Sloping Garden Ideas – Using Steel Garden Edging For Planters, Retaining, and Steps

Introduction

If I were looking for sloping garden ideas for landscaping, retaining, and gardening on a slope, I’d jump on Google. I’d search “sloping garden ideas” or “ideas for gardening on a slope”. I’d read the top articles that came up. Join some gardening forums on socials. Jump on Pinterest and Google Images to find inspirational examples.

Then I’d look for videos where I could learn from someone who’d already handled the sloping garden challenge. Ideally, they’d be someone with an obvious knack for gardening and a keen eye for beautiful and functional garden design. If they happened to be great on camera as well as super enthusiastic about gardening on a slope, then even better.

In short, they’d be just like Chloe Thomson – the horticulturalist and media presenter who landscaped her seriously steep quarter-acre property (located in Melbourne’s Northeast) using Straightcurve weathering steel.

If you’re looking for sloping garden ideas,  you could do a lot worse than watch Chloe’s videos and pick up some ideas.

Included in this article:

• 2 video tours with some great examples of how you can use our flexible weathering steel products to make a steeply sloping garden more livable.
• A Free downloadable PDF including examples and a link to Chloe’s “Gardening on a slope” video.
• Useful links to additional resources if you want to know more about the products used in Chloe’s garden.

Sloping Garden Ideas – Chloe Thomson from Bean There Dug That – showing her garden steps

Gardening on a Slope:

In this first video tour of her Australian Backyard, produced for the YouTube channel “Bean There Dug That“, Chloe explains that there wasn’t a single plant in her garden when they first moved into their home. But in just six years she’s created pocket gardens including a lawn oasis, a succulent garden, veggie boxes growing tomatoes, beans, and carrots, and more.

Chloe says:

“Join me, as I walk you through my Australian backyard garden – let me inspire you with some ideas on how to garden on a slope. Don’t let gardening on a slope or the “problem” of a sloping garden hold you back – there are many many ways you can still have a beautiful and productive garden.”

“We moved into this property 6 years ago – at the time there wasn’t a single plant in the garden – apart from some big gum trees. But during the past 6 years we’ve slowly transformed the space into various “rooms” and spaces we use daily. The “very backyard” section was our most recent creation and account for about a quarter of our overall house block.”

“To tackle the 33% sloping backyard we used a very clever product called ‘Straightcurve Edging’ – it’s a rusted steel edging (corten steel edging) that can be bent into any shape. So we’ve used it to create terrace style steps up to a small but lush green lawn. Don’t let a steep space stop you from successfully gardening on a slope!”

Check out the video here:

Sloping Garden Ideas – Chloe Thomson from Bean There Dug That – Showing Her Lawn Oasis

Sloping Garden Design Ideas:

In this second video, Chloe takes Jane Edmanson from ABC’s Gardening Australia on a tour of her entire property, including the steep planted driveway that leads from the road, past the front garden, and up to the house.

After greeting Jane at the top of her driveway, Chloe describes the challenges of gardening on a steep drive:

“It’s really hard to get anything to stay and survive in this environment, so we actually had our first play here with the Corten steel… so these panels come flat (and they actually come black) and so you shape them to the slope and over time they rust to this beautiful colour.”

Chloe used our Flex Raised Garden Bed products to plant succulents, carex feather falls, and arthropodiums in the steeply-banked beds alongside her drive.

About midway through this 8-minute video, Chloe reveals another way she’s incorporated weathering steel into the practical design of her sloping garden – a series of steps filled in with gravel. Chloe explains how she tackled this part of her garden:

“This was all done by hand… using the corten to hug the landscape… literally one step at a time. Starting at the bottom, we did perhaps one step on one weekend, then two steps on another, gradually making our way up to the top. Being at the top of the garden, you can perch yourself and admire the view, which is really nice.”

Chloe’s advice to anyone wanting to build a garden on a steep slope is:

“Look at different retaining options, look at ways you can create planting pockets or planting spaces. Things don’t have to be straight. I think people think too much that retaining walls and retaining soil needs to be all straight. Think outside the box.”

Check out the video here:

Sloping Garden Ideas – Chloe Thomson of Bean There Dug That with Jane Edmanson from ABC’s Gardening Australia

Conclusion + Helpful Resources

I hope this short article and the linked videos have given you some sloping garden ideas. If you’d like to do some more research on the topic, take a look at our Essential Guide to Raised Garden Beds.

If you want to know more about our galvanised or weathering steel raised garden beds, check out these links:

• Download Our Product Catalogue – Download the pdf and skip to the Raised Garden Bed section.
• Check Out Our Image Gallery – Here you’ll find examples of raised garden beds created using our products.
• Introduction Video – Watch this video to see which style of product might work for your project.
• View Installation Videos – Here you’ll discover how easy it is to build raised garden beds yourself.
• Find Your Nearest Dealers – Find stockist locations and contact details on our “Where To Buy” map.
• Request Pricelist & Brochure – Submit to receive a brochure, pricelist, and stockist’s details by email.
• Downloadable This Case Study PDF – Save this in a folder of inspirational ideas.

And you can learn more about Chloe here: 

• Discover Chloe’s Sprout School here – https://www.beantheredugthat.com/
• Checkout Chloe’s YouTube Channel here – https://www.youtube.com/beantheredugthat