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Sloping Garden

hardingandy1980hardingandy1980 Posts: 8
in Garden design
Greetings all. 1st time poster and new keen gardener. 

I moved into into my first property 3 years ago and i have totally redesigned my garden. Taking it from wasteland to a beautiful terraced garden. 

My next issue is down the side of my house. I have a space around 4m wide by 20m long. Unfortunately this area has lots of issues I need to overcome. 

The area is covered with Horsetail or mares tail. I’ve tried everything to get rid of it over the years to no avail. The only way I can eradicate it is by covering it with a heavy weed control fabric. I have done this and now I’m stuck with what to do on top of the fabric. Normally I would cover it with bark or decorative stone, however here lies my next problem. The garden is at a 60 degree incline. 

I am am looking for some relatively inexpensive solutions as I am moving house in the next 12 months, so basically it’s just something to make it look nice in the short term. 

Thanks in in advance for your help and suggestions. 


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  • hardingandy1980hardingandy1980 Posts: 8
    This is what I have done to the rest of the garden. The area is around 20m x 25m on a 45 degree slope. 

    Before:
  • hardingandy1980hardingandy1980 Posts: 8
    During:

  • hardingandy1980hardingandy1980 Posts: 8
    after:

  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    Impressive groundworks!

    Could you step the slope with sleepers and then level off with clean soil and finish with gravel? You could get pockets of perennials, ferns, small shrubs etc established where the soil cover is deeper. 
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • hardingandy1980hardingandy1980 Posts: 8
    edited September 2019
    WillDB said:
    Impressive groundworks!

    Could you step the slope with sleepers and then level off with clean soil and finish with gravel? You could get pockets of perennials, ferns, small shrubs etc established where the soil cover is deeper. 
    Thanks. All done on my own with a spade and a pick and a chop saw. 

    I thought about terracing it with sleepers. My issue was that I would need to stack 2 possibly 3 sleepers on top of each other at some points. I need a way of securing them into the slope to stop the sliding and the a way of screwing them together onto of each other. 

    Also to do this would cost cost a fortune due to the length of the plot. I’m just reluctant to spend due to moving house soon. 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I'd not bother with the sleepers. Much cheaper to use fencing timber and some battens to hold them in place. You'd make each level section about 3 or 4 feet in depth. Add a few plants here and there if you wnat to, although I wouldn't go to too much expense in the circumstances. Most prospective buyers just want a tidy plot when they view  a property.
    You'd need quite a lot for the length of slope, but it wouldn't be hard to do , considering what you've already done!
    Shame you're not going to be around to enjoy the fruits of your labour though. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    @Fairygirl 😊 all that hard work will have added considerably to the value of that property ... hopefully he’ll be able to spend the added value on a new gardening project 😉 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • hardingandy1980hardingandy1980 Posts: 8
    Fairygirl said:
    I'd not bother with the sleepers. Much cheaper to use fencing timber and some battens to hold them in place. You'd make each level section about 3 or 4 feet in depth. Add a few plants here and there if you wnat to, although I wouldn't go to too much expense in the circumstances. Most prospective buyers just want a tidy plot when they view  a property.
    You'd need quite a lot for the length of slope, but it wouldn't be hard to do , considering what you've already done!
    Shame you're not going to be around to enjoy the fruits of your labour though. 
    I think this will be the cheapest option. Combined with some evergreen shrubs, small bushes and a few hardy plants for some colour. 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Quite so @Dovefromabove :)

    I was just thinking - it's quite a long run, so you could probably do as I suggested, but make each 'step' a bit deeper [say 10 feet ] keeping a bit of the slope. Bark wouldn't slide off, if you still go with it for covering the weed fabric.
    A few pockets of variegated ivy - the small ones, not the type for covering a big wall - would break up the stark look, or you can transplant any little bits and bobs of groundcover you have. The aforementioned ferns would be great.  If you want to go further, you can probably pick up some cheap perennials at GCs or DIY stores just now - hardy geraniums will split up easily and would give a few dots of colour. They're fine in almost any aspect too. You can usually get Euonymous too - there would be plenty of room for those :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • hardingandy1980hardingandy1980 Posts: 8
    Dovefromabove said:
    @Fairygirl 😊 all that hard work will have added considerably to the value of that property ... hopefully he’ll be able to spend the added value on a new gardening project 😉 
    One thing we must have at our forever home is a massive out side space. Room for a lawn, raise borders and a bar/Hot tub shed. I really want to grown my own veg and hopefully become close to being self sufficient. 

    The valuation has gone up £32k since we moved in three years ago. We have done other work in the house including new oak flooring through the entire down stairs and a new kitchen. All work has been done by myself on a budget. Material cost for all work inside and out has been about £10k
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