Inside the Project: A Hillside Backyard's Putting Green and Fire Pit

Some backyards start with a simple request and end up as a much bigger transformation once the site itself gets involved. This hillside property is one of those projects — a steep backyard lot that turned into a terraced putting green, a separate fire pit patio, and the retaining wall work needed to make both possible.

The starting point: a steep hillside

The property’s biggest constraint was also its defining feature: a genuinely steep hillside backyard. That kind of grade doesn’t just limit what you can build — it determines the entire structure of a project before a single material gets chosen. Large natural boulder retaining walls were the starting point here, terracing the slope into usable, level sections rather than working around it.

An artificial-turf putting green, terraced into the slope

With the hillside broken into level terraces, an artificial-turf putting green became possible where a natural grass green never would have been practical on that grade. The turf sits within boulder-walled terracing that follows the natural contour of the property rather than fighting it.

A separate fire pit patio, connected by stone steps

A short distance from the putting green, a flagstone fire pit patio was built into the same hillside — using matching natural boulder retaining walls so the two spaces read as one connected design rather than two unrelated additions. Stone steps tie the putting green and the fire pit patio together, making the whole terraced hillside feel like a single, walkable outdoor space instead of two separate projects that happen to share a yard.

What this project used

• Artificial turf for the putting green surface
• Natural boulder retaining walls, at a scale substantial enough to terrace a genuinely steep hillside
• Flagstone for the fire pit patio

The services involved were Landscape Design, Retaining Walls, Artificial Turf, and Outdoor Fireplaces — planned together rather than as separate add-ons, which is what let a genuinely difficult hillside site become a backyard that actually works.

See the full project, including additional photos, at Hillside Backyard — Putting Green & Fire Pit.