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Landscaping ideas for backyard hillside


How to Garden on a Slope: 12 Ideas for Hillsides

Turn uneven ground into a lush garden with these landscaping tips

By

Marie Iannotti

Marie Iannotti

Marie Iannotti is a life-long gardener and a veteran Master Gardener with nearly three decades of experience. She's also an author of three gardening books, a plant photographer, public speaker, and a former Cornell Cooperative Extension Horticulture Educator. Marie's garden writing has been featured in newspapers and magazines nationwide and she has been interviewed for Martha Stewart Radio, National Public Radio, and numerous articles.

Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process

Updated on 09/28/22

The Spruce / Marie Iannotti 

A slope or hillside can be intimidating when landscape planning. They're also challenging to walk on and work on. Gardening on a slope additionally comes with the risk of soil runoff. Since water naturally runs downhill, it's a good idea to stabilize a slope with contour rows, terraces, or raised beds.

However, hillsides also have some built-in advantages. You have an instant view, and creating a dynamic sense of movement with plants positioned on a hill is easy. This resourceful gardener used the contrasting plant textures of the conical evergreens, spiky flowers, flowing ornamental grasses, and rounded shrubs to animate the garden. The scene is kept moving by a river of silver lamb's ear that runs the length of the bed.

Also, if you're landscaping on a budget, consider groundcovers that will give you a carpet of green along the slope. Incorporate a flower garden on the hill by selecting hillside flowers and vegetation that like to grow in crags and crevices, or on a slope, like sedum, rock cress, creeping phlox, and sweet alyssum.

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Retaining Your Sloped Garden

Retaining walls are how you keep dirt from washing away on a slope. Soil erosion is bound to happen with water and gravity doing the dirty work. But you can add wood, rock, or concrete block to make a retaining wall to hold the soil in place. You can also stagger retaining walls to build a tiered garden on a slope.

Consider installing a retaining wall if you have a steep slope of over 50% or 45 degrees. When installing any retaining wall, add a good drainage system behind the wall to prevent the wall from cracking or collapsing.

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

2/11

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

3/11

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

4/11

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

5/11

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

9/11

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

11/11

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

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13 Hillside Landscaping Ideas To Maximize Your Yard 💡 Gardening | HomeInteriorz.com

  • Dynamic Mountain View

    Slopes or hillsides can be intimidating when you think about ways to landscape your backyard. The slopes can be difficult to walk and work. Steep slopes also come with the risk of soil running off and falling down the slope. However, hills also have some built-in benefits. You have an instant view and it is easy to create a dynamic sense of movement with plants placed on a hill. This resourceful gardener used contrasting textures of conical evergreens, thorny flowers, flowing ornamental grasses and rounded shrubs to spice up the garden. The stage is held by a river of silver lamb's ear that runs the length of the bed. nine0006

  • Mounting the slope of the mountain

    Soil on a slope is often less than ideal. The topsoil tends to be quickly washed away, taking nutrients and fertility with it. It is not uncommon to have a hillside that is mostly rock, barely covered by a valley of soil. In this case, you may need to create planting pockets and add additional soil to get plants.

    This gardener used two workhorses, an astilbe and a host. Both can grow in the shade of this hillside and both are hardy enough to grab onto poor soil. She split the original plants and quickly covered the entire slope within a few years. nine0006

  • Hill terracing with stone

    Stone walls are the classic way to terrace and tame the hill. While they initially work hard, once they are in place you have a structure that is both functional and attractive. Stone walls can create planting zones wide enough to work in and around, and they even look good on their own, requiring very little fanfare from the plants they contain. Because rock tends to get hotter in the spring and hotter at night, you're creating a microclimate that will allow you to grow plants that won't survive in other areas of your yard. nine0006

  • Borrowed hill view

    A hill can become part of your landscape even if it narrows into the distance. These homeowners live near a wooded area that slopes down to their yard and home. They climbed trees to create a clearer view and were camouflaged with true woodland plants such as maidenhair ferns ( Adiantum ) and mayapples, as well as tough work horses such as hostas and frothers ( Tiarella ). The effect is an almost dreamlike setting that sets home as a destination. nine0006

  • Taming the hill with little bites

    When the angle of inclination is extreme, ladders are a must. However, you don't need to landscape the entire slope - at least not all at once. Take advantage of the area closest to your living area and create manageable planting boxes. On the lower levels, this can often be done without additional equipment, and the boxes are not only easy to work with, they create a garden room for relaxation and entertainment. nine0006

  • Natural hilly mountain garden

    Part of the challenge of slope greening is creating plants before they wash away the slope. Plants need water to become established, and watering a barren slope is an invitation to runoff. If you're not going to terrace into a hillside and create flat planting areas, adding large rocks and boulders is a good alternative way to stabilize the soil while the plants linger.

