# Gardening on a hill



## squerly

I have a fairly steep hill behind my house and I'm hoping to make a garden on it. The area gets lots of sun and is only 15'-20' from by back door. Given it's on a slop I was thinking of building something like the picture. (Found the pic on the Internet.)

I'm sure there will be lots of challenges but the first one is what kind of wood to use. I understand that the chemicals in treated wood are not good for what ails ya, and most other woods will decay with varying degrees of rapidness, depending on the species. 

Any ideas or suggestions will be appreciated.


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## UncleJoe

Brick.

A little more costly upfront but will last almost forever.


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## bacpacker

Pavers. Cost a lot but last well and work great for this type project


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## camo2460

If you want to use wood then I would choose Post Oak (Black Oak) or Cedar. They will rot out eventually, but it will take a long time.


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## Tweto

Never use treated lumber, ever!

For the last 4 years I have been using pine, and cedar wood in my garden. I used spray paint in one spot to identify the wood. Blue for pine and red for cedar. All wood is partially buried in the garden.

The pine was gone in about a year, rotted away. The Cedar has done fine for several years with some signs of decay. Two years ago I decided to polyurethane all the surfaces on new Cedar including the surfaces inside the joints. This system works great. After 2 years there is no sign of any damage.

From now on I will be using Cedar and putting a few coats of polyurethane to seal it.


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## weedygarden

*brick or concrete*

I would use stones, bricks, concrete blocks, or cinder blocks. It will last for a very long time, unless or until it gets damaged.

I have found lots on Craigslist for free. It takes some effort, but I make my list of what I want, and have emails sent from Craigslist when the items I want are listed.

A friend of mine rented a house that had a slope so steep down the side of the house, that it was terraced with recycled tires. From the front of the house at the first floor, to the back of the house, the basement was a walkout.

I don't know if recycled tires are good for gardening food, but they are plentiful.


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## Caribou

You might want to incorporate a narrow foot path on each tier to facilitate planting, weeding, etc.


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## cowboyhermit

We have very hilly land, while we used to simply do most of our gardening in the valleys, we have had great luck "recently" (I just got called out by someone for the fact that my definition of recent is often over a decade ) with some hillside gardening. We use(d) planter boxes of many materials, from old steel and plastic water troughs, to interlocking bricks, all worked well for the most part, only slightly reducing the water available.

The best overall would probably be the more "terraced garden" approach, where the top of the bed is at or near the ground level. We used wide beds with generous spacing between, allowing for plenty of rainwater/ planted area. The terraces also allow for TONS of sunlight and airflow which helps prevent disease.

We have been very happy with the ones where we used varying degrees of "hugelculture" in the beds. Not only did we use some raw logs to help fill the void created when bringing a wide bed up to level, we also used untreated non-rot resistant logs in the construction. On a wet year we had a few mushrooms popping out of some of the logs. For us, the beds cost nothing really, other than some labour. We just did some simple saddle notching for the most part, on some old partially rotten "black poplar" that nobody wanted. The fact that the logs were 12" + is what really made the difference in the durability, I think. 10 years later and they are still holding, though when they do give out it isn't a concern for us. We might just add another layer of logs on the outside, or replace them, not a big deal either way.

But, that's what works for us, we average less than 20" of precip a year, and yet don't need to water our vegetables, most places have very different circumstances. Can't hurt to check out hugelculture though, fungi can be helpful.


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## smaj100

I 2nd the pavers, bricks or heck even #2 or #1 gravel, which can be bought by the ton or truckload. Build up your terraced area and line it with some weed fabric up the brick or gravel side and that will help it stay in place and not wash out of the gravel as well.


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## tsrwivey

I wonder if you could use metal roofing material propped up with stakes every 18" or so? that's pretty cheap & readily available used.


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## TheLazyL

We live in a woods. Wife wanted a vegetable garden. So I cleared an area on the south property line (sunshine).

I used treated lumber to make raise beds. Lined the inside with black polyethylene plastic sheeting before filling with top soil. 

My theory is that the polyethylene will keep the lumber away from the soil moisture and increase the life of the lumber.

This will be the second season for the raised beds, plan on sealing the exterior late this spring when the weather cooperates.

I thought about using stack-able retaining wall blocks. But when I crunched the costs


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## Caribou

TheLazyL said:


> , plan on sealing the exterior late this spring when the weather cooperates.
> 
> I thought about using stack-able retaining wall blocks. But when I crunched the costs


I would not try to paint the treated wood as it is notorious for its lack of ability to hold paint.

Since you live in the woods a fascia of logs would be inexpensive. I pick relatively thin trees, cut them to an appropriate length, split down the middle, and attach in a stockade style to the wall you wish to hide. A lot of work but it is cheap and it will last a long time as it is not a structural component.


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## TheLazyL

Caribou said:


> I would not try to paint the treated wood as it is notorious for its lack of ability to hold paint....


I don't believe they make treated lumber like they use do.

