How To Landscape Effectively on a Sloping Garden

It can be challenging for those with a home situated on a slope to know exactly how to design their garden, to make it look aesthetically pleasing while also preventing erosion. Although planting vegetation and maintaining a garden on a slope may be more difficult, there are a number of ways of effectively landscaping even the steepest of slopes. Read on for some easy hints and tricks on how to create a beautiful garden on an incline.

First off, you will want to plant a lawn of some kind on the incline. Almost all regular lawn varieties can grow well on slopes. For a more original look, you can also choose to use a variety of ornamental grasses - these long, colourful grasses can look particularly striking on a slope, as the grasses will all be at different heights creating an interesting textural effect.

If your garden is very steep and difficult to landscape, you could consider terracing the slope or adding a retaining wall. Terracing creates an attractive transition to another level, and also provides a fantastic flat area, perfect for planting flower beds. A great idea is to use plants that grow downwards and spill over the wall at the top of a terrace. Cascading greenery can help to obscure a retaining wall and looks fantastic. Remember that you need to have access to your plants in order to maintain your garden, and you should therefore add stairs or a gravel pathway to the slope so you can reach ever terraced level.

Another great idea when working with slopes is to create a rock garden. Rock gardens can be very attractive and of course require almost no maintenance. It is also one of the most affordable ways of landscaping on a slope.

Erosion is one of the biggest worries with a sloped garden, as rain water will naturally flow down the slope and can cause havoc to plants and soil. To help prevent erosion choose plants or trees with extensive, branching root systems, preferably whose roots grow deeply into the soil so that the soil is given structure and less likely to erode with time. The roots of adjacent plants will then be able to interlock at various levels in the soil and create a firm barrier against erosion. In addition, planting moisture loving vegetation will help to soak up excess water in the soil and make the slope more stable.

Groundcovers such as Blue Rug Juniper and Ivy are very easy to maintain, and are perfect for sloped areas. If you are looking for a more colourful option, you could choose a flowering ground cover such as Sweet Woodruff. Ground covers tend to spread easily over large areas meaning that you will have a lush, attractive garden with minimal effort. In addition, ground covers also tend to hold the soil better than individual plants, also reducing the risk of erosion.

Using these techniques you should be able to effectively and sensibly landscape a sloping garden to look stunning and not suffer any of the associated problems with these gardens.

For further details on the topics mentioned in this article and other gardening issues, such as finding sheds suppliers, visit gardeningbirmingham.co.uk. For instance, take a look at the Gardening Birmingham bark section for more details. Providing useful articles, reviews and writings on home and family, house and garden , online.

Source: http://homeresourcesonline.blogspot.com/2012/12/how-to-landscape-effectively-on-sloping.html

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