Landscaping on a Slope
Your Options If It's Too Steep To Mow
Terrace It.
Creating terraces is a relatively simple thing to do. You lay down a landscaping timber (I've used railroad ties) across the hill - level it by digging out the hill where it sits. Then excavate uphill putting the excavated soil against the timber until the ground in that section is level from the top of the timber towards the upward slope of the hill.
Beginning of terrace planting
How wide this terrace is will depend on the steepness of the slope and how high you build your terrace wall. Very steep slopes get very narrow terraces unless you use several levels of timbers. More gently sloping hillsides get a wider terrace.
But this is a project that anybody can do on weekends with a bit of determination, a strong back, wheelbarrow or moving-dolly to move terrace-building materials and a sharp shovel.
More upscale looks can be created by using landscaping blocks, landscaping bricks, or even large rocks.
Once the hillside ground has been leveled, it can be grassed or gardens can be created there. It becomes useable space.
Ground Cover It
Depending on the nature of the area, you can try to set in a groundcover. This will work depending on the nature of the site and the groundcover you pick but you can landscape on a slope quite nicely once the groundcovers are established.
If this is a wild area and you don't want to see it, you only want to hold the bank-soil in place, then you can set in some of the more aggressive spreading plants. Plants such as Crown Vetch will fill in within a few years to hold the bank. Others such as Vinca are a bit slower but will also do the job. The advantage of these aggressive spreaders is that they will compete against the inevitable weeds to good advantage. The disadvantage is that they are aggressive and will escape into surrounding gardens or cultivated areas.
If this is an area you're going to want to see regularly, then you have to establish the ground cover and at the same time (for several years) weed out invaders. It will also take a yearly weeding to remove unwanted plants from this planting. It will not be a plant and forget kind of area.
Garden On It
This is an option that many folks don't take up. You can garden or landscape on a slope without having to do a lot of other things if you decide to pick and plant your plants carefully.
A slope fully landscaped in a natural style
For example, shrubs and evergreens can spread and fill into to stop weeds and prevent erosion without any serious work. A large shrub border fills in and is an extremely attractive option (it's one I'm considering for my slope).
You could establish wildflower areas composed of native plants such as Echinacea and native grasses. This kind of garden demands some attention to combat noxious weeds such as thistles but can become a very attractive garden in a few years.
You could fill it with plants that resemble grass such as Iris and Daylily so when the grasses do invade, these plants can fight them off and hide them.
Naturally, if you decide to terrace the garden, you have huge numbers of options for creating your personalized landscape on a slope
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Other readers questions and comments about Landscaping Slopes
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Return of wildflowers to roadside ditches Since the banning of chemical weed removal in our area our roadside ditches are blooming with abandon. Some of my favourites are sweet peas, mallow, primrose,...
SLOPE AREA SOMETIMES USED TO DRIVE ON? Hello we have a slope down the side of yard which goes to the road and has poor soil (sandy hard packed with lots of small & larger rocks imbedded. My ...
Creeping phlox weeding and pruning My slope has been well established with creeping phlox almost fully covering it and the other rock garden flowers as well. Lovely for two weeks in spring....
Removal of leaves from under plants on a rocky slope in N. California Is it a good idea to do this? I can see removing pieces of dried out ice plant, but I am note sure about the above suggestion. Your advice appreciated....
Invasive trees on slope Hello, I love your ideas about landscaping slopes. Our problem is we have a neighbor that has a hill full of Paper Mulberry trees. These trees are sprouting ...
wet area at bottom of slope Thank you for all those tips on gardening on a slope. I've got a challenging ditch (shaped like a bathtub) in the front of our property (zone 4) that ...
annuals for an east slope I have an east facing slope where I like to have an annual bed, but most plants tend to reach for the western sky. What do you recommend for mounding ...
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