Hallo zusammen,

Ich habe vor kurzem mein erstes Haus gekauft und habe damit auch meinen ersten Garten! Wie Sie auf dem Bild sehen können, habe ich einen steilen Hang im Garten hinter dem Haus – der Vorbesitzer hat das Gras entfernt und Astro Turf ausgelegt. Nächstes Jahr möchte ich eine Renovierung durchführen und zunächst den Rasen entfernen, Blumen pflanzen und ein paar schöne Zäune drumherum anlegen, um die Gegend angenehmer zu gestalten.

Als absoluter Anfänger bin ich grundsätzlich auf der Suche nach Ratschlägen zur Verwendung von Blumen oder dazu, was mit dem Raum möglich ist!

Außerdem bin ich in Schottland und der Garten ist nach Süden ausgerichtet. Danke!

Von: January_Blues95

22 Comments

  1. Phelsumaman on

    I hate AstroTurf but the previous occupier was probably quite sensible here. Realistically you can’t lay grass as it’s too steep to mow and anything else planted there as it is could be washed away in a heavy downpour

    The only other thing I can think of to do with that space is to explore the possibility of creating some terraced beds potentially

  2. TheFFCommish on

    Housing developers need to be stopped. They have all the heavy duty equipment to level areas before they build houses but they cheap out and give people unusable gardens.

    To answer your question, really your only option is terraced levels or a big old retaining wall giving you more space. What’s the rest of the garden like?

    Alternatively if you have children, make it into a climbing wall with a slide.

  3. OkCaterpillar8941 on

    We had a rockery on our slope but it wasn’t as steep as yours and it took a lot of effort to put in. Bulbs for springtime always look lovely in grass then a grass alternative like clover for summer. I’d go simple for the first year or two then see how you feel about it.

  4. nacentaeons on

    Retaining wall. Expensive but it will give you more useable space.

  5. I agree to bin off the astroturf. If there’s earth underneath then it may be helpful to have dense rooted mat root type stuff here (which includes real grass) as this might stop soil erosion. If it’s concrete underneath then maybe best option would be to attach a planter on a plinth in the middle but it’ll be a challenge to work on. You could also plant from above and encourage stuff to cascade down the slope. Some climbers might cooperate with this. I’ve seen ivy enjoy cascading down stuff like canal lock walls.

    If there’s decent soil for planting here then a bunch of vinca (aka periwinkle) might work I’m pretty sure I’ve seen that planted on steep banks.

    Another option would be to treat it as a vertical support for a climber and plant underneath the wall. You’d need to check the aspect but something like a creeper or climber could grow up here nicely. The challenge is that it would try to invade other areas too, such as the fence and climber over the top of the slope too. It should be fairly easy to prune neatly at the top though.

  6. I’ve actually been trialling plants to grow on a slope over the last couple of years, but I live in the south of England and have sandy soil so bear that in mind. You’d want plants that can take free-draining soil and are hardy to your region. Nepeta, Phlomis, Dianthus, Erigeron, Salvia nemorosa all work really well for me. As well as grasses such as Deschampsia cepitosa and Sesleria autumnalis. These should all be suitable for Scotland. A lot of alpines would also be good candidates.

    You could also use rocks in certain places to help support the soil.

  7. Gentleman_Teef on

    Oh I’m so jealous. I love tricky sites like this. They provide scope for interesting stuff.

    If you’re in Scotland you should watch the moss guy in episode 32 of Gardener’s world. They planted up a slope like yours: [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0024s0x](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0024s0x) (starts at 45:40)

    Personally I would plant a matrix planting with low grasses like Sesleria autumnalis or Sporobolus heterolipis planted close together to hold eorosion and short flowering perennials scattered throughout like Stachys hummelo, Geum, Sanguisorba tanna, etc for a very nice naturalistic effect.

    Have fun with it!

  8. bachobserver on

    I think the best solution would be a couple of retaining walls across. Obviously depends on what’s under the fake grass, but if it’s clay soil then it doesn’t even need much of a structure to retain it, it basically holds itself up in my experience. It doesn’t even have to be flat between the retaining walls, just less sloped than it is now so you can walk on it for planting and maintenance. Then you can plant whatever you want really, small evergreen shrubs, ground cover plants and bulbs being the least ongoing maintenance. And the more you plant in it, the more roots there are to hold the soil in place.

  9. GhostSquidd on

    Heather might be good? I’ve seen this on some similar slopes and it’s pretty, hangs in there and doesn’t need any mowing or maintenance. You could see if you can find types that flower at slightly different times so you have an extended flowering season.

  10. Breaking-Dad- on

    I’m not convinced by everyone’s arguments about the slope but I would be interested to know how much soil is in there. You might need to consider raising the height of the retention at the bottom to add more soil and to lessen the slope but why not plant wildflowers and grasses – maybe dig in some mini terraces for anything else.

    I Googled it and the suggestion was no more than 45° for wildflowers to take so looks like you might be at the limit.

    Also, with a decent pump you could have a lovely waterfall down to a pond at the bottom 🙂

  11. Striking-Ad66 on

    Could look lovely with some alpine plants and would work well with the climate.

  12. Maninwhatever on

    Terrace it with paths. It’s a diy job if you are confident and satisfying to boot. Haven’t come up against this in any of my places yet, but a job I would relish. Have fun & go large!

  13. Put rows in and grow rice. It’s the true purpose for any steep slope

  14. palpatineforever on

    It would be good to know which direction the slope faces. if it is facing north then it is likely to be shaded affecting what youould plant. If it is south west it will get lots of sun and pretty hot, so should be great for courgettes etc in the summer. the same with other plants, thyme likes hot with good drainage so towards the top is good.
    Even if you plant annuals you can cut the off at the soil not dig up the ground.

  15. My friend moved into a fancy new build that had a big slope going down to the garden. She got builders to cut a wide terrace through it so that you can sit and admire the view. She has sown wildflower seeds on the slope as it would be very difficult to mow.

  16. TokyoBayRay on

    It has a South aspect so, assuming this gets good light, terracing would be lovely. Retaining walls, swales, and lots of winding paths and great places to sit. Lots of hard work digging and such, but so rewarding.

    Without terracing, on steep slopes like this, the top (dry, exposed) is likely a very different microclimate to the bottom (wet, waterlogged). If you have a poor, gravelly soil below, you could then as a dry garden/alpine, plant hardy, neglect-loving plants, and put in rock features. Basically get plants in, see what happens, and have it evolve over time.

  17. 1coffeejunkie1 on

    The best thing about a garden like this is you know your house won’t get flooded.

  18. That’s pretty convincing astro turf. I would be tempted to leave it as it is because of the steepness. It would be a nightmare to maintain if you planed anything. Imagine mowing that if it was real grass!

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