Cool Hillside Stairway Planter
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- čas přidán 28. 05. 2020
- There’s a steep hillside in your yard, and you want to beautify the space and make it productive. What to do? Install this beautiful combination stairway and raised planting boxes, that’s what!
When our friends Mike and Celeste moved into their home several years ago, the vast majority of the backyard was a concrete slab. Additionally, there was a significant slope along the back of the yard that dropped down to another approximately 10’ wide space along the back fence.
After breaking up all of the concrete, Mike created a beautiful green space and repurposed the broken-up concrete to cover the slope ( ...way to go, avoiding taking the concrete to the landfill!). Still, Mike saw there were some missed opportunities to give additional convenient access to the lower part of the yard, create a small gardening plot, and create more interest along the slope.
Ever the problem-solver, Mike designed this really cool combination hillside stair and raised garden box set, using standard-sized dimensional lumber (2x12 or 2x10), although you can use different materials or adapt the design to use landscape timbers.
Mike was able to use 10’ stringers for the stair stringers as well as the outer box sides. Some things to keep in mind as you design and install your hillside stair and planter combo include:
Make sure to secure it to the hillside to assure the whole unit doesn’t slide downhill. Don’t count on the soil in the boxes or the stair stringers and box sides to do this for you. Use some long steel stakes, driven in vertically and screwed to the box and stair sides, to make everything secure.
When irrigating, drip is probably best, and remember that the water that is applied to the upper boxes will migrate down the hill.
Keep things in proportion and make it easy for you and other visitors. This means avoiding having the boxes be wider than 4’ as it gets hard to reach that far as well as doing your ongoing cultivation of the growing space. If the boxes are too wide, you will start stepping into the boxes, someone you want to avoid so you don’t compact the soil.
There are two things you can do to make the stairs securer to navigate. First, you can install some kind of rail, or vertical posts to grab onto. Just remember, the more you have between you and the growing spaces, the more effort it takes to tend your hillside garden. Second, the wider you make the stair treads, with a small amount of drop between each step, the surer your footing will be. This is essentially creating a series of landings rather than steps. This is the approach Mike took, and it works well!
YOU CAN BE VERY CREATIVE in designing your hillside stair and garden box system! Consider these approaches:
How about an arbor at the top or bottom (or both!) of the stairs?
Lighting options are myriad - so have fun! This is a great feature to light up for evening enjoyment!
You can both multiply and reduce this system. For instance, you can have the steps with only one set of raised beds along one side of the stairs. Or, if you have a larger hillside to work with, you can multiply the gardening space by using multiple step sets with raised bed planting boxes between them!
You can use linseed oil, outdoor stain and finish, or a product like Thompson’s WaterSeal to treat the lumber to make it more durable, or to color the wood to make it match other elements in your yardscape.
Our thanks to our friends, Mike and Celeste, for sharing this great yardscape addition with all of the DirtFarmerJay Viewer Family! You guys rock!
Got a gardening challenge or problem area like this in YOUR yard? Now, you know you can JUST DO IT YOURSELF! - Jak na to + styl
Perfect timing! We are building a house right now that will have a slight slope off the back as the house is on a dirt pad. I can visualize a variation of this in our future. Nice job on that hillside planter....looks really good.... and nice job on the video!
My husband and I are working on something like his, so happy I view this video 😄
FANTASTIC!!! Love it. TFS 💕
Wonderful design, looks great. Cracks me up that he made this fantastic design and he feels it’s no big deal. Thanks.
Thanks for watching and commenting P D. Our friend Mike is very understated and not an attention seeker. We were very excited that he agreed to do the video in the first place!! Best too you, DFJ
Wonderful solution
All looks very nice thanks for sharing, its great
Thanks for visiting!
Very cool. I have a place on my property and this will work great. Thanks. I appreciate the way you refer to your viewers as our viewing family nice touch. I enjoy the videos good stuff.
Love it....Step terracing
What an amazing idea for a space most people (including me) wouldn't bother with. Thanks for posting!
You are so welcome!
That shed back there is dope too
Good eyes Kiki. The back yard belongs to a friend of ours who is very handy and can build just about anything. Keep watching and commenting!! DFJ
Great Design, Nice work!
