How to Build a Terraced Garden Bed
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ธ.ค. 2024
- On our second channel, Next Level Homestead, I've been showing you my progress on turning an unusable hillside into my dream vegetable garden. In order to do that I had to build terraces using a simple product called Keystone Retaining Wall System from RCP Block & Brick. This DIY solution is great for terraced garden beds, raised garden beds, terraced garden, patio on a slope, the list goes on. In this video I break down the DIT project step by step to make it a streamlined process.
10% Project Discount from RCP Block & Brick www.rcpblock.c...
Recommended Tools
6 ft Level
Small Level
Small shovel or trowel
Rubber Mallet
Heavy Duty Work Gloves
Wheelbarrow
Shovel or spade
Measuring Tape
Garden Rake
Heavy Twine
Stakes
Keystone Blocks
Keystone Capstones
Keystone Pins
Gravel
Masonry Adhesive
Caulking Gun
Scrap 2x4s or 4x4s and scrap plywood
Brian-I remember when you first started to the remove the soil yourself and none of your tools made a dent. I felt so sad for you. Thank you to the two angel viewers that came to your rescue!!🌟 Wow, the walls are amazing! Congrats on all the work so far!
Got your new book. I sat outside and devoured it. Another great accomplishment! 🌈
The walls look beautiful and looks very neat. There is a lot of back breaking lifting etc., but the finished product makes it all worthwhile.
Your finished project looks great... thanks for sharing this video with us.
Thank you. Perfect timing. I was planning to terrace with some cement blocks today. Already had the blocks and was trying to determine how to do this. The whole property is made up of small hills
I LOVE THE WALLS THEY LOOK BEAUTIFUL, YOUR YARD/GARDEN IS GOING TO BE AMAZING WHEN IT IS COMPLETED AND FILLED WITH PLANTS.
Your place is looking so good. Can't believe how much you have gotten done. Thanks for all your great videos. They help a lot.
Brian you forgot the most important part! It’s important to have a Noah when you are doing this project! Seriously there is nothing more satisfying than having a job well done that you did yourself!! Excellent job!!
You are an absolute blessing and excellent teacher. Thank you
What a beautiful terraced area! And when you get the raised beds planted it will be even better!
You did a great job! Like building the pyramids, but on a homestead scale! I love creating things, and it's very satisfying to watch you do the same. And now you're ready for Spring!
That is looking great
I am just about to start on a wall like this for my house. Thanks for the encouragement.
that looks phenomenal!
Looks great, and can’t wait to see what all you plant in it!!
I love digging things like this! You really worked hard on this with wonderful results.
Thanks for walking us through the process. Half of my back yard is a steep slope with a curved retaining wall at the base that we upgraded a few years ago (professionally installed). I want to add a second, and possibly third, wall to gain planting area. Above that will be smaller fruit trees with "tree rings". Your video gave me more hope that I can make this dream happen.
Wow. Incredible job Brian!
it came out so nice. now if I can just convince my husband we should do this
My property is absolutely flat but I still found this interesting and satisfying to watch. The result is beautiful.
Beautiful !!! Nice work !!! That was a lot of work for you but it shows how hard you worked to get beautiful landscaping !!! (so excited for you)
My husband and I are putting in a retention wall to support the dirt on one side of our house so we can drive behind the house. You have just helped me see what is in my husband head for this project. Thanks Brian.
Wow it looks amazing. Congratulations on your hard work.
Love it! Looks GREAT!
Looks good! Nice when hard work pays off!
Beautiful set up, beautiful stones!
I have a laundry list of things to share that might save someone else some grief and regret. It involves not just retaining walls for terracing/raised beds, but also the pavers that often accompany them. We did a huge job to solve a sloping backyard and to make a safer place for my aging mother-in-law and looking forward to our own aging -in- place plan.
Things we did that I loved:
-created a bigger patio that connected two awkward back patios with steep and dangerous drop offs.
-created beds that stretched along the back of the patio along the retaining wall to do double duty as garden and fall prevention strategy, Plus making access to the bed super easy from the lawn side.
