Fences and Gates - Help needed - lawn and fence problem

Hi guys, new home owner here with ambitions looking for some help.

I have a lawn that has a high fence around it. The lawn is a disaster and I want to put grass there, sounds simple enough.

The fence is just over 7 feet high and solid but the lawn is severely slanted (in the last 3 feet infront of the fence). If I want to put grass on the lawn then I would need to put the soil about 3 feet onto the fence (else it is just silly with respect to the base of my house). The ground area is lower behind the fence (see diagram). In my area the soil will freeze and therefore expand in the winter. I don´t want to risk destroying the fence or to get it leaning outwards.

Any suggestions on what I should do, ? Do I need a retaining wall for my lawn, if so what type etc.... I´m kinda lost here I put a small diagram explaining my problem:
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"Lawn" w/slant.........Ground level behind fence

Any suggestions, ideas or something worth looking at let me know.

Regards, James

James76,

Welcome to the forums.

You can't just pile dirt against the fence. (I'm assuming that it's a wood fence.) The dirt will rot the fence and the dirt will tip it over. The question would become which occurs first.

You need to remove the fence, install a concrete or masonary retaining wall to the level that you want the grass to be, and place the fence on top of that.

But at the height you are talking about, you are opening a can of worms!! Measure from the ground level behind the fence. The retaining wall and the fence sitting on it can't be more than 6' high unless the entire thing is engineered. Better check with your local bldg. dept. before proceeding.

One way around that would be to do the retaining wall and then construct the fence a couple of feet in from the retaining wall.

thanks lefty

Could I build the retaining wall within my fence, I.e. without having to tear it down, it is massive and well built and would therfore be a shame. Could I put up a retaining wall about 1 feet away from the fence and put nice stones in the "chute" that would not put to much pressure on the fence. You cant see through the fence anyway....

regards,
James

No reason why you couldn't. I thought about that as well but wasn't sure that you would want the gap between the retaining wall and the fence.