Progress on hillside

17 years ago

Hello all. Back in January I started a thread titled "Buried gravel and runoff." I was looking for a way to abate erosion of a steep hillside that I want to garden on. Also, I needed to make the slope somewhat easier for me and others to climb for maintenance purposes.

I've come up with some very low-tech solutions. I'm using native rocks, broken concrete and even old chunks of asphalt to create crude erosion barriers (not sure if they qualify as retaining walls) and terraces. Some of the terraces double as steps.

Here are a few "before" photos:

Steep section of slope adjacent to neighboring property

Heavily eroded hillside

And here are my "after" shots:

Improvements to side strip:

Hillside with terraces and "steps" added

Top portion with terraces and plantings

Plants and pruned tree

Another angle

Well, hopefully that's enough to give you a general idea of what I've done. Nothing fancy, but I think it's better than it was a month ago.

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Comments (8)

Calamity_J
17 years ago
Good for you!!! My slopey back yard is sooo HUGE, 60across and 135 down...that I bit the bullet and hired a guy to come in with his machine(while he is putting in a deer fence, and re-do my terraced hillside. The previous owner staerted terracing it but it still is so bad that I actually broke my leg back there and also fell down the stairs and bruised my tailbone OUCH!!! Once the guy is done making a slope so I can get down there with a wheel barrow, I'll be doing what you are doing! At the very top and very bottom of this part of the yard is stacked tires as a retaining wall...you can see them overgrown behind the BIG tire in one pic.

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BackYard
ltecato
Original Author
17 years ago
Sorry to hear about your injury. I'm surprised I haven't hurt myself that bad, knock on wood. I'm just improvising everything. I don't plan more than a couple steps ahead. Every time I finish one thing I see another spot I need to fix up. Then I have to go out and scrounge rocks or concrete for it. Or buy another too.
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Calamity_J
17 years ago
My 84yrold neighbor has made amazing terraces and such on his property(another slope like mine) and has done it all by hand!!! He planted a bunch of cedar trees and has some paths and a terrace. He puts me to SHAME!!! He calls his yard his gymnasium! He downsized and only plants a 30x30veggie garden now!!! PLUS cuts/gathers his own firewood for his woodstove!! I call the fence between us "The Magic Fence" because most days there is a bunch of veggies on it for me!!! They just appear and stay there till I notice them!!!ha! So keep up the good work and keep posting pics because it inspires me...and I'll do the same!!!
Calamity_J
17 years ago
My fence guys came today and this is the landscaping they are doing today....

my sloped walkway

wheelbarrow accessable!!!

Let's just make a nice terrace on this slope!!!
ltecato
Original Author
17 years ago
Looks like your project is moving right along. Meantime, mine is about as primitive as it gets. I'm hoping I can make a sort of crude mortar by mixing the clay soil here with sand. Some of the yellow clay gets almost as hard as a rock.

On the "landings" of my terrace/steps, I have been laying down about 2" of gravel, then about an inch of sand, then some plain old local dirt, then tamping it down. My hope is that it will form something solid and concrete-like after it gets wet and dries. Then I'll put some gravel on top of it to walk on, maybe some cheap pavers as well.
Calamity_J
17 years ago
Well, I tell ya, I got a whole lotta ground to cover!!! I have TONS to plant down there, like 70 things, some shrubs and mostly perenials. But today they are putting the irrigation back and making it better at the same time so with no fighting the deer, and having it watered by some timed, and some pressure fed sprinklers, AND two hose bibs on either side of down below(just past the fruit trees) I'll be right on track!!! The slopes are still quite steep, but I plan to rake and shovel them to be a bit more tiered. Did I mention this is 130ft downhill and 60 wide???!!! I still have to haul all my plants down there, dig the holes, bring all my brick and rocks in....WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!!LOL!!!
stellar.bpo
17 years ago
The previous owner staerted terracing it but it still is so bad that I actually broke my leg back there and also fell down the stairs and bruised my tailbone OUCH!!! Once the guy is done making a slope so I can get down there with a wheel barrow, I'll be doing what you are doing! At the very top and very bottom of this part of the yard is stacked tires as a retaining wall...you can see them overgrown behind the BIG tire in one pic.

Lisa11
gardenlover25
17 years ago
It was nicely done. Hope to see your plants growing in your hillside garden.