How to start planning a large sloped yard landscaping project
Large sloped yards make it difficult to visualize the final layout or figure out where to begin planting and building. This overwhelming scale stops people from getting started on their design or forces them to compromise on features like retaining walls and open play space.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1breaking the large area into smaller sections and tackling it piece by piece over several yearsDid this help you?
- 2Asking online forums for design critiquesDid this help you?
- 3Adjusting plant placement or DIYing parts of the projectDid this help you?
- 4making a mockup in a landscaping appDid this help you?
- 5Starting by edging and figuring out where the lawn ends and the bed beginsDid this help you?
- 6Clearing biggest stuff first and then trimming what is stayingDid this help you?
- 7Doing it as a side job over a couple hours every couple of daysDid this help you?
- 8Throwing native seed out, watering initially, and keeping the edges trimmedDid this help you?
- 9Pouring concrete all over the yard instead of landscapingDid this help you?
- 10breaking the project into chunks and forcing deadlinesDid this help you?
- 11cooking to decompressDid this help you?
- 12Getting ballpark quotes over the phone based on photos and estimated square footageDid this help you?
- 13Hiring contractors to build retaining walls and fill backyardsDid this help you?
- 14Using limited-access equipment like a 3' track mini excavatorDid this help you?
- 15Moving plants around repeatedly by trial and errorDid this help you?
- 16Waiting for plants to grow, settle, and fill in over timeDid this help you?
- 17Looking up hardiness zones and online resources for flower bed designDid this help you?
- 18waiting a year for the soil to settle before installing permanent hardscaping or structuresDid this help you?
- 19watching YouTube DIY builds and outdoor project videosDid this help you?
- 20leaving the large open area entirely as lawn to mowDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I’ve moved plants around about 50 times and can’t figure out why it looks so off!”source ↗
“Any critics or suggestions on this design?”source ↗
“I’m wondering if I will save a substantial amount of money by doing it myself or if I’m insane.”source ↗
“I'm imagining planting trees and shrubs, maybe natives to OH, but it's such a big project, I can't picture how to start.”source ↗
“I regret not leaving more open space for play etc”source ↗
“I have a bad habit of starting landscaping projects strong and then hitting a wall when something unexpected comes up.”source ↗
“The frames sat there until fall.”source ↗
“I keep finding reasons not to start digging. Part of it is knowing I'll hit tree roots and probably need to reroute. Part of it is just the scope.”source ↗
“At my job I manage timelines fine, but at home I lose steam”source ↗
“There was a diy retaining wall there when I moved in, so I had that added to the hard scapi g. It was supposed to be further back in the lawn but the landscaper said there were too many roots do this is what I got!”source ↗
“We hate the current landscaping at our new house, so I tried making a mockup in a landscaping app, but I still don’t love it. I can’t tell if my proportions or spacing are off, or if I genuinely just don’t have a good eye for landscaping.”source ↗
“Where would you start? They want weeds gone, bushes trimmed. Am I over my head with this project?”source ↗
“My real question is not which project to build. It's how you make decisions for a large area. How do you section it? Where do you start? Do you carve out zones for different things, or do you just leave most of it as lawn and mow?”source ↗
“I lean toward low maintenance. So I'm stuck on questions like: does a pathway make sense here, and where would it even go? A small fountain, or is that just more upkeep? How much do you actually develop versus leave alone?”source ↗
“this is basically the only yard that I have. it's a triangle that is roughly 60 ft long 25 feet wide at the base with a heavy slope.”source ↗
“I don't mind doing all the labor I just don't know what I should do”source ↗
“That’s why I’m hoping someone on Reddit can give me a plan 😂”source ↗
“I’ve just moved everything around so much that I started overthinking everything! 🤣”source ↗
“I heard it’s better to let the soil “settle” for a year before doing any big landscaping like concrete and bbq stations and such. Any recommendations on how to temporarily landscape it? Is it even important to let the soil settle for a while before doing anything?”source ↗
“We are finding that professional landscapers don't really want a job like this - not sure if it really that incredibly difficult to do or what... It seems really expensive and the quotes are higher than we'd guess.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 15How to landscape a small and busy front yard
- 13How to fix up an overgrown, rocky rental yard on a budget
- 5How to plan a front yard layout with sandy soil
- 10How to prep a garden bed after removing weeds and gravel
- 3How to landscape a mulch bed around exposed tree roots
- 2How to make new landscaping rocks and mulch look natural