Stone steps on a hillside not only look better when accented with beautiful plants, but the steps need landscaping to prevent the soil on the surrounding slope from washing out onto the stones. A truly impressive landscape design successfully blends hard and soft elements to create a balanced garden that is easy on the eyes. With the stone step hardscaping in place, your garden slope needs plants to soften the rugged appearance of the stones and give the outdoor space a more inviting feel. After following basic landscaping principles, you can customize the step landscaping to your own taste.
Place larger boulders on the hill around the stone steps to help the steps seem more like native stones. Bury one-third to one-half of the stones in the soil to anchor the stones and give the appearance that the stones are native to the soil.
Break severely steep slopes into more manageable terraces supported by short retaining walls. Plant level garden areas of accessible terraces to avoid having to navigate the steep hillside to tend your plants. Create a hillside sitting area with a patio and garden bench on a terrace, if desired.
Dig several holes in the slope to determine how deep the bedrock is, so you can choose the appropriate plants. Mix deep-rooted and shallow-rooted perennial shrubs, trees and groundcovers, choosing native plants when possible to reduce the amount of time needed to maintain the garden.
Plant low-growing, creeping or clumping plants, such as groundcover stonecrop (Sedum spp.), phlox (Phlox spp.) or native sea thrift (Armeria maritima), along the sides of the steps, as these vigorous growers fill in space quickly and cling to the soil so it doesn't wash out onto the steps.
Accent the groundcover plants with small perennial shrubs and flowers, such as evergreen lavender (Lavendula spp.), native columbine (Aquilegia formosa), coast rock cress (Arabis blepharophylla) or California sagebrush (Artemisia californica). Build up the height of plants as you landscape farther away from the steps, using a combination of solitary plantings, straight lines and group plantings of three to five plants.
Plant a few deep-rooted and shallow-rooted trees on the slope to provide height, shade and erosion control to the area. Plant smaller trees, such as dwarf pine (Pinus spp.) or box elder (Acer negundo) so you don't overwhelm the slope with trees and greatly reduce available sunlight.
Fill in large open spaces with medium to large perennial shrubs, such as the dozens of native manzanita species (Arctostaphylos spp.), coast Angelica (Angelica spp.), and serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.), which is adapted well to dry summers.
Plant native ornamental grasses to accent boulders, shrubs or to serve as the backdrop for a group of small plants.
Plant additional groundcover plants, small shrubs and flowers where needed to fill in any remaining spaces between the trees and larger shrubs. Repeat the same plants used along the steps or introduce new species for greater plant diversity.
Plant small succulents, such as hen-and-chicks (Sempervivum spp.) in the tiny gaps between stones in the stone staircase.
Mulch the bare soil around plants and rocks with 2- to- 3-inches of shredded wood mulch to prevent erosion. Use only shredded bark mulch or large, flat gravel mulch that locks together instead of sliding easily down a slope.
Things You Will Need
- Graph paper
- Digging tools
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