks folks. The site has long finished, so no diggers, foremen etc still about. The developer was actually my dad, who gave us a great deal, so dont feel like I am in a position to complain about a wee bit of a slope at the back of the garden.

Not sure if this is relevant but i planted a climbing rose right at the wire about this time last year. it is doing really well, and has over doubled in size and looks very healthy. Does that mean the soil might not be too bad, or are the roses really hardy anyway?

I cant justify a wall/pond etc, but they are great ideas, many thanks for your input. I suppose the best I can hope for it to try and hide that rough area at the top of the slope.

I would tell your dad about all the suggestions you have had and see what he comes up with. He sounds like a lovely dad. He has a lot of experience in helping provide solutions for customers and I am sure he will have seen this problem in other gardens over the years and may suggest something that would not occur to us. He will also be mindful of your desire to budget. That is obviously something to admire in you. I always think fields are pretty fertile and do not see the problem of fertility because it grows weeds so it must be fertile.

take a look at my bank ideas ,we to are funds limeted and have planted up a bank which is mostly clay and sand pushed up by a digger from the warehouse behind us. they planted shallow root trees on top as a way of sum privicy behind our hawtorns. we have taken out our trees as they were geting out of hand and put up wood fencing to hide there ugly place. look a round 4 offers. we payed £300 4 32 6ft panels. i think that was gud price and i really shoped around. then i shoped 4 gud priced small to mediem shrubs .or beged from frends. etc. we put in long off cuts of logs to stop soil falling down slope. then we went to farm and got loads of free bags of well rotted compost its black as soot and lovely stuff. hopfully farmer will give it to u as they glad to get rid. may b sum 1 will help u wth it lol. then trow it all over banks as thick as u can ,the logs creat a terresed look . and then plant as and wen u have spare mony .we have bin doing ours bt year, in sextions and on the final bit now .take a look am sure u will get the idea . gud luk.

Cristina - your garden is lovely! No problems with getting the manure - my dad has a farm. Just have to decide whether a panel fence or an informal hedge is going to be best/cheapest at back of the garden.

Just measured, its 40ft long and between 4-5ft from top of slope to level part of lawn. Can anyone give me an idea of how much I should expect to pay for any of the hedging plants, how many I would need, any mail order recommendations etc?

ya know what shell ive been so busy looking at the problem you have i didnt notice the goat lol . talk about not seeing the wood for the trees . i guess we are all capeable of blonde moments even if we arnt blonde and im an artist which is worrying lol .

You didn't see the goat... NP I am amazed!!!

Someone got your goat NP?! LOL

I think if this was my problem, I would do one of two things. Either:-

1. I would simply sow grass seed up the bank and treat it as peice of the lawn, that way the weeds would simply get mown away and the field would look like an extension of my garden!

2. Go with the rural theme and plant a mixed native hedge along there. It wouldn't matter if there was grass growing amoungst it. I'd choose a mix of hawthorn, wild rose, gelder rose.....eeek laptop running out of battery.....

they would be the cheap versionsid that would definaty make it look better . it would be worth doning untill you have given what you mite want to do a lot more thaught as it will never be importent . you dont know what the future brings you could win the lottery or trip over a bag oye old swag on the beech ha haaaaa ha HHHHAAAAAAAAAA ha haaaa me beauties lol .that is if you want to walk on the beech ofcourse lol.its lucky i never talk rubbish lol .

You can get bundles of hedging plants which may not look like much but they will take off and fill out quickly. I planted a mixed hedge for my daughter with hawthorn,beech, hornbeam and holly but she kept it trimmed You will not want anything that grows in excess of 4 -6 ft or you could overshadow your garden. Equally trimming a hedge on a slope like you have will be a nightmare. For a 40 foot stretch x 4' . That is 160sq feet. Divide by 3 = 50 plants. That will work out at minimum £150. To choose your plants you need to get a hold of a book. Choose what you personally like. Write the names on pieces of paper and use them to bookmark the pages. Make a chart, use Excel if you have it. Mark down the name of the plant and the height in 10 years. Does it need Sun Semi shade or full shade. Start with your evergreens (might be green, yellow or blue but will not lose their leaves over the winter) These will form a permanent colour scape for you all year round. Do the same with the deciduous plants you have marked out. At this stage check whether any would appear to be unsuitable for you site. May grow too high but can it be kept to a desired height by pruning. May need acid or alkaline soil, what is yours. You can get a soil testing kit but a quick look at what is growing locally will be a rule of thumb indication of what you can grow. Next do you want flowers, berries etc. If flowering shrubs what colour are the flowers.Make up your mind whether you want every colour available, want to stick to a few contrasting colours or stick with one colour only. Remember you can repeat your choices along the length of the bed. Take your list and visit a few garden centres, DIY stores,supermarkets etc and price up your choices.If you find you can buy half of your plants at £1.99 then you can afford to splash out on something more expensive too. It sounds like a lot of work and yes it is but the end result will be your preferred choice. Buy some of the plants place them where you want to see them in relation to one another. To get the correct distance from one to the next add the height of the plants next to one another and plant one third of the length apart. Eg Plant one will grow to 7 feet in 10 years. Plant 2 will grow to 5 feet in 10 years.Add the 2 heights together and divide by 3. That is the distance apart they need to be. Do not worry if they look a bit sparse.Sow summer flowering annuals in between and the result should be very good.

hello im the invissable man lol .

i agree wth the above, allso i have bin in the pound shops and its amazing wot u can get in there as well. hundreds of bulbs etc which u can plant between the shrubs and just let them do there own thing ,hope it goes well and pics please.

you cant see me either then cristina lol .

Who said that?

Hi folks, thanks for all your ideas. just spent all days weeding and cutting back the whins. hard work but looks so much better already. hopefully it wont be too hard to keep on top of it now.

im the invissable man im the invissable man . you cant see me .

Anyone else hearing voices?

lol xx

;-)