Garden Slope and Terrace Planning Checklist

Walk the garden slowly and note where the ground begins to fall away, in which direction it runs and where the change becomes obvious underfoot.

Owners often describe a garden as sloping when in truth two or three distinct falls run in different directions, which changes every later decision.

Mark the highest and lowest points you can identify on a rough sketch, along with anywhere the ground already flattens out naturally.

Existing flat ground is usually the least troublesome place to put the level you will use most, and it is often overlooked in favour of a symmetrical plan.

Note whether the ground falls away from the house, rises towards it or runs across the plot, since this shapes almost everything that follows.

A garden that rises towards a building raises different questions from one that falls away, particularly about where water ends up.

Record the places where you find yourself leaning into the hill, planting a foot sideways or simply avoiding walking altogether.

These spots identify the parts of the garden that are effectively unused, which is often more revealing than any measurement of the fall.

Photograph the garden from the top looking down and from the bottom looking up, since a slope rarely reads properly in a single view.

Photographs taken uphill exaggerate a slope and those taken downhill flatten it, so a professional will want both before commenting.

Note any steps, banks, walls or changes of level that already exist, what they appear to be built from and how they look from the outside.

Existing level changes are frequently inherited from previous owners with no record of how they were built or what sits behind them.

Judging whether an existing wall or bank is sound is not an owner task; ask a qualified professional to assess it before planning anything that relies on it.

Watch the garden during and just after heavy rain and note where water runs, where it gathers and where soil or gravel has been carried downhill.

Nobody else will see your garden in heavy rain, so this is information only you can bring to the first conversation.

Note exactly what sits immediately downhill of the garden, including your own house, a neighbouring plot, an outbuilding or a road.

What lies below determines how carefully run-off has to be handled and who else is affected by any change.

Water reaching other people's land is a matter to raise with a qualified professional and to confirm locally before any level change is planned.

Record where any existing gullies, channels, chambers or soakaways sit, and whether they appear to be taking water away or standing full.

Features installed by previous owners are often unrecorded, and finding them now saves an unwelcome discovery once digging starts.

Look for silt fans, washed gravel, exposed roots and bare channels at the foot of the garden as evidence of how much material moves.

These marks show the volume and route of run-off far more honestly than memory does, and they are easy for an owner to photograph.

Note whether the lower part of the garden stays wet long after the top has dried out, and how long that difference persists.

A permanently damp bottom often decides what the lowest level can sensibly be used for, and it should be raised before the layout is fixed.

Write down any history of water reaching a building, a garage or a store on the site, however long ago it happened.

This is the single piece of history most often left unmentioned until it recurs, and it belongs at the start of the conversation.

Water entering any building is a matter for a qualified professional to assess before ground levels are altered anywhere on the site.

Write down the activities you want on flat ground, such as a table and chairs, a play space, somewhere to stand a store or a spot that catches the evening sun.

Naming the activity rather than the feature keeps the conversation open, since a designer may achieve the same use in a different way.

Note which of those activities genuinely need level ground and which work perfectly well on a gentle fall.

Only some uses require true flatness, and reducing that list can remove whole retaining elements from a scheme.

Consider whether fewer, larger levels would serve the household better than several narrow ones that are difficult to furnish or plant.

Narrow terraces look convincing in section drawings and turn out too shallow for a table, a bench or anyone walking behind a seated guest.

Decide which level should sit closest to the kitchen door, since carrying food, drinks and dishes uphill wears thin very quickly.

The level people actually use is almost always the one they can reach without effort, regardless of which has the better outlook.

Note where the sun reaches at the times you would genuinely sit outside, and check that against the level you intend to use most.

Slopes create their own shade, and a terrace cut into the hill can lose the evening sun that made the garden attractive in the first place.

Record whether you want to see the whole garden from one level or would rather keep parts of it out of sight until they are reached.

A slope offers concealment that flat gardens cannot, and knowing your preference gives a designer something concrete to work with.

Note how you carry things through the garden now, including bins, shopping, tools and garden waste, and where the awkward moment always happens.

The carrying route is the one used most and designed least, and marking it now keeps it in the layout discussion.

Consider whether a longer, gentler route would be used more often than a direct flight of steps, even though it takes up more of the garden.

Routes that feel easy get used; direct ones that feel like a climb quietly cut part of the garden out of daily life.

Ask a qualified professional what step arrangement suits this particular slope rather than assuming steps can be placed wherever they look best.

The comfort of steps depends on the ground they cross, and awkward steps are the feature owners most often regret.

Step layout, going and handrails on a slope should be settled with a qualified professional, and anything relating to them confirmed locally.

Write down who uses the garden and whether anyone finds steps difficult now or is likely to in the foreseeable future.

A garden reshaped around steps can become unusable for a household member later, and it is far easier to allow for now than to rebuild.

Note which routes would be used after dark and ask how they would be lit, without settling the arrangement yourself.

Outdoor electrical work belongs with a qualified electrician; record the question and let them advise on what can be done here.

Consider whether a handrail or something to hold is wanted along any route, and ask a professional where one should be thought about.

People rarely raise this until after the steps exist, at which point adding something to hold is more disruptive than it needed to be.

Check whether wheeled items need to reach the far end of the garden, since a flight of steps rules that out entirely.

