slope and uneven shrubs help

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carbage Columbia, SC Apr 14, 2009

I have a long house and I am planning on redoing the shrubs in the front. The yard slopes to the side instead of to the front, and the shrubs that are currently planted follow the slope making the house look uneven. I am wondering how to fix this and if building a retaining wall/ raised bed is the best way to have my newly planted shrubs be at an even level. It doesn't bother me that the yard itself is sloped but I can't stand the idea of putting in more shrubs just to have them follow and irregular line. Any ideas or help?

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Apr 14, 2009

You do have a few options. A retaining wall may be one, but if this bed that you're having trouble with is right up next to your house, you do NOT want to pile up soil around the foundation in the process of leveling things out and building your retaining wall. But if it's farther out from the house and you wouldn't have to pile soil up against the house then it could be an option.

There are two other options that will be a little less work...the first one would be instead of planting a row of all the same thing, plant more of a mixed border where you have a variety of different shrubs that get to different heights, and randomly mix up the shorter and taller ones. If the heights aren't all regular, then unless your slope is really extreme, nobody will notice that the house looks uneven. The second option if you want that formal look with all the same kind of shrub is to buy something like boxwood that can be trimmed, and as the shrubs grow, you trim more height off the ones at the top of the hill. Again assuming the hill isn't really steep, you may be able to do a decent job getting them all to about the same height, although it may take a couple years for the downhill ones to get tall enough to give you the look you want.

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