Landscaping on Steep Slopes – Tips for Hillside Landscaping

Wish you had steps running up your hillside? At the very least, your hill may need a retaining wall. Steep slopes present a great challenge to your landscaping acumen. If you fail to tackle hillside landscaping, you may face erosion problems. But attempts at hillside landscaping by the novice often end up with time and money wasted. So before you begin, read these tips for landscaping a slope.

Flowering Ground Covers Need a plant that will beautify your slope while also holding back the soil and smothering weeds? These flowering ground covers may be just the solution for your problematic hillside. Browse my pictures to facilitate plant selection and click the accompanying links to read info that will help you determine if a particular plant is right for you.

Building Dry Creek Beds on Hillsides to Prevent Erosion Are you losing soil on a hillside to erosion? If so, consider installing a dry creek bed. This tutorial tells you how, step by step. And dry creek beds look so good, some people install them even if they do not have erosion problems.

How to Build Stone Retaining Walls Do you have merely a slight slope in your landscaping, a minor annoyance that you would like to "do something with"? The type of stone retaining wall described in this tutorial could be just the solution you are seeking. Being mortarless, it is a relatively easy undertaking for DIYers.

Juniper Plants for Hillside Landscaping Those seeking plant options for landscaping slopes should strongly consider junipers, especially creeping junipers. One type is 'Blue Rug juniper plants and their relatives are sturdy evergreen groundcovers for sunny slopes. Using juniper groundcovers controls erosion and weeds, and also eliminates your having to mow steep slopes. These plants are truly a boon to hillside landscaping.

Landscaping Hills With Pachysandra Creeping junipers perform well in sunny areas. But what about a ground cover for shady slopes? Pachysandra is one choice. These ground covers are not as tenacious as junipers, but they can be effective on medium-sized inclines. Pachysandra will not grace your hillside landscaping with the floral display of the next entry but has nice foliage.

Creeping Phlox Plants A slight slope in a sunny area can be covered with creeping phlox as a groundcover to help prevent erosion. Phlox bears a myriad of blooms in spring (prettier than Pachysandra's flowers), and using it in hillside landscaping gives you an optimal opportunity to show off its beauty. But like Pachysandra, phlox won't prevent erosion on steep slopes.

Building Outdoor Steps Building landscape steps will allow you to scale inclines in the yard, be they steep slopes or moderate hills. I asked a professional in building outdoor steps about such issues as selection of materials and the use of railings. Here are his answers.

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Landscaping on Steep Slopes - Tips for Hillside Landscaping