At first glance a garden with a lot of elevation change can seem like a challenge, but we’ve pulled together some of our favorite inspirational pics to help you turn a seemingly unusable space into an exciting escape.

Fowles Residence by Northland Design Group
Creating imaginative playgrounds are one of our favorite ways to manipulate landforms. A hillside is a wonderful opportunity to create a natural slide, a winding path or a secret passageway.

Pacific Heights Residence by Andrea Cochran

Pacific Heights Residence by Andrea Cochran

Pacific Heights Residence by Andrea Cochran
And who doesn’t love rolling down a simple grassy hillside?

Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum
Retaining walls come in handy when challenging slopes make a space unusable. The possibilities for designs and materials are endless, but here are a just few great examples.

Mill Valley Cabins by Feldman Architecture
This first project makes great use of natural materials to blend the walls into the landscape using timber and hanging plants.

Mill Valley Cabins by Feldman Architecture
The color of corten steel contrasts beautifully against green plant materials and gray crushed stone or concrete.

D-Crain Design and Construction

Penninsula Residence by Andrea Cochran

Penninsula Residence by Andrea Cochran

Big Sur by Blasen Landscape Architecture

Big Sur by Blasen Landscape Architecture
We love how the simple plant palette below emphasizes the scale and form of the space.

Shades of Green Landscape Architecture

Bastian Residence by Northland Design Group

Bastian Residence by Northland Design Group
Gabion walls are a great way to incorporate natural stone into your design.

Badec Bros Deco
Multiple levels really help to break down this large space and the natural weathering on the corten steel is awesome.

D-Crain Design and Construction
Creating small gathering areas as shown in the image below is a great way to take advantage of elevation changes and highlight the views.

Fowles Residence by Northland Design Group

Fowles Residence by Northland Design Group

Fowles Residence by Northland Design Group

Fowles Residence by Northland Design Group

Fowles Residence by Northland Design Group
Just as there are endless ways to retain a slope, there are also endless way to travel through it. We particularly like how the following image transitions seamlessly across the stairs.

D-Crain Design and Construction

Marmol Radziner

D-Crain Design and Construction

Ziger Snead Architects

D-Crain Design and Construction
The grass covered steps in the background of this garden are beautiful.

Ten Eyck Landscape Architecture

Maher Residence by Huettle Landscape Architecture

Jeffrey Gordon Smith
Need some help figuring out what to do with the slopes in your garden? Leave us a comment in the reply box below.