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Landscaping for sloped front yard


Hillside Landscaping: How to Landscape on a Slope

Learn how to upgrade a slope with these ideas and tips. By Janet Loughrey, Garden Writer & Photographer

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. It’s 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.

PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS

Evaluate your slope.

Determine the grade of your hillside, whether it’s slight, medium or steep. This will help you decide what solutions will be most effective. A slight grade may be controlled with rocks, mulch, and plants to anchor the soil, while a medium grade may benefit from more stabilization with the installation of landscape fabric beneath topsoil or mulch. Steep hillsides will require sturdier measures for controlling erosion, such as a retaining wall or terracing.

Analyze the soil.

The type of soil will affect how well the slope drains and how much erosion might occur. Sand and silt drain more quickly and are more prone to erosion than clay. Less stable soil may require a sturdier option such as a retaining wall.

Consider drainage.

Make sure there’s adequate drainage to reduce erosion and prevent walls from developing cracks, shifting, or collapsing. Water runoff that collects at the bottom of a slope may need to be diverted with a French drain or other drainage system.

Determine access.

How easy is it to get around your slope? If doing the work and maintenance yourself, are you able to go up and down the hillside safely?

Consult a professional.

For a difficult property or complex renovation, it’s advisable to hire a landscape designer, contractor, or architect who can evaluate your property and offer professional advice. This is especially crucial if you live in an area that’s prone to slides, and if you are adding features such as rock walls, retaining walls, waterfalls, and berms that require specialized equipment and expertise.

MAKE A PLAN

Draw up a design.

Make a rough sketch yourself, or consult a landscape professional for a more elaborate design.

Get inspired.

Look for hillside landscaping ideas by searching online or visiting local gardens. Seek out similar properties to find out what worked and what didn’t.

Design for accessibility.

Make accessibility a top consideration in the design. The easier it is to get around the hillside, the safer it will be, the easier it will be to maintain, and the more time you’ll spend outdoors.

Consider scale.

Choose hardscape materials such as boulders or rocks that will complement the scale of the space. Make sure materials will help secure the slope rather than making it less stable.

Choose a style.

Pick a theme, materials, and plants that will harmonize with your home’s exterior. Rough boulders, railroad ties, and native plants will complement more natural-looking houses, while cleaner materials and formal plantings will blend with more modern architecture.

Create a destination.

Construct a patio, seating area, or fire pit where you can take advantage of views of your home or the surrounding landscape. These areas also serve as focal points to draw your eye up and down the slope.

Plan garden beds.

Decide what kind of garden areas you’d like to include, whether it’s a mixed border, rock garden, shade border, vegetable plot, or water-wise strip.

TYPES OF SLOPE STABILIZATION

This moderate slope is stabilized with a combination of rock walls, cement steps, groundcovers, and hedging. Photo: Janet Loughrey.

Mulch.

This is a low-cost solution for a gently sloped yard that helps prevent the loss of topsoil, suppress weeds, and retain moisture.

Landscape fabric.

Landscape fabric can stabilize a gentle or moderate slope and keep soil from eroding. The disadvantage to landscape fabric is that it will eventually break down, compact the soil and may stunt root development.

Rocks or boulders.

Individual rocks or boulders can be arranged along a hillside to help prevent soil erosion. For steeper grades, choose angular boulders that can dig into the soil rather than smooth rocks that are more prone to rolling or washing away.

Soil or wooden berm.

This can provide a more gentle transition to different levels.

Rock wall.

A rock wall is comprised of stacked rocks that are loose or adhered together. Place stone walls at the back of a property, adjacent to a sidewalk, or to define different levels on the property.

Retaining wall.

A retaining wall helps stabilize the soil and define different areas. This is a good solution for a steep slope, and may entail cutting away a portion of the hillside and constructing a vertical wall to hold the soil. Materials can be rocks, bricks, cinder blocks, cement, railroad ties, or other lumber.

Terracing.

A steep hillside can be divided into different levels with a series of retaining walls and flat surfaces in between. The flat areas help control runoff and can be used for planting flowers, seating areas, or recreational opportunities.

Stairways and pathways.

