Leveling sloping garden

[jgoodma3]

Hi,

I've recently moved into a new build house (2012) and I'm looking for a bit of landscaping advice for my garden.
At the moment, the garden is sloped parallel to my house, the lowest point being on the left side, as you can see by the 3 photos I've provided below.








What I really want to do is level the garden so I can extend the patio area up to the fences. From the research I've done, it looks like what I need is some kind of retaining wall on the lowest part of the slope near the fence, and then add soil against it in order to level it out. The problem I'm having is deciding the best kind of retainer for the job, I've seen people have used a variety of techniques such as railway sleepers, vertical pavers embedded in the ground, and good old brick and mortar; I was wondering if anybody has any idea as to what would be the best for my garden?

Many thanks!

 

[rjm2k]

Assuming the fence isn't very big, I'd rip those wooden posts out and put concrete with a double gravel board in. You may be able to trim the existing panels down to fit the new posts and save a bit of money.

Just check that the Damp Proof Course is high enough (the different coloured bricks near the bottom) and make sure you don't cover the air brick. Using gravel against the wall like they already have is a good idea too.

 

[jgoodma3]

I totally agree with adding the gravel board, my problem is that it's a shared fence, and I'm pretty sure my neighbors wouldn't be too happy about me excavating part of their garden .

I guess I'm limited to digging a small trench along side the fence and building my own retainer so I can add height

Thanks

 

[rjm2k]

Does the whole garden slope or just the bit on the left of the slabs?

If it's just the left, you could always put a small section of deck in, wait for the fence to rot and get a proper one with gravel board put down eventually. You may even be able to use the underside as a small storage area.

 

[wrathkeg]

maybe dig the sloping area out a bit, fill it level with concrete then lay the new extra slabs on that.

 

[jgoodma3]

Yes, there is a slope to the entire garden, the highest point is at the top and it gently slopes down (30 feet or so) towards the house, and as you can see from the pics the garden also slots parallel to the house.
What I originally had it mind was to tier the garden mid-way towards the top end which would minimize the amount of digging.

I probably want to stay away from decking, I've had it before and I wasn't really a fan, and I also got board of it.

I think I really need to be careful about drainage, especially with my garden's gradient. I really want to avoid having water pool up at the foundations, but i guess laying a concrete base would be ok if i gave it about a 12mm run off per meter angled towards the left corner

 

[wrathkeg]

there are really good pages on pavingexpert about drainage which might help you decide what's feasible/necessary.