A Natural Hillside Rock Garden
Part of the challenge of landscaping a hillside is establishing the plants before they wash down the slope. Plants need water to become established, and watering a barren slope is an invitation for runoff. If you are not going to be terracing the hillside and creating flat areas for planting, adding large rocks and boulders is a good alternative way to anchor the soil while the plants take hold.
This gardener made his hillside rock garden look natural by allowing the rocks to tumble and land where they may. Some weeding and maintenance are involved in the early years, but it becomes less as the plants spread out. As the plants fill in, it looks like the whole garden evolved independently.
Dig Out A Sunken Patio
Designed by Nordland Landscapes , this garden makes the most of its sloping plot
Maximise your garden’s usable space by digging out the base of the slope to create a sunken patio. An enclosed seating area instantly creates a cozy feel and offers an extra degree of shelter and warmth, so is perfect for those cooler months.
A retaining wall will have to be planned and constructed by a garden designer or landscaping professional to ensure it can support the weight of soil behind it and deal with any resulting drainage issues. This smart, urban design involved installing a hidden slot drain to handle any sudden downpours.
Find more patio ideas in our guide.
Can You Put A Pool In A Sloped Yard
Yes. As a matter of fact, you can build a waterpark right there in your backyard if you have the time, resources, and space. Nonetheless, you can build a pool area in your sloped yard. Be creative in making your retaining walls.
You can also incorporate other water features to complement the pool and of course, seat sets, grills and a mini bar should top it all off. It is recommended, however, that you consult professional pool builders first before you embark on this project.
You should also check for building protocols especially that there are some restrictions on sloped terrains depending on where you live.
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Large Tank Pool On The Slope
The solution to the awkward slope in this backyard was to build a retaining wall and set up a framed pool.
The deck and seating area are located at the top of the hill.
This landscaping idea works well when there are few distractions on the other side. In this case, a view of farmland is a natural barrier at the edge of the property.
Choose Low Maintenance Plants And Be Strategic About Rock Placement
Plants are a great way to transform a backyard and keep soil from sliding down a slope. When choosing plants for your sloping backyard, youll want to consider a few things:
- The kind of soil youre using
- How easy theyll be to reach
- How easy theyll be to care for
When it comes to plants and shrubs in Oregon, wild roses, Snowberry, Oceanspray and Red Flowering Currant are all recommended options. Ground cover plants are also a great and easy to maintain option. Silverweed, Kinnikinnick, and Coastal Strawberry are some native options to look into.
Adding rocks of varying shapes and sizes to your garden helps create a more stable area for plants to grow, plus look great too.
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Maintaining Your Sloped Landscape
Theres no question that maintaining your sloped landscape is a consideration that should also come into play as you make decisions in terms of what solution will work best for you.
If youre going to opt for plantings on your slopes, you need to consider how accessible it will be to care for those plants. If the slopes are incredibly difficult or even impossible to traverse, then you need to be even more careful in choosing plant material that will require limited landscape maintenance.
What Else Should You Keep In Mind When Designing A Sloping Garden
Walkways or garden paths are an integral part of any garden. They simultaneously break up the landscape and provide the route that allows you to get from one area of your garden to another. We have certainly seen our fair share of perfectly symmetrical, clean, garden paths in sloping gardens, but we strongly believe that a curved, gravel or rocky, walkway generally works best in hillside gardens.
If your slope is severe, you will need to add steps. This can be done with rocks, but curved steel edging or wooden borders are other wonderful options. By adding defined rocky borders to the sides of your pathways, youll create a space thats perfect for wildflowers.
Dont forget to make creative use of lighting in a sloped garden, and if you have extremely steep inclines, lighting can be used to create a romantic atmosphere, but also to warn people that theyre about to take a dive if they keep going.
Adding a vegetable garden to a sloping yard can be challenging, but many creative minds have overcome the odds of failure by choosing to add veggie boxes essentially container gardens, along walkways on steep inclines. This choice is an easy way to gain access to a level space where you can grow vegetables without a hassle. As a bonus, veggie boxes also look wonderful, and can have a modern or rustic feel depending on the style and materials you pick.
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A Borrowed Hillside View
A hillside can become part of your landscape even if it tapers off into the distance. These homeowners live near a wooded lot that slopes toward their yard and house. They limbed up the trees to create a clearer view. They underplanted with actual woodland plants such as maidenhair ferns and mayapples, as well as rugged workhorses like hostas and foamflower . The effect is almost a fairytale setting that sets the house as a destination.
