Landscaping ideas for sloped yards
Backyard Slope Landscaping Ideas - 10 Things To Do
Break Out in Tiers
1/11
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
6/11
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
10/11
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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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.
Click Play for Hillside Landscaping Ideas
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.
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01 of 12
Terracing a Hillside Vegetable Garden
Kirk Longpré / Pacific HorticultureA hillside can be a blessing when designing a vegetable garden, especially a south-facing slope. This west coast garden shared by the Pacific Horticulture Society takes advantage of the elevated ground along the trellised side by planting flowers that will be at eye level as someone walks down the path. Each terraced row is on its own level and gets direct sunlight without being shaded by the row in front. It can be a challenge to get supplies and water to the area. It would be wise to consider drip irrigation, and pathways between the vegetable rows are a must.
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02 of 12
Anchoring a Hillside Garden
The Spruce / Marie IannottiThe soil on a hillside is often less than ideal.
The topsoil tends to wash off quickly, taking the nutrients and fertility with it. It's not uncommon to have a hillside, primarily rocks, barely covered with a topping of soil. In that case, you may have to create planting pockets and add some additional soil to establish plants. This gardener made use of two workhorses, astilbe and hosta. Both can grow in the shade of this creek hillside, and both are hardy enough to take hold in the poor soil. She divided the original plants and quickly covered the entire slope within a few years.
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03 of 12
Terracing a Hillside With Stone
sdgtrackerStone walls are a classic way to terrace and tame a hillside. Although they are a lot of work initially, once they are in place, you have a functional and attractive structure. Stone walls can create planting areas wide enough to work in and around, and they even look good on their own, requiring very little fanfare from the plants contained in them. Since stone tends to heat up early in the spring and hold heat at night, you are creating a microclimate that will allow you to grow plants that would not survive in other areas of your yard.
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04 of 12
A Borrowed Hillside View
The Spruce / Marie IannottiA 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 (Adiantum) and mayapples, as well as rugged workhorses like hostas and foamflower (Tiarella). The effect is almost a fairytale setting that sets the house as a destination.
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05 of 12
Taming a Hillside in Small Bites
1001 GardensWhen the angle of the slope is extreme, stairs are a necessity. However, you do not have to landscape the entire hillside—at least not all at once. Take advantage of the area closest to your living area and create manageable planting boxes. At the lower levels, you can do it without extra equipment, and the boxes are not just easy to work in; they create a garden room for relaxing and entertaining.
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06 of 12
A Natural Hillside Rock Garden
Solidaria GardenPart 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.
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07 of 12
Gardening a Roadside Slope
The Spruce / Marie iannottiIt'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. -
08 of 12
Creating an Alpine Hillside Garden
The Spruce / Marie IannottiConsider yourself lucky if your hillside is basically scree or naturally covered in rocks. You can create a unique alpine garden that will draw the eye upward. Follow this gardener's lead and use the existing rocks, but reposition them. Larger slabs are used as steps and platforms. She also makes liberal use of hypertufa or artificial limestone, which blends in beautifully with the natural stone. Finally, pea gravel is used as a mulch, to prevent runoff and create a unifying color palette.
Large evergreens give the planting weight, and self-sowing perennials, like corydalis, are allowed to fill in where they will and soften the rocky ledge.
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09 of 12
Turning a Hillside Into a Garden Walk
Carol Norquist / Flickr / CC BY-ND 2.0Terracing the walkway while leaving the planting area elevated gives the effect of encompassing passersby in the flowers. Instead of steps, these homeowners have chosen to lay stepping stones with just enough traction to keep walkers steady.
The exuberant perennials along the walkway are given even more level changes by using containers and pot stands on the lower levels, which create focal points for the journey down. And drivers passing by on the road get a full view of the hillside garden, rather than only the front few plants a flat garden would afford them.