-used a lighter paver color to reflect light back into a room that was a bit too dark during the first half of the day and which coordinated beautifully with the home exterior
-extended the pavers all around the house from a courtyard area, around the back, with a pathway to the garage door and through the front gate and along both sides of the driveway (that was too narrow for stepping off onto a stable surface for my mother-in-law) and opening up a lovely area In front of the front door and front porch, and doing the front porch also. Love the consistency of the look all around the house.
-coordinated with irrigation guys to make sure we had a way to pipe water into dedicated zones to water certain areas, Including a hose bib extension at the bottom of the terracing.
-Made sure that I could roll a wagon or potentially a wheelchair from the driveway up onto the main patio surface without encountering steps, and potentially into the house with a very low threshold. But part of that was a bad idea.
Problems we encountered:
- we didn’t know how much ants adore paver grout in our area, and that hiring people to power wash means that they power wash the grout out of the pavers. This led to a ongoing battle with weeds growing between the pavers, and that horrible decision between paying virtually for another paver job in order to regrout it, keep after it with a Weedwhacker, risk damaging the concrete pavers with vinegar herbicide, or using the dreaded Roundup. We are kind of between keeping up with it and not keeping up with it because we’re getting old and it is hotter than hell here.
-I made the mistake of being too safety conscious and not enough termite conscious. Or ant conscious. I should have asked the paving guys to slice the pavers in half for the patios so that I could see the foundation & visually inspect for termites. For personal health reasons and because I was growing food close to my home I did not want to go the route of pre-treatment for termites or the baits that would simply attract them to the house.… And who knows what chemicals in those things would get into my food. So ultimately, when I ended up with a termite problem I was told I had to lift all of those pavers so they could drill/dig underneath them, and I got overwhelmed. And the termites did more damage. And I ended up with the poison around the house but at least someone was willing to just carefully drill through the pavers. HINDSIGHT: leave the patios as they were keeping the foundation visible, perhaps choosing a gray paver to coordinate with the concrete to surround/edge patios, or a subtle blend of pavers that had gray in them. The color we chose actually looked fine with the driveway.
-The design I wanted turned out to need some drains. Those drains always hold a little bit of water. That means we have mosquito breeding grounds on our patio and they either have to be maintained with poisonous dunks or try to cope in other ways. I would make sure that my next design did not need drains.
-I wish I had held out for a design with no steps at all except the aesthetic ones that go down to the lawn below. As it is, I have to do a long circuitous route to drag a wagon Full of tools or plants or baby trees etc. quite a long way to get it up to the patio. As I age, I am aware that a simple accident could be a huge annoyance.
- not thinking carefully enough about the style of the house & personal aesthetic, together. A lot of suburban creations are difficult to Peg, stylistically, and ours is no exception. It's a little more casual Texas colonial on the front and a little more farmhouse on the back, siding and stone facade...not the standard Italianesque or “Contemporary“ home from that era. I’m sorry now that I was seduced by the random-size-random-pattern that was popular at the turn of the millennium. The choice isn’t terrible. But. It wants something that feels a bit more traditional and my personal aesthetic wants something a bit more minimal. I should have found the sweet spot instead of going on trend.
- textured retaining walls eat up string trimmer line like crazy. Expensive. & Who knows how much plastic ended up in my landscape over the years. A smoother retaining wall brick would’ve been better.
- Or, I would have added a bed in front of the retaining wall, but then I would’ve lost the fantastic thigh high access to my “raised bed“ created by the retaining wall.
-I wish I could have predicted the problem of chemical trails from airplanes dropping God knows what onto the surfaces of our home and vehicles. And all my 62 years I have never seen anything like it on my car, on the surfaces in our area.It’s not like mold or mildew that grows in the darker, damper areas. It’s literally a dark coating on everything that isn’t protected by an overhanging roof or a vehicle that’s parked on the driveway a lot. There’s a whole lot of power washing going on in our neighborhood. Power washing is not great for pavers. So honestly, If I knew then that this was going to be such a problem, I would have used real bricks in a softly coordinating color to edge real concrete, everything mortared to the hilt, As easy to clean as possible. Coordinating retaining blocks in a smoother Finish, and I would probably have fully terraced the yard to the extent that the HOA would allow,
- every edge becomes a maintenance issue. Things get messy between raised beds in our area where weeds grow insanely fast and freely. I’ve done my lifetime servitude weeding the paths of community gardens and in my own garden. Never again. if I do any more garden construction, there will be mow strips at the edge of any spot where grass likes to grow into beds or plants like growing into the lawn. The paths will be made of lawn grass and large coordinating flagstones set into the turf. Easy maintenance. Mow and go every week. Periodically trim the crisp edge while keeping stolons from creeping through retaining walls into beds. Once a year cut back any grass creeping over the flag stones. That way the paths always look pretty nice year-round with the least effort. Or the least effort short of paving it entirely.
