[nipper31]

I'm guessing this question has been asked many times before but I couldn't find an appropriate thread to follow, so apologies if you've heard all this before 

I would love to build raised beds on my plot but am on a bit of a slope. It's not massively steep but there's definitely a slope. Would it be possible to do this ? Any help will be much appreciated, thanks 

[Trillium]

Sloping the actual boxes would be a bad idea, but if you're willing, then do as the Italian mountainside gardeners do and dig out the upper part of the bed's slope to level out the inside of the bed. The downward slope slide would necessarily need extra boards but with some effort you could have very nice beds that are level and wouldn't flood at one end.

[Jamie Butterworth]

Ive seen people do terraced raised beds on a hill, doing it so that each bed is level then doing one so that the top of it touches the bottom of the first, sorry if ive confused you.

[Trillium]

There are a few ways here to terrace a slope:

http://www.raised-garden-beds.com/Lndscp%20ideas.htm

[Jamie Butterworth]

Yeah thats it, the terraced slope one

[waddecar]

I have raised beds on a slope, the slope drops about 400cm in 4m so each 4m bed is about 400cm lower( or higher) than the next one. The beds are a single board 150 or 200cm deep depending on the timber i had available when building. i line them with old roofing slates so i use some big ones at the low end to retain the earth - but extra boards would be fine. As previously said keep the beds level.

Mine are constructed with the length of the bed running down the slope, if you have room to construct beds across the slope then the impact of the slope on each bed is minimised

The biggest problem i had was with the paths, sloping paths and wet weather lead to bruises - after the first pair of beds i made the path alongside the bed flat also and restricted the slope to the area btween the beds. This does exagerate the effects of the slope between each bed so i constructed a footway out of old floor boards covered with wire netting to make them anti slip and to get barrows up and down

[nipper31]

Thanks all, this is really  good advice. I'm going to try and start building some as instructed, although I know it will be harder work for a girly I guess 

[waddecar]

I never could estimate in metric units  my estimates in centimeters above should be  millimeters........sorry

[Siouxfly]

I've managed to get hold of some scaffold boards and plan on making raised beds, they are about 12" wide which should be fine height-wise as they are going on soil which will be worked but my dilema is should I just lay them on the slope or can I dig them in a bit to make them level?
My whole garden is on a slope and I've been peeking in all the allotments around here and the ones that are worked in to be level 'look' better. So is there any difference planting-wise or am I just being silly wanting them to look good?

[Jamie Butterworth]

i think that there was a thread about this not long ago, try using terraced raised beds, ill have a look for the thread for you 

[Trillium]

I'll let Jamie look up that thread, but you're better off keeping the beds level so that the soils don't wash 'downhill' with every rain, and eventually out of the enclosure. True, its a bit more work but its a great deal less headaches in the end.

[Jamie Butterworth]

Found it I think:

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=53523.0

 

[sunshineband]

OUr plot slopes a bit too and we are attempting to keep the beds as level as possible. Top edge is dug in quite deep and bottom edge has an extra board along the bottom. Sides a bit extra.

I was worried that otherwise all the soil will wash over the edge when it rains, like Trillium said  

[Siouxfly]

Great stuff thanks Jamie

I hadn't even thought about soil washing away on a slope so yes I will do it the hard way Trillium.

[sunshineband]

Thanks for finding that thread Jamie

I think we have done the right thing even though it was extra work  :happy: