Photo Journal - Hillside Landscaping Vol 1 - Terracing with Wood
87Hillside Landscaping Pictorial
Landscaping a hillside can be one of the most difficult landscaping projects. After building my new home in a hillside community in Southern California I was left with a hillside in my backyard that had never been landscaped before.
The primary landscaping idea for was to create as many flat/level areas as possible. Sloped surfaces are very limiting as to the type of plants you can use. So, if you want to have a vegetable garden, a flower bed or walkways you need to make level areas.
The cost of materials was a major concern for my project as the hillside was fairly large. The lowest cost per linear foot for raw material was wood. The primary wood I used was cherrytone landscaping lumber logs, available at Home Depot.
Terraced Hillside Garden - Photo No.1
Photo No. 1
This view is looking up at the terraced vegetable garden and main walkway stairs. The terraced vegetable garden plots varied in height from 2 logs to 5 logs. The number of logs used for each plot depends on the angle of the slope. Most raised plots were 8ft wide by 4ft deep. I used these dimension to minimize the number of cuts to the logs.
The height of each log is approximately 3" high. Stacking 2 high makes for a comfortable stair step. The logs are flat on 2 sides for easy stacking. I cut 2ft lengths for the posts so you can get 4 posts per log. Cut posts ends to a point for easy piling of the posts.
The garden plots do not have many vegetables growing now, as these photos were taken in November. It doesn't look like much now but I got quite a good harvest this past summer. The taste of fresh vegetables alone is worth the cost to build these vegetable beds.
Terraced Hillside Walkway - Photo #2
Photo No. 2
This view looks across the width of my yard and walkway. The wood log wall to the right provides a nice flower bed. I planted marigolds and strawberries there this last year. I am going to move the strawberries down the hillside and put in Tulips and other bulb flowers in their place next spring.
The walkway consists of paving stones and redwood bark. The wood logs on the left are not staked but do provide a finished edge to the walkway
Wood Terrace Detail - Photo No. 3
Photo No. 3
Wood Terrace Detail - Photo No. 4
Photo No. 4
This detail shows the construction of a corner. Stagger the logs to interlock and make a stronger wall.
Old flower pots were also placed around the ends of the stairs. The soil in my yard was has a lot of clay in it and some of the plants I wanted to grow don't do well. So, instead of buying a lot of furtilizer, I bought potting soil and flower pots. I think they add a nice touch to the yard.
Terraced Raised Garden and Walkway Stairs - Photo #5
Photo No. 5
Stepping stonesare placed between the raised garden beds and the walkway stairs. They provide a secure place to stand to get into the garden and a platform on which to stand to water from. I've also used paving bricks to edge the walkway as a decorative item.
Ground cover plants will eventually fill in this area. I've also provided a trench on both sides of the walkway to provide drainage for run off water from the garden and walkway.
Wood Retaining Wall and Walkway - Photo No. 6
Photo No. 6
The paving stones are spaced wide enough for a garden hoe to fit between. This way when weeds start to grow I can use the hoe to remove them easily. The redwood bark filled around the stepping stones keeps the weeds down also and makes it so the watering hose doesn't snag on the corner of the stepping stones.
Note the fence in the background. This gives you an idea of the slope grade. While I have leveled many areas in this yard, I have purposely followed the contours wherever possible. Too many straight lines would give it a less natural look and feeling.
Terraced With Wood Landscape - Photo No. 7
Photo No. 7
What started out as a project to clear the brush per the cities hillside community requirements and a couple vegetable plots turned into a fairly attractive landscaped backyard.
Wood logs as a landscaping material has many advantages. Even a beginner can be very creative in laying out garden beds. A skill saw, a shovel, a hoe, and a sledge hammer are the only real tools you need. Another advantage is that all this work was done by myself alone. I did not need other bodies to help because the weight of the material was light enough for one person to handle easily.
The disadvantage of using wood logs is that they will rot out or be eaten by termites or other insects given enough time. My lot had several tree stumps before I started landscaping that had been there for over 30 years and were still in pretty good shape. I figure these logs will last at least 10 to 15 years before they need to be replaced.
The finished look is very natural looking. The red tone of the logs against the green ground cover is very attractive to me. As time goes by I expect the aging of the wood to blend in with the hillside. This project took several weekends to complete and converted a weed filled fire hazard into a productive and beautiful garden.
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Girl Watcher...I can see how happy you are when the hillside landscaping was finished and the vegitable are ready for harvest. I should work on my <a href="http://eastonca.org/index.php/category/spring-gard garden</a> when I got time this weekend.
<a href="http://eastonca.org/index.php/category/spring-gard gardening</a>
I live on a sloping hill in Utah. I've used RR ties, but they are so heavy I need much help. I have some of the HD cherry wood logs. I use them to divide my gardens, pathways on my 1/2 acre. I have a straight slope about 70' wide. My questions: 1) Do I need to dig the bottom log in? and 2) Do I gorilla glue my logs together (as recommended by Home Depot salesman) to make a 9" high wall? TY, Melody
I considered using RR Ties also, but like you they are too heavy and hard to cut to smaller sizes.