    This gardener has managed to make his mountain rock garden look natural by letting the rocks fall and land where they can. As the plants fill in, the entire garden seems to have developed on its own. There is some weeding and maintenance in the early years, but this becomes less as the plants spread. nine0006

  • Roadside landscaping

    It's nice to have a house that sits on a hill overlooking the landscape, but that sometimes means your yard slopes down to the road. This gives you the effect of a hell of a streak in your yard. As with any slope, you want tough plants that don't require a lot of maintenance. Shrubs and evergreens are perfect for this situation. You don't want to completely obscure the view on the side of the road, so fill the front with taller growing perennials that don't need frequent divisions, like hostas and ferns. nine0006

  • Creation of an alpine mountain garden

    If your slope is mostly scree, consider yourself lucky. You can create a unique alpine garden that will draw your eyes up. Follow this gardener and use the existing rocks but move them. Larger slabs are used as steps and platforms. She also makes liberal use of hypertofa, which pairs beautifully with natural stone. Finally, pea gravel is used as a mulch to prevent runoff and create a unifying color palette. nine0006

    Large evergreens provide planting weight and self-seeding perennials such as coridals allow fill in where they will be and soften rocky ledge.

  • Turning the Hills into a garden walk

    Terracing the path, leaving a raised area, gives the effect of embracing passers-by in flowers. Instead of steps, these homeowners have chosen to set aside steps with enough traction to keep pedestrians steady.

    Huge perennials along the path get even more level change using containers and pots in the lower levels that create focal points for downward travel. And drivers passing along the road get a full view of the hillside garden, not just the front few plants, which the flat garden will provide them. nine0006

  • Garden terracing

    A hill can be a boon for a vegetable garden, especially on a southern slope. Each terraced row will be on its own level and will receive direct sunlight without being shaded next to it. This can be a problem for delivering supplies and water to the area. It would be wise to consider the possibility of drip irrigation and paths between plant rows. This gardener has taken advantage of the raised soil along the trellis side by planting flowers that will be at eye level when he walks down the path. nine0006

  • Four-year hilly garden

    When you have a slope that frames the view of your home, you want it to remain attractive all year round. Colorful bushes are the perfect answer. Not only do they have four seasons of interest, they require minimal, if any, maintenance. A little pruning in the spring and your slope should look good for the rest of the year. And bushes are great for erosion control. Summersweet ( Clethra alnifolia) , California Lilac ( Redroot ), and prostrate rosemary make good choices.

  • Slope Ground Cover

    For a gentle slope or berm connecting woodland to open lawn, create a smooth transition with ground covers that naturalize and create a colorful carpet. The soil will drain quickly onto the berm, so treat it like a rock garden and use plants like creeping phlox, alpins, perennial geraniums, and tiny bluebells. nine0006

    Using colors in whites and soft pastels will keep the cool feel of the forest. You can extend the color past spring bloomers with white and yellow variegated foliage.

  • Low Repair Plants for Mountain Garden

    Descending is one of the biggest problems with hillside gardens and even more so when the slopes run off into a driveway where soil can settle. Choose plants that will attach to the slope, such as shrubs, ornamental grasses, and prairie plants such as cones that form matted roots. All of these plants hold the ground in place and require minimal maintenance during the growing season. They can even be left for winter interest. nine0006

    With a little thought when choosing your plants, any slope or slope can be the focal point of your yard.

    • Landscaping of a small area: techniques for expanding space

    Arrangement of a suburban area with a very limited area is a very exciting experience. To create comfort in crowded conditions, designers have come up with many ways. How to successfully arrange the landscape design of a small area in detail in the text of the article.

    To create a landscape design for a small area, there are certain rules for visually increasing the space

    For any urban dweller, a country house is a rest from the hustle and bustle of cities, unity with nature, relaxation, peace. To create a “piece of paradise” for yourself and your family, you will have to try very hard. When the dacha is small, then it will take a little money and time to improve it. She will be able to please the owners anyway.

    Individual elements can visually limit the area of ​​the garden, they will have to be hidden or removed

    Contents

    Zoning of site

    When zoning a small area, you need to think carefully about where and which zones to place. Most of the space is usually allocated for a garden, a vegetable garden. Three times less will be needed for a recreation area, flower beds, and everything else - a house, outbuildings. This ratio allows you to harmoniously, functionally place everything. Instead of a garden, some make a small pond with green lawns around.

