How to plant a garden on a hill and at the bottom of the hill?

Jen12689127
by Jen12689127
Hi DIY, My backyard is on a hill and drops off and then flattens at the bottom. I would be so happy if I could grow a garden back there. Can you help?

  4 answers
  • Jcraw Jcraw on Mar 01, 2018

    Have you considered putting in raised beds? You could adapt to the hillside by shortening the legs/base.

  • Rymea Rymea on Mar 01, 2018

    I agree with jcraw. You would get a lot of water at the bottom of a hill so unless your soil is very porous you would most likely need raised beds or raised area to keep you plants from drowning.

    • See 1 previous
    • Rymea Rymea on Mar 02, 2018

      I misunderstood. I thought you were saying you wanted to put in a garden where it "flattens at the bottom".

  • Christina Yates Christina Yates on Mar 01, 2018

    Why not try terracing it? It would reduce the fall and you could put a path on each terrace to make tending your plants easy. Steps up to each level would make access easy. You could lay grass on the slope above each level.

  • Peter Peter on Mar 01, 2018

    I seem to envision a plan from all mentioned ideas... nearly flat at the house (be sure it drains away from house) and raised beds in steps going up the slope... the concept is like : https://www.hometalk.com/diy/outdoor/garden/timber-garden-stairs-steps-27052109


    Instead of stairs.. soil for gardening. Even shrubs / trees! And I'd consider WIDE beds, not the (looks like 4' wide) narrow steps shown.


    Further economy: the pics show 2x8 lumber... for raised beds you can use 1x8... HD has "ledger board" that is not fully finished (rough surface) and only a few bucks for a 1x10 x 10' . (Don't think ledger is a good permanent installation for stairs, that's different stresses. And a safety issue)