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10 of 12
A Four-Season Hillside Garden
PicreviseWhen you have a hillside that frames a view of your house, you want it to remain attractive year-round. Colorful shrubs 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 hillside should look good for the rest of the year. And shrubs are excellent for controlling erosion. Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia), California lilac (Ceanothus), and prostrate rosemary make good choices. -
11 of 12
Covering Ground on a Hillside
Scott Beuerlein / State by State GardeningFor a gentle slope or berm that connects a wooded area with your open lawn, create a smooth transition with groundcovers that naturalize and create a colorful carpet. The soil will drain quickly on a berm, so treat it like a rock garden and use plants such as creeping phlox, alpines, perennial geraniums, and tiny bellflowers. Using flowers in white and soft pastels will keep the cool feel of the woodland. You can extend the color past the spring bloomers with white and yellow variegated foliage.
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12 of 12
Low-Maintenance Plants for a Hillside Garden
The Spruce / Marie IannottiRunoff is one of the biggest challenges with hillside gardens and even more so when the slope runs off into the driveway, where soil can settle.
Choose plants that will anchor the hillside, such as shrubs, ornamental grasses, and prairie plants, like coneflower, that form a mat of roots. All these plants hold the ground in place and require minimal maintenance during the growing season. They can even be left standing for winter interest. With a bit of thought when choosing your plants, any hillside or slope can become a focal point in your yard.
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features and options for landscape design
Many owners of a plot on a slope do not understand their happiness. They only complain about the hassle associated with non-standard arrangement of the territory, not realizing that they got a unique example of the craftsmanship of nature, which can be turned into something even more special.
Landscaping of a site on a slope looks peculiar, often fabulous. Winding paths, stone terraces, elevation changes - all this only decorates an uneven area
A plot on a slope requires some effort and expense, which also scares off unlucky lovers who do not want to transform their summer cottage.
This article will help to give an idea of the methods and techniques of landscape work on a similar site.
Contents
- 1 Land on a slope: features of landscape design
- 2 Fortifications and decorations
- 3 Soaring gardens and nature views
- 4 One step, two steps
- 5 Rules for gardening a summer cottage on a slope
- 6 Video: garden on a slope
- 7 Photo: best ideas for using a slope in design
- 7.1 See also
Land on a slope: landscape design features
Fortifications can be made with your own hands, but this requires a detailed study of the area.
The main technique in the design of a sloping site is terraces, which help to visually smooth out elevation differences and add sophistication to the overall look of the landscape
Top priority items:
- What is the slope of the slope?
- How close is groundwater?
- What are the characteristics of the soil?
- If there is a body of water nearby, is there a risk of washing away the area?
- What is the ground pressure on the slope?
- What is the best reinforcement material?
- Which areas are most in need of strengthening?
All these questions can be answered by yourself, and you can also use the help of an expert who will conduct a professional analysis of the area and give recommendations.
As a result, a very effective design can be organized on a problem area with a slope, which cannot be obtained on the ground with a horizontal surface
See alsoCreating a flower garden is a form of creative self-expression
Fortifications and decorations
So, if you are well prepared, then you need to choose the best option for strengthening the site on the slope.
The choice of material, in most cases, depends on the angle of the slope and the soil analysis of the area on the slope. This question must be considered with all pedantry.
Never plant tall trees on a steep slope, strong winds can uproot them
See also DIY cottage design from improvised materials
Soaring gardens and nature views
Landscaping of a site on a slope allows you to implement a lot of design solutions. Some costs will be required to create an aesthetic component of the site on the slope. The choice of design is carried out depending on the location of buildings, places for recreation, terraces, stairs and even cardinal points.
The erection of terraces creates a picturesque and bright picture on the summer cottage. Experts advise abandoning symmetry by placing terraces randomly. The lack of consistency gives a natural look to the landscape, completely likening it to a natural creation.
An area on a slope with a beautiful panoramic view will be an ideal place to relax
The waterfall will decorate the slope of the garden plot, and with a good design with stones and plants, it will create the impression of a natural spring
Terrace can be placed on any ground. For the wet surface of the site, a drainage mound of crushed stone is used, it will give stability to the structure. The arrangement of the terraces is complemented by the cut parts of the pipes, which will ensure the exit of groundwater to the surface, preventing its accumulation under the structure.
Terrace buildings always include paths and paths. Steps are made in some places. Various materials are available for terrace retaining walls:
- brick;
- tree;
- concrete;
- cement.
