I just had a walkway poured next to my house. I left a spot 12 feet long and 15 inches wide between the path and my house that I am planning on filling with black lava rock. The spot is completely surrounded by house and concrete. The first problem is that the concrete is higher than my basement windows so to fill the spot and have it drain away from my house would require putting soil up to the halfway point on my window. It doesn't get a lot of rain, but I'd sleep better knowing it's not all sloped towards the house. I can't run a drain now without having to dig under concrete. The second problem is that the current depth of the spot is lower than the packed gravel under the concrete. I'm afraid that if I don't pack properly it that it will wear away underneath and mess up the concrete. What should I pack it with keeping in mind it's next to the house and at this point needs to slope to the basement window.? Thanks in advance.

hello everyone, I have a holly tree that is about 12 feet tall and I'd like to remove it to replace w/ some flowers and shrub. The tree is too large for that area. I already cut it down (the easy part) but removing the roots and cleaning that area from all it's root looks like a lot of work for a rack and shovel. Are there better ways to perform this extraction? Many thanks Jim