Creating the perfect isn’t an easy task. You need to take into account the area you’re working with and plan around it, which can mean that not everything you want is possible. Things can be even more difficult if you’re dealing with a sloped garden, as you need to deal with an uneven space.
However, there are plenty of creative ways to turn that slope into a positive feature and create a stunning garden. In fact, you can often introduce more elements than you could with a flat garden, using the incline to add unique interest to your space.
So how do you landscape a sloped garden? Here are some fantastic and creative ideas to help you transform your space into a sloped oasis.
Steps and raised beds
Combining steps and raised beds is an effective way to create a varied and colourful garden. Shallow raised beds help you utilise the slope in your garden without a huge amount of digging and will allow you to plant a variety of plants.
Teaming these with long and shallow steps, so you end up with a step per bed, allows easy access for gardening and creates a great sense of symmetry. Even better, the steps can lead up to a focal point, such as a seating area or water feature so people’s eyes are drawn upward.
You can easily create raised beds with strong steel garden edging, which is easy to install, allowing you to create a beautiful garden yourself or with professional installation help.
Create platforms and fill the gaps
Platforms are a great way to utilise a sloped garden and create different areas for different uses. For example, you can build a decking platform for seating while keeping the rest of the garden for your lawn.
To make platforms more attractive and to soften the edges, it’s a good idea to fill the gap between different levels with plants. This utilises all of the space in your garden, blurs boundaries between levels and will introduce great pops of colour.
This can be done by planting in the ground or by using different-sized pots, which will help to introduce more textures. You can also use plants to create a more private or shaded area on a higher platform, creating a calm oasis that is different from a children’s play area, for example.
Build several small terraces
While totally flattening your sloped garden is an option, this will typically leave you with a large height difference from one side to the other. If you want to create more level spaces, rather than going for a flat garden, try creating several raised terraces.
This can be done with small height differences so your garden essentially looks like a series of long, narrow steps that creates a gentle slope upwards. You can either design all the terraces differently to utilise them in a variety of ways or maintain one theme to help them all blend together.
This is a much easier option than flattening the space completely and brings raised beds and steps together in a different way.
Mix steps and sloping plant beds
Not only will the combination of sloping plant beds and steps look fantastic, but it’s also practical and makes gardening easier.
Creating sloping plant beds allows you to work with the incline you have rather than needing to dig a lot of it out. You can then make a feature of the steps by using a striking material and colour that contrast with the plants.
To ensure an elegant garden design, opt for wide steps that are set at a height for comfortable strolling, making walking up the slope easy.
Add a sunken seating area
If you don’t fancy building a platform for your seating area, why not dig out a sunken seating space instead? This is a great way to create a comfortable statement area that also provides a lot of seating.
Sunken areas allow you to effectively manage space and use areas that may be more awkward. You can create one large sunken area or several smaller ones to add extra interest to your garden.
If you do opt for sunken areas, you need to carefully consider the retaining walls to ensure they are safe. If you don’t have experience with this type of building, it’s worth bringing in a professional who will be able to calculate the size and load of the retaining walls.
You can even build seating and planters into the retaining walls to make better use of the space.
Make it fun with a slide
Whether you have children, grandchildren or are a big kid yourself, a sloped garden is perfect for adding a slide.
You can either create a built-in slide or strategically position a climbing frame so that the slide goes down a slope. This will let you make the most of difficult slopes while adding some fun to your space.
It’s also easy to design additional parts of your garden around the slide. For example, you could build tiered planters around it or even build in more fun spaces for the kids, such as a sandpit.
Install a multi-level water feature
If you want to create a calm oasis, a water feature is always a great addition to your garden and a slope allows you to create one that’s even more interesting.
Rather than a simple pond or fountain, you can use the natural slope of your garden to create a stylish multi-level water feature. This can run alongside your steps and pathway, be the central point of your steps and raised beds or even sit alongside your raised or sunken seating area so you can enjoy the gentle sounds of flowing water.
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