ᐅ Removing a raised garden bed measuring 10 x 2 meters with a height of 60 cm – what are the costs?

Hello,

in our small corner house with 300 m² (3,230 sq ft) of land, we have a raised garden bed along the left side of the house next to the garden. It measures 10 meters by 2 meters by 60 cm (2.0 m by 6.6 ft by 60 cm (24 inches) high). We would like to remove it to have more lawn space. Does anyone have experience with the approximate cost of something like this? Along the edge of the raised bed, there is a path about 1 meter (3.3 ft) wide running alongside the house. The edge of the bed bordering the path is secured and cemented with stones.

So, this means breaking away the stones, dismantling the bed somehow, and having it removed (I estimate about 12 cubic meters (15.7 cubic yards)).

What could this cost? The other end of the raised bed leads to the hedge and towards the fence line.

Hello fresh2

If you want to do it yourself:
A container with 7 m³ (about 9.2 cubic yards) will cost you around 250 euros, including delivery and pickup. But you should be able to give away the good soil from a raised bed to anyone picking it up themselves.
And the stones: a 2 m³ (about 2.6 cubic yards) container, maybe 150 euros. The rest can be done in a weekend.

Steven

Here are some pictures. I don’t think it’s possible to do this over a weekend with just a shovel, without an excavator or similar equipment.

Where is the hedge rooted? In the flowerbed? Would it then need to be supported further back?

Unfortunately, I can’t help with costs, but would simply removing the flowers and planting grass on the flowerbed be an option?

Of course, you can do that, but it still ends up being dead space in a way. That’s why the idea is to level it out. I would only want to remove enough soil so that there’s still about 0.5 to 1 meter (1.5 to 3 feet) of planting bed left next to the hedge, and then I’d put a retaining wall in front of that. That’s the idea.

Doing this yourself with a shovel is definitely a huge task. Maybe renting a mini excavator would be an option. Access to the garden is only about one meter (3 feet) wide.

I think we’ll get a landscaper to come and provide an estimate. But if anyone here has ideas or experience, I’d be happy to hear them.

Regardless of the fact that I find a wider but raised surface to feel more spacious than two narrower, uneven strips ;-) here are some figures from our experience:

In spring, we had a dry stone wall quoted. 20x20x60 cm (8x8x24 inches) granite blocks, up to 60 cm (24 inches) high, 5.5 m (18 feet) long. Including frost protection gravel underneath, the total was about €1,000 before tax. It was a new installation, so no demolition was needed, and I can't say how much the disposal of just the topsoil layer with weeds for that section cost. I would guess that L-shaped concrete blocks should be cheaper, but we ultimately decided to create a small mound since after filling in the rest of the property, there wasn’t much height difference left. However, you won’t avoid getting your own quotes. A landscaping contractor did a lot of work in our garden—whether a landscape gardener will suffice in your case, since it’s only a “small” job for you, is something you’ll have to decide yourself.