Talk to me!
Our backyard is one giant hill.. so you walk out, there is a small yard that spans the entire back of the house but ends at about 20 feet away from the house, then goes up into a big hill with trees, boulders, you name it. It goes back quite a bit (we're on an acre and the house is smack in the middle of the lot) and I'd love to do something in the future to make this yard space useable... ideas? I don't even know what to google about it!
GOLD / pineapple / 12662 posts
Uh, I totally read your title as *ladyscaping* . . . nevermind me! carry on! 
grapefruit / 4800 posts
My first thought was to cut in steps with bushes and flowers on each side. But you could different levels of planters too in the hillside. Hillside landscaping brought up a few cute hits on google.
Something like this
http://www.ruesherwood.com/landscape-design-ipswich-ma/gallery/hilltop-overlook/fieldstone-garden-steps.html
honeydew / 7091 posts
Our yard is really sloped, to the point that I often fell while trying to slowly walk across the yard, let alone a child!
DH and FIL are working on terracing our yard and importing an excessive amount of dirt. It required a lot of surveying, drainage layout, calculations, and dollars of course 
We're building 4 large block walls to make our yard actually usable, and we just finished our 3rd wall! Hoping to finally finish this 4-year long process the summer. We had to get some engineering calcs and drawings stamped for a couple tall walls (thankfully DH is a licensed engineer).
It has been a nightmare, and I wish we had the funds to hire someone to do it!!!!!!
I would love to have a fancy fish pond back there, and some awesome water features... big dreaming!
honeydew / 7091 posts
@MsLipGloss: Ahahaha. Major ladyscaping... now *that* would be a thread!!!
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
@MsLipGloss: hahaah!!! uhhh... that's another topic for discussion but I won't start the thread
@Maysprout: oh wow, googling that makes for some pretty gorgeous images!!! I wonder if we could cut in steps and put a flat part at the top of the hill for a swing set..!
GOLD / pineapple / 12662 posts
@swurlygurl: @mrs. wagon: it brought me back to the SATC episode where Samantha gets a lightning bolt!
honeydew / 7091 posts
@MsLipGloss: Haha! Or where she accidentally dyed it all bright red?!
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
@mrs. wagon: pictures? Do you want it to be a play area or do you want it to be a nice, pretty landscape? There are options but I think it depends on what you want in this space.
The biggest things we have done is to build a couple of retaining walls to beautify the ugly hill. Other than that, we have cut down trees and had to have someone come out to grind the stumps so we could have that land for planting. We have ripped out sod (heaviest job ever) and put in new dirt and fill for gardens.
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
Dh built this massive retaining wall into our hill. i don't know if i have a before/after photo but i'll look on my phone later. It looks really nice now, have flowers and plants in it, he even built steps into it so you can get to the top of the hill to water those plants
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
@mediagirl: here are two pictures from the listing. Obviously all covered in leaves so it's kinda tough to see... but in the picture where you can see the neighbor's house, that's the shallower part of our yard. The other side goes back probably 4-5x deeper than that.
I definitely want a play area! Not into gardening at all. I"m finding beautiful inspiration pictures but it's all about how to landscape your hill... not how to get rid of it and replace it with a big flat grassy space! Not sure this is possible...!!
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
@mrs. wagon: the leaves make me think this area may be shaded, which isn't good for grass. Have you been there after the fall and seen what is under the leaves? Is it a mossy area? Depending on your budget, you could have a line of tree coverage removed and make this area a grassy play area?
It's very difficult to get rid of a hill. 
ETA: I have a feeling the wagon children will have a ton of fun playing on this flat area near your house and then will really enjoy exploring and playing on the hill in the trees.
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
@mediagirl: that's what I'm thinking... yes, it's all trees in the back and side yards, so any leveling of that hill (or the hills on the sides) would definitely require removal of trees. We're living there now, and have raked up the leaves... the ground underneath has grass, but lots of moss as well, and is very spongy and soft.
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
@mrs. wagon: it would be interesting to see what it looks like in mid summer but it sounds like it gets lots of shade which isn't conducive to grass. Since this is your forever home, I think I would look into having someone come out and look at the area to see if they could come up with a way to get you a nice grassy play area and then leave the rest natural to work with in the years to come. That's what I'd do, at least.
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
@mediagirl: definitely thinking we need someone to come in! I'm just terrified of estimates... I'm still reeling from 3 different contractors for our kitchen.
@oliviaoblivia: oh!!! I looooove that!!! ahhh!!!!
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