How to landscape your slopes in San Diego

It’s rather common if you’re a San Diego homeowner to be dealing with some degree of slope on your property. Whether you have a small front yard slope, or a massive backyard hillside: we can help you out.

We understand that its not in everyone’s budget to install massive retaining walls to terrace and flatten out their sloped terrain, and that is OK. With the correct combination of planting and ground covers you can turn a dull and brown hillside into a stunning work of art.

Not only is it aesthetically pleasing to incorporate plants and color on any sloping terrain, its vital to add stability and prevent runoff during raining season (and whomever says “San Diego never gets rain” obviously didn’t live through the winter of 2023). The plant roots help stabilize slopes, and furthermore plants provide natural habitats for your native insects and birds to thrive. So when considering plants for your slope we highly encourage you to incorporate some native plants in the mix.

Here are a few things to consider when planting your slope:

Start Small: Installing large plants can get costly. We always recommend to purchase smaller plants when planting your landscape (either plugs from flats, or small 6” or 1 gallon sized plant). Although rare, its not uncommon for some plants to go into shock and die after being transplanted. If you find yourself needing to replace some plants, it will be much more affordable if you are replacing 1 gallons compared to mature 5 or 15 gallons plants. In comparison if you have a large slope you can imagine how costly it would be if you installed all large plants. If you have an appropriate irrigation system your plants will thrive and fill in over a season. Start small. Be patient, and I promise you will be rewarded.
Install Jute: If you plan to install mulch on your slope it is highly recommended to install Jute fabric under your mulch. This fibers material gives the mulch something to hold onto. In addition to jute fabric, we always recommend Gorilla Mulch, this “hairy” mulch tends to cling better than your standard wood chips, thus lasting long enough for your plants to mature and cover the bare soil.
Add Variety: Yes; Modern clean, repetitive lines are ‘“In” , but that doesn’t mean you have to stick to one ground cover and call it a day. Play with different textures, heights, and colors. Again, you can really transform your San Diego hillside into a work of art that changes with the seasons byincorporating just 3 or 4 different species of plants.
Plant Native: Native plants are not only going to thrive in their natural habitat, but they are resistant to drought and an integral part of the SoCal ecosystem. Below are just a few of some of our favorite native plants for slopes:
- Baccharis pilularis 'Pigeon Point’ (Coyote Bush)
- Dudleyas
- Penstemon
- Salvias species (sage)
- Globe Mallow
- Arctostaphylos species (Manzanitas
- Ceanothus species (California lilac)
- Muhlenbergia rigens (deer grass)
- Hesperoyuca whipplei (yucca)