Level the ground around foundation

[Jon Mccarthy]

I want to level the ground on this side of my house and around the deck can I do that with out causing future damage. Mind you this house is 200 years old and not sure if the piles were there from day one or not. Basically I want to level the ground so I can extend the fence redo the deck and steps move the mail box get rid of the bad retaining board there. and just make it look nice. I will be turning this house into a vacation rental so I think this looks trashy. plus it will be a pain to mow. and keep clean.