In this video, Landscape contractor Jenn Nawada helps a homeowner transform her erosion-prone sloped front yard into a low-maintenance landscape with improved drainage and year-round curb appeal.
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A steep front yard can be difficult to maintain. Grass is hard to mow, soil washes away during heavy rain, and patchy areas quickly become an eyesore. Instead of fighting the slope, Jenn Nawada’s approach focuses on working with it—softening the grade, improving drainage, and using plants that help stabilize the soil.
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Where to find it?
Excavation digging done by: Frank Walsh Landscape Company, Inc. [https://frankwalshlandscape.com/]
Outline Area
• Marking paint [https://homedepot.sjv.io/5gNZNo]
• Measuring tape [https://homedepot.sjv.io/9gq2XQ]
Call 811 [https://811beforeyoudig.com/811-in-your-state/] before digging to check for underground utility lines.
Regrade Slope
• Mini excavator [https://homedepot.sjv.io/zxYQX7] to speed up digging. Available for rent.
• Flat shovels [https://homedepot.sjv.io/aO7JLQ]
• Metal rakes [https://homedepot.sjv.io/Dy7zkG]
Planting
• Gardening gloves [https://homedepot.sjv.io/MA74gP]
• Starter fertilizer: Jenn used Roots Healthy Start Advanced 3-4-3. [https://homedepot.sjv.io/3Jg5Yv]
• Compost: Jenn used organic leaf compost from a local landscape supplier.
• Spade shovel [https://homedepot.sjv.io/e1YPAZ]
• Wheelbarrow [https://homedepot.sjv.io/xLYxXO]
Plants
• Switchgrass: Panicum Virgatum ‘Heavy Metal’ (1-Gallon)
• Little Lime Hydrangeas [https://homedepot.sjv.io/MA74jN]
• Limelight Hydrangeas [https://homedepot.sjv.io/9L01QQ]
• Endless Summer Hydrangeas [https://homedepot.sjv.io/PO7Lkq]
• Japanese Maple Tree: Green Laceleaf (10-Gallon)
About Ask This Old House TV: From the makers of This Old House, America’s first and most trusted home improvement show, Ask This Old House answers the steady stream of home improvement questions asked by viewers across the United States. Covering topics from landscaping to electrical to HVAC and plumbing to painting and more. Ask This Old House features the experts from This Old House, including general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, landscape contractor Jenn Nawada, master carpenter Norm Abram, and host Kevin O’Connor. ASK This Old House helps you protect and preserve your greatest investment—your home.
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How to Landscape a Steep Front Yard | Ask This Old House
https://www.youtube.com/user/thisoldhouse/
25 Comments
Jenn is the best!
Is that any better lol? It looks like the just terraced it slightly. Retaining wall would probably be nicer
Once those hydrangeas grow in and all bloom❤…however…what’s it’s gonna look like in the winter
Beautiful!!!
I would put water in the planting hole if the soil is so dry. Look good !
Nice before and after outro👍
He my EXXXXX cavator lol
I would bet half that mulch ends up on the sidewalk after the first rain. Better option would have been to build a terraced retaining wall.
Can a tree's root zone be reliably restricted by limiting the diameter of its canopy? And if a tree is adequately watered does that limit the tendency of its roots to seek hydration from underground pipes and sewer lines?
That’s some good positive grading that area has from the home! The last owner probably left it like that because it’s a good area for runoff to flow away from the home when it rains.
The endless summer hydrangea can get frostbite .in our climate we sometimes loose the flowers .on a bad year we get maybe 4 or 5 around the bottom in August.
No symmetry to the plants, my ocd says 👎🏼👎🏼
Drop in a gabian wall 5 feet from the sidewalk and backfill to a 1/4 per foot from the front of the house. The gabian wall will provide stability to the elevated lawn while giving noise abatement to the busy surface street. 5 feet of growing space down below gives room for decerative planting and vertical growing of fern, ivy, or flowering vines against the gabian wall.
High maintenance, mowing is easier.
just buy a new house shannon
Beautiful job. My only criticism with TOH is that you never indicate the cost. It’s great to show what’s possible, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s practical. What did that little landscape job cost ?
Jenn has nice yams.
Won’t those Hydrangeas fry out there? There’s no shade, hydrangeas can’t survive full sun in my area.
shouldn't the plants be dug deeper?
This is not a steep front yard. Lol thanks. See ya later
Pro tip, dont mulch hills
Curb appeal? How about starting with the solar? That is the biggest eyesore
My daughter has the same exact situation except her slope ends at the road, no sidewalk. So tall plants that block visibilty are out. A couple of large town trees prevent regrading plus there is a row of rhododendrons along the top. She first tried a patch of sedum to see how that would work. It was okay but random weeds and grass made it look messy. We are going to try bearberries which are native here on Long Island and deer resistant. Hopefully they will thrive and spread over the slope.
I wonder what they do if the homeowner goes off script and says something actually interesting and spontaneous?
I would have gone with a two teared bed deign with retaining material such as block or ties … maybe ending in a semi round bulkhead at the steep end with a tree in it ….