How To Landscape a Sloping Yard | Ask This Old House

In this video, Lee Gilliam, the newest member of the Ask This Old House family, teams up with landscaping contractor Jenn Nawada to help a homeowner whose yard has been going downhill.
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Sloped yards can be a challenge, especially when they wash away in rainy weather. Rather than allowing his front yard to continue crumbling and covering his sidewalk, a homeowner decided to call the experts at Ask This Old House for help. With the newest team member, Lee Gilliam, eager to get to work, Jenn Nawada heads out on a road trip to solve this homeowner’s problem.
Where to find it?
Lee and Jenn find a landscape solution for a homeowner dealing with an over-mulched
and under-loved sloped front yard.
To start, Lee and Jenn use shovels [homedepot.sjv.io/jrD36Z] to carefully dig up existing plants to be replanted.
To get rid of the excess mulch, Lee and Jenn raked down the mulch into manageable
piles to be recycled elsewhere.
To relocate the boulders, Lee and Jenn use a tree dolly [homedepot.sjv.io/LXoqdo].
To aerate the soil, Lee uses a rototiller [homedepot.sjv.io/PyY9dN]. This will prep the soil for the new plantings. A rototiller can be found at a local home store.
After staging they use shovels to dig and plant the ground cover and other selected
plants. Lee suggests planting in threes, for a more natural look.
To help the newly added plants thrive, Jenn adds organic plant food [homedepot.sjv.io/Jzo0d7] to the soil when backfilling.
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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 Sloping Yard | Ask This Old House
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[@Dominic.Minischetti]

Nice! You rocked it! Make sure to bring Lee back! 👍🏻

[@RealtorNickCurtis]

I like how you used those boulders and incorporated them into the layout. Smart design using what you have to work with.

[@sweetboykenny9754]

welcome to the family

[@sathivv950]

That looks amazing. Great job on using on site resources for a much less boring look than if it was just a retaining wall.

[@gl15col]

Only thing I'd change, use a native ground cover, as vinca will be a constant struggle to keep it from taking over.

[@bryan__m]

Agree, I gasped when he said that. We've got vinca minor in our beds and it's a bear to get rid of.

[@scallywags12]

Looks nice but I would have choose another ground cover. Vinca can be invasive in different parts of North America. Like hardy geraniums.

[@DM-mp6gq]

Love that they are introducing new local talent to the show

[@miltoncallan1471]

Good job! I would love to see what this job looks like in a couple of years from now.

[@timprice1742]

Welcome, Lee! Great project. Applicable for many people across the country.

[@rdarrett3635]

Excited to see what Lee can do with the landscaping on the series.

[@jasonmartin6949]

Noticed no gloves for Lee...love it! Pushing around a mouse & clicking a keyboard for 30+ yrs., love to get my hands in the soil every now and then.

[@MrLuigi-oi7gm]

Lee is totally cool. 👍

[@07slowbalt]

Yep no edging against the sidewalk lol. They did absolutely nothing to stop the mulch from just sliding right off come the first rain.

[@WrathRT]

Agreed. That slope is just too steep. A small retaining wall would go a long way to help reduce the pitch of the slope and prevent more erosion.

[@bryan__m]

When they plants get established they'll hold the dirt back. He even says that in the video.

[@Jeru-os1di]

Great episode

[@royl395]

What an honor to be a locally respected professional like Mr. Lee.

[@jammosu6498]

Since the had so many rocks in the back, they could have used them more as a retaining wall

[@stephaniegibson9410]

Good afternoon Lee! I just saw this episode. I really appreciate your expertise and enthusiasm for landscaping. Wow! The end result was beautiful! Can't wait to see more episodes! ❤️

[@tjtampa214]

Aww. 🙆 Nice vid .. but.. I'd also liked to have seen the finished / mature project 6 months later. 🌼

[@AraCarrano]

Still looks like the mulch will not stop encroaching on the sidewalk.

[@corssecurity]

You don't solve the problem overnight, but those plants and the trees are thirsty for water. Without all the mulch there's somewhere for the water to be absorbed. That will reduce the washout and as the plants become shrubbery they will send out thier roots to hold the soil.

[@josereyna8885]

I appreciate the recommendation for the use of newspaper instead of plastic weed block. I used that, paper grocery bags, cardboard, and other flat compostable material. Great job!

[@ARepublicIfYouCanKeepIt]

Loved the gentle giant, Lee Gilliam. Great teamwork and a gorgeous result!

[@WannaBeHocker]

We can definitely reuse this mulch once we are done...... NARRATOR: They never did reuse the old mulch

[@bryan__m]

They reuse some at 7:08

[@josephkelly9532]

Looks great

[@ronevans852]

Looks very nice.