Bins, barrows, mowers and mobility equipment all need a continuous route, and losing it is easy to overlook when levels are being drawn.

Note every place where the plan would leave earth standing higher on one side than the other, and treat each as a question for a qualified professional.

Marking these early keeps the conversation honest about what the scheme actually involves rather than how it looks in a sketch.

Anything holding back ground needs input from a qualified professional; nothing in this checklist assesses whether an arrangement is adequate.

Ask what happens to water that collects behind anything holding ground back, since that is often what decides how it fares over time.

Water gathering behind such elements is a recurring theme in failures, and the answer belongs in the design conversation from the outset.

Drainage behind retaining elements is a matter for a qualified professional to design; record their answer rather than reaching your own.

Record what any existing wall appears to be made from, what sits above it and what sits below it, along with any leaning, cracking or bulging you can see.

Owner observations give a professional a reason to look closely at the right places, which is all they are meant to do.

Check whether any wall or bank sits on or near a boundary, and note who is understood to own and maintain it.

Ownership on a slope is frequently unclear and becomes urgent the moment work is proposed on either side of the line.

Ownership and responsibility for boundary structures need confirming through appropriate professional advice rather than assumed from long use.

Note whether anything upslope, such as a building, a drive, a store or a neighbouring wall, sits on ground the plan would alter.

This is the question that decides how involved the design has to be, and it needs raising before anyone becomes attached to a layout.

Ground that supports a building or a neighbouring structure must be assessed by a qualified professional before any change is contemplated.

Write down how the finished element would be reached for future attention, including the back of it and anything planted tight against it.

Planting placed hard against a new wall can make later attention difficult, which is easy to allow for while the layout is still on paper.

Note the position of every established tree on or near the slope, including those in neighbouring gardens whose canopy reaches over the boundary.

Trees beyond your boundary influence what can be done on your side, and they are regularly left off owner sketches.

Some trees carry local protection; what applies must be confirmed with the local authority and any work discussed with an arborist.

Record where roots are visible at the surface and roughly how far from the trunk they appear to run.

Visible roots give an arborist a starting point and often show that a tree occupies far more ground than its canopy suggests.

Ask an arborist before assuming ground levels can be raised or lowered anywhere near an established tree.

Changing the ground around a trunk is one of the most common causes of decline, and it is usually done in good faith during landscaping.

All questions about digging, raising ground or working near trees belong with an arborist; this checklist offers no tree work guidance.

Consider whether existing planting is holding the face of a bank together, and ask what would take on that role if it were cleared.

Bare banks behave very differently from planted ones, and stripping is often carried out before anyone asks what the planting was doing.

Note which parts of the slope are shaded by trees and stay damp as a result, and at which times of the seasons that shade is heaviest.

Shade and damp on a slope influence which levels are pleasant to sit on and which surfaces stay slippery for longer.

Write down which planting and trees you want kept, since mature growth on a slope takes a long time to replace once it has gone.

Removal decisions get made quickly once machinery is on site, and a written list of what stays protects the things you valued.

Note how materials would reach the garden, including gate widths, steps beside the house and whether anything has to travel through the building.

Access decides which methods are open to a landscaper, and it is the constraint most often discovered after a design has been agreed.

Ask what happens to the earth that comes off the site, where it would be stored while work is under way and how it leaves.

Cut-and-fill on a slope produces a surprising volume of material, and moving it is rarely as simple as it sounds.

Consider which parts of the garden you are willing to see churned up as a working route, and which must be protected throughout.

Naming protected areas in advance is far more effective than objecting once tracks have appeared across them.

Note where a machine could and could not stand, and raise those limits before a layout is designed rather than afterwards.

A scheme drawn without regard to where machinery can work often turns into hand work, which changes the whole nature of the project.

Record whether neighbours would be affected by access, noise, deliveries or work close to a shared boundary, and how you would tell them.

Slope works are noisy and prolonged, and a conversation before they start is worth a great deal once they are under way.

Write down where water and power would come from during the works and who is expected to arrange them.

Temporary supplies for site work should be arranged through the relevant qualified trade rather than improvised from household outlets.

Ask how any remaining bank would be cut or maintained and by whom, since sloping ground is awkward to work on and not every machine suits it.

A leftover bank can take longer to look after than the whole original slope did, which surprises owners who expected less work.

Note that upper levels usually dry out faster and lower ones stay wetter, and ask what that means for what each level needs.

The difference between levels is often greater than owners expect, and it decides how much attention each part will take.

Consider how leaves, gravel and soil migrate downhill, and record who clears them from steps, corners and the foot of walls.

Debris always collects at the lowest point, and on a terraced garden that point is usually the one people walk through.

Write down whether hedges or planting sitting at a change of level would need cutting from above, and ask how that would be reached.

Planting on a bank grows away from the person cutting it, which turns an ordinary task into something needing equipment and care.

Work at height or on steep ground should be discussed with a qualified professional rather than attempted because it looks manageable.

Note that steps in shade often stay damp and can become slippery, and ask a professional about surface finishes with that in mind.

The finish that looks best on a dry sample can behave differently in a shaded position on a slope.

Surface finish on steps and sloping routes is a matter for a qualified professional who has seen the position and the ground.

Record who will water newly planted upper levels while they establish, and how water is expected to get up there.

Carrying water uphill defeats most households quickly, and the answer often shapes what is planted at the top of the garden.