Skip to content Besides the ordinary flat garden, hillside landscaping ideas should also come to mind when thinking about designing one. The project will need more effort to make. There is no doubt about it. Well, that does not mean that you cannot have fun making it.
There are many ways to fabricate the beautiful landscape out of your sloped yard. That kind of grounds, sloped or hillside is so challenging. It is much harder to maintain than an ordinary, flat land.
One of the reasons is because the soil tends to run off and down the slope. That is according to the condition of the downhill itself and the climate of the location. If the ratio of the hillside is 3:1, it’s the ideal yard to grow some plants for garden planning.
If the slope ratio were 2:1, it would be harder to deal with the yard. You have to take extra maintenance in planting the garden. Walking on a hillside can be difficult and exhausting; it would be another obstacle in dealing with slope yards.
Be careful with extreme weather conditions such as heavy rain. It may result in a failed slope. The best thing you can do to avoid failure: put some rocks to slow the runoff down. You have to decide the plants carefully. The ones that have strong network roots are recommended.
Because of that, we are about to give you the best hillside landscaping ideas that will not be hard to deal with. You will have a great time gardening on a slope.
1. Using Stairs for Steep Slopes
If the yard you are about to handle is too steep, incorporate stairs. The steps in this sheer slope can be your one of hillside landscaping ideas in building it for the garden. There is a range of materials to build a stairway for the downhill yards.
It can be wood, steel, or stone, just like the pictures. All of them are a great option for a staircase. The best one would be the rock stairs. The one in the photograph is perfect because of the toughness and it will never wear out.
Give extra care to the area around the sides of the stairs. It would make a more pleasing scene to the hillside. The steps would make walking more enjoyable.
2. Beautiful Flower Garden on Hillside
Are you planning to have such a beautiful hillside garden in your yard? If yes, this would be a perfect idea. Flowers will add more than life to the view of the sloping plot. It also proves pleasing beauty to the eye. Choose the flower types and colors that will be grown in the garden.
Make sure they are all in even quantities for a balancing scene. Besides, you can vary the growing height of the flowers. Therefore, it would form an interesting scene to enjoy. Some beautiful plants like Japanese yew, creeping juniper, California lilac, and fragrant sumac would be a nice addition.
3. Planters Landscape on Hillside
Planters are quite effective to be arranged as the hillside landscaping ideas of yours. It is one favorite element of the garden because of its low maintenance. If the slopes are too steep, plant containers become a good option. You do not have to worry about the soil running off.
The watering routine would be more convenient. Add a garden room at the lower part of the slopes.
4. The Path to the Slope
The surrounding of the slope is just as important as the downhill itself. As you can see, the approach of this hillside has plants and retaining walls. There is a lovely bench for a resting spot to enjoy the scene for a while.
The plant’s choice is also very important. It is recommended to have ones such as coral-bells, hostas, and roses. Moreover, those plants provide such a unique and beautiful visual appearance.
5. Yard’s Stairs Using Rocks
Instead of incorporating artificial-looking elements for the year, why don’t you just focus on the naturalness of the garden? Use rocks for the stairs. Such natural material would provide a Zen feel and look.
After all the rocks formed a staircase, begin adding some plants around the stones. Make sure you do not leave some spots empty. Plant any space in the yard with any plants possible, especially the spot nearby the rocks. The strength and durability of them will prevent runoff.
6. Rocks Hillside Garden Landscaping
Unlike the previous idea where the stones are only used as the stairs, this hillside garden consists of many rocks. All of them are there on purpose to keep the plants steady in their place.
For a more natural look for the hillside landscape ideas, spread the rocks at various random spaces on the land. In the early stage of the garden, you have to take extra care of the plants.
Once the plants are big and strong enough on the roots, you can just perform minimal maintenance.
7. Slope Yard down the Road
If your house is located on a hill, you will always have a spectacular view to enjoy. Some hillside area ends at the side of the road. It creates a knap strip effect. The challenge in having a sloping garden at the roadside is the maintenance.
Therefore, the best bet would be the evergreen for the area. Those kinds of plants will not require extensive cutting or maintenance. You do not have to do the groom frequently because they would be looking lovely on their own.
Aim to have the lower-growing perennials instead of having all the high growing plants for the front row. As a result, the view will not be blocked totally.
8. Beautifully-Shaped Garden for Hillside
This well-designed garden looks so beautiful. The color coordination and pattern provides a perfect scene for it. If you plant the flowers or plants randomly, you will not get this kind of amusing view. As a result, this beautifully shaped hillside planting area requires pre-planning.
According to your creativity and artistic taste, create your designs. You can also choose to copy this garden. As you can see, this planting area has some of the plants arranged in squares. Choose the shapes you want such as spirals or circulars.