These features will help with stabilization, allow easier access, and connect different areas together. Steps can consist of stone blocks, slabs, or wood for a steeper slope. Pavers or gravel are appropriate for a gentler grade. Create switchbacks on steeper slopes to make pathways safer to navigate.

Waterfall.

Take advantage of elevation change by installing a tumbling waterfall in a sloped backyard. Use materials that will help stabilize a hillside as well as lend aesthetic beauty.

Vegetation.

Turf grass and other plants help anchor a slope or hillside. If choosing turf, make sure the slope can be easily mowed and maintained.

PLANTS FOR A HILLSIDE LANDSCAPE

This hillside with a medium grade is softened with an engaging mix of trees, shrubs, perennials, and groundcovers. Gardener: Nancy Plumlee. Designer: Lori Scott. Photo: Janet Loughrey.

A hillside garden is different to plan for than a flat area. Plant roots will help stabilize a hillside and stem erosion, while foliage provides a canopy that slows water absorption during heavy rains. These can include trees, shrubs, perennials, and creeping groundcovers, with some varieties more effective than others. Here’s what to look for, along with some of the best plants to use.

Plant selection.

Choose plants for hillside landscapes that will develop a deep root system and spread quickly to cover bare soil. Consider microclimates: rock walls will absorb sun, making adjacent planting beds warmer, while shady areas will be cooler. Native varieties have the added benefits of low maintenance and supporting pollinators and wildlife.

Light conditions.

Note how the sun moves over the property throughout the day and in different seasons. Choose plants according to their light needs of full sun, partial sun or shade.

Mix it up.

Grow plants of different types including groundcovers, perennials, trees, and shrubs to create an attractive layered tapestry.

Siting plants.

For more efficient water usage and healthier plants, group varieties together with similar watering needs. Since water runs downhill, site drought-tolerant plants towards the top of a slope, with thirstier varieties towards the bottom.

Sun Shade
GROUND COVERS Creeping phlox, rockspray cotoneaster, creeping sedum, candytuft, liriope, ajuga Sorrel (Oxalis), bunchberry dogwood (Cornus canadensis), dead nettle (Lamium), vinca, Japanese spurge (Pachysandra), wild ginger (Asarum caudatum)
PERENNIALS Sedges and other ornamental grasses, coneflower, stonecrop (Sedum), yarrow, salvia, dianthus Hosta, astilbe, ferns, Solomon's seal, coral bells, epimedium
SHRUBS Spirea, mockorange (Philadelphus), elderberry (Sambucus), creeping juniper, forsythia, sumac, quince Euonymus snowberry, Oregon gape, salal, huckleberry, rhododendron, St. John's wort
TREES Dogwood, witch hazel, hawthorn, native willow (Salix hookeriana), pine Vine maple, Japanese maple, redbud, beech, serviceberry

MAINTAINING A HILLSIDE GARDEN

Select durable materials.

When building retaining walls or other structures, use the most durable materials that you can afford. Cement blocks will last longer than wooden railroad ties.

Use high-quality soil.

Plants will be healthier and need less fertilization when using higher quality topsoil, amendments, and mulch.

Keep garden areas mulched.

A layer of mulch reduces the need for chores such as weeding and watering.

Choose carefree plants.

Use varieties that need little or no pruning, fertilizing, or watering to create a low-maintenance hillside landscape.

Irrigation.

Install drip irrigation to make watering chores easier. A drip system is more efficient and allows water to more slowly penetrate the soil, helping to stem erosion. Overhead watering or sprinklers may cause surface runoff and may not penetrate the soil.

Enlist help.

Use a professional maintenance crew for challenging slopes.

HILLSIDE LANDSCAPING ON A BUDGET

Here are a few ways to reduce the costs of landscaping on a slope:

Invest wisely.

Don’t skimp on structural features to ensure longevity and safety of the slope.

Do it yourself.

Do some or all of the work yourself rather than solely relying on a designer or contractor. Online videos and other resources can offer guidance.

Recycle.

Get landscape rocks, topsoil, or other hardscaping materials on free sites or online groups. Some cities offer free or low-cost compost. Other free hardscape sources may include recycled concrete from sidewalk demolition or other deconstruction projects, or wilderness areas that allow permitted rock collecting.

Bargain hunt.

Peruse nurseries for end of the season sales on plants and hardscape materials.

