Meee too. I had the same problem. I installed a small watergarden and had to build a berm around 2 sides. That lasted about 2 years then I built a retaining wall to replace the berm(oversized) so that I had room for a garden and seating area too. Would love to be able to make terraced garden areas down the entire back but literally poor me :-)

Can you post pictures? I really need to make a decision about what to do with my front hill and I have been waffling on what I want to do - I really need inspiration!

creamgogo,your house sounds like mine. The only flat spot on my property is where the house sits. I am about15 or 20 feet below the street on which I live,and the ground falls off rapidly below the house. I am also in the woods,so nothing below the house is landscaped,just woods and weeds. I have a hard time growing anything that requires a lot of sun,as there isn't that much open space,but I wouldn't trade these mountains for anything. You learn to adjust! Phil

Congratulations, creamgogo. I'd love to see pictures too. And how about when you can go out to enjoy it without watching the ground? After renting where I needed one long leg and one very short--and favorable weather conditions--just to stroll around the house, I've come to feel that a nice side-to-side level path is an asset worth almost any price. My sister's with you, hosta freak, but lost in woods high up in the Sierra Nevada.

First time on this forum. Same problem: all my gardens on hills. Please post photos. Thanks! Rosemary

The only flat spot on my property is where the house sits. I am about15 or 20 feet below the street on which I live,and the ground falls off rapidly below the house. I am also in the woods,so nothing below the house is landscaped,just woods and weeds. I have a hard time growing anything that requires a lot of sun,as there isn't that much

My house is the same way..I look at a large hill in front of me and my side yard is somewhat flat but still basically all going downhill. I would be really interested in seeing what you have done:)

I live on a hillside and I love it that way. I've got a great view all the way to the ocean. Sometimes gardening can be a challenge but one ends up with something much more interesting, in my opinion.

-Ron-

I'm with Ron, I love my hillside and would not trade it for the world. I have beautiful views of parkland and of the Carquinez straight.

Well, me too, and it's certainly more interesting, all right. Yesterday an extremely nice and competent guy with a track hoe and a bobcat, who understood most of what I was asking for and very efficiently delivered, and I, who also understood only most of what I was asking for and only somewhat the consequences of asking for any of it at all, combined to resculpt the slopes immediately around our new house. This morning I'm both delighted and a bit shocked with what I have. Not that it's bad, if the beech survives. In fact, the new view leading the eye down and across a gentle slope to a stop at what will be a little pool of lawn is going to be lovely some day. It's just that, with big machines involved, a little lack of clarity can result in a distinctly different outcome than expected. And fast. I do now have to plant so that visitors can't misstep off their path and tumble into the pool, but, creamgogo, you're absolutely right. All this newly level dirt is pleasing to the eye already and I am certainly amazed.

This is a great thread! I am facing a decision with a rather large slope on our property . . . terraced, or reshape and garden on a slope. I would love to see pictures too, from both sides - those of you that love the terraced look and those of you that love your slope. I have been leaning towards the slope and adding rocks. It just seems to be a more natural look. The terraced would be easier though.

Wonder if the original poster is still checking this forum. Seems many people are interested in seeing pictures of her gardens so they can get some ideas, myself included. Would love to figure out how to build a low retaining wall about 3 ft tall to raise up the end of our back yard so our dogs don't tumble over to the bottom towards neighbor's yar.

Thanks,
Teresa