If the slope is too steep, it is highly recommended to use grout for retaining walls. Also, for the construction of terraces, it is necessary to conduct electricity in order to illuminate these places at night.
A small slope can be reinforced with wooden supports
Significant elevation changes will require concrete work
Retaining wall materials can be combined
When designing a summer cottage, you can release all the accumulated ideas. Create a unique look for your site with asymmetrical lines. Flowerbeds, bordered by elements of unusual relief, will be evidence of refined taste.
See alsoLandscape plants
One step, two steps
It is impossible to imagine a suburban area without the main attribute - steps. The main staircase can be part of the terrace or be somewhere on the slope. The steps should be of a certain width so that the muscles of the legs do not strain once again, and also fit the general style of the summer cottage on the slope.
On steep slopes, stairs are equipped with railings
All kinds of paths are created from serpentine, and for movements that are too long in time, transitions are provided on which benches are installed. You can decorate resting places from crossings with busts, statues, fountains or small ponds with exotic fish.
A straight path will smooth out sharp changes in terrain
Stairs are usually made of materials such as:
- concrete;
- brick;
- stone;
- tree.
Stairs can be made of stone, brick or wood
When creating a landscape design on a slope, it is recommended to choose the same, preferably light-colored material from which the terraces on the land were made. The aesthetics of the paths are maintained with the help of large decorative elements, as the florists note, which gives more contrast to the green flora of the site.
See alsoCreating a harmonious garden design
Rules for landscaping a summer cottage on a slope
A harmonious combination of flower pots and shrubs develops into an amazing and original corner where you can spend time contemplating the beauty of plants.
In such a place, it is recommended to install a bench in order to achieve maximum comfort.
Thyme, stonecrop, soapwort and phlox grow well between stones
Conifers are ideal for northern slopes
Rockeries and flower beds will be good on the southern slope
West side suitable for flowers and shrubs that love mild growing conditions
Decorative arches and grasses, complementary to each other, develop into a single landscape image on the slope, so you need to subtly feel what is best for this area. From the selection of plants most often recommended:
- thyme;
- cotoneaster;
- bells;
- feather grass;
- geranium;
- phlox;
- roses;
- wild rose.
The dense green or myrtle color of the cotoneaster turns into a bold blue in low night light, and the blue, cobalt color of the phlox behaves like a false green. The red, full-blooded color of roses fills with life only in sunlight, but dies, turning into deep scarlet in the moonlight.
Conversely, a light blueness is expelled from the pale green of thyme during daylight hours, leaving only a cloudy aftertaste.
Choose unpretentious ground cover plants that strengthen the soil and give aesthetic pleasure
Garden arrangement involves painstaking work with shades. Depending on your temperament, personal preferences and lighting, the desired combination of colors is selected. Choose a dominant color, and then decide on auxiliary shades.
Planting of annuals involves preliminary soil preparation. It takes a lot of physical effort.
For lovers of natural style, the "wild" design of the slope is suitable
Southern slopes are chosen for planting garden plants, as they have more sunlight, from which the soil warms up faster, increasing the yield. Grapes, apple trees, apricot and peach trees are planted in the upper part of the plot. For plants that are afraid of the cold, the lower part of the plot is best suited.
Beds of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and onions feel comfortable in sloped areas.
However, it is worth worrying about possible drafts. A sufficiently high fence can protect the garden from strong winds.
Neat box-beds on the slope of the garden plot
A more budget-friendly option for beds, moreover, suitable for steep slopes
Expert opinion
Alina Kvileva
Landscape designer
Ask an expert
Hello, my name is Alina and I am a landscape designer, if you have any questions regarding landscape design, ask me with pleasure I will answer them.
Video: hillside garden
See alsoDecoration of the garden plot: the secrets of arranging affordable means
Photo: the best ideas for using the slope in design
100 photos of main structures and strengthening measures
Plots with a slope can be considered not the most successful for the construction of suburban seasonal housing. It will take a lot of time and effort to arrange it, but the result is always worth the resources spent.
It is on a site with a slope that you can give free rein to your imagination and fully express yourself as a landscape designer.