Trade.

Join a plant exchange group to trade plants for free.

Plant selection.

Choose plant varieties that will quickly mature or fill in. Select varieties that are hardy, long-lived, and fail-proof to minimize plant losses. Use water-wise plants to save on water bills.

Substitute less expensive materials.

Gravel for pathways and patios is cheaper than cut stone, bricks, or pavers.

HILLSIDE LANDSCAPING IDEAS

Brick walls and stairways define the sloped transition between the street and home. Gardener: Bud Deitrich. Photo: Janet Loughrey.

A captivating combination of cement walls, stairways, and shade plantings define the steep slope of this modern-style urban garden. Designer: Laura Crockett. Photo: Janet Loughrey.

Dfferent levels and angled pathways compel visitors to explore this terraced hillside garden. Lush shade plantings soften the angular lines of the hardscape. Designer: Laura Crockett. Photo: Janet Loughrey.

A gentle slope defined by a rustic rock wall and stone steps leads to a secluded backyard seating area. Designer: Philip Thornburg. Photo: Janet Loughrey.

Cottage-style plantings adorn an urban front yard slope, which is reinforced with a stacked rock wall. Designer: David Coennen. Photo: Janet Loughrey.

A stone paver pathway on a gentle slope connects a spacious lawn to a patio area. Lush plantings soften the rock walls, lending richness to the landscape. Designers: Anne Marsh and Gary Fear. Photo: Janet Loughrey.

The main feature of this backyard slope is a babbling stream with a series of waterfalls. A gravel pathway that allows access for maintenance leads to a quiet seating area surrounded by lush plantings. Designers: Anne Marsh and Gary Fear. Photo: Janet Loughrey.

This hillside with a medium grade is softened with an engaging mix of trees, shrubs, perennials, and groundcovers. Gardener: Nancy Plumlee. Designer: Lori Scott. Photo: Janet Loughrey.

A grand double waterfall anchors this moderately graded slope. Irregular boulders and rocks lend the appearance of a natural stream. Designer: Laura Crockett. Photo: Janet Loughrey.

This moderate slope is stabilized with a combination of rock walls, cement steps, groundcovers, and hedging. Photo: Janet Loughrey.

For this wooded backyard with a moderate grade, multiple solutions include large boulders, a paver pathway, and shade plantings of ferns, grasses, perennials, and shrubs. Designer: Philip Thornburg. Photo: Janet Loughrey.

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Backyard Slope Landscaping Ideas - 10 Things To Do

Break Out in Tiers

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Creating several tiers on a sloped property can help manage erosion and give you the opportunity to layer different plants and landscaping elements for a cohesive design. Whether you use railroad ties, stone pavers, or concrete to form the tiers, they will make a dramatic impact on the overall look of your property.

Related: 9 Clever Landscaping Hacks for Your Best-Ever Yard

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Build Some Stairs

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If you choose to let vegetation cover your sloping property in glorious abandon, impose a little order by building a set of stairs leading up to flatter ground. Whether you opt for a wooden staircase or concrete steps, this garden feature will blend into the landscape far better if it’s surrounded by plantings on either side.

Related: 12 Perfect Plants for Lining Your Pathway

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Make a Natural Staircase

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Use a natural material like stone to create a stepped pathway through your sloping property. A stone stairway will complement surrounding plantings and help anchor your landscaping design.

Related: 7 Thrifty Designs for a DIY Walkway

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Design a Waterfall

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If you’re ambitious, use the height that your hilly backyard provides to your advantage, and build a sensational water feature. The soothing sound of water will bring a relaxing air to your outdoor space, turning it into your own private oasis.

Related: 10 Outdoor Living Ideas to Steal from California

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Lay a Winding Path

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A winding or switchback path can make it much easier—and safer—to explore a sloped piece of property. A meandering pathway also provides an attractive focal point and draws the eye through the landscape.

Related: 10 Inspiring Ideas for Your Side Yard

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Erect a Retaining Wall

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You can make a sloping property more functional by cutting away a portion of a hill and installing a retaining wall to hold back the soil. This is a great opportunity to create a dedicated planting area behind and along the retaining wall, while reclaiming a portion of your yard for an expanse of grass on level ground. 