To your questions:
1. I dug mine in just enough to lay flat. Maybe an inch or so. I used a level to make sure otherwise you will have problems with watering later.
2. I suppose you could glue the logs together to make a stronger, taller wall. But I would not recommend it to start off. For one thing I like the gaps between logs for drainage. Water will rot the logs if there is no drainage. Also, I have relocated some walls afterwards. If you glued them together it would make it hard to relocate. Some logs over time will also need to be replaced and glueing them together would make it harder to replace a bad log.
I hope this answers your questions. I hope you enjoy your your garden as much as I have mine. I've been enjoying fresh vegetables all summer long.
Having a blonde moment just posted a comment on vol2 before i found this one, doh! Needless to say i have sent my garden terrain challenged friend in spain this url too!
Great photos http://hubpages.com/hub/My-walk-to-CVS
I agree with Reggie about adapting the native plants into your gardens. It is easy to research as all you need to do is look around at areas that are natural in your vicinity. You see something you like you can watch it for an entire growing season or longer to see how it performs under local weather conditions. This is a great way to figure out problems you might encounter as your growing sights develop. The way you have done the beds they can easily be changed over time. You can also propagate your own plants, collect natives and cut costs as you grow. Great Hub.
CS, there would be nothing better for me than to use all native plants. But it is not that easy. I do get native Golden Poppies and some kind of relative of the Artichoke family. I get a ton of Casator bean seedlings from neighboring plants but those are poisonous, so I don't want those. My Cosmos, Marigolds, Calendula and some other wildflowers are reseeding themselves very nicely right now.
The hard part is that it is very difficult to find native plants at your local nursery. My tomatoes have had limited success, & corn was a failure (too hot and dry I think). Snow peas are great as well as most squashes.
Amoung the flowering plants the Lantana are doing great as are the Ganzia and African Daisy. I believe I have a plant that is native that looks like Dusty Miller leaves and yellow daisy like flowers that I don't know the name of, this is a really great plant. Cuttings take well and is a slow consistant low grower. Most of my hybiscus failed with a frost last year.
I've added 9 fruit trees that i've seen growing in the neighborhood. I need more shade as the lot faces southwest and many plants just burn up in the Southwest summers.
Thanks for your comments. They are greatly appreciated. Gardening and maintaining the plants is a whole separate subject. My main goal with this article was to show that landscaping can be done with a low budget and simple tools and by someone without a lot of landscaping skills.
very nice work! whish I had tour talent!!!
what area of la are you in?
I live NE Los Angeles not far from Glendale
Are these timbers pressure treated? If so, what about the chemicals used in pressure treating leaching into your vegetables?
I do not think these are pressure treated. When they are cut it is natural wood inside. It seems that the color is just a surface treatment stain to make it look more like redwood. Since they are not pressure treated they will degrade over time. It depends on the location where they are placed. I have had to replace a few but most are still good after 3 years.
I have no idea if the stain or other chemicals treatments will leach into the soils. Maybe someone at Home Depot can supply a name to the supplier and email them for an answer. I had not thought of this aspect when I started this project.
Just finished viewing your photo journal on hillside landscaping and I must say it's quite inspiring...It just may be my summer project. I do have a question. Is everything held in place by the earth and logs themselves or did you need to use nails too?
Thank you for sharing your hillside garden. My google search led me to your post. I have a small berm that I want to utilize this season.
Jerry, I only used gravity and buried posts. Some have suggested using glue but if you change your mind later it would be hard to separate them. To keep water and dry rot down use some kind of burlap or black plastic mulch on the soil side. My logs have been in place for 3 years now and doing pretty good but my posts have rotted out. I am thinking of anchoring them in cement when I replace them.
Im a gardener. I have a portion of land that is on a steep hillside. Im currently terracing it to create usable landscape.
After seeing what u have done I have made the dicision to use the cherry wood landscaping logs. They are light. cost effective and easy to maintain/replace. They are like working with Legos.
I would like to post my project after completing it. It is an arduous task that I beleive others would enjoy. Thanks to your Hub.
Is it safe to use Cherry Tone Timbers for Raised Vegetable Beds andRaised Herb Garden Bed? I have read that treated lumber should not be used for the Raised Beds. What chemicals are used to give the Cherry Tone color to the 3 X 5 Timbers. Will the Cherry Tone color affect the taste and safety of eating the tomatoes, Peppers, grape tomatoes, and 8 different tyypes of herbs.When responding, please provide detailed information about the cherry toned timbers for raised Vegetable Bed -- fruit to be eaten!
