are there pictures of your outdoor area? I have no idea about it.
No, there aren’t any. As I wrote in the other thread, I would like to remain anonymous here. Especially because of the currently running parallel thread. But pictures of our property in its raw state can be found in my first planning thread. You can clearly see the slope there.
I don’t know if a description serves the purpose, but at least you can see the amount of work.
We installed 7m of L-shaped stones towards the neighboring house (northern side of the property), double-layered (so a total of 14 m), creating a raised bed that we planted with lavender, grasses, and white low-growing groundcover roses. Above that, there is a perhaps 7x3m steep section for which I still need to come up with something because maintenance there isn’t easy and I find all the classic groundcover plants (cotoneaster, etc.) ugly.
Behind the house, due to the asymmetrical cut, we had to build a wall with the least possible depth. I would’ve actually liked big shell limestone blocks. But in the northern corner of our garden, the space wasn’t enough, and I didn’t want to mix wall types. So we decided on an initially totally ugly concrete block wall. However, it was recently partially plastered and clad with WPC slats. Now I really like it. This concrete block wall cuts through almost the entire length of the property. I think it’s 24m long, with a height of 2 to 1.4m. Also double-layered to create raised beds again (the lower part of the wall with WPC cladding, the upper part behind the raised bed plastered white). The long wall is interrupted by 2 stairways and doesn’t run completely straight along the property. For example, we preserved an old quince tree and have the wall going around the quince once.
In the southwestern corner, we still have a roughly 17 m long concrete block wall with a height of 1.2 m. But it is backfilled on our side to create a level surface and therefore not further decorated. For fall protection, there is a fence mounted on it and recently a loose flowering hedge was planted in front of it.
Additionally, another concrete block wall is currently being built between our garage and the neighboring garage. Length 7m and height 1.2m. It will be clad again with WPC slats.
On the eastern part of the property towards the street, there is another about 22m long wall but only 0.7m high. There is partly a bench on it and it will be plastered white and partially clad with WPC slats again.
Despite all the walls, we don’t have everything level. Actually only the area directly behind the house. Above the long 24m wall we still have a slight slope, but it is not that steep and can still be used well.
We have a (roof) terrace on the garage southwest of the house. Then a smaller one at the very top of the property with a nice view and a lounge corner between the raised bed wall.
The courtyard is not paved yet. I’m also a bit nervous because it might get tight to finish it this fall. We are currently working on it but had to struggle from the back to the front due to the slope. So the back garden is already quite nice, but at the front, it is currently a construction site.
To summarize, we have
14m of L-shaped stones
94 m of concrete block wall with heights between 0.7 and about 2m. Most of it plastered white or clad with WPC slats.
And a lot of earthmoving, despite a house on a slope with a partially utilized basement.
We installed the concrete block walls mostly ourselves and filled them. That was our summer task. The rest is done by a small company.
Currently, I am spending a lot of time on planting. As a first-time gardener, it is a science in itself.