lot with steep backyard

[JimnSue]

Stopgo that looks great.....nice job.......I've done alot like that here on long island (minus the sloping) to make different sections in the yard almost like its own rooms....it looks beautiful...

I have a ? for anyone though......What do you people do with your dogs??? Obviously this goes out to the pet owners.....I have 3 dogs and would have to fence the property but when you do have a yard that drops off , I see so many w/cliffy non fenced backyards.....people must have dogs.....what do they do?

[stopgo1]

We did in fact have 3 dogs living in that yard with us too! I installed an electric fence and had decent results. The fence combined with a ton of training worked out pretty well, but face it, when a dog wants to go thru an electric fence - he's gonna do it!

One thing that tempered the dog issue was that the property was 1 acre (because of hte slope) and very private as most of the back was woods. The dogs just ended up hanging out there with us and enjoyed the wooded areas.

Our current home has an $8k fence (ughh) - a choice made for piece of mind but was tough on the wallet!

[sls76]

Originally Posted by JimnSue

Stopgo that looks great.....nice job.......I've done alot like that here on long island (minus the sloping) to make different sections in the yard almost like its own rooms....it looks beautiful...

I have a ? for anyone though......What do you people do with your dogs??? Obviously this goes out to the pet owners.....I have 3 dogs and would have to fence the property but when you do have a yard that drops off , I see so many w/cliffy non fenced backyards.....people must have dogs.....what do they do?

Our neighborhood in Cary had walkout basements and was very hilly, so lots of steep back yards. Most of the neighbors used a staggered (is that the right word) 6' wood privacy fence (what I mean to say is it steps down).

[adlnc07]

Originally Posted by JimnSue

I have a ? for anyone though......What do you people do with your dogs??? Obviously this goes out to the pet owners.....I have 3 dogs and would have to fence the property but when you do have a yard that drops off , I see so many w/cliffy non fenced backyards.....people must have dogs.....what do they do?

Well, I've had dogs for 12 years or so now - my solution is simple - I only buy houses that have flat backyards that can be easily fenced in! I wouldn't buy a house with a really steep lot - I want the maximum usable space possible. Corner lots can be tricky as well - I almost bought a house on a corner that would have had a very wide backyard that was not very deep. I'm glad that sale fell through because now I'm on a cul-de-sac and have a small front yard and relatively large backyard.

Anyhow, I guess if you get the dog after you buy a house on a steep lot you just have to figure something out - but if I even thought I would get a dog in the future, I'd buy a house with that in mind.

[CHlady]

I've seen 2 houses for sale recently that had steep slopes in the back and I liked both of them. The first one was in Gov's Club and it had a big slope going up in the back. They put a stacked stone retaining wall along the bottom to give room for a small patio area and then they had a small waterfall cascading down from the top of the hill. From the kitchen, the house had a gorgeous view and I am sure they put in drainage pipes when they put in the wall. If the house was bigger I would have bought it.
The second house I saw was at the CH Garden Tour. The owners took a terrible lot and made it a masterpiece. The lot sloped down to a boggy area but they put a walking bridge over the the little stream and planted lots of water-loving plants.They also had a water feature and so from up on their deck they had a great view.
If you don't have young children and you don't need the flat yard- think about incorporating the slope into the landscape design and it could turn out to be a big plus.