Patio Around an Existing Deck

tonyg

I'm trying to sort out the best way to do a flagstone patio around an existing deck. The deck is currently in the corner of my screened in porch and house. I want to put a flagstone patio around the other 2 sides of the deck, in an L shape.
I currently have a one step between the deck and the ground with an 8 ft section where there are 2 steps between the deck and the ground.
My dilemma is that the ground slopes along one side of the deck about 18"-20".
Ideally the patio would be level, stepping down 6" from the deck to the patio.
This would mean building a retaining wall around the end and one length of the patio going from 20" high at one end to nothing at the other. Also, I would need to put a wall, mortared blocks or something around the deck for both lengths to hold the fill in place. Is this the right approach?
Should I instead drop the patio down and surround it with a wall (and have steps off of the deck)? Maybe a two level patio?
Thanks
Tony

missfixer

Either way would work as the heights are not extreme. It all depends on what you want your patio to look like. The most important thing is to properly backfill, if necessary, and make sure the wall is level, and consider drainage.