help: Planting a garden on a slope

PcRider

Member
I finally got my garden all tilled up until there were no weeds, or grass, soil was black and soft. Got the seeds all planted the day before we had a rain.

I was hoping for a rain to get the seeds started, but what we got was a LOT of rain over 2 days/nights.

How can I keep the garden from washing out, when it is planted on a slope like it is?

Drain ruts down the sides? It is only 150foot X 50foot. So it seems like I am limited to what I can do with it.

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Any ideas are welcome,
Thanks Mike B.
 
Put ties or rocks etc at the lower area. Then level it up so that the garden sits level or close to it. In areas like that I have built raised beds on the lower area so as to hold the soil. Takes time an a lot of work. Or terrace it
 
You are always better off with plentiful rain and a few washouts than no washouts from NO rain.

The work required to do terracing will be great.
You might try planting a permanent grass strip in the washout/low area to conserve the topsoil and plant your rows 90 degrees to the slope.
 
I'd divide the garden up into 3 sections with a diversion ditch between each section. You have to slow the rate of travel and lower the volume of water at the same time.....taking the water out of the garden as quickly as possible without it washing. 'Pretty easy to do....just dig some ditches by hand diagonally across your garden. We did that with our garden....had erosion problems just like you do. Instead of having one big garden, we now have three smaller ones. 'Seems easier to manage now and no washing.
 
If water comes from above, let it hit a swale above the garden. I'd choose a swale (wide, mowable, grassed) over a ditch (narrow and dirt) both because it won't erode (being grassed) and if you set it up right, it can fill on small rains, getting water into the ground above your garden, then overflow as there's more water to divert it away. Does take space, but seems like you might have space.

Set your rows or beds across the slope, as close to level as possible, and insert grass strips or more swales (contoured grass strips) to divide it up (essentially, a combination of what Randall & Larry said.) Every row traps water and drives it into the ground - water that exceeds this hits the grassed swales. After they fill a certain amount, the become wide grassy ditches diverting excess water out onto the surrounding grass (spread out as much as possible.)

You might also run a straight disk on the contour (across the slope) in the grass above. that would be a disk that's set to simply cut slits, not turn anything. It will reduce runoff from the grass above and drive more water into the ground.
 
I have been working on getting some ditches dug around the whole garden. I just got them finished up yesterday, and last night we got 3 inches of rain. So far they are really helping.

I plan to break the garden up into 3 sections as soon as possible, and divert the flow of water out of the garden as suggested. I"m hoping I can just use the plow to plow the ditches in between sections. Digging by hand is out of the question, I am not physically able to do that kind of work. At least not for the several hundred feet that it would take.

Grass planting is a good idea, but I use a disc and plow to till the garden, so planted strips will not work here. They would get dug up everytime I work the soil.

I was amazed to see some of the corn I had planted down at the bottom coming up even after it was flooded, now I have to decide if I want to till it up and start over or just work with what I have for now. Stuff at the top of the garden is coming up nicely, although I may have to replant a few places.

I"ll try to get a picture on here so you can see as soon as it is dry enough to get out there.

Thanks for all your help.
Mike B.
 

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