Whilst the vast majority of gardens that are subject to residential landscaping work, be it new designs, or for ongoing care and maintenance, will be perfectly flat, not all are. Some will have inclines of varying degrees, and there will be those which are situated on a hillside. This is the landscaping project that landscapers will find most challenging, and in truth, the ability to create a workable landscaping design on a hillside can often prove to be extremely difficult, if not impossible.
If you are up for the challenge then we must advise you that creating a landscape design for a garden that has a large slope on a hillside is not easy, and there certain principles that you must follow to succeed. Read on, and you will discover what those principles are.
Ensure The Slope’s Integrity Is Not Compromised
One of the most important aspects of designing landscaping for a hillside is safety. You might be wondering why that would be so in a garden environment, however, if your landscaping design involves any significant digging or construction, there are risks.
The primary risk is that you affect the integrity of the hillside to the extent that it becomes unstable. If that happiness then there is a risk that soil could loosen, and a mudslide occurs with all the consequences that could follow on from such an event. One key design principle to follow is to make lots of small digs to create multiple levels within your design, rather than try to with just one or two large excavations.
Use Plants With Deep, Fine Roots
Carrying on from the previous point about the integrity of the slope’s soil, another way risks can be minimised is with the careful selection of the plants and trees which you intend to grow. In particular, you want to select plants and trees which are known to create a network of deep roots. The theory is that these deep roots help to bind the soil underground, strengthening its integrity and thus acting almost like a safety net beneath your hillside landscaping.
Protect The Surface From Water Runoff
Another important aspect of landscaping on a hillside is that you do all you can to prevent water runoff. This occurs when it rains where each raindrop causes a particle of soil to dislodge. As this continues and more rainwater accumulates, the water starts to flow downhill taking those fragments of soil with it, and this results in surface erosion.
You can minimise this effect by including within your landscape design features such as rocks, and strategically placed plants which will slow the flow of rainwater, reducing the damaging water runoffs.
Utilise The Views
So far we have discussed the more practical aspects of landscaping on a hillside, but here we look at what is potentially the highlight of it. What we are referring to is the views that you have from a hillside garden, some of which will be no doubt be stunning for some of you due to where your garden is situated.
The main principle here is simple and that is to design your landscaping so that you make sure that any views are retained. By this, we mean no large trees, features, fences, or walls which might block the view, either from the garden, or the home it belongs to.
Plan Ahead For Maintenance
The last principle is a simple one and that is to ensure you take account of the need to maintain your hillside landscaping. In particular, you want to ensure that you provide in your design for access to the landscaping, especially if it is a large project and the use of machinery might be necessary.
You do not want to have a wonderful hillside garden then discover you cannot maintain it properly because there is no means to get a mower, or other gardening equipment into it.
