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Growing the most beautiful yard in your neighborhood is a feat. It’s another to keep it pristine. If you have an uneven lawn, you know how challenging it can be to fight rainfall and erosion. Take care of your steep yard and prevent long-term complications by trying straightforward strategies lawncare experts recommend.
Bare yards quickly become even more uneven when they’re on a hill. Wind, rain and people walking across your property can shift the soil away. It ruins the nutrient content of your grass and may even affect your home’s foundation if the erosion gets close enough. Prevent that from happening by adding ground cover plants to your yard.
Low-growing perennials are excellent alternatives for lawns struggling to grow turf. They form a wall against weeds, retain your yard’s water content and protect the earth from washing away. If you don’t have much foot traffic through your lawn, add plants like bugleweed to feed your local pollinators or geranium biokovo to cover the ground while supplying visual depth.
You can also fight gravity by building terraces. They’re flat land shelves dug out of hills every few feet from top to bottom. You’ll maintain your property’s slope but make it easier for grass to spread.
Terraces even stop erosion because they offer flat stability. You could build your terraces with a leveler and landscaping tools or hire experts to finish the project. Either way, you’ll gain new hardscaping that supports your lawn for years to come.
Your property may be amenable to grass if you choose the right type. Thinner turf like fine fescue might not be strong enough to hold your dirt in place. They could also tear away while you readjust your lawn mower to accommodate your property’s slope.
Thicker grass could improve your uneven yard’s appearance. Look for dense species like Zoysia or Bermuda that form a deeply rooted carpet that withstands mower wheels and water rushing to your drainage ditch.
If you plant denser turf, you might need to change your mowing routine. Push mowers are lighter and easier to maneuver at steep angles. They may even be less dangerous than heavy mowers, which can tumble if you mow hills in the wrong direction.
Watch for issues with the blade, too. You might need to adjust its height to be higher over thicker grass so the clippings won’t build up and choke the mower.
Uneven lawns aren’t only at risk of erosion — they’re also tricky to landscape. Newly planted bushes, sod, or hardscaping fixtures may slide under intense winds or rains. Retaining walls create a barrier. After filling in the space between your yard’s natural slope and the retaining wall, you’ll have flat soil that’s better for landscaping projects.
As you consider building a retaining wall around your property, browse potential construction materials. You might want your installation to match your home or use a material matching your home’s upcoming renovation. Stone, concrete, brick and wood are all excellent options for long-term landscaping support.
Anyone who dreams about gardening in their uneven yard can start planting seeds in terraced garden beds. Dig into the slope where you want to garden to establish a dirt shelf. It should fit the length and width of your first aboveground planter box while keeping it level.
When you have one in place, continue the same shoveling technique until your rolling lawn is a picture-perfect terraced garden. You can even make the planter boxes at home with woodworking tools. Measure the length for every box according to your available yard space, cut the wood and secure each board in place using screws.
If you get treated lumber, line your planter boxes with a plastic tarp. Pressure-treated wood contains preservatives so it lasts longer, but your plants shouldn’t absorb those chemicals if you’re growing an edible garden.
Mulch is a powerful landscaping tool for homes situated on hills. It shelters earth by buffering falling rain and filters the water so rainfall doesn’t wash your property away. Spreading fresh mulch around your house or anywhere you’d like to landscape can protect your lawn. It may even fill your yard’s uneven, rolling sections to create a flatter appearance.
The most crucial thing to remember about mulch is it eventually moves. You’ll have to rake it back into place regularly or install lawn edging when you first spread it. Edging strips don’t always require digging, so if you get a no-dig kit, you could position it with plastic stakes and transform your lawn’s appearance in a single afternoon.
The dirt patches across your steep yard might not relate to erosion. Grass could struggle to grow on your property because time and foot traffic compacted the soil. A lawn aerator can solve that problem.
Rent one from a local landscaping or home improvement store. As you push it over your yard, it punches holes into it. The empty pockets funnel much-needed water and oxygen to deeper layers of your property.
Your yard will loosen enough so roots can form without earth washing away. If you aerate every spring, you can spread fertilizer to give your newly growing turf an extra nutrient boost before the dirt compacts again.
Homeowners with rolling properties can flatten everything by leveling their yards. Mow your grass so everything’s even. Rake any thatch lingering close to the dirt to reveal low-lying patches in the ground. Use a shovel to dig up the turf in the concaving parts of your lawn, fill it with new soil and put sod on top. Water according to the sod’s needs so it forms roots quickly.
It may take a few days to complete this project, but it’ll be worth it if you want a flat yard. As you level your property, don’t flatten the area around your home’s foundation. A slight slope is necessary to redirect water runoff. Start your landscaping renovation at least 5 to 10 feet away from your house if the pocketed patches are that close.
Taking care of a sloping or rolling property shouldn’t feel impossible. Use some helpful landscaping strategies to transform your yard. Whether you want to make mowing easier, start a garden or get rid of those bare soil patches, you’ll determine the best renovation project by thinking about how to make your yard work for you.
Jack Shaw is a freelance writer specializing in home improvement, gardening, and caring for the outdoors. He’s the senior writer of Modded and has contributed his advice through sites like Green Living Journal, House 2 Home Organizing, Log Cabin Hub, and more. You can reach him via LinkedIn.