Wow you worked so hard and it looks fantastic!!!
I plan on doing something like this in the next year. We have a sloped yard and it's gorgeous but we want to flatten out some of it to have a firepit. Thank you for your video. It taught me to find a friend with a tractor 😄
Congratulations! The terrace looks amazing and well built. I appreciate what a lot of work this was.
WHOA! what an amazing job Sir!
Congrats and looks great!
They look amazing!!! I can't wait to see the garden beds full of life ❤️
Looks great. Will be absolutely beautiful when finished and planted ❤.
That was wonderful, that system looks really great, I hope it stands up to the soil movement. I love watching howto's, even though at my age I will never be doing it.
Nice job!
WOW! Pretty! 😍
I put in a walkway last year, a much simpler project. It was extremely satisfying, but I'll admit the leveling was absolutely maddening lol. This project was years in the making for me between slowly acquiring the materials and finding the time to put into it. Your work looks absolutely beautiful, it completely transformed your space and I know you'll be enjoying the fruits of your labor for years to come!
Oh, how lovely! I may be able to do something like this on a MUCH smaller scale. This gave me some good ideas. Thank you and happy gardening!
The walls look so good! I love how they are turning out. I'm excited to see your first garden on the new property bursting with life!
Your video is well done and concise. I believe it will be super helpful for anyone looking for a solution to a sloping hillside or even a different style of raised beds for gardens. Great job!
At some point we will put terraces in our front yard so I can install 4 raised beds. This video is awesome. Thank you Brian for showing us how hard you worked. I love your little tamping dance. 🤩
It's gorgeous!!
Great project and spectacular results. It’s given me the confidence to seriously consider doing it myself.
Making terraces on any compass direction of slope is vastly worthwhile. I have mentioned to others of using (my) half terrace raised garden beds. With another YTer and his once-owned prepper acreage, establishing a flatlander garden, and then having a back slope that wasn't used for 20 feet of height - a most excellent source of diagonal (near-vertical) gardening options !!! Instead of having a fully raised (100%) garden bed atop a flatland area or a terraced slope - consider - using half-raised (50%) beds for all vegs and smaller flowers, bushes, shrubs, small trees, and dwarf fruit trees on a slope. Consider a slope looking upwards at it. Using garden wood, rails, or here displayed stonework walls, dig into the start of the slope for the depth of 16-24 inches. This will be (depending on the size of stonework you install) or timberworks, going to be ~2-3 rows of vertical stonework. Dig back into the slope bank for that depth. Do all of the levels of a "I__I" or "I_______I" shape, and install your stonework or timberwork. You have done 1/2 of the work in making a terraced bed, and saved 1/2 of your soil for a garden, vineyard, orchard, or mini-forested acreage. You have also saved 1/2 of your stonework or timberworks as well. Now - shovel and rake DOWN from the upper slope into that half-raised bed (and add in any additional potting soil, garden soil etc to make a truly exceptional grow bed matrix. Do this single long line of terraced bed or make smaller terraced beds that can be walked between. Install a rock or wood stairway up to the next level. At the upper-slope end of the terrace bed excavate down and create your flat walkway ~24 inches in width. You want terraces of food, and you want adequate horizontal walkways between the vertical-sloping terraced beds. Continue up the slope with additional excavating, terrace bed, vertical walkway, and horizontal walkway. In this 20 feet of sloping height (that was literally also 45 degrees angle of slope for a right triangle , and its actual front-slope edge on the flat surface to the back-slope edge of the top of the whole sloping landscape is also 20 feet. This is a 1 to 1 slope - or for every foot up - you go back 1 foot. So having a 16 inch depthed terrace bed with inbetween walkways up the slope, you can create you literally can make
With reasonable construction of this 20 foot tall slope, 45 degree angle of 28 1/4 feet of actual slope surface, and the slope pushing forward 20 feet, each terrace (at a minimum) is ~2 feet outward and ~ feet downward. This would be a total of (maximum) 10 terraces per this slope. Making it 7 terraces of 14 feet outward and 14 feet downward or 8 terraces of 16 feet outward and 16 feet downward is more reasonable. So for a worthless 20 foot slope you have turned it into a terraced bed slope of just ONE single terraced bed of (example) 2 x 3 terrace bed = 6 sq ft into a vertical-sloped terrace line ... 7 x 2 ft outward x 3 width = 42 sq ft or 8 x 2 x 3 = 48 sq ft. Multiple that by what length you want to do the rest of the slope sideways. In his situation of 50 feet of slope this would be a total gain of 2100 - 2400 sq ft in the most-smallest of vertical landscape gardening.
