Building a raised flower bed on a slope.

Theguywhovapes

Hi all

Im looking to build a raised flowerbed from railway sleepers soon. It will be my first solo DIY project and something I’m really keen to get stuck into as we’ve started doing bits to the garden during lockdown, and I want to add some life and colour to it. I’ve looked online at different ways to construct which I’m fairly comfortable with doing, but wanted to check if there’s anything else I should be aware of.

I plan to do 3 flowerbed which will be stepped down running alongside gravel boards from a fence (they won’t be higher than the gravel boards) 

Also some suggestions for colourful plants/flowers that are safe for cats would be brilliant as well!

any and all advice greatly welcome

Thanks in advance!

Ted_Head

Sounds lovely. You could intermingle herbs and some veg if you wanted to. I'd doubt that cats are susceptible to much in the garden as they are very clever when it comes to what they eat. It depends on what colours you like/don't like. You may want to do a different colour palette in each bed or different theme - country cottage look etc. Creosote will kill plants and is not very cat friendly at all so avoid that. 
I have some lovely wild strawberries that I grow - well they grow themselves and the flowers are a bright pink. I grow these next to a purple geranium and they look stunning and I don't do anything as they tend to get on with it. There's also some lavender which just needs a clip after the flowers are finished & these dry nicely for lavender bags or pot pourii for the Winter. I also have Rosemary close by those like well drained sandy-ish soil. Nasturtiums would be nice overflowing the edges & you can eat the flowers if you have a mind to. Depends if you're a neat freak or like a bit of disorder.
A good project.

Theguywhovapes

Thanks for the reply Ted. I love the idea of a different colour pallette per bed, I hadn’t even considered that. I will definitely look into those. Colour wise at present I’m particularly fussy as the garden is Void of colour. Main garden area is covered in small stones along with 2 bits of patio at top and bottom so want to give the garden overall some TLC. 

 Initial goal was for flowers/plants as I’m a first time gardener but may well get the bug and go into growing my own veg in future!

Yeah I’ve read wood treated with creosote is a definite no no so will be avoiding at all costs. 

Ted_Head

One of the best gardeners for colour was the late Christopher Llyod of Geat Dixter. His planting was a riot of colour and his books are just lovely to flick through.https://www.greatdixter.co.uk/

twopenny

If you want quick, easy and showy then the small Campanulas at the edge will grow over and soften it. They flower a long time and  they can take over but are easy to remove those surplus to requirements.

Herbs flower too. Chives, Garlic Chives, Silver Thyme are hardy and reliable and grow in a tidy fashion around other plants. You might get away with a fragrant climbing rose if the soil allows the roots to go down into the garden. They come in different heights and sizes. Don't go for the Poundland ones, they take forever to turn into anything. Either pay up which is guaranteed sucess or look for something on the rescue bench at a garden centre and nurture it a bit.

What you do need to install for after lockdown is some way of watering if there is depth to these. I've taken time to cut some plastic plumbing pipe, drill holes in to sink into big pots. That takes the water down to the roots rather than sprinkling on top which is done as well.

I had some sucess with drilling holes in an old hosepipe to drip water over a large distance but it needed winter maintenance which I wasn't keen on. The simplist is sinking some small flower pots around so you fill with water and it seeps down. They need covering in hot weather though or the lower soil heats up.