Related: Edge Your Beds: 11 Easy Ideas for Landscape Borders

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Cultivate a Rock Garden

7/11

Hillsides can pose a landscaping challenge for plants, which can suffer from the soil erosion or poor drainage typical of sloping properties. When you arrange rocks of varying shapes and sizes on your hillside, you create a stable base for  rock-loving plants like stonecrop, ornamental grasses, and creeping ground covers. A rock garden looks lush and satisfying to the eye, and reduces your maintenance load in the yard.

Related: 25 Plants for Your Easiest Garden Ever

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Devise a Destination Fire Pit

8/11

Building hardscapes into a sloping property is a common and rewarding landscaping practice. When a design culminates in an alluring destination like a fire pit, you’ll draw visitors through your yard and transform what might otherwise be neglected space into the place to be. 

Related: No Money to Burn? 9 Fire Pits You Can Afford

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Install Veggie Beds

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You can take advantage of unused real estate on a slope that gets full sun by installing raised beds for vegetables. Deeper sections of the beds can be used for root vegetables that require more soil, and the shallower portions will be perfect for herbs and vining plants.

Related: 13 Creative Designs for Easy DIY Planters

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Rely on Native Plants

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Festooning a hillside with plants that are native to your area can help make maintenance easier in a spot that would be difficult to mow and landscape. With native plants, you can be fairly certain that they’ll be successful without much help from you, and they will help reduce erosion by providing a network of roots to hold soil in place.

Related: 25 Amazing Plants That Are Native to North America

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How to Cope with a Slope

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With the right plan, even a steeply sloped backyard can be useable and enjoyable.

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If you have the money to hire a handyman for every household woe, go ahead. But if you want to hang on to your cash and exercise some self-sufficiency, check out these clever products that solve a million and one little problems around the house. Go now!

landscaping options, photos of finished projects

When a plot of land allocated or purchased for development is located on a slope, you should not despair. If you plan the territory correctly, think over the landscape design of the site with a slope, you will be able to make a cozy place in a modern style. Difficult terrain has its disadvantages, designers will teach you how to turn their advantages.

The slope on the site is not a vice, but an excellent reason for arranging a non-trivial landscape design

Landscape Design Rules on a site with a slope of

Content

Terrace slope reinforcement options

Soil or natural stone is laid on top of the reinforcement. On fortified sites, you can sow herbs, flowers, plant small shrubs.

Drainage in a relief area

A drainage system is required in high groundwater levels, in flooded areas where rain and snow water accumulates. Before laying drainage pipes, determine the location of the buildings. Pipes with holes for water drainage are laid to a depth of 30–50 cm. A sand and gravel cushion 7–10 cm high is preliminarily made. Open drainage involves a system of trenches for storm drains up to 20 cm deep, with walls beveled up to 30 degrees. nine0003

Drainage pipes must be laid before the arrangement of paths and planting of plants

For reference: in small areas, point drainage is sufficient - prepared pipes are buried vertically to a depth of 1 meter, covered with large gravel.

Selection of plants for slope areas

Ornamental shrubs, herbs, perennial flowers are used for the root-forming layer. When choosing crops, several factors are taken into account:

The northern slope is ideal for coniferous plants such as juniper or mountain pine

On the southern slope it is worth setting up a flower bed and planting light-loving drought-resistant flowers on it. Creeping, creeping species with a fibrous root system are selected from shrubs. For decoration, flowering shrubs with carved and colored foliage are chosen.

For decorating retaining walls, ampelous flowers are chosen, forming lashes up to 3 m long. nine0003

Retaining walls in a relief area

Vertical type structures are erected from concrete, stone, brick with or without mortar. Retaining walls prevent soil from crumbling, hold the terrace. The height of the structure depends on the angle of the slope, the area of ​​the leveled area.

First of all, it is necessary to draw up a project for the placement of buildings, retaining walls and terraces on the site. Steps are made from 3 to 15 meters wide. Ridge structures are preliminarily formed across the slope. Too high a hill is leveled with concrete with the design of deep cascading flower beds. From a distance, such a finished slope resembles a symmetrical alpine hill. nine0003

A low retaining wall can be laid out without a foundation.

