Ideas for a Front Walkway for a Short Sloped Front Lawn

Cut-in Steps

• Turn your slope into a series of steps leading directly from the curb to your front door. Dig into the slope and brace the newly created ditch with retaining walls on each side, and then pour concrete steps from the front porch down to curb level. Any remaining distance can be paved with a flat concrete walkway or decorative paving stones. For a more decorative look, set large flagstones into concrete for stable steps, and then pave the remaining area with matching flagstones. Dividing your sloped lawn in this way will make mowing more difficult, so consider re-landscaping with ground cover and plants that require minimal care yet still keep the area green.

Driveway Path

• If you have a driveway set to the side of your front door, consider making that driveway part of your walkway. Pour or pave a walkway that slopes gently across the lawn horizontally from the porch to the upper driveway. If you generally have cars parked on the driveway, widen it with a walking path paved the same way as your sloping walkway but running parallel to the driveway down to the curb. This part will likely be steep, so add hand rails to provide family and visitors with safe passage on slippery days.

Terrace and Step Combination

• Keep more of your greenery and add beauty to your slope with terraces. Retaining walls of natural stone can hold parts of the slope upright, making it possible for you to pave a gently slanting walkway on one terrace level, and then add a few steps down to the next level, where another gently slanting path takes over. For extremely short lawns, you may only fit a single upper and lower level, leaving you with more stairs than slopes. However, if you pave the sloping path portions with individual, removable stepping stones or a material you can run a lawn mower over, you can keep your lawn intact. Simply ease the retaining walls down on either side of the steps until the level blends back in with the original slope. For safety, keep the slanting paths at a 2 percent grade or less, notes Len Hordyk of Dynascape.

Raised, Winding Walkway

• Build above your existing slope by adding a deck-style walkway that meanders back and forth across your sloping lawn, allowing you to create a shallow slope -- again, use a 2 percent maximum grade -- for the walkway by using the horizontal area as much as the vertical slope. Keep the edge of the deck path that faces the house even with the slope, while posts planted firmly into the slope support the outer edge. This pathway type increases the distance you must walk from the curb to your door, but will make the slope easy to navigate, even for those who have trouble walking. Match the decking style to the rest of your home so the look fits in naturally. Shade from the deck will affect grass growth, so you may need to consider re-landscaping the portion of your yard surrounding the deck with shade-friendly ground cover.