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Lawn over old concrete bunker!? Help

mikejames2011mikejames2011 Posts: 35
in Problem solving
So I started what looked like an easy job of removing a pond in our garden and a concrete path and this is what we have uncovered! A huge old concrete bunker or cesspit of some sort underneath the pond. It was covered by reinforced concrete which we have been breaking out with a breaker. My question is if we backfill the hole with the broken concrete we are taking out but fill the last 12 inches with soil are we ok to turf over it? The concrete is all broken up so it will be free draining.

Any advice would be appreciated 

thanks 


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  • pansyfacepansyface PEAK DISTRICT DerbyshirePosts: 21,173
    Poor you!  There’s a project that they don’t tackle on these tv gardening projects.😁

    We had a similar experience once with an old air raid shelter.

    I would agree, throw the crap back into the hole, try to consolidate it as much as possible in order to avoid too much sinkage when you put the soil in and hope for the best.😊
    Apophthegm -  a big word for a small thought.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Central Norfolk UKPosts: 82,062
    edited March 2020
    Flamin’ ‘eck’!!! 😨

    I think your next step depends very much on what resources you have ... both physical and financial. 

    Whilst chucking the rubble back in, attempting to consolidate it and then making a lawn on top sounds simplest I’m afraid it may be fraught with problems. No matter how well the rubble is tamped down I would worry that soil will wash down between the rubble and there will be a lot of sinkage resulting in a very lumpy bumpy lawn. 

    My adventurous streak says ‘what a fabulous opportunity to make an architectural feature such as a sunken garden’. 😀 
    But you may not be interested in that idea. 

    I wonder what @glasgowdan would suggest? 
    “I am not lost, for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost.” Winnie the Pooh







  • pansyfacepansyface PEAK DISTRICT DerbyshirePosts: 21,173
    A sunken garden crossed my mind, but then I thought of all this rain. We could, after all that work, easily end up back with a pond.😁
    Apophthegm -  a big word for a small thought.
  • wild edgeswild edges The north west of south east WalesPosts: 8,820
    Dovefromabove said:

    My adventurous streak says ‘what a fabulous opportunity to make an architectural feature such as a sunken garden’. 😀 
    But you may not be interested in that idea.
    My architectural streak says what an opportunity missed for an adventurous potting shed or greenhouse. I know gardeners who'd love to have the structure to work with for all kinds of purposes. It seems a shame to rip it out for a boring bit of grass but I guess it's too late now. :/
    Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people
  • FireFire North LondonPosts: 17,116
    Use to install for a rainwater storage system?

  • wild edgeswild edges The north west of south east WalesPosts: 8,820
    Fire said:
    Use to install for a rainwater storage system?

    Amazing  :o   A ground-insulated, solar heated rain water tank underneath a greenhouse. 

    Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people
  • mikejames2011mikejames2011 Posts: 35
    edited March 2020
    wild edges said:
    Dovefromabove said:

    My adventurous streak says ‘what a fabulous opportunity to make an architectural feature such as a sunken garden’. 😀 
    But you may not be interested in that idea.
    My architectural streak says what an opportunity missed for an adventurous potting shed or greenhouse. I know gardeners who'd love to have the structure to work with for all kinds of purposes. It seems a shame to rip it out for a boring bit of grass but I guess it's too late now. :/
    Would be nice but I definitely wouldn’t want anything sunken with a 2 year old running around as it’s not practical enough. The garden was so unsafe before with different levels, broken grass, chicken coup with nails sticking out of it etc. We planted to level the mid section and turf over the pond area for a larger area for play.

     I had an idea like the plan below but now I’m feeling a bit deflated to be honest. It’s been such a hard slog already and the garden looks like a war zone! 

    We wouldn’t want anything in that section due to the view we have and not wanting to block it. 


  • mikejames2011mikejames2011 Posts: 35
    My rough sketch of the proposed layout 
  • mikejames2011mikejames2011 Posts: 35

  • FireFire North LondonPosts: 17,116
    .... greenhouse could be good though
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