Not sure if you saw your "garden made perfect" but the programme recently featured a garden with a high patio and lower garden level. They transformed the garden with different terraced/zoned areas and reduced the level changes which had been quite significant. They spent a lot of money on their landscaping but you could follow some of the principles for your project for a much reduced cost.

The terracing could create a specific area for your children and some space for yourself to relax.

You might want to look at using artificial grass for the children area so they can go out in all weather and not churn up a grass lawn and use shrubs as a natural barrier between any level changes between the terraces to stop anyone from accidentally slipping off.

Good luck with your project.

thanks for the suggestions , no I never seen it but I’m away to find it and watch it now :)

The programme is available on BBC i-player.

I would concur with the plan of terracing the garden. You will need to use the 'cut and fill' technique which helps keep the soil on-site (as opposed to having to pay for it to be removed). You need to bare in mind that if you raise an area of the garden by over 30cm you need to have planning permission.

The other thing to think about is to use the slope to its advantage and think of play activities that would benefit from it. The obvious option is a slide of course.

Good luck - that is a tough site.

It looks as though the area where your decking currently sits is level. You could move the decking to the top right of the image, and have part of it on stilts to make it level from the highest spot of the garden. And/or extend it out to the left so it in effect covers up your steep ditch (leaving space to access to the back gate). Leaving the kids the whole width to play on a flat area.

I would plant something tall against the fence line for privacy, and between the decking and the flat piece of lawn for aesthetics. You could potentially store toys under the deck too.

Obviously a lot of what you can do depends on what’s around you. Can’t see from the image.

It wouldn’t be a cheap job. Especially if you use quality materials (though they have with a longer lifespan). Get your options priced up and prioritise the landscaping first.

Expect a garden to be a long term project (5years plus) even with professional landscaping etc. Takes the pressure off, allows you to see how you will use the space and it takes time for things to grow!

Thanks all, the part where the decking sits is flat but the decking is also platform and stairs down from doors from kitchen. I’ll certainly look Into the terracing and would love to use the hill for a slide .