Concrete is decorated with flagstone, pebbles or large gravel. For spontaneous illumination of cascades at night, a transparent varnish with a phosphor (like phosphorus) is used.

Retaining wall made of concrete blocks on a deep foundation

Recently, gabions are often used as retaining walls

Design ideas for a relief plot

building. In such areas, colorful landscapes are created. The slope is a good basis for the formation of horizontal platforms for various purposes. Lonely gazebos with circular landscaping will decorate the site. Stone steps, ledges will add a touch of romanticism. nine0003

Terraces with retaining walls are a great way to decorate a site with a slope

On a slope with a height difference of about three meters, you will need to create 3-4 terraces

vegetable garden, and on the third place a flower bed

Stream and waterfall

To drain water from the drainage system near the house, you can make a channel for a stream. Such an object is functional and will make the site more attractive, original. For a constant water flow, you will need to supply plumbing and electricity for a pump and lighting. A mini-pond can be made from a barrel or other container by burying it and overlaying the pond with stones. For waterfalls, stone steps, concrete retaining walls, ledges between terraces are often used. nine0003

For the construction of a stream on a site with a slope, you do not have to worry about the flow of water - everything will happen naturally

Even a small waterfall made of natural stones looks very impressive

Deck more elegant than concrete screeds decorated with tiles or stone. The terrace board with resinous impregnation is not afraid of moisture, frost, retains its decorative effect for many years. A deck can be built in any part of the garden for a playground or solarium. Garden furniture is installed on the site, creating an open area for family dinners with leisurely conversations.

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A wooden platform can be built above the slope, from which a view of the plot will open.

Garden furniture will be installed on the deck, which will turn the platform into a comfortable area for family recreation. Stones and plants complement each other perfectly, emphasizing the natural beauty of the relief. To create rocky flower beds, drought-resistant plants are selected that can develop on rocky soil. nine0003

A natural slope is an ideal place for an alpine slide

To decorate a “stone flower bed”, flowers and shrubs are used that feel good in rocky soil conditions

Vertical garden

The unevenness of the relief will help to hide different-level plants. Heat-loving crops are installed in pots, transferred from the winter garden for the summer. The bases are made from curly flowers. It is possible to equip a slope with vegetation only on fertile soil. Stony land is decorated with point compositions, using creeping shrubs with beautiful foliage. Flowering shrubs will become a bright accent. nine0003

A high slope will look completely different if you decorate it with shrubs or climbing plants

Height differences are less noticeable when the retaining wall is decorated with plants in flowerpots

When an uneven area in the country house, how to beat the natural landscape, a selection of photos at the bottom of the article will tell you.

Thinking over the project of a country house on a slope, take into account the constructive possibilities of the soil. Dry streams and cascading flower beds are built on stony soil. When the fertile layer is significant, ornamental shrubs, conifers, low-growing fertile trees are planted, gardens and orchards are arranged. nine0003

Video: DIY terrace beds on a slope

Photo: 50 ideas for arranging a plot with a slope

experience and write an article on this extremely important topic with slopes and drops, saturated with examples of areas with slopes, various drops, depressions and bumps and

what ideas the designer modifies this relief beyond recognition , but as soon as I opened the word, the topic always turned up easier and my lazy brain instantly clung to it like a saving straw :).
Well, there is nowhere to go, very rarely in our relief areas with a slope in Minsk and the Minsk region you can do without design, ideas, retaining walls, stairs, terracing and so on. So, let's figure it out together!

Basically, in such articles they write how cool and beautiful it is, then they add that you are very lucky, because you have a site with drops, create, everything is in your hands. All these parting words are abundantly “fertilized” with a huge number of ideas and a bunch of beautiful photographs from all over the world, and at the end of the article, some masochists definitely recommend smearing stones with kefir to root moss in retaining walls. But it doesn’t make it any easier for us, really :)

Since I like to understand everything fundamentally, where the words design and landscape are, this article is no exception. My main task will be not just sorting out ideas more misleading than helping , but rather an analysis of real practical experience that sets you up to understand and feel the characteristic and technical techniques that can help in solving planning issues related to your relief area, where is the retaining wall or stairs just a tool like other elements of improvement. nine0003

So be patient and let's deal with this difficult relief topic.
Pay attention in this context, the aesthetics of the stairs is very important, but I will not touch on this important issue within the framework of this material, since Dima has already tried and described everything in detail in this article - the stairs on the site.
First, let's find the beginning. Pay attention to this drawing, it clearly demonstrates the possibilities and consequences of the same relief. Which do you like?

