VERY steep hill in backyard...need suggestions pls
taraleigh
16 years ago
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bob64
16 years agovetivert8
16 years agoRelated Discussions
Rock vs cement walk on steep woodland hill
Comments (13)I wrote a big long winded response to this at 6:30 this morning. Obviously, I was not awake enough to post it correctly because it is not there. It pretty much said the same thing that GG and PLx said (but in way more rambling words). The biggest thing that people don't anticipate when attempting switchbacks is that you intensify the grade between the walks (the zig and the zag). If you level out a cross slope, you either have to cut the slope on the up side, fill the slope on the down side, or a little of both. This really comes into play at the bends because you have two surfaces at very different elevations which are essentially right next to each other. I had to dig out some old cd's to find this relic. I did this as a side job for a professor's neighbor while I was in school. It had a very low budget. Guests whould have to park on this side of the house and would often try to climb the hill to the front door rather than to walk down the sidewalk, up the side street to the driveway and along the side of the garage to that same door (hidden between the poplar and pine). This walk is 3' wide, and rises about 8 and a half feet. You can see that there is a pretty steep slope in the walk as well as a lot of steps. The actual poured concrete walk is right in front of the house (garage) running from the steps to the right end of the building. You can see that I had to use a lot of rocks to stabilize the slopes both above and below the main part of the walk. If I lowered the elevation, it would be steeper above. If I raised it, it would be steeper below. This actually was a good solution for this particular situation simply because several people actually fell because there was no walk. The concept is much simpler than the application. You really have to think it through....See MoreDesign help for steep sunny hill - central MD
Comments (5)I have a few suggestions. I am near DC, so I know a few things that work in this area although I think your temperature swings are larger. First, I really love the wild look of the grass and the soft subtle shadings from gold to russet. It looks from a distance very lovely and a great transition from the lawn area to the woods. However, I think you are asking for a controlled wildness with little to no upkeep and no mulch. My instinct is that if you spread the low growing grass mix over that area, the more established grasses would beat them out. It would be patchy at best and you would have to weedwack anyway. Here are my suggestions. I think it would be lovely to plant that hill with daffodils -you would probably need hundreds - let them come up, then weedwack in early summer as the leaves of the daffodils die (don't cut beforehand or they will not store enough for next Spring). There is some type of attachment you can buy for a power drill/driver that will make the job super easy. The bulb forum is rather slow, but very knowledgeable. For summer to Fall, you would be stuck with what you have now. An alternate suggestion is to use cardboard/paper to smoother what is there and then plant perrenials with high sun/low water tolerance. There are lots of lovely hardy sedums and day lillies come to mind. I really love lavendar also. Maybe some bushes for height/erosion control. For that space, it would be a LOT of cardboard! The reason I suggest cardboard is you can use long garden staples to keep it down. It would also become dirt and need to be renewed to continue suppressing weeds. Big project every few years and to make it nice looking, I would layer fall leaves or mulch on top. Look up lasagna gardening for more details. Another choice is to buy a meadow mix, throw it out there and let the plants duke ii out --survival of the fittest! Hope my ideas are helpful! I am not so much trying to give exact instructions as to point you towards possible paths where further research can help you reach the best conclusion....See MoreSelling our home with a steep hill- help!
Comments (14)I agree that whether the hill was sloping toward or away from your house would make a difference. Our property is on a large hill, but we have acreage and it was never really that noticeable to me when I moved in, until we added outbuildings to it, and had to excavate. It is a gentle slope over a very large area. Since then I've noticed if one goes up to the back of the property toward the highest altitude, the view is amazing over the valley. We have terraced so much around the house proper and yes, it has turned into an asset! This is not an option if you are already on the market, it took us years to develop that. What terricks said.........YOU bought the house. Try to remember your feelings about a steep hill, and if they were negative what made you buy it anyway? Those are the assets you need to develop when prepping the house. If it was a steep discount in price........ouch. If it makes the land generally un-usable it's a negative. Plain and simple. If it slopes toward the house, the first issue would be people wondering if there would be a water issue, wet basement. That would pop out in your sales contract, but a portential buyer would not see that unless they've already committed. Letter? If it were my property, I wouldn't 'go there'....See MoreLandscaping for steep hill...Help!
Comments (26)It is impossible to keep critters from passing through a planted bed, but so long as you don't cultivate plants that pile up thickly with plant debris, they would not be inclined to make it a home. I hope it is just camera tricks, but the walk at the back of house appears to be sloping toward the house. If true, that would be worth fixing, as surely, a large amount of water will come off the hill at some point. At the end of the flumes, it appear that gravel is piled above the flume outfall height. This is going to create somewhat of a dam. It will drain out at the end of a storm but will hold some height of water during a storm when there is heavy flow. I would plan to be out there with an umbrella observing exactly what's happening in order to know if something needs attention. Do you need to be careful of wildfires? If so, see if the local municipality has a list of recommended groundcovers. Do you need shade at that side of the house? Some tree forms along the hillside would help hold the soil in place while not blocking the view. The steps to the top (nice wide ones) sound like a great addition if there can be a special viewing spot created there. What flanks your property on the other side of the hill? As one example, a tall bamboo forest (such as Oldhamii) with groundcover below, would look great. It looks like you have enough room at the end of the house for a more or less linear patio. One with some boulders could look nice....See Morebob64
16 years agomlevie
16 years agosoitgoes
16 years agoInterior imagination
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