How to Landscape Around a Sidewalk That Slopes to the Street

Inspect the area for excess moisture (soggy ground even days after a heavy rain) or dryness (a lack of growing material, even grass, in the area). While some slopes will drain moisture away from your property, depending how the sidewalk is installed, you may find runoff stops before it reaches the road, often saturating the soil.

Note the amount of sun the area receives; full sun means six or more hours of direct sun, part sun four to six hours, and shade less than four hours. Keep both the moisture and sun in mind as you select your plants.

Create a border of tall plants if you want to screen views from the sidewalk, such as a tall boxwood hedge, hydrangeas or a series of rose of Sharon plants. Pick shorter varieties, less than 2 feet tall, if you simply want to border the area decoratively, such as with a line of lavender or dwarf boxwoods.

Line the sloping sidewalk with strips of visually interesting plants for a uniform planting look, such as a row of mountain phlox set behind a row of sweet William. Consider the shaping of the plants you select to gain variety in the growth habits, leaf size and shape. While hostas provide a rounded, large leaf look to fill an area, for example, some types of decorative grasses display thin leaves for a cleaner, more precise look.

Create a cottage-style flower garden in moist slope areas. Let the cottage garden extend away from the sidewalk out into your yard to provide a wide planting ground. Dense plantings of heavily productive perennials will put the excess water to good use without making the plants compete. Black-eyed Susans, salvia, butterfly bush, daylilies and any variety of herbs can fill in an area quickly and repeat the views each year.

Make a seating area surrounded by specimen plants to attract attention to the garden and away from the sidewalk. Plant a decorative tree, such as lilac, dogwood or a fruit tree, as a main feature with a bench beside it. Form a pathway from the bench to your yard and plant on either side of the path, bench and tree with shorter plants. Set taller plants behind the bench and tree.

Build up a small retaining wall, if desired, working 12 to 18 inches away from the sidewalk, and fill the inner portions of the wall with soil to level it. Plant on both sides of the wall. Make the short retaining wall from materials you may already have around your home, such as discarded brick, stone, concrete with pebbles or railroad ties.

Plant the area once you have selected the plants and style you want to use following the spacing requirements of the plants you have chosen. Spread mulch around the base of the plants 3 to 4 inches deep to hold in moisture for dry areas, and more lightly, at 1 to 2 inches deep, for damp soils.