What do we feel when we build a house and equip a plot, seeing obvious relief differences? Surely we assure ourselves to think about it later during landscaping work. But after each rain, washed away soil and exposed small ravines remind of the inevitable.

Approximately the same feelings of anxiety are transmitted to me when I am engaged in the construction and improvement of these relief areas in Minsk and the Minsk region. And at the first meetings with customers, a clear emphasis and hope can be felt in the conversation. - "What do you think Dima, it is necessary to make retaining walls or you can do without them." You can easily, I answer, in your case, bring 60 cars of earth and fill up the lower part of the site right up to the roof of the already built bathhouse :)

Where do these fears come from!? It's simple, all people are mostly visual, and in this case they perceive the volume of their site statically and visually. Therefore, when we have a flat area, we perceive it expressively and whole, we easily navigate in further actions. Another thing is when our site has a clear slope and relief differences, which raises many questions: where to place a retaining wall, what to build, hire people or do it yourself, how to link everything into one whole, what and where should the stairs be, whether drainage and so on. nine0003

All of these factors prevent us from clearly seeing our site as one. And we, at the subconscious level, want to align everything and evenly divide it into terraces.

Have you ever wondered why there are so many TO-18 loaders in Minsk!? provide site planning services.

Machinists, who plan our sections, say - “so, now I’ll plan exactly here and trim here, don’t be afraid, the owner will be like a runway.” And imagine if they thoughtfully approached the change in the relief, suggesting what to preserve and what to strengthen, our sites would noticeably change. nine0003

Dima-Dima again idealistic nonsense, tractor drivers thinking about harmony and compositional integrity in landscape design, they don't even know such words.
Hence the main consequences in the form of a banal layout and a heap of ill-conceived monumental structures on the site with which one has to live in the future. How to avoid this?

Work out in detail on the master plan the possible options, thereby you will force your consciousness to perceive the area with the drops as a whole. Remember the plan provides an excellent opportunity for to see the interaction of all the fragmented elements and details, which is difficult to see in reality on the site. Each of you has his own manifestation of the relief, someone is in a lowland, someone has a tangible difference along the border line between neighbors, someone thinks where to put a house on a slope, and so on ad infinitum. nine0003

It is the hand-drawn plan that becomes a tangible breakthrough in the understanding of the site. Your, as it seemed to you, problematic topographic feature, now you can embrace it completely before your eyes, print 10 copies, edit over it with a marker, offer different options until you feel an interesting development of the scenario.
Further, working with the plan, you must constantly ask yourself the question, how else can I beat this drop?

Then our goal is to further develop this theme and enhance the perception of nature.
Make it the main goal and the general theme of your site. So at this stage it is important to know the circulation of traffic on the site (I hope you have already drawn a plan where the paths, bathhouse and other volumes will be!), set priorities - highlight the main movement, that is, from parking to the house, from the house to the bathhouse and secondary paths for walking around the garden, what is this for ?!

Look, many of the relief areas where I was engaged in construction and landscaping in Minsk had already filled “supports” in the entire width of the site from fence to fence. Moreover, the main movement to the lower part occurred only through one-twentieth of the retaining wall where there was a staircase, and for the rest of the length the tiled retaining wall with a parapet was an alien element and destroyed the usable space? nine0226

Don't you think that it is much cheaper, more logical, and most importantly more organic to arrange a fragmentary retaining wall and stairs, and beat the rest of the drop using geoplastics and slope terracing.
In this context, we are reinforcing our main goal to make the site feel as natural and organic as possible .

