Slightly slopping garden

[Brendaloves]

We have recently moved to a new house which has a slightly sloping garden which slopes towards the house.

it renders the garden useless to sit in so considering ways to level, decking is an option and we received a reasonable quote.

however I’m petrified rats will take shelter under it. My other concerns is that whilst it might look nice to start with It could quickly become a burden having to clean it, paint it yada yada.

Personally I think we should shell out more and have a retaining wall built and it filled in, possibly followed by a patio and maybe a bit of grass. Me and hubby don’t agree he just wants get the decking man in as will be cheaper and faster but he’s a half a job stan.

any one have any thoughts ?

Terrace it if you can afford it. The deck can only be considered temporary ime.. ours lasted about 10 years even with regular maintenance. They're also horribly slippy in winter.

If it’s just a gently slope, would you really need a full on retaining wall?

Ours is a gently slope away from the house. We have a patio next to the house, and will eventually pit another at the bottom of the garden. It will have raised beds around it, but no structural wall.

Terrace it decking has to be looked after ,rats and a nightmare in winter

Our house came with decking and I hate it. Slippy when wet (we live in Scotland) and every few years you have the horrible job of washing it and resealing. I can’t say we have rodents, though our neighbours said they’ve seen mice. I would remove it but as it’s still OK, DH is adamant we keep it as the stone underneath is apparently rubbish.

Photo? Agree - decking is a temporary fix, slippery in winter even if in full sun, will rot somewhere eventually unless you go for composite, and can harbour rodents (although ours didn't but we have cats and they prefer my compost bins). Get it terraced if you need to and possibly can. And make sure you have a decent drain up against the house if it slopes towards the house.

We did a decking, retaining wall combo. We used sleepers for the retaining wall part. We used composite decking which should last a lot longer than 10 years! You don't have to do a thing to it except pressure wash it at the end of winter. It's certainly not a 'temporary fix'.

Our garden is a very steep slope.

Ours was very sloping and we had a patio laid at the house end as it sloped toward the house and a retaining wall put in probably around 60cm high. The wall has a French drain to allow water to soak away and not have water logged soil against the wall. The wall is constructed from foundation blocks ie what you use under ground for a house. This is then clad in red cedar. In terms of cost, eye watering just due to the width of the garden and the size of the patio we put in. It will obviously work out to be far more costly than decking.

Having previously had decking for 20yrs at our old house (with no rodent issues), I think a sensible caveat is to use composite decking so at least rot and replacement does not enter the equation. That way, it is a straight decision between decking and a terrace solution.

If the garden slopes towards the house then won't levelling it out with decking just mean the whole thing is above the level of the house? That sounds awkward. If you can possible afford to, bite the bullet and get a proper patio levelled out near the house.

If the slope is only gentle then you may be able to get away with reprofiling the rest of the garden to slope more steeply without having to build a retaining wall. Compare the costs of doing it both ways. Get several quotes. Ask around small civil engineering contractors and plant hire companies as well as those specialising in landscaping gardens. You may even find you can get more competitive prices if you split the earthworks from the laying of the paving.