The garden on the escarpmentseems to be a rather difficult piece of land to develop, which the owners are trying to transform into a standard, often boring, flat corner with a lush green lawn and a few conifers. Meanwhile, more or less steep slopes, hills or hills can be transformed into very interesting landscapes with lush vegetation that attracts the eye. See how to arrange agarden on the escarpment , which will be eye-catching, and its maintenance will not be a problem.
Garden on a slope - slope secured with a retaining wall
How to secure a garden on a slope
By adjusting plantings to the natural terrain on which the garden is located, we will save a lot of labor costs, and well-composed discounts will add charm to any garden and will soon become a real pride of its owners.
"When planning the development of hills, especially those with steep slopes, it is worth considering the application of solutions that will counteract the washing out of the ground during heavy rains, spring thaws. Such protection is especially recommended on light and sandy soils as well as clay soils with a very steep slope. Then inthe garden on the escarpmentexcess rainwater can cause serious losses. For this purpose, railway sleepers or larger boulders driven halfway into the soil at an angle of 75 ° to the slope will be irreplaceable. Such a slope will prevent the soil masses from pushing the hedges, especially after heavy rains when the soil moves down the slope. A very interesting way of a practical and very decorative finish of the edge of a steep slope is to arrange a dry retaining wall at this point, made of larger pieces of sandstone, limestone or possibly granite joined with mortar. Such a structure, provided that it is properly made on a solid foundation, will fulfill its purpose for decades. "
Plants for the garden on the escarpment
1) South-west side of the hillside garden
"In my opinion, the most interesting idea is to use the existing elevations of the terrain to create a one-of-a-kind garden resembling steppe or xerothermic grasslands, where unusual species and varieties of plants will develop that fail in typical, flat gardens.
If we have a slope or a hill with a southern or western exposure on dry, rocky or sandy terrain, we can transform it with minimal effort into a gravel garden.There they will find perfect conditions for the development of exotic plant species from warmer climates.
"Frost-resistant cacti (Opuntia humnifosa), small-flowered foxglove (Digitalis parviflora) and red-flowered, chimeric, nude foxglove (Digitalis nudicale), beautiful Mediterranean thistles (Carduncellus pinnatus and C. mitissimus) in the form of small, prickly rosettes and rosettes Jerusalem artichoke (Asclepias tuberosum) and the beautiful variety Crispa (Teucrium scorodonia Crispa) are just some of the plants that will grow excellently on the periodically dry, warm substrate provided by the southern exposure and the strong slope of the sides of such a hill."
"An excellent combination of colors as well as shapes of leaves and flowers is obtained when the stony hill is planted with a variety of penstemon with purple leaves and cream flowers (Penstemon digitalis Husker Red Strain), St. ) as well as spring love (Adonis vernalis) and ostrich (Stipa barbata, Stipa tenuissima Ponny Tails) with flowing ears, waving in the wind, adding lightness to the whole composition.The sedum plant (Sedum) will also work in such a place.
Garden on the escarpment
2) Garden on the slope from the north-east side
If, on the other hand, our garden on the escarpment has a northern or eastern exposure, and the soil is sufficiently moist, we can create a real rock garden here with all the richness of mountain plants, delicate ferns and pastel blooming levizia.
It is enough to form small rock shelves and loosen the substrate with the addition of gravel or coarse sand. If we want to give the whole composition as natural as possible, then there will be limbs and root stumps bitten by the tooth of time, as well as larger boulders.
For this you need to plant typical rock vegetation. In the gaps between the stones, we can place plants that do not tolerate waterlogging, such as cotyledon (Levisia cotyledon), Mycenaean ramonda (Ramonda myconi), Rhodope haberlea (Haberlea rhodopensis) or beautifully flowering slippers (Calceolaria falklandica and C.bilora).
"Shaded shelves with a fertile, moist substrate are the perfect place to grow beautiful varieties of Brunnera macrophylla Silver Wings, Jack Frost or Langrest with an interesting marbled pattern on each leaf. At the foot of the hill, it is worth planting more delicate species of evergreen garden ferns, such as the common tongue (Phyllitis scolopendrium), Angustifolia and Undulata varieties (with an unusual leaf shape) and ribbed scallops (Blechnum penna-marina), and cover the rest of the area around the slope with fine gravel. smaller stones that will complete the composition.
Easy to maintain garden on the slope
For some people, building a rockery may turn out to be too much of a challenge. If we do not have the time (or the desire) to make additional efforts in the subsequent care of the plants, we can just partially level the hill, cover the whole area with black, thick non-woven fabric, and insert the plants into the holes cut in it.However, before we start planting plants, it is necessary to get rid of perennial weeds, which will later become our nuisance. We can do it manually (probably no machine will climb a steep hill) or with one of the many commercially available chemicals.
Low, branchy coniferous or deciduous shrubs will cover the unsightly plastic mulch after 2-3 years and will be a beautiful complement to plantings in other parts of the garden. Personally, in this case, I suggest using ground cover roses, different-colored varieties of firethorn (Pyrocantha coccinea) and, in contrast, mountain pine (Pinus mugo) and creeping varieties of common juniper (Juniperus communis).
In the case of plants with higher water requirements, it may be necessary to use an automatic above- or underground irrigation system, which will provide the right doses of water and fertilizers for each planted plant without the need for tedious manual watering with a garden hose.
A properly secured and planted scarp will cease to be a cause for shame, and will become a beautiful, vibrant part of the garden that we will be proud of.
Emil Gwizdała