The symmetrical form of planting offers an appealing look to the entire hillside garden.
9. Landscaping a Fruit Garden
Having a fruit garden as one of the hillside landscaping ideas is a perfect fit. It is even better if the slope faces to the south. This type would need Drip-Irrigation for the watering and supplies. Level the planting area and terrace it to give each line of plants direct sunlight it needs.
For the raised ground, you can plant some flowers on it to add a beautiful scene to the fruit garden. Therefore, it does not benefit you in health but also aesthetic. When it is time, you can harvest the entire crop.
10. Garden Walkout on Hillside
Look at this painting; it would be one of nice hillside landscaping ideas for your garden. The concept of this planting area is transforming the sloping yard into a walk. Well, it is simple. You can simply use stepping-stones to terrace a walkway.
Along the walkway, put some plants. That is all you need to do. As a result, you will have a functional garden walk.
11. Ground-Covering with Rocks
If you decide to cover the ground, it would change the mood of the garden entirely. It is a great treatment for a gentle slope or berm. The seamless transition from the arrangement of the rocks looks like a colorful mat.
12. Stone Walls down the Road
One of the most popular methods for terracing hillsides is stone walls. It seems like a lot of work to build. Well, it is true. You need help from some people to carry all the rocks and arrange them.
However, the walls would really worth your planting area. The hillside garden will turn out to be beautiful and easy to maintain. You now have an established wide area for cultivating.
13. Slope Yard with Waterfall
Consider this one of the interesting hillside landscaping ideas for your yard. A waterfall in your grounds, it might be something that sounds amazing. You can have one for your slope outdoors.
Water will add motion and sounds that would create a soothing and relaxing ambiance all over the outdoor space. Add more character to the scene by incorporating some lights into the river. It will look so lively and outstanding during the night.
14. Shrubs on Slope Yard
This one of the hillside landscaping ideas creates a colorful scene in the garden, just like flowers. However, shrubs require little to no maintenance. It is such a great choice for the sloped yard. Bushes do not affect the erosion of the soil easily.
They do not have a specific time to look more beautiful because excellence will be their appearance all year round. During springtime, you need to do the pruning.
15. Modern Minimalist Garden
On a hillside garden, you can still be minimal. This is a perfect concept for your modern house. It features a cement-stepped element that makes it so luxurious. Add some lights on each step to improve its luxurious ambiance.
This garden also features the symmetry you need to enjoy the pleasing view. The cement makes some nice planting boxes for all the plants you want to grow.
16. Curves for Hillside Landscaping Ideas
Who needs stairs when you can use a curved path? The spiral shape will support its way up to the hill. If your yard is too wide but not long enough, this landscape will be so suitable. The crooked pathway would only for a not-too-steep slope.
Check out the grass. You have to trim it regularly to keep a clean appearance. It looks like a green carpet that welcomes the guests. Executing these hillside landscape ideas does not have to involve a garden, keep it minimal. The curved path is enough to impress the guest.
17. Low-Maintenance Plants
This hillside landscaping idea is one of the solutions to the major problems in the garden, a runoff. The plants you need to have for this are shrubs, coneflowers, and ornamental grasses. Those kinds will avoid soil runoff.
You do not need to take care of them regularly. Just plant those plants in your hillside garden, leave, and water them sometimes.
18. Alpine Hillside Garden
If you have a screen hillside, an alpine garden would be a perfect choice. This planting area would draw attention. For the steps, this concept has larger slabs. That makes a bold effect to the entire scene.
The liberal use of hypertufa beautifully blends with the stones. Moreover, the pea gravel will help prevent runoff and provides such a splendid color palette.
19. Wooden Wall Landscape for Backyard Garden
Besides stones, wooden walls would also be a nice recommendation. You can take some area that is closest to the living space of your backyard. The stone wall on each level will make a nice planting box.
You can plant all the flowers or shrubs wanted to add color to the outdoor space. Unlike stone walls, wood material won’t be a lot of work since it’s not as heavy as the rocks.
20. Mediterranean Hillside Garden
Check out this contemporary hillside garden. The steps of the stairs are low because of the sloping yard. It is also long enough to form an amazing scene of the steps. The plants on each side filled with such colorful types that complement the green grass.
Final Words
To have all of those hillside landscaping ideas, you will need to do a lot of exploring and experiments before making a decision. It will be very helpful to trigger creative thinking of yours.
The hillside landscaping ideas in this post prove to you that many things can be done to your yard.
Select the hillside landscaping ideas that suit the yard the most. Your consideration should be based on the space you have and how steep the sloping ground is.
You can also combine some hillside landscaping ideas to build your version of the landscape.
