I have a walkout basement, so I have a few steep hills in my back
yard. One is behind the garage, that comes down 11 feet in about a 16
or 18 foot length, and the other is a hill with an even steeper slope
outside my main level patio door. The hill behind the patio door I
think will be dealt with when I put a deck in this summer. The one
behind the garage has me stumped though.

the width of the strip is a little more than the width of my 3 car
garage which it is behind. The neighbor's yard slopes about the same,
so there's no help there for designing a solution. As I said, it's
around 15 or so feet from top of the hill to the bottom, one edge is
just the lot line and the other edge is the side of my house. So it's
just a smallish square area.

I'm not worried about "using" the space. My only concern is to be
able to do something other than grass - I'm tied of cutting these
hills. I can put something down to let all the grass die, but what
can I do then to keep the dirt from eroding away? Would some type of
landscaping barrier, covered with decorative stones or something,
work? Anyone have any links for anything to give me ideas? I've been
googling, but most of my hits are for retaining walls and such,
something I would rather not spend the money for in this instance with
the deck going in.

Thanks for any suggestions.

John

"john" wrote in message
...
I have a walkout basement, so I have a few steep hills in my back
yard. One is behind the garage, that comes down 11 feet in about a 16
or 18 foot length, and the other is a hill with an even steeper slope
outside my main level patio door. The hill behind the patio door I
think will be dealt with when I put a deck in this summer. The one
behind the garage has me stumped though.

the width of the strip is a little more than the width of my 3 car
garage which it is behind. The neighbor's yard slopes about the same,
so there's no help there for designing a solution. As I said, it's
around 15 or so feet from top of the hill to the bottom, one edge is
just the lot line and the other edge is the side of my house. So it's
just a smallish square area.

I'm not worried about "using" the space. My only concern is to be
able to do something other than grass - I'm tied of cutting these
hills. I can put something down to let all the grass die, but what
can I do then to keep the dirt from eroding away? Would some type of
landscaping barrier, covered with decorative stones or something,
work? Anyone have any links for anything to give me ideas? I've been
googling, but most of my hits are for retaining walls and such,
something I would rather not spend the money for in this instance with
the deck going in.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Grass is not the only ground cover out there. There are many other plants
which will keep your dirt in place, but not require mowing. Consult your
local nursery for ground covers that do well in your area and situation.

"RoyDMercer" wrote in message ...
"john" wrote in message
...
I have a walkout basement, so I have a few steep hills in my back
yard. One is behind the garage, that comes down 11 feet in about a 16
or 18 foot length, and the other is a hill with an even steeper slope
outside my main level patio door. The hill behind the patio door I
think will be dealt with when I put a deck in this summer. The one
behind the garage has me stumped though.

the width of the strip is a little more than the width of my 3 car
garage which it is behind. The neighbor's yard slopes about the same,
so there's no help there for designing a solution. As I said, it's
around 15 or so feet from top of the hill to the bottom, one edge is
just the lot line and the other edge is the side of my house. So it's
just a smallish square area.

I'm not worried about "using" the space. My only concern is to be
able to do something other than grass - I'm tied of cutting these
hills. I can put something down to let all the grass die, but what
can I do then to keep the dirt from eroding away? Would some type of
landscaping barrier, covered with decorative stones or something,
work? Anyone have any links for anything to give me ideas? I've been
googling, but most of my hits are for retaining walls and such,
something I would rather not spend the money for in this instance with
the deck going in.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Grass is not the only ground cover out there. There are many other plants
which will keep your dirt in place, but not require mowing. Consult your
local nursery for ground covers that do well in your area and situation.


I agree with the groundcover idea. That combined with some other
local plants can create a nice effect. It's hard to give any
specifics without knowing your location, amount of sun, etc.

Given the steep grade that ends at your house, I would also be
concerned about drainage. Before landscaping it, I'd be certain you
have that taken into account. IF I had a grade that steep ending
against a wall, I'd definitely have a drain system in place to channel
the surface water away.

On 29 Jun 2004 05:20:02 -0700, (Chet Hayes)
wrote:



I agree with the groundcover idea. That combined with some other
local plants can create a nice effect. It's hard to give any
specifics without knowing your location, amount of sun, etc.

Given the steep grade that ends at your house, I would also be
concerned about drainage. Before landscaping it, I'd be certain you
have that taken into account. IF I had a grade that steep ending
against a wall, I'd definitely have a drain system in place to channel
the surface water away.

Thanks. It's Milwaukee, Wisconsin, so 4 seasons each in full swing in
it's time. The hill faces east, and gets full sun until it gets past
the garage in the early afternoon. In fall / winter / spring when the
sun is farther south, it gets some afternoon sun as well when the path
takes it not over my garage, but at an angle.

Ground cover sounds good - my concern is the soil - I may have to
bring some topsoil in because we have such a high clay content in the
ground here, and I don't know how much good soil is there on the hill
anymore.

Will check with our local "Nature's Nook" to see if they have any
recommendations. I'd much rather plant than landscape.

Thanks guys!

John