I have never been a natural gardener. For years, I struggled to keep basic houseplants alive, only to kill them at the first opportunity. It was difficult and stressful to buy a home with a yard, but I knew that I might be able to learn what I was doing wrong and correct the problem. To start off, I focused heavily on the lawn, and tried hard to keep it trimmed and well-maintained. Next, I cleaned up the flowerbeds. It was a lot of work, but I knew that it would pay off in the end. When I was done, my front yard was gorgeous, and guess what--it even stayed alive. This blog is all about loving your little landscape.
If you have an area of your yard that is sloped, it can make it more difficult to do landscaping. Fortunately, you can use this area to your advantage by following the tips below.
Planting Flowers
You cannot simply plant flowers on the slope without making any kind of changes. It is not possible to till a slope, because the dirt will loosen and then slide down the slope. A landscape contractor can make some changes so that your flowers will stay in place once you plant them. One way they can do this is by covering the sloped area with a jute netting, and then cut planting holes in the netting. They will place healthy soil in the holes, which is where you will plant your flowers. They may suggest planting the flowers in wire baskets to protect the flowers from pests, such as gophers. Once the flowers are planted, a few inches of mulch are laid over the netting to hide it.
Flowers that grow well on a slope include:
Visit your local garden center, who can show you flowers that grow well in your area that will also grow on a slope.
Retaining Wall
Build a retaining wall to hold the soil behind it. Materials generally used for a retaining wall are concrete blocks, natural stone, timber, or wood plank. Before you determine the height of the wall, look into your local code requirements. They likely have rules on how high the retaining wall can be.
If you are installing a shorter wall, you can do it yourself to save money. One very easy way is to use concrete blocks stacked up with no mortar between them.
Once the wall is built, you can integrate it into your current landscaping with climbing vines. You can either plant these plants at the bottom of the wall so they creep up, or plant them in containers placed on top of the wall so that they creep down. Some vines with fragrant flowers include:
You could also plant flowers along the base of the retaining wall to give it some color. Plants like petunias, geraniums, impatiens, and verbena work well.
Even though you are installing a retaining wall for a purpose, it does not have to look like a boring wall that sticks out. Follow these tips so it will blend in with your landscaping. To learn more, contact a company like K & R Lawn and Landscaping.
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