How To Make A Level Garden

Flat gardens might look easier to manage, but giving your outdoor space a multi-levelled design (i.e. turn it into a tiered garden) can really make a tremendous visual impact (not to mention what it can mean for your property's value). Opting for a split level garden is also a great way to tackle an uneven space, if you don't fancy hiring a digger to do some garden levelling.

But how do we give a sloping landscape some style and visual splendour without breaking the bank (and our backs)? How do we make it a practical outdoor space where we can spend time in the fresh outdoors?

Well, thanks to some expert tips gathered from the gardening- and landscaping pros, including Landscape Architects (geniuses on how to level a garden), these stylish and easy solutions for sloping gardens might come in handy for you as well…

1. Industrial garden styling really works for stepped spaces. Look at those gabions!

Small Garden with a Very Steep Slope Yorkshire Gardens Modern garden

2. You can create separate eating/cooking and socialising spots with numerous levels

Urban Courtyard for Entertaining Bestall & Co Landscape Design Ltd Modern garden

3. Keeping delicate flowers away from your patio is a good move to preserve their longevity

Rear Garden Barnes Walker Ltd Rustic style garden

4. Decking makes multi-levels really easy to achieve

Party garden in Sevenoaks, Kent Earth Designs Modern garden

5. Having planters, water features and grass all on different levels looks amazing

6. Raised beds are not only easier to manage than standard borders, they look far more pro!

Communal Gardens, London Bowles & Wyer Modern garden

7. You don't have to go too structured. Simply plant shrubs on a sloping surface.

Smoking Pavilion Gianni Botsford Architects Modern garden

8. If you keep meaning to try your hand at a veggie patch, tiered gardens make it much simpler

White Horse Pub Hampshire Design Consultancy Ltd. Country style garden

When it comes to tiered garden ideas, a visually striking design is one of the results!

9. You can keep your different levels shallow and subtle and mark them out with coloured shingle

A Modern Garden with Traditional Materials Yorkshire Gardens Modern garden

10. The grandeur of stepping down towards a water feature can't be beaten

Rural Garden Bestall & Co Landscape Design Ltd Modern garden

11. Edging different levels with rocks makes it look so natural

Gärten für Auge und Seele Mediterranean style garden

12. Neat and easy to manage, these separate squares of greenery really look the part without needing too much fuss!

GALAXY SANDSTONE PAVING BARTON FIELDS PATIO & LANDSCAPE CENTRE Modern garden Sandstone Black

13. You know, you could include your home as one of the levels in your garden! Living roofs are all the rage

MEERA SKY GARDEN HOUSE Guz Architects Modern garden

14. Levelling a garden in the front of your house can also help to make a striking first impression.

Concrete House Nico Van Der Meulen Architects Modern garden

The drawbacks of garden levelling

An outside entertainment area come rain or shine Kate Eyre Garden Design Mediterranean style garden

Nothing in life is perfect, not even those tiered garden ideas you've been dreaming about.

• Height hazard: it's a fact that a tiered garden presents the most chances of tripping or falling, especially in wet conditions.

• Erosion: levelling a garden is not the best idea for large landscaping installations as it can leave the site with shallow- and nutrient-poor soil. Erosion is also a big issue where large amounts of vegetation have been cleared.

• Exposure: due to a lack of suitable shelter, sloping gardens can result in your prized plants and petals being damaged by heavy winds.

• Inaccessibility: for the mobility impaired, a sloped garden is nothing more than a waste of space. Thus, consider your household and ease of accessibility before you opt to level your garden.

The benefits of a tiered garden: Easier to see

Garden Landscape Design

Then again, opting for a sloping garden design can be the best idea yet, thanks to a few advantages.

Interest at eye level: With level gardens, most of the features meant to add detail, functionality and character are low to the ground. But with various levels and sloping landscapes, you have the power to move the centre of your garden's focus up from the ground to a convenient eye level. So, instead of looking down to admire your beautiful blooms (or garden bench, or exquisite pathway tiles), it's right at arm's length.

The benefits of a tiered garden: Hiding flaws

Terrace house city garden

homify

Is there something particular in your split level garden or yard that you'd rather not draw attention to? Like a rusty garden shed? A steep downhill slope gives you the perfect opportunity to hide it, especially with lush plants and hedges. And if you really want to draw attention to something, like a pergola or water feature, a steep uphill slope will do the trick.

Next up for your inspiration: Ideas and costs for transforming your home's exterior.

15 garden lighting ideas you can copy this summer