Your Prompt Response will be appreciated,
Ray
Ray, I have not been able to find any detailed information on the cherry tone color used on the timbers. You have a valid concern that I did not consider when I decided on this project. I have grown all of the above vegetables you have listed in these beds without any problems. I have beds that do not use these timbers and they all taste the same. That does not mean that you would have the same experience. If this is a concern of yours do not use them. You can also use a barrier between the wood and soil. Sorry for the delay in response but I don't check my hubs but once a week or two.
I did consider making a adobe bricks to make the beds but it was just too labour intensive and time consuming. You have to make the forms and wait for them to dry. The preformed concrete blocks for landscaping I have used for one section in my hillside but they are pretty heavy and hard to move plus much higher cost per foot. My main problem after 3 years is that some of the posts have rotted out. I need to replace them with concrete bases.
Greetings to all of you...I've been challenging hillsides for 20 years... Check out youtube.com Amazing Landscape Transformations. I have a book.. Inspirtional Terracing and Amazing landscape Transformations dvds... Volume 1 and 2... volume 3 is on the way... I hope you will find inspiration to help you with victory with your slope situations.Contact me if you need help. I Love helping people...
This is quite effective in terrace gardening especially in the rainy season and winters when its a bit difficult to walk through swampy patches.
The cherry tone timbers are great to work with. Very light. You can pick thru them in the Home Depot yard easily, transport a lot at once, carry 2 or 3 at a time across the jobsite. As for rotting posts, I've stacked four high and drilled and staked with rebar. 1/2" in pipe would be stiffer. I've also driven fence pipe in and braced for perfect stiffness. Fence pipe works well, it's galvanized, you can usually get 3 sections cut from one lentgh. I assume where I see the cherry tone used as posts in these photos, you have had to dig, either with an auger ($$), or a PhD (sweat). The pipe you just pound with a sledge, even into rock hard adobe. Just my 2cents.
Brian,
All your suggestions are very good and ones I've thought of trying. I have used some rebar in the original staking. I was thinking you could protect the tops of the rebar with those orange protectors (the tops of the rebar can be dangerous as I have been scraped a couple times0. I also found some 3ft metal stakes at Home Depot to put up a plastic fence that worked pretty good but were $4 ea. They have a metal arrow point to anchor and have a ball top. All of the metal post work well but are not as nice aesthetically as the wood posts.
Very nice hub, Girl Watcher!
I've been wondering what I could use my backyard for and thought about a backyard putting green. But your idea is great, too.
Nice work Girl Watcher (both the Hub and landscape) but two questions: Do you get heavy rain..and if so do you have any problems with the soil washing down the slope?
@backyard putting: with a slope like that it would be one sporty putting green:)
Arvon,
So Cal is pretty dry most of the year. Occasionally we will get downpours and my small walls have held up pretty good. Do not make them too high and leave space between and below them to let water drain out. My main concern where we live is simply to keep the water from running straight on down and not staying near the roots and keep my plants from drying out during the summer months.
very indepth hub youve created here, so useful! I have a sloping back yard and had thought about creating a split level effect. In photo 1, how deep set are the vertical posts? Thanks
The depth of the posts were about 40% of the height. But I would not recommend using the wood for posts unless you want to cement them in as they rot off at the base. It is better to use rebar or pipe. Home Depot had some metal stakes on sale I used for some replacements but they don't carry them all the time and were expensive.
I too have a sloping backyard, not nearly as big as yours though. I currently have a variety of scrubs and annuals back there but would like to eventually terrace it. Another project for another day. I love yours though.
Thanks! It was hard work but worth it.
Just wanted to say it looks awesome. I have the exact same situation at my house. Got a notice from the city that we needed to clear an easment..none of the neighbors had tended it to it in 10+ years. They gave me the ok to fence it in since I am required to maintain it. We are going to terrace it and it will become the garden of my dreams :)
Great hub!
Future Volumes for Hillside Landscaping
I spent nearly every weekend for the last year landscaping my backyard. Putting in the raised vegetable and flower beds and walkways was a major project but not the only project.
Photography is my favorite hobby. I enjoy landscaping and gardening too, but it is not my favorite activity. I would much rather be out photographing flowers instead of growing them. So, for the time being, until my flower gardens becomes more established, I will use my photography skills in documenting my landscaping projects.
Update: Be sure to see Volume 2 to see new uses of landscaping with timbers and see updated photos of areas in this volume.
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Reggie 4 years ago
Hi There, Just reading through your article, and I have to put in that with over 800 species of plants native to Orange County alone, and over 5000 species natives to California, there are a plethora of species that do well on slopes. Many native species are particularly adapted to slopes and have beautiful foliage and flowers. Many more are edible and can be used for food stuffs to augment the normal vegetable and fruit crop. The ground cover I see in your pictures will eventually give you problems with erosion and die out. look into native shrubs, wildflowers and herbs as natives are much more succesful ground cover and erosion prevention, not then least of which stems from requiring much less water. if you have any questions, feel free to ask. And by the way, great work, I love fresh veggies myself!