Thanks!
I would definitely use this
Thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching!
This is wonderful, just what I have been looking for. Being detail oriented, I wished that there was more focus on the structure than the interview considering that was the subject matter. Great job, thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing the video. I am looking into building a similar Terrace bed on a slope. In my case the slope is slightly steep. The video did not showed how it was build neither any technical specs thats why i am asking questions
1. Did he dig a trench? If so how deep? Did he had to dig for all the beds?
2. Did he use any rebar to hold the lumber? I guess trying to fig out how did he stabilize?
3. Did he measured Rise and Run and based on that he made 3 beds or just a guess?
4. Can you share the list of tools and materials needed for this project?
5. Lastly I am not able to decide which wood should i use - Timber or pressured treated limber? Which one is better from maintenance and Termites perspective?
Sorry Asked so many questions but its overwhelming
Dinyar, let me see if I can cover each of your question. We were giving more of an idea and approach to provide inspiration for the project. I'm glad you found us. Here's my thoughts: 1. No trenches, he used the incline that was already there. If there was a high or low spot where the edge of the boards would land, he would either dig out the high spot, or fill in the low spot. 2. in each of the bed spaces, he would dig out the high side of the bed and fill in the low side, as well as add enriched soil he mixed up and then added. 3. stabilization was two-fold. Indeed, there were rebar stakes distributed throughout the structure, as well as the main stair stringers being secured at the bottom so they couldn't slide forward. 4. the rise and run was simply taken off the incline. 5. I don't have a materials list. It would probably be fairly worthless anyway since this project needs to be sized to your setting. 6. I would use the brown pressure treated lumber for durability. If you have concern about growing items with the lumber surrounding the growing area, don't do it and use regular construction lumber and coat it with protectant each year.
I hope this helps!
Best, DFJ
Why do so many DIY videographers spend so much time videoing the speaker(s) instead of the project?! How is this helpful?
They have a rapport and history with their viewers and its nice to see an extra view into their lives and ideas. You can always skip the talking :)
Would you use cedar the next time around? I can’t imagine the Douglas Fir to last to long.
It wasn't my project, but a friends. I agree with you that something more resistant to decay and UV would be better. He'd been coating it with protectant.
The video on making the project should be shown. Tho I want the idea just want to know if you put a drainage on to it?
More of an idea video. It was completely finished before we ever saw it. There is no drainage. Each box is meant to catch and retain water. DFJ
Bloomsburg Pennsylvania? I know you all!
This home owner lives in Utah.
@@DirtFarmerJay sorry for the mistake. L:)
Did you put anything behind the wood so they dont get pushed forward over time?
Shelly, there are steel stakes driven in and the boards are attached to them to resist the downward force over time. I hope that helps! Best, DFJ
this is great what about small animals getting in the garden
The friend that created this system has two dogs but they haven't been a problem. He also has a fenced in yard that keeps other animals out. I'm sure this would not work as well without some type of barrier to keep away unwanted animals. Best, DFJ
I just so 2 guys talking about a work.........
Is the height only 12 inches? It looks tall on the video or did you stack it?
Each section is about 11 inches tall and work their way up the slope. Is that what you mean? Best, DFJ
Looks like it needs a hand rail for the steps. Might never need, one slip avoided is worth it.
Nice, but dog fir will rot out a lot quicker that you think. P.T. is a lot less than your labor
como evitar as cobras?
Não tivemos esse problema, então não tenho nenhuma ideia que possa oferecer a você. Obrigado por assistir e escrever! Atenciosamente, DFJ
3rd comment
Too bad he didn't oil it before, kinda like growing rice
If I would have thought about it I would have done it before.. Should have, but like I said it was a spur of the moment job.
@@celesteborys4893 yeah, I kinda see that thought on your face as he mentioned it...
It looked like...
"Yeah... Nah... I'm done... I ain't pulling all that back out again".
Basics of video: show, don't tell. You spent 90% of this video focusing on the two guys instead of the raised beds. If you want them to be in shot, then back up and include the raised beds along with them.
Thanks for stopping by and giving your thoughts. Best, DFJ