sloping garden?

dreaming

I wondered if anyone has ideas for gardening on a slope? I am looking to buy a property which is in my favoured area. It has a sloping garden - not mega steep, but enough to notice. The neighbours have terraced theirs, but I will not have the money to get someone in to do that, and unfortunately I don't have the muscle power anymore to do it myself. In my present garden I have a small veg patch and the rest is shrubs/flowers and small lawn. Can manage without lawn but would like to grow more veggies.

I am really torn as I have been looking for a place in the area, but if it is no good to grow stuff in then I have another option in a not so good location but with a flat garden.

Any ideas/advice welcome to help me decide.

Thanks

Joly_Roger

Depends on the aspect of the slope. If it's sloping to the South then it would be excellent for growing veg in as it would be getting even more sunshine than a flat garden would do. Think of the grape vines which grow on ground seemingly tilted to the Sun. The South sloping land in England gets much more sunshine and warmth than level ground.


However, if it's sloping to the North then it would get a lot more shade, have many frost pockets and have a shorter growing season. If the slope is East or West facing then it shouldn't really make much difference.

Whatever the aspect, I would highly suggest you harness the natural slope and get a builder in to create raised beds (which would need only edging bricks at the higher end).


You could have a simple (gravel?) sloping central pathway to lead you through your garden and pay a builder or landscape gardener to create the retaining walls on either side which would be your raised beds/ terracing, with horizontal pathways between the raised beds to allow room for access.


I actually prefer sloping gardens as with a little terracing you've automatically got vertical interest and height in your garden.

dreaming

Thanks for that. I have slept on the idea and realised I have to be Mrs Sensible. Much as I love the area and the garden, I would need to have a sizeable extension built, which would not only max me out financially but stop me from gardening this year.
Am off soon to see another property with a flat garden, and more readily liveable accommodation - just not the "perfect" location.

davemorton

Only three things worth considering when looking to buy a house, location, location, location.

rhiwfield

Dreaming, sloping gardens can be very productive, but will need some terracing. The good news is that it is fairly easy to make if you stick to lighter materials such as wood. We have a series of terraced raised beds, wood for the last beds which totalled 14' x 14' cost about £40, landscape fabric another £5, woodchips for path were free, topsoil reused and we bought in about £30 of soil improver. That gave us 160 sq ft of prime growing space after deducting 36' of internal paths

Stone/brick etc are far more expensive to buy and to construct though they will last longer. We've had to use these where slope is 1 in 2.

dreaming

"Only three things worth considering when looking to buy a house, location, location, location."

Thanks Dave. Although I do agree that location is v. important, unfortunately to live in my desired location I would need to borrow a bit more than I can comfortably afford (and I did check my lottery tickets before I went to view the other property!), and then still have to do lots of work - not what I really want (or am able) to do anymore - sometimes I have to err on the side of practicality.
After seeing it, I have actually made an offer on the not-so-good-location property. I can just move in and live there without any major works being needed, and the garden is flat - means I can start growing stuff as soon as I move in. And it is still a nice area - I'm just not paying thousands extra for a postcode!

Thanks for all your replies.

Megansmum

I just saw this thread = i have the same problem in my back garden, it slopes and is south facing. I'm not bothered about keeping any lawn as it is mostly weeds anyway!

Rhiwfield, do you have any pics of yours please? I can read info, but only really "get it" if i can see what people mean!!