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Creating Planting Beds
On this page find how to build framed beds and terraces to create level planting areas or garden on a slope, including:
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- Growing vegetables on hillsides and slopes.
- Using framed beds for growing vegetables.
- Using low walls or tall terraces on hillsides for growing vegetables.
- Providing drainage in terraced hillside gardens for vegetables.
- Protecting terraces and beds from animal pests.
Planting Beds for Special Situations
Build framed beds and terraces to create level planting areas or to garden on steep-sloped hillsides and prevent erosion—it’s a smart and earth-friendly practice that dates back to antiquity.
Raised Beds
In sites where soil conditions and slopes are less than ideal, concentrate nutrient-rich soil to increase the yield of the garden by building raised beds [See: Building a Raised Bed].
With simple woodworking skills and common tools, you can make a good-looking, functional bed in a few hours.
Build your raised beds at least 20 in. (50 cm) high; the height makes it easier to take care of your vegetable plants and helps deny access to small animals, slugs, and snails.
By raising the soil’s surface above the ground, you’ll avoid unnecessary stooping and bending as you cultivate, fertilize, and harvest your garden.
Build beds and terraces narrow enough to allow easy access to the plants growing within their walls. For most beds, a width double the length of your arm is the right choice.
Terracing Hillsides
On hillside slopes, terraces perform much the same function as raised beds. Terraces make level planting locations filled with rich soil.
They hold the planting area in place with a retaining structures on the downslope side usually made of cinder-block walls, landscape timbers, or dry-stacked or mortared stones. Build such beds and terraces simply and easily using landscape timbers [see Preparing a Raised Bed].
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Some terraces, especially those built on steep slopes, require greater planning and careful construction, especially when they reach highest of 3 ft. (90 cm) or taller.
Besides structural concerns, allowing sufficient drainage is essential. Terraces act as natural dams, trapping water in the soil on their uphill side that leads to collapse or failure. This poses a safety hazard unless you provide weep holes, drains, or other options during construction to allow water to pass.
Tips for Beds and Terraces
Raised beds and terraces may be as long as appropriate, while still providing easy access from all sides of the planting areas.
Keep maintenance to a minimum by lining the inside of your bed or terrace with permeable landscape fabric that allows water to pass through but holds the soil of the bed in place.
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If burrowing animal pests are prevalent in the region, add wire-mesh hardware cloth as a barrier across the bed’s bottom before you fill it with soil.
Gardens with Raised Beds
Use your imagination and vision beautifully guide you as you grow the vegetable garden that fits your location and site.
Whether your yard is on a hillside or is level and flat, a combination of in-ground, on-ground, and raised beds are available to unify your site.
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