Baking in the summer's sun has dried the treated lumber out considerably.


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## Caribou

TheLazyL said:


> I don't believe they make treated lumber like they use do.
> 
> Baking in the summer's sun has dried the treated lumber out considerably.


If you decide to paint it then report back in a couple of years and let us know how it works for you. Did you use treated or pressure treated lumber?


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## TheLazyL

Caribou said:


> ... Did you use treated or pressure treated lumber?


AC2 Pressure treated.

Considering some of it was dripping with preservative when I was cutting it, I'm surprised how it has dried in two years. Figuring a stain will "stick" to it easily.

At the son's old house we replaced the basement window casings with treated. To save time he painted (Latex) before cutting to size. You could peal the paint of the wood like dried Elmer's glue from the palm of your hand (remember back in the school days?).


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## Tweto

The problem with treated lumber is the contamination of the soil with carcinogens from the chemicals used in treating the lumber. Once the soil is contaminated, then the produce in the garden gets contaminated. Over time, eating the produce from the garden can be hazardous to your health.

Beware of the risks.


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## squerly

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions. After evaluating all the options I have decided to make several 45* cuts into the side of the mountain which I will fill back in with some top soil I scratched up further down the mountain. There will be 3 levels, 2 of which are visible in the picture. I'm going to use pressure treated 2X12's to hold the top soil in place and I plan to wrap the sides of the 2X12's that will contact the soil with some thick black plastic.

I chose this route partially because I already have the components lying around so there is no out-of-pocket expense. I hope to have it completed today and will post some pictures of the finished product.
.


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## squerly

Going a lot slower than I had planned but got 2 of the 3 box's constructed and most of the top soil in. Couldn't reach the top box with the front loader so there was some shoveling to do. It's taking about 3 full loads per box, wouldn't have thought it would take that much. 

If it doesn't rain tomorrow I'll get the last box built, filled with top soil and the other two topped off. Then I have to construct the stairs.


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## squerly

Hoped to be further along but I got rained out yesterday and today there is just too much mud so project is on hold. I did however get the last box constructed and all of them filled and topped off with top soil. Each box is approximately 2.5' X 12'.

The 3rd picture is actually the top box. I have 12 solar panels that will sit on the slop just above this box. This area gets sun from early in the AM until late in the afternoon, on average of 8+ hours and that's pretty good for my geographic area. The last picture is looking out from my office (in the house) so the picture was taken through the screen. This is where I'll stand to watch the deer as they sample the veggies.

I'll build some steps, trim the box's out and get them stained next week. Weather permitting I have 8 acres to clear for a fellow who is looking to purchase and he is more important than finishing these future deer feeders... 

.
.


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## squerly

Hard to get a run at this thing. One day it's rain, the next is snow. Don't know how long it's going to snow but hopefully it won't carry over into tomorrow. Anyhow, I got started on the stairs which only lack 5 more steps.


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## squerly

Well I got a run at it yesterday. Jumped on the front loader and ran it into the house. Carefully backed up and tore off a large section of gutter downspout. Went fishing instead...


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## squerly

Today went better than yesterday, that's for sure. Got the stairs finished, boxes trimmed out and everything stained. Tomorrow I will use the track-hoe to fill in around the edges and it'll be ready to go when spring gets here.


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## squerly

Caribou said:


> You might want to incorporate a narrow foot path on each tier to facilitate planting, weeding, etc.


Yes, that is a must-do addition. No time right now but I'll have it done by Spring for sure... My guess is this thing will grow to encompass a lot more of the hill over the coming years.


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## IceFire

When we were in PA, we lived on what I called "the hill from he!!". I terraced an area for garden beds, using concrete blocks to build the various levels. It doesn't need to be done all at once...I did a section at a time, over a couple of years, as I had time and money.


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## TheLazyL

squerly said:


> Yes, that is a must-do addition. No time right now but I'll have it done by Spring for sure... My guess is this thing will grow to encompass a lot more of the hill over the coming years.


Looking good!


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## squerly

Boy am I ever a noob at this gardening stuff. Out of 3 rows of onions only 11 came up. LOL, who knew that onions have to be planted with the top up? Not me...  Anyhow, I dug them back up (just the ones that were upside down), turned them over and covered them back up. I hope they'll get straightened up but worst comes to worst I'll just plant some more.


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## ZoomZoom

It's a little late now but should you end up re-planting your onions, here's a couple tips.

Hit the area with 19-19-19 fertilizer a week or 2 before planting.
Lay out (and anchor appropriately) black plastic in the area your going to put the onions.
Poke holes in the plastic where your onions go and plant your onions.
Water regularly! Soaker hose is handy.
The plastic will hold the moisture in.

Last year, a couple of us got the same onions at the same time from the same source.
He put his under plastic and used a soaker hose. I didn't use plastic and watered somewhat but not as much as he did.
His onions came out the size of softballs. Mine came out the size of golf balls.
I'm now use plastic and a lot more watering.


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