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.
- 1breaking the large area into smaller sections and tackling it piece by piece over several years
- 2Asking online forums for design critiques
- 3Adjusting plant placement or DIYing parts of the project
- 4making a mockup in a landscaping app
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Any critics or suggestions on this design?”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 ↗
“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 this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 2How to prep a weed and mulch area for laying sod
- 16How to fix a dead lawn on a new house without experience