"Al Reynolds" wrote in message
...
"Rod" wrote:
What about going a step or two beyond the terrace idea and using
the
slope as the basis for creating an interesting and varied
topography?
Very steep in some parts - possibly with curved drystone walling
or
rockery outcrop to hold those. Curved path, turning into steps
where
it gets too steep, sloped lawn in other parts, sloping beds for
plants
where it's somewhat less steep. Hide a path with no steps
somewhere
for barrow/mower access.

Good point - although even with this terracing there will still be
quite a
lot of slope - at the highest point in my garden the grass is above
the
roofline of the house!

Both the ground floor and the first floor of my house are at ground
level, and the garden rises yet further behind the house.

I wonder why those of us with flat gardens want slopes, those with
slopes want it flat? I'd love to have more slopes to design around
in
this garden.

;-) V. true. If I had a flat garden I would want slopes. As it
is, I just
want to create a reasonably sized safe play area for the moment, as
the
only flat area in my garden at the moment is the path to the compost
heap.

I have a vey steep garden, the bulk of which was terraced with York
sandsrone retaining walls, all built with the kind help of my
neighbour, for whom no amount of praise is sufficient.

Franz