Friday, October 2, 2009

Steeply Sloping Land in Your Garden

If your garden, is on the side of a hill, with a high bank at the end of the garden and concrete retaining wall near to the house, was difficult and dangerous to manage. To terrace it, form three flat areas, one above the other, linked by wide, shallow steps.

Put the sitting area at the top of the garden where there were stunning views and positioned a pergola to obscure the view of the town behind it. Then place a water feature in the centre of the garden, to include a waterfall, where water splashed down from one garden level to the next spreading out into a shallow natural-looking pool. You can also add a series of beds of cascading plants to provide color that could he enjoyed from the house below

Terracing involves a lot of initial construction work but it is almost always the best method of dealing with a steep, sloping garden. Being thick, wide and tough, railway sleepers make ideal edging supports for this sort of terraced construction but any treated timber of similar strength would he just as suitable. Stone, a readily available local material, was used to form a low retaining wall alongside the steps and around the top terrace.

The centrally placed water feature uses the same materials. The water tumbles down the height of the retaining wall to end up in a shallow pebble and rock- lined pool on the terrace.

The sun terrace, at the top of the garden, is made with a surface of paving and retained by a stone wall. Spaces at the edge of the paving provide planting areas for cascading plants and the pergola forms a framework for climbers such as a vine and the scarlet and orange rose.

Let your garden has glowing autumn color with flowers showing brilliant orange and scarlet leaves in autumn, highlighted by the coral red fruit of the berberis Rubrostilla and splashes of red, orange and yellow in the flowers of the nasturtiums.

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