Looks like you need some boulders and stones to anchor the look: and I like the ground cover and maple in this site: You might be able to add your own water feature to the slope:

Good luck!

Thank you for the ideas! I still very lost in on what to do given the space I have. I really like the last photo and wondering if that is something you could do for a rain garden.

I really wanted to capture stormwater. I guess that I can always do a rain garden on the side of my house as part of my landscape. But I really need to do something with the front of my house. It needs color and life! We are in wisconsin! I look forward to hearing your ideas.

Do you know if you can us a built in pond like the one posted above to collect rain water?

Krystal,using a pond to collect and eventually disperse stormwater works better the bigger the area is you have to work with (sorry). You can check out this system though: http://www.rainxchange.com/ You could do something with a system like that, but based on the photo of your yard I think that would require some terracing and walls, and I'm not clear if you're looking to go to those lengths.

To achieve what you're after is going to require balancing aesthetics, budget, and also how your local soils react to stormwater (rain gardens have different requirements in the sandy soils of RI than they do in the heavy clays of VA, for example). I'd recommend looking for a local designer, either here on Houzz or at APLD.org. Even the initial consultation will help you figure out what will work. Good luck!

rain gardens are for depressions where water collects. I don't see how you can make one in your front yard without a fairly substantial investment in earthmoving and terracing and then it would probably be a not very effective rain garden. They are basically a pretty and green way to deal with swampy areas.

Effective ponds have hard bottoms, so they don't dry up when the weather is dryer (exactly what rain gardens are designed to do). So a pond won't be a good rainwater catcher and if you don't have fish or frogs, you will have a perfect mosquito breeding ground. If you do have fish or frogs, it might not be all that good to channel water from your roof into their environment.

You might be able to channel water zig-zagging through a garden on your slope. You'd probably need to have the roots of your garden established first. Certainly before you got a really big rainstorm.

For your garden, I'd plan to plant a wide variety of flowers and shrubs. Look at Matthew Cunningham's and Joyce Chilvers's ideabooks for ideas. You do want a bit of rock to anchor and you want to think about a few low-growing or creeping evergreens, because you want your front yard pretty in the winter, too.

I'd think a few evergreens, some grasses or pretty seed heads and some rock might do it. Look at garden ideabooks and figure it out. For some, sculpture is a winter anchor. If you don't hire someone to do the planting plan, then you want to research eventual spread (some creeping junipers can crawl over absolutely everything in 10-15 years) and height (I have some pretty flowers hidden behind others). Most plants are a lot cheaper small, so if you are on a budget, plant sparsely and expect a truly wonderful result in a few years. In the mean time, you can fill in with annuals grown from seed.

You also want to think about bloom season, so you have continuous color. One of the best ways to do this is to go around your neighborhood and see what is blooming in other people's yards.

Heathers are a good, low-growing, easy maintenance option.

Krystal....look at our first two projects listed under our Houzz acct.. High Tech Turf & Trees: Landscapemakeover Naturally, and the MicroScape(r) & NaturPav(r) projects. I pulled some photos up top for you. You'll see the larger diameter stone Xeripave material set in sideways, just not as a large load bearing surface. It is used to filter water thru drainage boxes, etc.. If you can preserve them, it might be possible to set recycled "ladders" in at a 45 degree angle on your bank, and alternate planting between the steps, with the use of some pervious pavers between others. Could also work to hold lighter drainage material with geotextile fabric, like vermiculite used to propagate nursery stock in greenhouses, etc.. In your area you might want to consider the use of dwarf conifer nursery stock, as it would be hardier with harsh winter weather, etc.. Have you checked locally with your University Master Gardener volunteers? Might be a source of great info. I can't make any firm recommendations for your area without first hand information and soil engineering spec's....for liability purposes. Good luck! Freeway road side contractors do your type of project with pervious/permeable materials on huge sites and scales....you need to think about mimicking that on your scale.

Hi Krystal, I agree with the comments that a rain garden on a slope is not really practical. I would suggest perhaps some stone outcropping set into the hillside. We have done a few Zen style gardens one of which is on our profile. We are in Wisconsin also, so you may want to browse some of our other projects for plant ideas. Many of the perennials we use are drought tolerant and of course hardy in our Wisconsin winters. I'd be glad to talk to you more if you have any questions after reviewing our work.