Article summary:
Preparatory work on a site with slope
It is important to correctly carry out all stages of preparatory work on a suburban area. To create a comfortable and beautiful suburban area, you will need to strengthen the slopes, create terraces, and think over the irrigation and drainage system.
When developing a landscape design for a site on a slope, it is necessary to take into account the nature of the soil, the angle of inclination and its location. The most favorable is the southern slope. This location allows you to freely grow vegetables and fruits, arrange gazebos and places of rest.
The northern slopes are much worse in terms of creating a beautiful area surrounded by greenery and flowers. Throughout the day, the site remains in the shade, which significantly reduces its attractiveness.
In addition, due to the lack of sun, the ground becomes cold and wet, which can negatively affect already equipped terraces.
Terracing
The most convenient and frequently used way to hide large differences in the height of the site is the creation of terraces and zones. Before you start creating levels on a site on a slope, you need to work on the layout and creation of zones. It is important to prioritize and correctly calculate the space needed for work, recreation, green spaces.
Each terrace must be connected to the next one. It can be both stairs and paths. When organizing ascents, they should be made as gentle as possible so that the ascent is not tiring and difficult.
It is desirable that the height of the steps does not exceed 10 cm. It is better to make the steps deeper. The material of the stairs completely depends on taste preferences: wood, stone, tile.
After drawing up a plan for the location of terraces, determining their number and marking on the ground, they begin to strengthen the slopes.
Stabilization of the soil
An important step in the design of the site on the slope will be the stabilization of the soil and the creation of the supporting walls of the terraces. This will preserve the created landscape for a long time, prevent its destruction by groundwater and storm water, and extend the life of buildings.
Before you strengthen the slopes on the site, you need to thin out several important points at once:
- groundwater level;
- site slope;
- soil type;
- distance to the nearest body of water;
- ground pressure.
A site with a slight slope can be easily strengthened by planting vegetation with a developed root system. In this way, dry soil can be strengthened, but it will require a developed irrigation system.
Strong slopes may require support walls. Such structures allow to weaken the pressure of the soil on the slope and prevent the washing out and erosion of the soil.
Such support structures can be constructed from stone, brick, slabs, and water-repellent treated wood.
When choosing a support wall material, consider its strength and durability, the required height of the walls to be constructed and the features of the chosen design.
Walls made of stone are among the most durable and strong. The technology of laying stone for such walls originated a very long time ago. Such walls last a long time and look very beautiful, but the creation process takes a very long time and requires some creative thinking. The stones are stacked on top of each other without a fixing solution. They should be selected in accordance with each other.
Stone can be used with mortar or pre-cast concrete base. This method is much easier than the previous one and is more durable.
Bricks or building blocks are used to make large terraces or large drops. However, before erecting such walls, it is necessary to lay a solid strip foundation.
Support walls made of wood impregnated with moisture-repellent mixtures can be made from logs up to 15 cm in diameter, as well as dense boards. Such walls are not so strong and should not exceed 30-40 cm. To create a wooden support, additional poles or a concrete base will be required, as well as a waterproof film from the ground.
In addition, geotextiles or geomats can be used to strengthen the soil on the site. Such materials have a sufficiently high resistance to moisture, protect the soil from ultraviolet rays and frost, are easy to install and very environmentally friendly, can be used on a site with any slope.
Irrigation and drainage systems
When backfilling the terrace, drainage and drainage should be provided immediately. If necessary, you can install several drains and trays to drain the accumulated storm water.
The first floor of the terrace always acts as a drain.
It is made from sand and gravel. After a layer of earth is laid, and fertile soil is on top. After a few days, a layer of fertile soil is filled up, as natural shrinkage of the soil occurs. Only after that, you can confidently begin to improve the site.
Design solutions for a site with a slope
Beauty and functionality - what every owner of a suburban area needs. Pre-planned zones and having an idea of something specific greatly simplify the task of arranging a comfortable environment.
It is necessary to immediately determine the purpose of the summer cottage - recreation with family and friends, creating a garden and growing vegetables and fruits, or all at once. After that, you can choose the style you like by looking at several photo options for arranging the plot on the slope.
Almost any design decision can be made on relief areas. It can be a small Japanese-style garden, a French park, a rustic garden, an art nouveau or country garden.
