Slopped Garden looking for inspiration.

[GoodbyeQuietLife]

Talk to me about your gardens please.

I haven't got the exact measurements to have - I'm in bed but our garden is roughly 23m wide (length of house) and 13m deep.

We currently have a narrow flat section, then a 40/50cm wall with some steps and a slopped grass area with a small old patio. It's old, ugly and our young family don't use it much as although a good size there is no real usable space.

So we are looking to have it landscaped. I'm a certain our budget is nowhere near enough but we are getting some quotes. We have had one already but the ideas were, a bit drab, and we hadn't thought it through in enough detail.

Flattening the slope is too expensive. First gardener suggested tiering the grassed are (we want 1/2-2/3 of the garden lawn and 1/3 or so decked or flagged. ) I'm not sold of a tiered garden. I just feel like each section of grass will be too small for the children to utilise (I always imagined children running around , kicking a ball etc). Having said that the slop makes running /footballhad work / dangerous anyway.

I'm particularly interested in family gardens. How is yours laid out? Whats your usable space? Our family is young children ages 4, 2 and another on the way so I want something usable now but also with longevity.

Inspiration anyone?

[shovetheholly]

My garden slopes too, so I feel your pain! Mine is long and thin, though rather than wide like yours.

A lot depends on how steep the slope is!

I built a retaining wall around 13-14 feet from the end of the garden, around a metre high, and piled up the earth on the house side of this, creating an area around 80 feet or so in length (at a guess). Essentially, I now have a sunken area at the end which I have flagged and used for my greenhouse and shed and a much larger area where the slope is more gradual (it all fell away quite steeply before). I've curved paths around it so that the gradient hopefully feels even less than it is.

However, the garden is still most definitely a slope. I think if you want a completely flat lawn, tiering might be a better bet?