By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

If you have a sloping yard but don't have the budget, energy, or time to tackle full-scale terracing, there is another way to keep more of that precious rainfall on your property instead of draining off into the street.

Install what Prescott, Arizona landscape architect Steve Morgan calls "eyebrow terraces" around your plants. An eyebrow terrace is a planting well open at the back (the upside of the slope) and flaring out on either side.  Its shape catches runoff, allowing more rainfall to soak into the soil and the plants' root zones. 

Because it is going to be more permanent than a planting well, an eyebrow terrace should be constructed with a little more finesse.  "Strengthen the terrace by adding rubble rock from the site [or other small stones], concentrating particularly on the central portion," suggests Morgan.  "And taper off the slope face of the berms to make them more stable and more natural." 

Finally, if it goes with your landscaping style, sow native grass seeds over the berms when you're finished.  They'll make the eyebrow terraces all but disappear.

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See more ways to green your garden.