    Outline of the zoning of the space of the site

    What you need to consider when developing a plan with your own hands. nine0006

    To divide the territory into zones, it is better to use low partitions made of natural stone

    Very popular is the design of a small garden in the Japanese style. In such a garden, trees, figurines, ponds, rock gardens, stones, etc. will be miniature, then the space of the site will seem large. An abundance of moss, ground cover plants, small flowers will produce the same effect.

    A dwarf tree, a tiny arbor and stones - why not a "piece" of Japan in the center of a green lawn

    See alsoCreating a flower garden is a form of creative expression

    Three basic rules

    There are three rules to follow in landscaping a limited-sized dacha:

    1. Removing artificial walls. No "deaf" high fences - they will make the space very cramped. Instead of a large dense fence, you should choose a fence made of a low picket fence, a chain-link mesh, a wattle fence, along which climbing plants are planted.
    2. Release the center. Large buildings, tall decorations, trees should be placed at the edges. In the middle of the site, you can dig a pond, make a smooth green lawn. nine0009
    3. We create an accent point, a "highlight" of the site. It can be a luxurious flower bed, mostly with light flowers, a small illuminated fountain, a platform with a stone hearth, a bridge over a stream or the house itself.

    A vertical support for a climbing plant covered with greenery or flowers creates perspective and space becomes more spacious

    Illusion of scale - all paths leading to the center of the garden pass through tall plants, leaving only a corner for rest open

    Visual increase in space can be achieved with multi-level platforms

    Wrought iron fence is originally combined with the same benches, table, barbecue. If for some reason the fence has to be made concrete, it is decorated with convex mirrors - visually it will seem that there is twice as much space in the yard as it actually is. Hanging flower beds-pockets are placed on a high fence, in which purslane, begonia, alyssum, fuchsia or even strawberries, lettuce, parsley grow. nine0006

    See alsoCountry design with your own hands from improvised materials

    The limited space of the cottage is its disadvantage, which is difficult to hide. But you can emphasize the dignity of this place by adding bright details. A colorful playground, homemade benches, hand-painted wooden sculptures, an unusual garden.

    It seems that behind the opening in the wall there is a garden immersed in greenery. This is actually a decorative poster that creates the illusion of deceit

    Let's use the garden path. It should be made sinuous so that the distance between objects seems to be as large as possible. The paths can be made of stones, gravel, brick remnants, concrete tiles laid directly on the lawn grass. The location of the arch anywhere in the dacha will create the impression that there is another garden on the other side of it.

    Winding paths help create the illusion of a large garden

    Even a small pond will contribute to the optical effect. Calm water like a mirror reflects clouds and nearby objects - the garden seems much larger than it actually is

    An artificial pond with clear water, a waterfall will give the territory "airiness". If several large mirrors are placed above the pond in the corner of the fence, they will not only emphasize the uniqueness of the space, but visually make the site much more spacious. The path leading "to the mirror" set at an angle creates the illusion that the garden is much larger than it seems.

    The stream in the stones attracts the eye, diverting from the size of the garden

    Mirrors should not be hung too high to prevent birds crashing into them. It should be taken into account how the sun's rays fall on it - the reflected light should not hurt the eyes. It is desirable that something beautiful is reflected in the mirror - when placed opposite the flower bed, the effect of an endless flower field will be created. nine0006

    Garden furniture should not seem bulky, preferably portable, light colors. Proper lighting of the resting place will visually give it extra space. Buildings, statues, trellises are also recommended to be made white or silver.

    Use mixed buildings. The glazed part of this hozblok is suitable for a mini-greenhouse, and in the house there is a place to store garden tools

    See alsoLandscape plants

    Landscaping Practical Guidelines

    For landscaping a summer cottage of small size, vertical flower beds are suitable - in the form of a tower, a pyramid. Various plants can be planted in wooden barrels, hemp, floor vases can be decorated with car tires painted in different colors.

    As a distracting accent, the standard rose is excellent, during the flowering period it is simply impossible to take your eyes off it

    Original decorative elements perfectly distract from the modest size of the plot

    To visually enlarge the suburban area with their own hands, designers recommend:

    1. Remove all unnecessary. Buildings, if possible, should be placed in the corners, fences should be made low and transparent. Plant trees along the fence so that they cover the fence with their crowns, without cluttering up the interior space of the site.
    2. Use pond, mirror. A pond near one of the walls, a huge mirror above it will significantly expand the space, making it brighter.
      3. nine0002 Various shades. Cold colors visually remove objects, warm colors bring them closer. During the day, the color solution is realized with the help of flowering plants, and at night - well-chosen lighting.
    3. Apply screens. They are created for zoning the territory, from small arches, trellises with ornamental and vegetable plants, which is especially convenient when the cottage is located on a hillside.
    4. Layered design. The garden, located on several levels, seems large and varied. You can create cascades by placing tall plants along the walls, low plants closer to the center of the site. Hanging flowerpots will decorate the resting place well. Arches and gazebos entwined with grapes look great. nine0009
    5. Extending the garden "into the depths". This effect is achieved with the help of volumetric painting of buildings, fences, and the arrangement of trees.

