Happy Thursday, GPOD! Today we’re visiting Rachel (@rachelgrowsga) in Atlanta, Georgia (Zone 8a). My first reaction to these photos was, Whoa, how much land does she have? Somehow, this incredibly full garden sits on just a quarter-acre lot. The slope and dense plantings give it so much depth that parts of the landscape remind me of something you might see at a botanical garden. There’s also no shortage of plant-combination inspiration here, with color spilling through nearly every bed.
I garden on a quarter-acre lot that is mostly a steep, full-sun slope. When we moved in just over five years ago, the soil had been heavily compacted by new construction, and honestly, the hillside was an eyesore. All I could think was, “How are we ever going to sell this house? This is a maintenance nightmare.”
My goal has been to create a low-maintenance, drought-tolerant garden that supports pollinators, leaning heavily on native plants. The slope brings plenty of challenges: wet clay soil at the bottom where water channels downhill, dry, tough soil at the top, and chunky clay in between. This hillside has become the best garden teacher I’ve ever had.
It has also taught me to love depth. I don’t have to plant short to tall. I can put short plants up the hill, tall plants farther down, and mix them freely. That vertical dimension is something I never knew a garden could have until I had a slope. Now we see this garden from every window, and what was once an eyesore has become a statement piece I’m truly proud of.
My style is natural and unpolished, the kind of view you might stumble upon on a hike or a walk through a park. Ninebark is one of my favorite shrubs because it captures that feeling perfectly. My favorite perennial is phlox; I would plant a whole field of it if I could! And whenever I see bees on a plant at the garden center, that’s the one coming home with me. I want my garden to feel alive.
When I’m not gardening, I’m a meteorologist, so I always have my eye on the sky. I try to choose plants that work with our weather, not against it. No two gardens are alike, and that’s the beautiful thing: your garden will always be yours.
The wildlife keeps things interesting too. I contend with armadillos, rabbits, the occasional deer, spider mites, Japanese beetles, and tons of chipmunks that seem to have built an entire neighborhood under my plants.
Someday I’d love a bigger lot with room for more of the plants I enjoy. But I think I’ll always have a hillside garden. They’re a lot of work, but they are incredibly satisfying spaces.
Native purple passionflower (Passiflora incarnata, Zones 5–9) is a host plant for gulf fritillary and variegated fritillary butterflies. I grow it in my sunny hillside garden to support their life cycle.
View of my hillside garden from my back porch. I enjoyed the blooms of Bobo panicle hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata ‘ILVOBO’, Zones 3–8) all summer. This was the first year they weren’t eaten by deer.
Meant to Bee ‘Queen Nectarine’ anise hyssop (Agastache hybrid ‘Queen Nectarine’, Zones 5–9) and ‘Apricot Echo’ tea olive (Osmanthus fragrans f. aurantiacus ‘Apricot Echo’, Zones 7–10) in the foreground, looking out over my hillside garden.
Beautiful Supertunia Vista Jazzberry petunia (Petunia ‘WNPESVJAZ’, annual) maintains a natural look through summer without any water-soluble fertilizer.
This annual border includes several varieties of salvia, including ‘Summer Jewel Red’ scarlet sage (Salvia coccinea ‘Summer Jewel Red’, annual), along with lantana and veronica.
A fun combination of Supertunia Vista Cool Jazz petunia (Petunia ‘WNPCOOLJAZZ’, annual), Superbena Peachy Keen verbena (Verbena hybrid, annual), and Saucy Red scarlet sage (Salvia splendens ‘Saucy Red’, Zones 9b–10b).
Autumn sage (Salvia greggii, Zones 8–10) and speedwell (Veronica cvs., Zones 3–9)
Annual flower borders adjacent to my back porch.
A favorite summer annual combination: vinca, zinnias, and spider flower (Cleome cvs., annual).
Thanks for sharing your hillside garden with us, Rachel! Gardening on a slope can be incredibly challenging, especially when you’re also dealing with compacted, heavy clay soil. That combination alone requires you to be very intentional about the plants you choose.
I especially loved what you said about using the change in elevation to create depth and layers, and how you can plant shorter plants higher on the slope without worrying so much about mature height. It seems so obvious once you hear it, but I had never really considered that before! To be fair, I don’t have a hillside teaching me those lessons the way you do.
Between the sweeping annual combinations and all the pollinator and wildlife activity, you’ve really created your own little ecosystem. I also love that supporting pollinators and using native plants were part of the plan from the beginning. A recent MPR News report on monarch butterflies noted that the population increased 64% this year, with experts pointing to favorable weather as well as collective efforts to create more habitat in home landscapes. Gardens like yours are exactly the kind of spaces conservation groups continue encouraging people to plant.
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