Gardeners and Tree Surgeons in Ripon

The rock beneath the city is marl, limestone and gypsum of the Permian Edlington, Brotherton and Roxby formations, capped with glacial deposits, and the gypsum that causes the trouble lies in the Edlington and Roxby beds. Gypsum dissolves quickly enough that karst features form and change on human timescales, which is why the ground between Nosterfield, Ripon and Bishop Monkton has seen roughly 40 subsidence episodes in the past 150 years. Ripon is one of the very few places in the country with planning zones drawn around subsidence potential from bedrock dissolution, and reinforced foundation design is required in the main subsidence prone area.

For a garden that means three practical things. Heavy stone features, raised beds and retaining walls want siting and founding with the ground in mind, not simply dropped wherever they look best. A pond is a lot of concentrated weight and a lot of water heading into the soil, so it is worth thinking about before it is dug rather than after. And a soakaway that funnels every drop off a roof or a hard surface into one deep hole is rarely the right answer here, because spreading water out usually is. We will say all of that on the site visit, and we will tell you plainly if a job needs a structural opinion before we price it. Design and build work is on our garden design page, and pond clearing, blanketweed and seasonal pond care are on the pond treatment page.