Replacing hillside wooden framed garden beds?

5 years ago

At our house in northern NH, looking to do some upgrades! There's a terraced garden made of wood beams that's been there many years but it's falling apart/rotting. Do you have any suggestions for what to replace it with? We're going to renting while we're not there. Looking for something that has a nice aesthetic but is relatively set it and forget it. Maybe could be used to grow with, if we ever move in more permanently but in the meantime doesn't need to. Be willing to spend a bit more if it looks good and has some long term durability

That's from the driveway looking up at the structure, it's on the side of a hill

Maybe portions can be salvaged

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Comments (7)

frankielynnsie
5 years ago
The least work in the long run would be to bulldoze the whole thing, remove soil and grade to a manageable slope. Or you could professionally install landscape block/poured concrete with facing walls after doing your due diligence on which block will work (not buckle) and last for this area. Is this across from the house or is the house above the retaining garden?
pricklypearcactus
5 years ago
A professional landscape company could install lovely stone wall terraces or boulder terraces. It wouldn't be cheap but the end result could be stunning. If it's in budget, I would start with some professional landscape companies.
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mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
5 years ago
I'm not at all convinced there is enough of a hill to need terracing. This is a hill.
I think you can get an idea of how steep this slope is. It is unmowable (they imported goats for a few years) but stable.
diggerdee zone 6 CT
5 years ago
I don't know what your budget is or how handy you are but I have to agree on the stone wall terracing. But then, I'm a sucker for stone walls anyway!

:)
Dee
Andrew Becker
5 years ago
Great ideas folks - I like the look of the terraced stone walls. Would composite simulations of stone retaining walls be less labor intensive to implement? Anyone have any brands they like?
decoenthusiaste
5 years ago
Likely renters will not be as interested in maintaining it, so I'd make it into a pleasant berm with interesting ground cover and some strategically placed perennials for color.

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deanna in ME Barely zone 6a, more like 5b
5 years ago
The whole New England area, but especially ME, VT, and NH, look best with stonework, which is so natural and abundant in the area. Fabricated stone or blocks just look out of place. But, stone costs a FORTUNE. Even though they often get it just down the road, it's expensive and the labor for a TRUE stone mason who knows how to place them can be significant. Do not let just anybody put stone up. The dirt behind the stone wall will be exerting pressure, and somebody who doesn't know how to build so it is truly stabilized will leave you with a wall that will last many years, but not enough. After ten years, sometimes much less if the work was bad enough, the wall will start to lean forward.

That's a long way of saying one thing--if stonework is out of the budget, I'd really explore the suggestions here to get rid of the terracing and grade to a slope, and it looks like the slope would not be steep and unworkable.