Turning Slopes Into Terraces

You can make a lovely garden oasis out of a slope or incline on your property. Where weeds were once abundant, a lovely flower garden could grow. Or you could do some vegetable gardening organic style. The slope can become a lovely planted area despite the rugged terrain, turning a liability into an asset.

Some Terraces Make A Difference

Making level areas on a slope with terraces makes it easier to put in plants and turn a hillside into a gorgeous landscape. It also makes it a lot easier to walk and work in the garden area when the area is level. However, making terraces is undeniably a lot of work, and can be expensive depending on the materials used.

Railroad ties were once considered a good source of material for making retaining walls for terraces. They're not used so much these days, however, and especially aren’t recommended for organic gardens. The big problem is the creosote used to preserve the wood. Since creosote is a toxic substance, contact with it can irritate the skin. Inhaling creosote fumes can irritate the respiratory trace.

All in all, it's pretty toxic stuff. Besides direct contact, it can leach into the water and soil. If you're growing vegetable plants and there's creosote available in the soil for the plants to absorb, it’s available for the plants to absorb, you’re going to eat whatever chemicals are in the plants. It all means creosote treated lumber for your terracing isn’t a good idea.

Building Safe Walls

For small projects where you’re just leveling out a little slope, the new landscaping boards such as those found at Gardens Alive! that are made out of recycled plastics are an option. For steeper slopes, use bricks, concrete blocks, modular retaining wall blocks or stone. The different masonry options require varying levels of expertise, so be sure you know how to build walls with the materials you opt to use.

Since the idea of terracing is to provide level beds, the steepness of the slope will dictate the height of the walls. Higher walls obviously means they need to be that much sturdier. They also should be well anchored. Be sure large terraces have proper drainage and are well anchored into the sides of the hill at each end.

The earth behind the wall will produce a lot of weight that will push against them, and it will increase even more after a rain. If walls aren't well built, they could possibly bow outwards or even outright collapse.

It's a big task to build terraces, and if you feel it's too much to handle, there are landscaping contractors that can do the work for you. It goes without saying that hiring a contractor is more expensive than doing it yourself, since you'll have to not only pay for materials, but the labor costs as well.

Plant Those Terraces.

Enriching the soil before planting is always a good idea, especially considering slopes often have poor soil due to erosion. Some compost, rich loam, well-rotted cow manure, peat or other soil amendments can be worked into the soil to enrich it so plants will grow better. If you wish to grow plant that thrive in poor soil, however, you won't want to enrich the soil very much, if any.

Once the soil is ready, choose your plants, whether vegetables or flowers (DirectGardening.com - Offers quality plants at great prices). Vining plants work well along the top edge of the walls, since the vines can trail down over the sides.

Long Lasting Terraces.

Building terraces can be a lot of work, and depending on the materials, rather expensive. However, they're a great way to beautify a slope, turning it into a beautiful garden and improving your landscape.

There's never too much space for planting.