Adding Trees To Your Sloping Yard
Your garden wont be complete without trees, which can add much-needed shade, provide privacy, and become wonderful focal points. Trees also help to prevent soil erosion but not all trees are great choices for sloping gardens. Some that will thrive on hillsides include:
- Douglas firs, if youre looking for evergreen trees.
- Manuka trees for gardeners in search of evergreens with an abundance of flowers.
- Sugar maples if youre looking for a stunning tree, which will never cease to wow you with its abundance of red foliage, that can thrive in the shade.
- California live oak is a great option if youre hoping to create a shady canopy for other plants, or for a seating area.
- Hickory is a wonderful all-purpose tree that does well in all soil types.
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Can You Flatten A Sloped Garden
Sloping garden ideas can be brought to life with gorgeous garden lighting, like in this garden designed by Living Gardens
Completely flattening a significant slope is difficult . But instead, you can opt for multiple levels, as Garden Designer Jonathan Martin of Living Gardens explains…
‘You can’t easily change the difference in height between the top and the bottom of your garden, so what we usually opt for is a tiered design,’ he says.
‘In the pictured garden, the gradient was so steep that we needed to step down three steps straight out of the house. This is followed by two tiers down to the lawn. Even then the lawn slopes, so to deal with drainage we dug two soakaways, one a third of a way down the lawn, and one two thirds of the way down, to take the excess water away from the surface.’ We adore the use of garden lighting ideas here, too.
Nigel Gomme, Landscape Designer of CITYSCAPERS adds, ‘A sloping garden is typically viewed as problematic but as a designer I love slopes as they embody a kind of three dimensional potential that can lead to unique and really engaging spaces.’
‘You can cut into a slope, you can cantilever out over it, you can add a rubber liner and rocks and pebbles and run water down it to create a stream there’s so much latent potential to explore. So my advice would be don’t rush to flatten it think of a slope as a resource rather than a problem and be inventive in how you engage with it.’
Use Sloping Garden Ideas To Showcase Planting
Large flowerbeds and varied planting are key features of this sloping garden by Acres Wild Garden Design
A garden that slopes up from the house or patio is the perfect opportunity to show off beautiful planting. Keep your landscaping ideas to a minimum a flight of timber steps or duckboards leading from A to B will link and punctuate the space without taking away from the planting.
When it comes to planning borders for your sloping garden ideas, introduce layers of shrubs and trees for year-round form and structure. Then, fill in the gaps with vibrant and textural perennials and ornamental grasses.
Encourage low-growing evergreens and foliage to spill over and soften the hard edges of any steps, patios or retaining walls, and use climbers over fences to complete the abundant look.
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A Combination Of Applications
Of course, you dont necessarily have to be limited to just one of these options. Your landscape design could potentially incorporate several of these solutions. For instance, while you may have part of the yard graded to allow for more useable space, where it slopes off the most you might incorporate some terraces or plantings.
No matter how you choose to address your slopes, the key is to find a solution that will work best for your Alexandria, Arlington, or Springfield, VA property and not create any further problems. By working with a skilled landscape contractor who is experienced with landscaping slopes, you should have plenty of landscaping slopes ideas to consider.
Raised Bed Vegetable Garden On A Slope
One of the best ways to grow vegetables successfully on a hill is with raised beds. Raised beds allow for increased access to water runoff and easier harvesting and mulching of the garden.
A big benefit of growing your vegetable beds on a slope is that you can use the natural ground cover to minimize soil erosion, which will save money and resources in the long run.
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Gardening A Roadside Slope
It’s lovely to have a house situated on a hill overlooking the landscape, but that sometimes means your yard slopes down to the road, giving you the effect of a hell strip in your front yard. As with any other slope, you need tough plants that won’t require a lot of grooming. Shrubs and evergreen are ideal for this situation. Since you don’t want to obscure the view at the side of the road completely, fill in the front section with lower-growing perennials that will not need frequent division, such as hosta and ferns.
Determine The Surface Texture Of Your Soil
The first thing we recommend when considering what to do with a sloping backyard is to determine the surface texture of the soil youre working with. In fact, this is a good thing to consider before building on a slope at all, as it will directly impact your foundation and your landscaping capabilities.
The surface texture of the soil refers to the amount of clay, sand, and silt present in your soil. To get an idea of the surface texture, simply rub the soil between your hands and note what you feel.
Silky clay texture This type of soil is difficult to work with from a foundational and landscaping perspective. Its characterized by feeling soft and sticky when wet, but very hard when dry.
Floury-feeling This soil feels like exactly what its name implies floury. It is ideal for landscaping and gardening, and is very easy to excavate.
