I have a couple of questions about a property in the Scottish Borders with a large elongated garden which I am looking to purchase but I have a couple of questions about frost pockets and drainage before I commit to it. I am hoping to get either a "Don't do it - you are mad" or "Nah, it'll be fine" consensus as I have no experience of gardens this large.
The property is along the old Borders Railway and runs slightly to the north of east/west. The plot is 25m x 175m and completely level as it is the site of the old track. The front garden and house take up the first quarter but the rest of the length (roughly 120m) is split up between mixed beds and the glass houses (2) and shed, then grass and about 12 fruit trees then a haha for about 10m then a rough area with raised beds at the end which is currently donated to the use of a local charity which gets lads gardening.
The catch is the sides of the plot... they slope gradually upwards towards the eastern end of the plot to the height of a good 8m and the plot is closed at the far end. At the west side with the house the neighbours are level then the north and south sides steadily climb till the usable area narrows to about 15m wide.
There are mature trees along the entire south which do cause some shade.
I am concerned that the sheltered parts of the garden will be a large frost pocket and I am also concerned about the amount of surface water drainage from the sloped sides into the centre of the garden. At the south edge there is a slight dip running the whole base of the slope which may be a covered field drain. In March when I visited the place on a rainy day the ground was fairly heavy and wet but there were no pools of water on the surface. It did seem to be draining adequately and there was no history of flooding back to 1990 when it was constructed.
I can link to photos if these explanations are not clear enough but I would welcome opinions of the garden issues I am likely to face if I take on this property.
The property is along the old Borders Railway and runs slightly to the north of east/west. The plot is 25m x 175m and completely level as it is the site of the old track. The front garden and house take up the first quarter but the rest of the length (roughly 120m) is split up between mixed beds and the glass houses (2) and shed, then grass and about 12 fruit trees then a haha for about 10m then a rough area with raised beds at the end which is currently donated to the use of a local charity which gets lads gardening.
The catch is the sides of the plot... they slope gradually upwards towards the eastern end of the plot to the height of a good 8m and the plot is closed at the far end. At the west side with the house the neighbours are level then the north and south sides steadily climb till the usable area narrows to about 15m wide.
There are mature trees along the entire south which do cause some shade.
I am concerned that the sheltered parts of the garden will be a large frost pocket and I am also concerned about the amount of surface water drainage from the sloped sides into the centre of the garden. At the south edge there is a slight dip running the whole base of the slope which may be a covered field drain. In March when I visited the place on a rainy day the ground was fairly heavy and wet but there were no pools of water on the surface. It did seem to be draining adequately and there was no history of flooding back to 1990 when it was constructed.
I can link to photos if these explanations are not clear enough but I would welcome opinions of the garden issues I am likely to face if I take on this property.
