New house and a sloping garden

We have made a start today and are putting in stone steps to access the first section of slope. Just a few steps in and access is already easier and, with all your helpful advice I am now feeling more confident that we can get on top of things. Hard work but I am hoping it will help me lose some weight like jeanie99's husband.

I've been shuffling about on my bottom too haddersmum

4allweknow - Broom is an excellent idea and as we have it in another part of the garden I might be able to take cuttings. I'm finding plants so expensive.

Wolfie59 - your garden is beautiful. Just the inspiration I need to persist with ours.

Nicolenet - I so agree about the butterflies. We are going to leave the far section of the slope as a wildlife haven and there is already a buddleja there for the butterflies.

Our fist house after marrying had a back garden slope away from the house. We split the slope making two lawned areas with a stone wall between. Loose stones piled on top of each other and I planted between the stones, it made for a wonderful display of colours on and off all year.
It was very hard work especially for my husband as he did all the moving of soil. He lost over 2 stones (which he needed) in weight doing this.

I have steps up my very steep garden (the top is higher than the roof of the house) but still have to access the steep banks on either side. I never stand on it, it is just too steep but put on overtrousers and get about on my bottom. Have planted shrubs which are now starting to look good. I mulch just around plants as any larger areas of mulch just wash away. Good luck. Trial and error will teach you a lot.

Only today out on a 90 min bus trip and noticed broom in full bloom on a lot of sloping areas, banking in gardens. Looked lovely. Absolutely no experience of gardening on clay slopes. Good luck, sure you will find a lot of useful suggestions on GN.

Terrace it.

My son and his wife also have a VERY steep garden . They have a patio at the top and have made steps all the way down to the bottom. Without the steps , you could not access the slope at all as it was lethal.
He’s now working on the steep banks so a lot of the advice on there is very useful.

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We found it impossible to grow anything on our slope because it was under trees which sucked all the moisture out of the soil, and any rain or attempt to water just ran off. So we terraced the slope.

If you decide to plant shrubs this might help (from a nursery website):

'Some of the best evergreens for clay soils are Cotoneaster, Escallonia, Euonymus, Gaultheria, Mahonia, Pyracantha and Vinca. These varieties will help provide year-round structure and form to your borders even on the heaviest of soils.'

Churchview - not at all - good luck in your new home.

Why not leave it as it with ivy and bramble and lots of butterflies. Why steps and terraces you will fall from as you are getting older?

Your ideas are all so inspiring and thought provoking. I was lying awake worrying about this at night and feel so much better now I have some good ideas and advice to work from. Thank you all so much.

Sandelf - the links are fantastic. Thank you for going to so much trouble to help.

grandtanteJE65 - the drainage issue is at least one thing we don't have to worry about. The house is Victorian and a previous owner has installed a ditch and drainage.

Far more worrying in my opinion that what to plant there, is ensuring that you don't get flood water coming into the house as it sounds to me as if it is at the bottom of the slope.

If this is the case, with all the rain we are having now, you either need a good system of drains at the bottom of the slope, or at least a deep ditch to carry off surplus water.

My grandparents used to have a garden like that and they had the curly path that’s what we called it but now I understand why it went up to the top like a snake but it helped them keep doing the garden of wildflowers which didn’t need any help but helped the wildlife and they had a bench at the top to sit and watch the birds and bees etc but they garden was huge. Why not get a gardener and ask them for help

And this is a Google image search 'very steep gardens' www.google.com/search?q=very+steep+gardens&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwj8rP7g7JaFAxVpdqQEHaprB7kQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=very+steep+gardens&gs_lp=EgNpbWciEnZlcnkgc3RlZXAgZ2FyZGVuczIGEAAYBRgeSOImUL8KWIMicAB4AJABAJgBdKAB9QWqAQQxMC4xuAEDyAEA-AEBigILZ3dzLXdpei1pbWfCAgYQABgHGB7CAggQABgFGAcYHsICCBAAGAgYBxgeiAYB&sclient=img&ei=8VMFZrzwHenskdUPqtedyAs&bih=919&biw=1920&prmd=ivmnbtz&rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB880GB880

Hi - I drive past these 'some ideas' www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.8510257,0.5348914,3a,75y,18.08h,89.78t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sJdTT3sZ1CurKK105vQ797A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

we had a slope at the back. we terraced it - to walk on to get to the plants. not to sit. you will slip if you don't.

We put two sets of wide, shallow steps as we had toddlers and elderly family. Worked well but I can’t remember what we had for ground cover.

Great plant suggestions from other gransnetters .
I'd perhaps include some yellow flag iris if you have a puddle and insata iris in very damp soil .

There's one slight slope in my father's garden and as the neighbour refuses to tidy his garden ( for a staggering 35 years ) I have to cut back the many brambles that go over his broken fence and the horsetail , which goes under .
I've had several near slips and I wonder if I'm not going to really injure myself one day .
It's perilously slippery due to the rain and I'm going to attach a rope to one of the concrete set fence posts so that I can steady myself whilst weeding .

Do think about falling over that part of your garden -it's so easy to break a bone .

If you can manage -have it terraced or failing that put some zig zag paths down with railings .
Lots of luck .

It may be a good idea to make, instead of terraces, ramped paths that slope across the bank , so you can actually walk up and down without steps that may be a prob when you are older.

There's so much good advice here, thank you all very much.

Half of the slope is in full sun and the other half is shaded by a tree so the varied answers are incredibly useful. I'm particularly struck with the roses suggestions and hydrangeas in the shadier areas. We've decided today that we will put in some steps and then work out from them with some terracing. Will stand us in good stead as we get older I hope.

Hardy rambling rose plants with long stems that want to trail down the bank. These leaf early and retain their leaves well, and will cover the ground . I believe real ramblers come only in pale pink and dark pink. However you will need to dig up perennial weeds if you don't want them, and dig out the brambles.

On the other hand, you can allow to grow those hardy 'weeds' and brambles that will bring you , besides flowers, birds, bees and butterflies.

Years ago we watched new houses being built across the valley and wondered what they would do with the downward sloping gardens (downward sloping). One new householder had the whole lot, apart from a flat area near the house, covered in a membrane then shrubs of various kinds planted through the membrane.
It looked a bit sparse at first but has matured well.

My late inlaws lived in Devon overlooking Meadfoot beach, Torquay.

Their house was high up and the garden sloped right down to a road at the bottom and included woodland. Up near the house they had flat seating areas and lawned areas, paved areas and shingle areas. There were hundreds of steps right down to the gate at the bottom. We used to see neighbours cutting their sloping grassed areas with flymos on ropes! Not sure how effective it was but it made us laugh. 🤣

As our house was a new build we got the builder to put in the steps and raise the garden to all one level. As I have some disability they di it FOC- they have helped many others on this estate in this was - slopes to front doors etc. Bellway have been great with after sales too in respect of any faults appearing of which there are only one or two. The front door stuck so they are replacing it rather than fiddling with it.

You could try ground cover roses as roses love clay. Underplanting with bulbs as suggested is an excellent idea or/and a hardy geranium like Rozanne.