Berm

A berm is a raised earthen mound shaped on top of existing ground, usually formed from compacted soil and topped with planting mix. It is built deliberately, with a long tapering profile rather than steep sides, so it reads as a natural rise in the land. Berms range from a few inches tall for a planting bed to several feet for a privacy screen, and they can run as a single hump or curve through a yard in a serpentine line.

A berm is not the same as a retaining wall or a swale, though all three reshape grade. A retaining wall holds back soil with a hard vertical structure, while a berm slopes on both sides and needs no wall. A swale is a shallow channel that collects and carries water; a berm is the mound, and the two are often paired, with the dug-out soil from a swale forming the berm beside it.

In a real yard a berm might rise along a property line to hide a neighbor's fence, frame a patio, or lift a bed of shrubs so it stands out from a flat lawn. Homeowners often plant the slopes with grasses, perennials, and small trees, then cover the soil with mulch to hold it in place while roots establish.

Berms matter because they add privacy, drainage control, and dimension without the cost of a built wall, though they take more square footage and need plants chosen for fast-draining, sometimes dry, conditions. Poorly built berms can erode, so gentle slopes and good cover are key.

Berms work well alongside a swale for drainage, a retaining-wall where space is tight, native-plants on the slopes, and a layer of mulch to prevent erosion.