MOUNTAINSIDE GARDENING

By George Daniels,  KC Master Gardener, 1995

Preparing and maintaining gardens on a steep hillside is demanding. Innovation and some modification of the usual gardening practices are required. This is the story of one approach that seems to be effective in some West Virginia hills. The Chinese have terrace gardened some of their mountainsides effectively for

centuries. With a near infinite supply of manpower and time, they created exquisite meandering stone walled terraces. With sufficient funds, we could probably do the same. The approach described below aims at preparing usable gardens with a balanced expenditure of cost and energy.

Requirements:

Land – At least 2 feet of soil and a slope of 45 degrees or less.

Tools – A Mantis tiller (also an ax if significant tree roots are involved).

If no tiller, any sharp digging tools will work (and so will you).

Material – Source of logs, split logs, garden timbers, or rocks for terrace facing. Source of compost - aged horse manure, or other material for building soil.

Labor- At least one determined individual.

The goal is to create a relatively stable terraced bed having the cross section shown In Figure 1. The circles represent logs or rocks and the irregular area adjacent to the circles represents a mix of tilled soil and compost  which has been topped with mulch. The indentation at the right is a foot path for servicing the garden. The garden can be any length. Its width is controlled by the height of the front terrace wall and the original hill slope. Things to consider when selecting a site include type of soil, run off, tree shading and root invasion, rocks and pernicious vine roots.

The bed is prepared in several steps as follows:

1.   Clear the area to be used. If infested with greenbrier, blackberry or other pernicious flora it is wise to treat it with Roundup or another weed eradicator a couple of weeks before clearing.

2.   Cut a notch following the ground contour, as nearly as possible, so that the first log or set of rocks will be approximately level. Some compromise may be required depending on the contours of the site. The Mantis tiller works well for this but, of course, a shovel will also do this task.

3.   Set the logs or rocks for the first level into place.

4.   Till the first foot or two of soil above this first stage of the terrace using the Mantis or with a shovel or spading fork if a Mantis isn’t available.  Till into the hillside enough so that loose soil raises slightly above the top of the first row of logs or rocks. Compact the soil in the area close to the logs or stones in preparation for supporting the next row. Add soil if necessary to keep the soil level at the top of the logs or stone.

5.   Then, if using logs, prepare a slight indentation along the uphill side of the first row of logs and set the second row of logs into this notch. The second row of logs should be set so that the bottom of this row is slightly below and behind the first row but in contact with it. Attempt to obtain about a 60 degree slope on the face of the logs. Tamp soil into any gaps between the log layers. If using stones, set the second row of stones on top of the first but set back from the terrace face enough to give the face about a 60 degree slope if the hillside is fairly steep. This can be modified to fit the general slope of the hillside. Use soil liberally between the stone layers to stabilize the stones. Always try to choose and set each successive row of logs or stones such that joints are staggered – like brickwork.

6.   Repeat as above as many times as desired until a satisfactory bed width has been attained and the footpath at the back of the bed is shaped to give easy access to the bed. Cut the soil on the uphill side of the footpath at a slope at which your particular soil will be stable and will hold a ground cover such as myrtle. Many local soils will be stable at about 60 degrees. Before and after cutting the last layer of the bed, spread several inches of compost over the entire area of the bed.

7.   Till the bed until the soil and compost are well blended. Fertilizer may also be added at this time depending on the composition of the soil and compost.

8.   Plant and enjoy. If trees are growing nearby, be alert for tree root competition and sever competing roots periodically.