There are several ways one can plant, plan and even improve a sloped garden. With nice designs, you can change an awkward space into a perfect outdoor area.
Sloped gardens offer a wide range of planting options, from wild and whimsical to formal and structured. It’s a wonderful way to introduce some colours.
Whatever design you choose, keep in mind that exploring plants of various heights is usually beneficial in a garden that slopes. Use the slope to your advantage by placing your favourite planted plants along the edges.
8 Ideas to improve a Sloped garden
Not all gardens are created equal, and more than you might imagine are on unlevel terrain. Instead of ignoring the slope, sloped garden ideas let you design the outdoor space of your dreams, and here are some ideas you can apply to your sloped garden.
1. Add a flower bed between the lawn and deck
A decked platform space for outdoor dining is a natural addition if there is a space between your apartment and your sloping garden. However, this can leave a strangely empty gap below. Fill this with thick vegetation to mask it.
Grow flowers and foliage that get higher where there is the most height difference between lawn or garden decking if you want to maintain the illusion that everything is level.
To learn more about building a deck on your sloped outdoor garden where you can add a flower bed, click here: https://ultradecking.co.uk/how-to-build-decking-on-a-slope/
2. Combine raised beds and steps
If you’re considering how to design a garden, keep in mind that raised beds and steps are both perfect for slope garden ideas; why not use both? A magnificent sense of symmetry is produced by the combination of long, shallow steps and shallow beds, which allows for approximately one step per bed.
It will also be easier to visually connect the structures if the risers and bedsides are made of the same material. Pockets of potted plants will help to give a true impression of coherence. Mix up the planting, and add splashes of ornaments and colours where you can.
3. Plant Ornamental Grasses
Sloped gardens are the ideal places for ornamental grasses. Most ornamental grasses require well-drained topsoil, and the slope’s extra angle will create a cascade effect whenever the wind blows if you’re thinking about how to plant decorative grasses.
4. Build some Stairs
A sloped flower garden becomes accessible with steps from uninviting. The steeper the slope, the easier it is to ascend wide stairs that will meander or zigzag up it. If you decide to let the plants grow wild and free on your sloped land, impose some order by creating a series of steps leading up to the level ground.
This garden element will fit into the landscape much better if it is flanked by flora on either side, whether you choose concrete steps or a wooden staircase.
5. Grow a Rock Garden
Plants on hillsides may face landscaping difficulties due to soil erosion or inadequate drainage, which is typical of sloped terrain. A rock garden decreases your yard’s upkeep requirements while also being lush and pleasing to the eye.
Your hillside will provide a strong foundation for plants that love rocks like decorative grasses, stonecrop, and creeping ground covers when you put rocks of different sizes and shapes there.
6. Make a Fire Pit
Landscapers frequently and successfully incorporate hardscapes into sloped backyards. When a design leads to a captivating focal point, such as a fire pit, you’ll entice people into your outdoor space and turn what could otherwise be a neglected area into the perfect place to be.
7. Make a Winding Path
You have a few options if your garden has a slight elevation and is not dramatically inclined. The optimum and best usage of the slope is to cut a route that is flat on the ground.
This makes it possible to work equally from one extreme to the other and, if desired, to plant a route border. It can be simpler and safer to explore a sloped garden if there is a winding or switchback path. A winding route serves as an attractive focal point and guides the viewer’s gaze throughout the scene.
8. Construct a Retaining Wall
By removing a segment of a hill and building a stone wall to keep back the dirt, you can make a sloped piece of land more useful. The walls will offer a backdrop for the plants and small niches for alpines and drought-tolerant species to flourish.
If you’re interested in a more modern look, you could also construct a retaining wall made of steel posts. This is a fantastic chance to designate a planting space behind and across the retaining wall while regaining a section of the garden for a grassy area on level ground.
Is Terracing good for Sloped gardens?
The reality that water will always drain fast downwards, leaving you with extremely dry topsoil at the peak and soggy, wet sections at the bottom, is one of the main issues with any sloped garden. And if water drains in the direction of the house, this might be very significant because it could cause flooding.
Terracing is a vital step to increase grain yield, stop soil erosion, maintain soil fertility, and keep long-term steady production going. Since ancient times, humans have utilised terraces to cultivate food on steep hillsides all throughout the world.
You can create multiple levels and distinct zones in your garden by adding terraces. The entire garden does not need to be levelled at once; you can opt to level out individual areas of the garden.
Why not erect a bench at the entrance of your garden and surround it with green grass? To aid the garden’s water drainage, you may also turn a vegetable patch into a terrace.
Conclusion
Although you might believe that only some plants can be cultivated on a slope, there are a lot of possibilities. Several more plants can be planted at an angle.
For slopes, you can also choose low-maintenance groundcover plants like mondo grass, lady’s mantle, Lamium, and epimedium. Therefore, even the most disjointed and steepest gardens can be attractive and useful with careful design.
