Been there, done that - the leveling part. You can either dig down on the high end until it is level with the low end and build a small retaining wall at the head of the bed. Then construct the bed in any fashion of the level portion. Use string for leveling as eyeball won't cut it. Or you can build up the low end of the bed. The problem with that approach is most cost - more wood or whatever materials you use to frame it in and MUCH more fill dirt. If the incline is not too severe you can run the bed parallel to the incline rather than perpendicular to it. Still has greater cost associated with it for material and soil to level it but it will give you better consistency for watering - less pooling and run off. A third alternative is to build terraced beds - stepped beds down the incline. At the top maybe only 12" wide, the next down 2' wide, 3' for the next etc. Makes access to them a bit more difficult but is attractive and needs less digging. Pics linked below. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Terraced garden bed

I have to tell you that I quite honestly don't like the design you've done. I wonder if it conforms to some ideal you have in your head about what "a landscape" should look like, as it does not respond particularly to the challenge of enhancing the appearance of this house and this property, and others have mentioned its other drawbacks. By putting plant weight at the front of the property and with a long stright walk to it, you've created a perspective that shrinks and contorts the house, rather than one that frames and balances and grounds it. Unlike many houses that have been posted here with questions about how to do a good foundation planting to whom we've said they should pay more attention to the larger property rather than the foundation, this house DOES cry out for good foundation planting - yet you've ignored (in your sketch) the mis-placed overgrown monstrosities growing near the foundation, choosing instead to remove the only two attractive shrubs on the property. I'd agree the maple is badly placed, but it is one of only two pieces of landscaping you've got (three if you count the rock) that's worth keeping. The placement of that little tree, on the other hand, is pretty good and it will enhance the house as it grows; it can outgrow a poor pruning job. Tree circles are certainly not the right setting for either of these plants, you can make better beds, but they need to sweep across the slope, not down it. The place really has great landscape potential and you sound like just the right people to tap into it - but something's got you taking a wrong turn right out of the gate. If I were you, I'd backtrack. Forget the new sidewalk; work with the one you've got and get the foundation plantings right. I wold suggest that if you are on a limited budget, that you begin by pruning those horrid blobby shrubs (pruning is cheap) and see what you've got once that's done. They might be induced to behave; maybe they don't need to be taken out. You can prune them for an interesting airy structure (keeping the height and planting something else underneath) or just into smaller blobs. You don't say what direction the house faces, but almost any direction will allow you to mix rhodos, japanese maples, conifers, and those blobby things cut back into a nice substantial foundation bed with lots of foliage interest and contour. Search this forum for foundation planting and you may find some relevant information. KarinL

If that photo is representative of the area in question, then I'd reconsider using this extremely tight space for "outdoor living". And unless I am missing something, that slope is not very severe. Even if leveled, I doubt this area would be congenial to lounging outdoors or utilizing as a patio, etc. Too exposed and too restrictive and without sufficient space to develop any kind of green privacy screening. I'd consider just a mixed shrub buffer between you and the neighboring property, perhaps with a meandering pathway connecting it to more usable areas of your property. Unless that photo doesn't reveal the true slope of the area, I'd say no terracing or retaining walls are necessary or even practical. Can you post photos of other areas of your garden that may be more conducive to outdoor living/entertaining? I still think this is a situation where engaging a professional for an hour or two can be helpful - it is difficult even from the photo to get a good visual and a true sense of exactly what you are dealing with.

Ssahw, sorry for this hijack, and back to your deck in a moment. *** Designshare, I have been saying nothing in response to several of your posts, but this time you posted twice and you did not listen to what the OP said. The OP clearly rejected your input, yet you made yet another bizarre and irrelevant picture. I would suggest you try to improve your work to encompass both reality and the question that the OP is asking, so it doesn't require anyone to be advised to ignore it. And by the way, if you see anyone giving advice that you think is a waste of time or otherwise bad, you are free to say so here. Just be sure to give reasons why you think it is bad. Given that freedom that you have, I would suggest that you try learning what "dictatorship" means before you use that word again. It continues to beggar my understanding that you are from China, which is a dictatorship where corruption and oppression abound, and yet you cannot tell the difference between a dictatorship and simple peer response. Far from seeking to oppress your contribution, I have frequently offered you suggestions on how to improve it. Your contributions in words are sometimes very good, and if you could simply stop with the pictures, you would be much more welcome by me. In particular, I have suggested that you not be the first to post to any thread, because it is very off-putting to a new OP when a "cartoon" (as your drawings were referred to by someone else) is the first response. That, of course, is only my opinion. I don't seek to speak on anyone else's behalf, and everyone else is free to tell you, and the rest of the world by posting it in a thread, if they feel differently about your pictures. *** So, back to the deck. I agree a deck would be easier to build, but maybe not so good for a firepit. I wonder though whether the firepit and pool seasons do not somewhat overlap. Perhaps it would be better to consider the two functions separately. Alternatively, based on the measurements you've given, that's some slope. Could you move the patio further from the deck to flatter ground? And/or extend the deck at its present level until you reach flat ground? Fill below the deck to bring the ground level up?? The concurrent thread I've linked below may give you, in monetary terms, some idea of the magnitude of putting the patio right where you want it. KarinL Here is a link that might be useful: concurrent thread