Kitchen Garden Forum

I have a patch of ground between my greenhouse and the veggie patch that I keep my compost bins on. It was covered in rough turf which I have removed. I want to put some duck boards down next to the bins so that I don't have to walk on mud on wet days but the boards bounce up and down because the ground isn't perfectly level.

Any tips for levelling it?

Martin.

Dear Melliff, a bag of small shingle, tipped and raked level is the best.
But if not, you will have to dig the high bits and fill the low bits using some soil.

Duck boards do tend to warp, so they may not be wobbly because your ground is. The wood will be wet on the side next to the ground, and will dry out quickly on the top when it is sunny. That side then shrinks, and they can end up curling quite dramatically. In rainy weather will be about the only time they will stay flat, I think you'll find.

To level your site, take off the tops of the high bits and use them to fill in the low bits.

Thanks for the responses. I don't really want to use shingle and I know that it is the ground that is uneven. I was looking for tips as to how to find the "high bits" and "low bits". I've tried doing it by eye and it's still uneven. I was hoping there might be a more "scientific" method.

Martin.

Morning Meliff, simply by laying a length of wood, or just by looking at where the ground is touching the duckboard first will tell you where the high spots are.

Of course, you could buy a laser level.

Bit similar to my couch grass solution I suppose.

Geoff
I doubt a mixer would be very popular down at our plots!