These slopes are subsequently ideal for creating a rock garden and lend themselves very well to landscaping with lawns and various crops that strengthen the upper horizon. In which you can design step-by-step stairs made of natural stone, arrange interesting patios, plant trees and shrubs, in other words, use them for their intended purpose. nine0003

The story on this topic, until I forgot. One early morning a man called me and asked me to urgently come to his site in order to solve the drainage problem, which was not related to landscape design. Arriving at the site in Tarasovo, I began to conduct hydrological surveys, and at that time he lamented for a very long time over the fact that he had chosen this site for building a house in the Minsk region. And now on its site with a strong slope at the very bottom there is always water and interferes with the construction work of the bath complex. nine0003

The granulometric composition of the soil of this area is loam, and besides, with a high COG. The customer insisted on carrying out drainage work. His house was being built for sale, and this wet moment confused potential customers. I offered him to turn the disadvantage into a distinctive feature. Namely, let a stream with a waterfall go down the slope and arrange a lake with fragrant water lilies near the bathhouse from below, attach a terrace on pillars to it.

Stormwater collected from the house is also to be dumped into this lake. On the spot, on the “knee”, I sketched out the concept and design of his site with a slope for him. At first, he was distrustful of this idea and probably thought “what kind of idiot this Dima is and who entrusted him with the level,” but then he apparently realized that for the same money for reclamation that he would dig into the ground, you can get elements that enrich the artistic site value. nine0224 Accordingly, its liquidity in the real estate market will increase. Subsequently, he applied for a project on this topic.

Remember, when you develop logical and characteristic themes on the site, then it will a priori look natural and beautiful.

Moreover, by manipulating the terrain, you enrich the variety of views from different vantage points. Make perspectives on other volumes of your garden semi-hidden and fascinating, gradually opening up. nine0227 Here is an example of the characteristic development of geoplastics. A customer contacted me with a request to find ideas for a site with a slope, and subsequently for pouring retaining walls, arranging a rolled lawn. His house was located behind Zaslavl among beautiful views of the hills, meadows and forests (this relief area in the region of Zaslavl and Logoysk in Belarus is commonly called Belarusian Switzerland) Moreover, he has no neighbors from all sides (lucky man). The house was built in the half-timbered style and lined with earth on all sides, and on three sides it is surrounded by terraces for admiring the Belarusian landscapes. nine0003

Having admired all this beauty, I didn't even think to fill in the retaining walls. I already intuitively knew what to do and was completely immersed in thoughts of how to technologically transfer the characteristic landscape motifs to the site of my client. As a result, the entire landscape around the house was designed in the form of green slopes with stones. In general, what is in the window is in the store.

  • It is a completely different matter if the site has a slope in the city or suburb of Minsk with a large number of neighbors .

In these conditions, our plots are limited geographically. We no longer have 25 acres, but usually 10 or 6 :( Every meter is important here. In this case, we need to work more carefully with the plan and think over the landscape design in detail.

And here we can safely state that we are part of society.

Then our main task is to create an isolated island for the rest of the family, through a gradual transition to a separate zone-oasis of calm. dimension is the official entrance group in front of the house.The second dimension is the area behind the house, and the third is the most sheltered, the most intimate for relaxation and reflection.Wind, noise, bustle is somewhere higher………
In this case, the sloping area is very good for us, since the descent is always identified with shelter and protection. And with proper zoning of the site, we can develop and enhance this feature of and, as a result, get a chamber patio, a small lawn or a gazebo by the pond, hidden from prying eyes, that is, our main requirement is to create isolation.

Here is a good example.
Small plot on all sides densely populated by neighbors . I, while planning and designing a garden in Raubichi, Minsk region, isolated the most remote corner even more, and strengthened the feeling of intimacy by a general decrease. Moreover, he revealed and enhanced the characteristic natural features of the site with a slope, equipping from top to bottom a stream that flows into a pond under the terrace in the patio. The dimensions of this cozy patio repeat the dimensions of the terrace near the house. Everything is made from natural materials. Everything is focused on solitude and relaxation after a week of work.

  • Important . In the city and the suburbs, natural materials - wood, stone, earth, plants, water - become even more important than in a distant village, where we are surrounded by all these textures in the literal sense. Therefore, make the most of natural materials to enhance your ecological island.

Let's look at a common planning error


Look, we can do it traditionally, just order the construction of a concrete retaining wall in Minsk, thoughtlessly pour it and we will get a lower terrace, or just 2 pencil cases crushing the most important area of ​​the garden. nine0007

It looks very disharmonious, but most importantly, these pencil cases subsequently determine the structure of landscape design.