    A mini birch alley will create a spatial perspective and add depth to the space

    Pergola - one of the options for vertical gardening of the site

    If the owner of the site has the skills of an artist, and the fence is concrete and gray, then a whole huge picture can be depicted on it. For example, a seashore, the edge of a forest, a sunset, a summer flowering field. nine0006

    See alsoCreating a harmonious garden design

    Getting creative with your garden design will help a lot when it comes to choosing between vegetable plants and a flower bed. Well-fertilized and well-groomed beds in appearance are in no way inferior to decorative flower beds. Colored lettuce leaves, even rows of carrots, asparagus beans in the background along the fence. Onions and garlic are easy to pair with flowers that will bloom much later. nine0006

    Beautiful flower bed with densely planted flowers

    Flower beds are best placed in the warmest, sunniest place. You can ennoble them with improvised materials - colored plastic bottles, stones, bricks, remnants of construction waste. Many flowering plants are planted closer to autumn, when most of the crop has already been harvested. Ipomoea, marigolds, daisies, pansies are suitable. Gladiolus, alpine forget-me-not, petunia, asters, crocuses look good.

    An island with flowers in the center of the lawn breaks up the space, blocking the view, and the garden is no longer visible through and through at a glance

    The flower garden can be given any shape, but simple geometric shapes are preferred to save space. If the roof of the house or one of the buildings is flat, strong, then a flower bed can be made there. It is only important to choose drought-resistant, light-loving plants. A floating flower garden is a great idea. It is located on a "raft" made of foam, can be anchored to the bottom.

    We take care of the lawn and greenery

    If the flower beds are made a little “raised” above the ground, surrounding them with plank or stone sides and adding soil, then they will be able to warm up more by the sun, it is better to bloom and bear fruit. Caring for them will be simplified - it will be possible to approach for watering and processing without dirt.
    Lawn watering is carried out using a diffuser or an ordinary watering can. Timely mowing of the lawn and bushes must be done - an overgrown garden gives the impression of an abandoned one. Combing, aeration, pest control, lawn grass fertilization are also desirable. nine0006

    Every garden plot needs a lawn, even the smallest one

    Trees and beds need to be periodically fertilized and perennial flowers need to be replanted. Pruning trees, periodically cleaning fallen leaves and rotting fruits, allows them not to get sick.

    If the beds, then only beautiful ones

    If mirrors are installed in the yard, then it must be taken into account that the sunlight reflected from them, falling on especially delicate plants, can cause them to burn. For the winter, plants that are not frost-resistant should be covered with a spruce forest or special material. nine0006

    See alsoDecoration of the garden plot: the secrets of arrangement with affordable means

    Ancient Chinese culture believes that in order to create a harmonious atmosphere of a country house, it is necessary that the Qi energy flow freely. This is carried out when the balance of the five elements is achieved - fire, water, earth, wood, metal. The Feng Shui landscape radiates the purest energy that fills a person.

    Place a couple of plants in a calm shade, such as purple, on opposite sides of the plot. Colored bushes echo each other and visually enlarge the space

    Color plays an important role in the design of a small garden. Some shades give warmth, others create a feeling of coolness

    Of great importance in such an accomplishment is the color scheme of the space. White and shades of purple soothe, heal people. Red and yellow enhance energy, increase efficiency. It is important not to overload the garden and flower beds with an abundance of colors.

    Yin energy colors - blue, purple, black, white. Yang colors include yellow, red and orange. If the balance of Yin and Yang is maintained, then in such a wonderful space a person truly relaxes. nine0006

    There should be few shrubs, but their colors should be chosen so that the composition will delight with beauty all summer

    All plantings and buildings are also made on the basis of a harmonious combination of the five elements. High-quality furniture, ponds, beautiful plants, sculptures, mirror mosaics on fences, proper care of the garden will help maintain a balance of energy and well-being in a country house.

    Garden design should look like a single composition, not a set of random elements

    In the design of a small area, it is important to observe moderation, without cluttering it excessively, keeping all the elements in the same style.

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