[@grayfox9911]

Nice work!

[@JettaJack]

Nice project. Not a fan of colored mulch though since most here is painted. 😊

[@marycheung8082]

I Really Love Ask This Old House Very Much I Really Love Lee

[@matthewsalvador9783]

He reminds me of a doctor telling the patient so and so and if you have any questions contact the office… lol so kind of him

[@rafaelsays175]

Awesome job

[@Michael-wy7om]

Looks great 👍

[@larsonestatesllc5433]

First rain storm that yard is going to be a disaster

[@gmurray3616]

Job well done. I first thought retaining wall, but don't know if that would have fit in with neighboring homes and the customer's home.

[@MattChappellofficial]

That mulch is still going to wash down onto the sidewalk with heavy rain and wind. A small wall or border at the bottom would give extra retention. Especially until the ground cover can take over and mature.

[@xjAlbert]

Great camaraderie between Lee and Jen; their positive energy will carry the franchise forward. I've watched TOH since it began in 1979 and always enjoyed the good rapport among cast & crew.

[@thefalcon666]

Swing over to my place next folks!

[@johnlebzelter4208]

@thefalcon666 could your wife or sister swing over to my place?

[@jomangeee9180]

can we have follow up videos for older projects?!

[@vudo2555]

Nothing out there anywhere gives any info on how you can ‘boarder’ a gravel landscape bed that is installed on a sloped terain (I only see videos on boardering options for perfectly level installation). Is there ANYWAY a situation like this can be addressed - objective is to have a clean sharp boarder at the grass line between the gravel and the grass instead of just a natural edge and simply letting the rock run right up to the grass. Every time I have seen it done this way it always results in a mess as time goes by as the cut edge starts to erode and the grass starts to infringe into the rock. Are there any materials that can be installed as a separation between the grass and rock that can follow the terrain from flat to sloped creating a nice container for the stone??

[@samueljaramillo4221]

It looks nice , but I think that mulch will slide right back down with a a good rain. I think he needs a retaining wall.

[@greencello599]

Lee will fit in just fine. It's almost like Roger came back.

[@davidmatke248]

No one can come to replacing Roger!

[@annamariestarr]

I'm I'd be very curious to see how this looked a year later and how much water/rain changed.. Seeing how he mentioned his main concern was all the wash out that was happening after a heavy rain... cause this doesn't look like it's gonna stop any of that. LOL.

[@akoznasovajusername]

It looks very nice now, but the problem is still not solved unfortunately..

[@sophiecooks09]

He reminds me of Roger

[@porkchop1343]

Lee’s hands are huge 😮

[@SlackerU]

I wish YT had more videos on soil PH. Mulch usually ends up with a PH of about 8.1 where plants want something below 6.8 in peak growing seasons. My local Ag extension office recommends to aim for about 10-inches of well-drained soil so 6-inches of mulch is too much. My local soil Ph is very-very low so I can somewhat get away with extra mulch that will have an unusable-for-roots high-ph.

[@robertm5969]

Used coffee grounds are a great way to add in acidity and nitrogen

[@steven.l.patterson]

Red mulch!?! TACKY!!!!

[@deegarcia0208]

❤

[@renateschlapa9743]

👍👏

[@kingfishca30]

Why can't This Old House work backwards? Show us the outcome of all that hardwork and see the outcome??

[@michaeldavis2524]

Looks like they need a retaining wall.

[@patmcbride9853]

That's a mini-hill.

[@thesadboxman]

Not sure if Lee is still not feeling totally comfortable with all this yet, but I hope he loosens up a bit. He seems knowledgeable but not as upbeat or explanatory as previous hosts.

[@onel718]

Parked your giant pickup truck in the middle of the sidewalk :(

[@dannersmyers]

The vinca is a nightmare to keep out of the grass and will be a constant problem do not plant this stuff. Also I don’t see how the mulch is contained and wasn’t that the original problem?

[@invisiblerevolution]

Seeing 👀 "mulch volcanoes" around trees is my new CRINGE TRIGGER!!!!! lol

[@Cypher791]

🪴😊

[@RKMLarsen]

I was enjoying watching this video, but sadly I had to stop due to the blasphemy... 😓😓

[@larsonestatesllc5433]

Should of reduced slope and just did grass

[@fiamond]

Not going to help

[@ajmuzz22]

The diversity duo.. 😂

[@athomas2k8]

2nd

[@johnlebzelter4208]

@athomas2k8 Don’t you have any friends?….Do you think you will find a friend, by commenting 2nd on a YT video?

[@athomas2k8]

@@johnlebzelter4208 dear male Karen, stfu. Thank you ☺️

[@JohnnySmoove]

this is horrible. does not help with erosion at all. Should have done a retaining wall atleast and elevated it