Landscaping in Seattle is a slope, a mossy lawn, and a tree that owns the water. The long wet season keeps beds soggy, lawns green and slick, and conifer debris in every drain. Then summer dries the same yard hard enough that people forget the mud. Hills in West Seattle, Queen Anne, and Beacon Hill shed runoff at foundations and at the neighbor below. A flat yard in the north end can still pond because the soil stays tight and the downspout ends in the bed.
Start at the wall and move outward. Grade should take water away from the crawl space and the daylight basement, not into them. A handsome bed against the siding, mulch piled on wood, and a gutter that dumps at the corner are how rot and pests get invited. Retaining walls on steep lots lean, weep, and become structure rather than decoration. Say whether water runs to the street, runs to the house, or simply sits.
Trees are part of the house here. Cedars and maples drop enough material to clog a gutter before the wet season is half over, and a limb on a ridge is a roof call first. Shade is deep on the north side. A lawn that is mostly moss is telling the truth about light and drainage, not about a missed mowing. Say whether you want the water handled, the trees brought back off the roof, or a planting that can live with both the drizzle and the dry August spell.
Mention pets, stairs, and any drain that already failed. If a claim is open because a tree hit the house, keep the yard work and the policy talk from blending into one vague request. Walk the low side after a rain so you can say where the water actually stands.
The long wet season will test whatever grade you ignore. Call with the neighborhood and say which one sent you: runoff at the foundation, limbs on the roof, or ground that never firms up. Call the number on this page.