These sloping garden ideas will help you transform a space that can be difficult into an intricately designed garden. Here’s some advice from Real Homes’ garden expert Matt James on how to make the most of a sloping garden.

These sloping garden ideas will change the way you think about a sloping plot from difficult to work with to full of opportunity. While it’s true that garden landscaping and designing a sloping outdoor space can be challenging, it’s also true that well designed sloped gardens are some of the prettiest and most charming.

They can look very beautiful, natural and flowing if you follow a few simple rules of hardscaping and planting. Garden expert Matt James offers his advice on making the most of your sloping garden.

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Manipulating a gentle slope to produce level terraces isn’t difficult – you can usually cut and fill by hand using a spade. First, cut the soil out of the slope using a large spade to create the first level. Then, use the loose soil that you’ve just cut out to make the next identical sized level terrace, and so on. Never just pile soil against a timber fence – it will rot and warp quickly. Instead, you will need to invest in retaining boundary walls.

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Terracing a steep slope, especially one that‘s made artificially, isn’t a job to tackle yourself. On steep or unstable slopes you’ll probably need earth-moving equipment and extensive foundations plus whatever ‘face’ material you want to see, whether it’s bricks, rendered blocks, sleepers or gabion mesh cages.

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If the slope is gradual, levelling can be achieved with timber retainers, such as sleepers.

Calculate your levels carefully as, if they are built up too much, you might find that you’ll have a clear view down into neighbouring gardens – which they may not welcome. If it’s unavoidable, take measures to improve privacy in your garden. Call in a professional garden designer, or a landscape construction company, to be on the safe side.

Bear in mind that terracing a sloping garden in its entirety will be expensive – taking away or adding soil in large quantities, and building retaining walls is costly. So, work towards cutting and filling instead; if your garden’s slope is gentle in places, you can save money by terracing just sections of it and leaving the gentler slopes as they are.

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