Measure the fall first
Before any decision, we take levels across the garden to find the total drop from top to bottom. A 300mm fall across 15 metres is barely worth addressing. A 1.5 metre drop needs a plan.
That single number decides everything: how much soil moves, how much retaining is needed and whether one level or two makes sense.
Option one: terracing
Cutting the garden into two or three level platforms linked by steps is the classic answer and usually the best. You get genuinely usable flat space, and each terrace can have a purpose: terrace for a table, lawn for the children, working area at the far end.
Cost sits in the retaining, from around £120 per metre for sleepers, plus the cut and fill and any spoil taken away.
Option two: decking over the fall
A raised deck spans a slope without moving soil at all. On a steep drop this is often cheaper than levelling, because there is no excavation, no retaining and no lorry loads leaving the site.
The trade off is that the space underneath is lost to storage rather than garden.
Options three and four: banks and steps only
Where the fall is gentle, regrading it into a smooth, mowable bank costs very little and looks natural. Where the garden is essentially fine but hard to move around, sometimes all it needs is a proper set of steps and a firm path.
Both are worth considering before committing to full terracing, because they can be a fraction of the price.
- Under 500mm fall: regrade into a smooth bank
- 500mm to 1.5 metres: two terraces with steps
- Over 1.5 metres: terracing with retaining, or deck the top level
- Awkward access only: steps and a firm path may be enough