Advice needed on problem garden

Can I have advice on a garden of a house I've moved to?
Six foot fencing borders a steep field so lots of water coming down.
Grassed area has difficult drop which makes mowing treacherous.
Retaining wall fracturing, concrete base of fence and steps failing in certain areas.
Need inspiration!

 

I'd look to repair/replace/reinforce retaining wall first, consider if you need a 6ft high fence at the top of the garden then replace/repair. Runoff from field might require some thought to drainage at the top of garden.
Could look to more terracing for grass or flower borders, or maybe plant the steepest grass slopes with ground cover plants to reduce maintenance..

 

A closer indication of your location might be useful, in the Uk the aspect would be north facing?

 

I would guess there has been drainage problems in the past judging by the gravel areas at the base of the wall, could that be a soakaway, if so it probably needs to remain in some way.

The wall doesn't look in too bad a state in the picture, but a closer look might show up cracks, it would be interesting to see how its constructed as its holding a lot back.

You could perhaps cut the grass back in the steep sloped part and use low growing shrubs and rocks to cover that area, to cut out moving the slope.
Alternatively, cut it all back and put in another retaining wall.

I think you either try to work with what you have, or get the diggers in there and completely change the whole landscape complete with new terracing, retaining walls and possibly patio area.
How big is the budget?

 

Hi personally i would not bother with grass looking at the pic it be ordeal to mow i would use shrubs and rocks to cover that area as pete mentioned make a rock garden use it for plants

 

I used to maintain a very similar garden in Northants. The main problems we encountered were fence panels blowing over in every strong wind....sorted by planting a hedge that only needed trimming once a year. Access to the top....we made wide and deep steps on one side of the bank and the same from the slope down to the paving. Sleepers and gravel work well. A lawn was out of the question so we planted cascading shrubs and ground cover plants. Effective watering was very difficult to achieve, so each plant had a cut-off, clear, plastic container inverted into the ground to act as a funnel and get the water down to the roots. The retaining wall was originally just a row of slabs stood on end That was replaced by a properly-built retaining wall with a French drain at the bottom.....so at least if your existing wall is sound, you're ahead of the game there

 

Thanks for the replies! It's East facing in the south of Scotland with a field behind the fence.
The slope of death with the narrow steps make even mowing a feat of acrobatics so thinking tiers (possibly gabions).
Budget is there if required but it's competing with other stuff!
To reduce the water load are small water loving trees along on the top helpful?

 

Small ones won't do much, even large ones (not recommending these) won't do much to stop run off from the field.
Some form of drain would be the best way.

 

A wonderful problem garden to have, so much more interesting than a flat square of grass.

Do you have a must-have and nice-to-have lists? It's essential that any must-haves have a place (BBQ, trampoline, bins, veg patch, football area...).

Do you have a style in mind? The gravel patio would easily accommodate mediterranean or noble home feel.

To me the slope should host anything else but grass, mowing must be a great adventure on it as it is now.

Moist slopes are wonderful, if you are into a natural feeling, a bank of ferns, dotted with spring bulbs and Hellebores and patches of meadow flowers with perhaps a crab apple for height could look good.

Or, for a more formal look, groundcover or creeping Roses and conifers could work. In the big York garden (the one with the squirrels...castle garden?) they have a steep bank covered in creeping conifer and it's wonderful.

And finally, a learning from a sloping site of new builds I pass every morning. They have channelled all the soak water from the elevated areas into ditches and tubes, and in the bottom they have dug a large marsh area with a snaking "stream" that is filled with water. The marsh is occasionally under water and dryish when it has not been raining, but planted with natural marsh plants.

I think that's a brilliant idea on how to manage the situation when you will inevitably get a lot of water from the fields higher above. Accept it, and make the most out of it.