In this example, we organized a retaining wall in the most active traffic zone in the form of a closed courtyard near the bathhouse, and designed the second part, where there is much less traffic, in the form of a descending slope that can be formed in the form of a rock garden or other volume. Such an arrangement will strengthen the relationship with the house and the bathhouse, create a much more harmonious development of landscape design, and in the future your stay will be much more comfortable. It turns out and saved and strengthened. nine0003

Important. Use the golden ratio. If you decide to combine a retaining wall with a natural slope, stick to the one-third rule. That is, either the slope occupies 2/3, and the retainer with a ladder occupies 1/3, or vice versa. Use the laws of similarity and identity. Use the dimensions of the house and materials for facade decoration in the dimensions of retaining walls, patios, terraces. Let's say you have a house with a width of 11 meters. If this size is used in the dimensions of the retaining wall, patio, gazebos, then such a direct interaction unites disparate volumes. Your main task is to avoid fragmentation of unrelated elements. nine0003

Example “island” . I designed and built this zone in the form of a semicircle, which forms the lower island where there will be a gazebo and around the lake. Please note that on the side of the retaining wall there is a bridge for connecting two ponds, and the composition will be completed by a waterfall falling into the lake from the retaining wall.

This example demonstrates a fragmentary retaining wall with stairs leading to the bath complex, I organized the rest of the area in the form of a natural slope. nine0003

Practice shows that many individual developers do not consider one of the best and more logical options for placing stairs, retaining walls and leveling the height difference on their site, on the side of the house, let's look at this option.

Each house has passages between the wall of the house and the fence on both sides, usually narrow.
These passages are ideal for arranging stairs and retaining walls
1) With this arrangement, a ladder with a retaining wall will be located in narrow, little-used areas, as a result of which this gives us the opportunity to use the most important area behind the house without drops and heaps of concrete walls, for example, for nine0224 family lawn.
2) There are many more options for technologically linking the landscape design with the design of the stairs, retaining wall or a group of stairs, terraces, since there are two verticals, a fence and a house wall. In which runs of stairs can rest. In addition, it is easy to use structures for vertical gardening.

And here is a clear example of a 1.5 meter difference, equipped on the sides of the house.

When designing the space of your site, always try to perceive retaining walls as an important element that must form some kind of isolated zone . That is, retaining walls are always more harmonious when they predetermine or highlight the neighboring volume with their shape.

Being engaged in landscape design and construction of this site in the Minsk region, I attached double importance to all retaining walls. Please note that in addition to its direct task - holding the rock garden soil, it is part of the "yin-yang" zone, that is, a structural continuation of another zone. You may ask what came first, an egg or a chicken :) In this example, it doesn't matter, what matters is a well-thought-out drawn landscape design plan that allows you to work out the neighboring volumes in detail. nine0003

The next example is on this topic. Pay attention to what faceless entrance groups we have and landscaping in front of cottages in the Minsk region. We just put the road board right under the line and that's it! In this context, I designed this group in the form of a low stone retaining wall giving the shape of a wave, which, firstly, fulfills its direct task - cuts off the roadway from the local area, and secondly, forms cozy lawns with plantings, clearly demonstrating that landscape design is here begins in front of the house and gradually intensifies throughout the entire relief area. nine0003

Once again, the most important thing is not to make a common fatal mistake, do not divide the most important part of your garden behind the house “stupidly” into fires, you can always find an interesting, and most importantly more organic scenario development. Moreover, imbued with the idea that the places of change in the slope of the relief must necessarily be emphasized or strengthened.
Just think, for the same money that we “swell” into concrete in Minsk, thereby deteriorating the artistic value of our suburban area, we can create, for example, a floating terrace, deck or gazebo towering over the slope of the site. The entrance to which we will densely plant with vines, leaving only a narrow passage. nine0003

Entering it, we will see the views and perspectives that we design. Such a terrace or patio will become the main and favorite feature of your relatives and neighbors, as well as a distinctive feature of your relief area , because in this case the structure in the form of a terrace on an inclined area equally belongs to heaven and earth, isn't it wonderful?! Well, at least not trivial.

Do not give up, look for exactly those features that are inherent in your terrain and terrain, enhance them and enjoy the result.

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