You have decided to start a vegetable garden in your backyard and are now looking for the perfect spot. But now you realize your house was built on a slope, and you don’t have enough even and flat space in your yard to plant your garden. Now what? Can you grow vegetables on a slope?
A vegetable garden needs to be level. The necessary even distribution of water, soil, nutrients, and sunlight is only possible if the garden beds are level. Therefore, if you plan to grow vegetables on a slope, you need to create a terraced garden to avoid water running off and soil erosion problems.
Reasons why a vegetable garden needs to be level
1. Water distribution
When a garden bed is not level, watering becomes a challenge. When rain falls heavily or when you put a lot of water down at once, it will run off and make its way down to the bottom of the slope. So, the lower end of the garden bed will always receive more water than the top end on the hill.
2. Soil erosion
In an uneven vegetable garden bed, the water runoff also causes erosion which will gradually wear down the ground. The soil will slowly make its way down to the bottom of the garden bed. Through erosion, your vegetables can lose many of the precious nutrients in the ground. They are literally washed away in the process.
3. Sunlight
Sunlight distribution could be another challenge if you plan to have a vegetable garden on a hill. Depending on the slope’s direction, you might be limited with planting vegetables that need full sun. And you also have to consider putting the taller growing plants on the bottom so that they won’t throw shade on smaller growing ones.
Naturally, raised beds should also always be level for the same reasons mentioned above. So, even if the landscape of your backyard isn’t even, you need to build your raised beds so that they are level on their surface.
How do you level a vegetable garden?
Leveling the ground for a garden is not easy. It will require time and effort, but it is always worth it in the long run. Here are some ideas for a vegetable garden on a slope and how to level the ground for the garden beds:
An evenly shaped hill facing South with a low slope isn’t too bad of a spot for a vegetable garden. You could, for example, build a retaining wall. That then shifts the garden to two levels, for which one could be used for the vegetable garden and the other for flowers, perennials, and relaxation.
However, if you still have a slight slope, drip irrigation is the best option to manage water runoff and prevent soil erosion. Additionally, you could plant a ground cover plant around your vegetables to help shield the soil from the heavy rains. That way, you don’t lose the nutrients for your vegetables over time.
If the terrain is steeper, you can terrace the slope more with the help of several low walls.
In fact, if you want to plant on a steep hillside, a terrace garden might be one of the best ideas for a vegetable garden on such a slope.
First, you will need to reinforce and secure the hill. Concrete foundations or supporting elements can provide the necessary support and will prevent soil erosion in the future. Depending on the angle of the inclination, you might also want to build stairs for easier access to your garden.
Then, terracing creates several flat steps with flat surfaces that can perfectly be used for garden beds.
How do you level a raised bed on uneven ground?
Greg Seaman from eartheasy has a fantastic tutorial on how to create a leveled raised bed on uneven ground:
First, you make a simple squared box with planks and screws, and then you put it in place on the ground where you want your raised bed to be. Next, you lift up the low ends until level and block them up. Then, add corner stakes and screw the bedsides to the stakes.
Now the trickiest part comes: Cut the tapered pieces to fill in the sides to ground level. Then, insert the pointed pieces. Screw them into the stakes as well.
If your garden bed length is more than 6′, add spanners to prevent bowing.
Last but not least, you fill up the new garden bed with soil and soil amendments, and then, you’re ready to plant! Now you have a perfectly level garden bed in place, and your vegetable garden on a slope is set up for success.
How do you level raised garden beds?
You can either build the box into the ground on the higher side or build up the soil underneath on the lower side. Use the level to ensure the surface (or frame) is put level. If you are placing your raised garden bed on a steep hill, you will need to reinforce the slope to avoid soil erosion.
You can either use the method explained above with fitting the box to the uneven ground when creating it, or you can adapt the environment underneath and around the garden bed.
Here is a video tutorial on how to install a raised garden box, so it’s level:
Conclusion
Vegetable gardening on a slope always comes with challenges. A vegetable garden bed needs to be level for even distribution of water, soil, nutrients, and sunlight. However, a solution can be a terraced garden with which you can create the best conditions for your vegetables to grow on a hillside.
If you have raised garden beds, make sure to level them out before you start planting your vegetables. You will save yourself a lot of time and effort later on. If your beds are well balanced, you won’t have any problems like water runoff and soil erosion.
Here you find a complete guide on starting a vegetable garden in your backyard with all the nitty-gritty details. Check it out!
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