My problem is a steep slope at the end of my backyard. We have an almost level backyard for about 15ft, and then the ground drops for about 30 ft to a natural buffer creek. The iron fence provided by our builder lies lower than the flat area of our backyard. There is a narrow berm at the foot of the fence (on the usable side) that we have to maintain (just weed and keep clean) as part of our covenants-agreement.

I am looking for some advice here as to what would be a better solution for a safety barrier here. A fence or a hedge? My issues:

1. Need some kind of a barrier that would stop our dog from falling off the cliff.

2. Need permanent access to the other side of the barrier to maintain the berm.

3. Our subdivision is graded to follow rain gardening, so i need to be mindful of the original grading too.

I know that if it were an upward sloping backyard, I can use retianing walls.... But what about a downward sloping cliff?

I will post some pictures to give an idea of my dilemma. But, meanwhile, just wanted to shoot the question out, to get the answers started!