• Please be sure to read the rules and adhere to them. Some banned members have complained that they are not spammers. But they spammed us. Some even tried to redirect our members to other forums. Duh. Be smart. Read the rules and adhere to them and we will all get along just fine. Cheers. :beer: Link to the rules: https://www.forumsforums.com/threads/forum-rules-info.2974/

The New Terraced Garden

DAP

New member
90 degree heat, black fly swarms and no plan ... just 80 4x4x8s, a saw, some 6 inch spikes and 10 20ft pieces of rebar ...

Prolly float away in next spring's freshets ...
 

Attachments

  • P0004520.jpg
    P0004520.jpg
    157.5 KB · Views: 15
  • P0004521.jpg
    P0004521.jpg
    148.7 KB · Views: 14
  • P0004522.jpg
    P0004522.jpg
    123.4 KB · Views: 16

DAP

New member
Some large cherry came down in the Patriot's day storm here, some of em are now rustic benches ...

:snow_smi:
 

Attachments

  • P0004523.jpg
    P0004523.jpg
    158.9 KB · Views: 11

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
What is the overall size of the terrace? Looks to be about 40' long by maybe 18' deep? How tall? What was there before you did that?

I've got a couple eyesore slopes (one is along the road in front of the house) that I'd really like to do something with and I was thinking of using "wall stones" but the wood terrace sure looks nice.

What did you do to prepare the foundation under wood for stability?
 

DAP

New member
What is the overall size of the terrace? Looks to be about 40' long by maybe 18' deep? How tall? What was there before you did that?

I've got a couple eyesore slopes (one is along the road in front of the house) that I'd really like to do something with and I was thinking of using "wall stones" but the wood terrace sure looks nice.

What did you do to prepare the foundation under wood for stability?

Great eye Robert .. 40 x 17 ...

What was there prior? a slope with brambles and wild blackberry, weeds, built on the remnants of an old narrow gauge railroad bed overfilled with clay ... a whopper of a long story there ...

How tall? Each bed is approx. 16" high (4 4x4's thick)

I dismantled some of the fencing so I could get at the site with the toothbar of my bucket which I then used to strip away vegetation. Then about 12 buckets of uncomposted horse manure with about 8 buckets of composted manure (black gold this stuff is) ... that same ratio give or take for each of the three beds. It was a beyotch getting some of that stuff in there because of the location ond some of it had to be dumped into the next higher bed, the bed made and the material raked down into it.

The stones will always look nicer but I would guess at triple the cost and quadruple the back pain (or price of labor) ...

Lastly, the drilling .. the drilling .. (broke an Erwin 12" extension after the first 4 holes) each corner and the two center sections each have a piece of 7 foot 1/2" rebar and each run of the terrace lengths have 5 pieces of rebar cut at 4 feet ...

Lastly the bottom tier has 2 inches of 1/1/2" draining rock spread on the bed so water snow can leak out and minimize frost heave. We'll see how that works out next spring.

Hoping this won't float away next spring ... the high water mark for the river is only about 600 feet away ..

:tiphat:
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
The stones will always look nicer but I would guess at . . . quadruple the back pain
:tiphat:
Which largely explains why I still have an eyesore of a slope!!!
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Maybe you should get that Kioti now .. sumpin that can handle the brunt of that weight?

:idea: :yum:
I already have some in-laws that moved in for a 2 months a year ago, my ground can't take the ruts they leave, last thing I need is more weight on my ground and this part of the state will sink into lake Michigan.
 

DAP

New member
Here are some updated shots of the terrace garden:

34 tomato plants
4 potato plants
6 types of beans
2 melon types
2 zuchinni types
2 cucumber types
2 radish types
shallots
carrots
8 cabbage plants
6 eggplant plants
1 bunch/each of cilantro, thyme, camomile, basil, dill, chive and parsely
and 6 swiss char plants

We experimented with 2 things:

1. dill plants interspersed with the tomato plants will keep away the dreaded tomato hornworm caterpillars (so far so good - last year they killed us)
2. for weed reduction, instead of using plastic sheets, we used newspapers and straw . .a layer of each right before seeding/planting ... so far, it is a smashing success - very few weeds ...

last shot is a self portrait of the flattering kind

:drink:
 

Attachments

  • P0004569.jpg
    P0004569.jpg
    287.6 KB · Views: 10
  • P0004623.jpg
    P0004623.jpg
    74.3 KB · Views: 9
  • P0004626.jpg
    P0004626.jpg
    45.6 KB · Views: 8
  • P0004636.jpg
    P0004636.jpg
    60.4 KB · Views: 10
  • P0004624.jpg
    P0004624.jpg
    112.9 KB · Views: 8
Last edited:

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Looking good. Have you had to water it a lot? Most gardens here are looking rather shabby, unless you've watered daily.
 

bczoom

Super Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Looking very good Doug

2. for weed reduction, instead of using plastic sheets, we used newspapers and straw . .a layer of each right before seeding/planting ... so far, it is a smashing success - very few weeds ...
Using paper is becoming a common practice here as well for both weeds and animal bedding.

Here's an idea for you if you want some paper. Check with any local newspapers or other printed media place. Their rolled paper stock is removed from the press when the roll gets down to about 150-200'. Many of these places are more than willing to give these rolls away. They're nice for running between rows or plants.
 

DAP

New member
Looking good. Have you had to water it a lot? Most gardens here are looking rather shabby, unless you've watered daily.

Weve had a thunderstorm approximately 1 per week and water the garden prolly 2 more times a week.

Each of those terraces is 40ft long by 5 ft ... I am surprised still that it takes almost 90 minutes of hand held hose to get it somewhat moist... 2 hours with the hose would be even better, but I've not the patience ...
 

DAP

New member
Looking very good Doug


Using paper is becoming a common practice here as well for both weeds and animal bedding.

Here's an idea for you if you want some paper. Check with any local newspapers or other printed media place. Their rolled paper stock is removed from the press when the roll gets down to about 150-200'. Many of these places are more than willing to give these rolls away. They're nice for running between rows or plants.

There is never a shortage of newspapers round here, except in February just after an ice storm and 4 feet of snow have fallen and you wanna crank up the cook stove or the fireplace ...

:)
 
Top