Finding solutions for sloped landscaping can be a huge challenge when you take into account the expenses, erosion control, and overall aesthetics of your yard. Let’s be real - you want to maximize the space in your sloped yard while also uplifting the spirit of the neighborhood, and you don’t want to exhaust yourself or your finances in the process! Thankfully, there are modern solutions to your backyard slope like terracing farming, retaining walls, and the Dirt Locker! 

In this article, we’ll discuss the top 3 trends for backyard hillside landscaping, dive into the pros and cons of each solution for your sloped yard, and reveal who these solutions are for (and who they are not for). That way you’ll dive into your backyard slope with confidence. 

Challenges of Sloped Landscaping 

Before we get into the top solutions for hillside landscaping, let’s discuss the main challenges that occur with sloped landscaping in further detail:

Expenses: It certainly isn’t cheaper to landscape a sloped backyard than flat ground! Many solutions like terracing or building a retaining wall can be costly if you are in an area where labor and materials are expensive. Plus you might have to consider outside costs like building permits, inspections, and other unforeseen costs. 

Irrigation: Sloped landscapes are difficult to irrigate because the water pressure will be impacted if the sprinkler is uphill or downhill from the water source. Plus, you have to ensure your irrigation system isn’t eroding your landscape or taking away vital nutrients and minerals in the soil.

Erosion: Hillside yards will have an issue with erosion when it rains or gets windy. You don’t want to invest in landscaping your yard if it’s just going to erode, so you want to ensure that your hillside landscaping idea will work! 

Aesthetic: Choosing the overall aesthetic for your hillside landscape is a challenge in itself. You’ll want to be 100% confident in your decision before you invest time and money to change your sloped backyard! 

Top Solutions for Sloped Landscaping

1. Use a Retaining Wall to Block Off Space

One of the options for your sloped yard is to build a retaining wall by cutting off a portion of the slope and blocking it off like a terrace with bricks or stone. This is a great way to break up your yard and maximize the space, especially if you need more area in your yard for seating, grass, a fire pit, etc. 

Retaining walls also offer the opportunity to grow a raised garden which can be convenient for those who dislike bending over all the time when gardening! Ask your local landscaping professional if the slope in your yard will work with a retaining wall around 4 feet high for this gardening hack! Your back will thank you later! 

While building a retaining wall can be beneficial for folks who have months to plan and build or people who are planning a new-build construction home, it should be noted that building a retaining wall is not an overnight venture! Retaining walls require extensive planning. You might have to consult your city officials or schedule a property inspection to keep yourself legal! If you are trying to fix your sloped yard ASAP, consider this before diving into a retaining wall project!

2. Try Terracing Farming for Sectional Planting 

If you’ve ever wanted to turn your sloped landscaping into an aesthetic vegetable or fruit garden, terracing farming might be your yard’s solution! Terracing farming is similar to retaining walls but splits the space into “steps” known as terraces. This is an aesthetic way to break different fruits and vegetables into sections instead of clumping everything together on top of a retaining wall. Terracing farming prevents soil run-off and erosion so it’s easy to see why plenty of landscapers decide on a terracing farming design for their backyard hillside landscaping. 

Soil runoff and erosion are huge issues with landscaping on a hill, so terracing farming is a solution that will stand the test of time with irrigation. You’ll just need to be mindful of the leaching process, which is when the soil loses its nutrients due to excess rain.

3. Utilize the Dirt Locker System 

Dirt Locker is a backyard hill landscaping solution that locks the dirt in your sloped yard so that you can garden and landscape without worrying about months of planning and building! This is a popular option for people who need their sloped yard looking good PRONTO while also ensuring minimal effort, expenses, and paperwork. 

Face it: we live in a society where we want instant gratification, nobody has time to wait months for paperwork and planning! Especially because, by the time you get the plans ready, your sloped yard might already be more eroded which will require even more planning! Dirt Locker can be assembled in hours, so you can get to your true passion: gardening, planting, and admiring your home that you work so hard to appreciate.

In conclusion, we know that hillside landscaping can be a challenge because of issues that arise with sloped yards like erosion, irrigation, expenses, and aesthetics. After decades of engineering, our team is confident that retaining walls, terracing farming, and the Dirt Locker system are the top backyard hillside landscaping solutions for your sloped yard. These solutions will stand the test of time so that you won’t ever have to worry about re-constructing your yard to fix irrigation and erosion. Plus, if you’re short on time and your HOA won’t hush about your yard project, you can trust Dirt Locker to condense the process into hours instead of months. 

Do you have a backyard hillside landscaping solution that works for you? We want to know! Drop a comment in this article or send us an email for a chance to be featured in this article with your sloped yard solution.

Dirt Locker is a sloped landscaping solution for hillside backyards that experience erosion and irrigation issues. We're on a mission to solve your sloped yard's engineering issues with our simple product! Unlike retaining walls that require permits and inspections, the Dirt Locker can get your garden dirt locked and ready to load with fresh fruits and vegetables in a matter of hours. Visit our site DirtLocker.com to see hillside transformations from a variety of steepness levels. If you have any questions about this article, contact us and we will be happy to return your email within 2 business days. Thank you for reading.