Dealing with uneven compound

As you approach Sarah Kisauzi’s home, a quick comparison to the other homes reveals that this is a well-kept and deeply cherished home.  From the perimeter wall surrounded by bugleweed and cactus you are curious to see what lies beyond the red gate.

And once the gate is opened, the eye is rewarded by the beautiful colours in the well-kept albeit uneven compound. Instead of the uneven compound being a liability, the homeowners have taken advantage of it by creating terraces that enable one to enjoy different viewpoints.  Every terrace has a special feature from flowers to statues and even a fountain. 

Josh Gwamoiza, a landscape designer from Eco Mico, says dealing with uneven compounds might pose a challenge, yet it comes with many advantages if handled professionally.

“Uneven landscaping is the most low cost effective, and easy to do landscaping design especially in places or landscapes that are unevenness. This gives a natural feel to your landscape.

An uneven gives one an opportunity to get creative. You can do fascinating things with those natural valleys, hills, mountains around your home,” says Gwamoiza.  An uneven compound cuts costs by eliminating things such as construction of retaining walls, because with a good ground cover the soil can be well retained and will greatly cut your cost.

However, there are more features you can add to your compound to give it that next level pampering.  Gwamoiza suggests creating a rain garden to take advantage of the rain water better.  A rain garden is a shallow depression in the ground designed to temporarily catch water.

The ideal location for a rain garden is where the ground slopes away from a building. Designate a spot that is at least 10 feet away from buildings and 18 feet away from a septic drain field or the edge of a steep slope.

You can plant deep-rooted plants such as yarrow and echinacea and grasses which are perfect for a rain garden. Their deep roots drink up the excess water during rainy periods. During dry periods, those deep roots help locate stores of water deeper in the soil.

While a rain garden is occasionally water-logged after a rain, it dries up.

Another feature that make an uneven compound manageable is a series of terraces. Cut them into a steep slope to break up the landscape into multiple level surfaces for planting or patio space.

Build a staircase

Build a staircase on a hillside by cutting out small terraces for steps or installing landscape timber frames filled in with soil. Build small retaining walls along the sides of the staircase to prevent erosion, using anything from landscaping timbers to river rock to build the wall.

Remove grass and cover steep slopes with mulch and low-maintenance native plants or groundcover plants such as blue rug creeping juniper Juniperus horizontalis Wiltonii or sedum.

These plants rarely need watering intervention and the mulch restricts weed growth, so you will rarely have to navigate the steep slope to care for the plants. You can add a staircase to the slope to make it easy to access the plants when needed.

Build a dry creek bed

Build a dry creek bed in a small furrow in the landscape, adding useful drainage to the area and giving the landscape the appearance of a natural water feature. Line the ditch with landscape fabric, and cover the fabric with pea gravel, pebbles and river rock. Add larger stones, driftwood, ornamental grasses and other plants around the dry creek bed to contribute to the natural appearance.

Install a walkway in a natural valley in the landscape; excavate the area as needed to make the walking surface flat, then add flagstone or paving stones to form the walkway. Stack stones on either side of the pathway to form small retaining walls that prevent soil from eroding onto the path.

Spread topsoil over uneven ground to make the ground level and even. You can then plant a flowerbed, grass seed or lay sod over the topsoil. Plant an area as desired, then add mulch around plants to make the surface appear smooth. The mulch fills in the dips of uneven ground to give the appearance of a level surface.

Add soil to bumpy, uneven ground to build a berm, a raised mound to serve as the focal point of the landscape. You can plant anything on a berm, from ornamental trees, to shrubs, flowers and groundcovers.

 Use the uneven ground to your advantage when planning flower beds, planting sun-loving plants on raised ground and shade-loving plants in the valleys on the landscape. With careful planning, you can use the plants on high ground to add shade to shade-loving plants.

Build Stairs

If you choose to let vegetation cover your sloping property in glorious abandon, impose a little order by building a set of stairs leading up to flatter ground. Whether you opt for a wooden staircase or concrete steps, this garden feature will blend in the landscape far better. Use a natural material such as stone to create a pathway through your sloping property.