Rough and gritty Although this kind of soil is easy to excavate, it also poses an increased risk of soil erosion. Rough and gritty soil often needs moisture improvement before it can be used for gardening or landscaping.
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Good Walls Make Good Neighbors
You may start creating the retaining wall of your dreams now that you have some of the greatest basic retaining wall ideas for sloping backyards. The only thing we ask is that you remember to add vegetation to your retaining wall.
Which of these affordable solutions for sloping backyard retaining walls did you like best? Do spread the word about these suggestions to your loved ones, friends, and anybody else seeking the greatest retaining wall ideas.
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Nice Slope With Abundant Boxes
Source: mysquarefootgarden, brews-bros
If you have a spacious sloped backyard, you can make a Tuscan vineyard or garden out of it. You can do this by putting up large, raised garden beds across the green backyard turf. You can decide to plant one row with the same plant or veggies, or you can diversify each box with different types of plants.
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Building Retaining Walls For A Sloped Backyard
What kind of retaining walls are best for a sloping backyard? In most cases, you don’t want to build tall retaining walls, as these can block views or create hazards. A terraced look is preferable, and making the walls at different heights will create more interest.
Retaining walls for sloping backyards can be made from various materials, including:
Other options are concrete brick systems and gabion retaining walls, which use stones inside a cage. These can be an effective way to build a retaining wall and look great too.
Your choice of retaining wall materials will make a big difference to how your backyard looks and functions. Choose a material that will last a long time and look good in the yard. The steps and pavers you choose should complement the retaining wall, but an exact match isn’t necessary. For example, you can combine stone retaining walls with brick pavers for an interesting appearance.
You can hire landscapers to build retaining walls or rent equipment such as Dingo hire to do it yourself. To find out more about the costs of retaining walls and regulations, read our guide: How Much Does a Retaining Wall Cost?
You may even want to install a pool or spa on one level of the sloping backyard. A pool fence will be necessary, but a pool or spa away from the house can be a wonderful retreat.
Roses And Boulders On A Slope
One of the most popular landscaping ideas is a rose garden. Designing a rose garden is a detailed and delightful process, but it does take some work. There are many different types of roses, and each one has its unique characteristics.
You can find more info in this guide on how to build raised garden beds on a slope.
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Best Landscaping Ideas For A Sloping Backyard You Should Know
It is critical to consult with a landscape designer before landscaping a sloping backyard. They can assist you in planning and drawing blueprints for your sloped block garden to ensure that the entire park is to your liking and that costly mistakes are avoided.
A sloped garden can be difficult to landscape, but a sloping backyard can also be gorgeous. Please read this article on landscaping ideas for a sloped backyard to learn about the problems and how to overcome them.
Choosing The Right Plants For A Stunning Sloped Yard
Because soil and light conditions will differ between the top and bottom of the slope, you will have an unmissable opportunity to plant a large variety of different plants. People who have decided to create terraced areas, which will each be level, catch two birds with one stone the individual areas wont just be easier to garden in and enjoy, but they also provide ideal conditions to design a garden with multiple mini themes. One of the terraces in your sloped garden could become a herb or pollinator garden, for instance, while another can be a paradise for succulents and cacti .
Ornamental climbing vines, large attractive shrubs, and trees can draw attention away from problem areas, or create an eye-catching feature, around border areas. If youre adding stone walls or steps, making artful and creative use of the unique vertical opportunities sloping gardens offer is guaranteed to beautify your garden.
So, what kinds of plants might you want to add to your sloping garden, and where? Weve put together a list of factors to keep in mind, with examples of plants that would liven your sloping garden up in no time.
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Create Your Own Cliff
Not everyone gets to have their own personal cliff in their backyard. It looks like this yard had a nasty drop off the owner used to create the look of mountain cliff by using the structured planting of trees in the back and shrubs up front. Using rocks and slabs for the steps keeps the illusion alive.
Hillside Landscaping Ideas For A Sloped Yard
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Cottage-style plantings adorn an urban front yard slope, which is reinforced with a stacked rock wall. Designer: David Coennen. Photo: Janet Loughrey.
A hillside property may offer scenic vistas or other advantages, but can also present some of the biggest landscaping challenges. Slopes are more susceptible to soil erosion and drainage issues, and a steep or uneven hillside can be difficult to navigate, making landscape installation and maintenance more difficult.
A gentle slope is easier to deal with than a steep incline. Its important to evaluate your property to come up with the most effective solutions for creating a beautiful landscape while keeping yourself and your property safe. Here are some things to look for, along with hillside landscaping ideas to get you started.
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