You want the inward side of the garden bed for the smaller veggies with small roots (radishes, lettuces). Big tubers and root vegs (daikons, carrots, beets, potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams) you want in the forward edge of the bed. Depending on the compass direction of the terraced bed, there are sun-loving and shade-loving vegs and plants. If there is a south-facing bed, then put the taller and thickers vegs in the front, shading the backside vegs (corn and lettuces etc). If you have small sun-loving vegs, then put them in the forward (deep) section, while you can grow corn or trellised tomatoes, cucumbers, gourds, etc in the back still getting their big portion of sunlight. You don't have to make a 4-5-6+ stonerow of terraces for a veggie bed. If you do grow on terraced beds, such taproot trees, then yes, you need to consider how deep that tap root will be (along with its horizontal tree roots) and make accomodations for its growth. In this example of a friend, what was 20 feet tall by 100+ feet wide (2,000 sq ft) of useless ground could turn into 4,000+ sg ft of growing space in a limitted area (saving flatlander ground for other needed uses). Also with the bigger viney plants not trellised (watermelons, gourds, squash, zucchini - that could be also trellised and have such holders holding up the fruit ...) allow their vines to hang over the terraced grow bed wall for extra growth and sunlight (the very reason for having multiple smaller beds than having a jumble of vines covering up usuable grow space.
Also if doing stonework terrace beds or walls, then consider not making a stone-to-stone tight terrace wall or bed. Make 1 - 2 inch separations, and put in dirt, then put in strawberry plants (strawberries love rock hidey holes), and put in marigolds or other small flowering plants. Anti-insect and -bug plants (marigolds etc) brighten up a wall but provide all the needed stink to stop snails, slugs, ants, etc from crawling up the stonework or timberwork into the garden delicacies. If you do timberwork walls, then drill out holes for flowers or plants is also a doable option. And if you grow herbs, then these terrace walls are good for growing basil, rosemary, thyme, mint, spearmint, peppermint, anise, fennel, hyssop, etc as an herb wall. Don't waste space. Use it !
As you have these slope beds, then you have perfect human body alignment with tall veggies and small veggies. No nore total bending down to pull carrots, or standing up and harvesting corn, the slope adjusts your heights to the veggies that are grown across the terraced beds. No more or less sore knees, legs, shoulders, and back.
By doing this method of terracing you will have saved 1/2 of soil, 1/2 of all stonework or timberworks, and still have full terraced beds for veggie garden, herb garden, vineyard, orchard, or a mini-forest of a permaculture food forest environment.
Wish you’d make a video showing all this… It sounds amazing….
@@jrs3359 just easy to understand. (1) Piece of paper and draw a slope. (2) Another piece of paper and draw a flat landscape with a raised bed garden on it. (3) Draw a diagonal line (same slope line) on the raised bed. (4) Transfer the upper portion of the diagonal raised bed to the slope. Done. 2x as many raised beds with the same volume of soil. Shallow depth for shallow plants (lettuce, radish), deep ends for roots and tubers (potatoes, carrots, ...). South-facing deep end with corn or huge viney plants (pumpkins, watermelon) and allow vines to hang over and outside. North-upslope for semi-shade-needed plants by south-downslope plants (corn). No more need to tear up entire slope and then installed terraced wood or concrete block structures - use 1/2 of product and use natural slope. Far easier to also hoe or harvest vegs - less leaning over, bending, stooping, ... can kneel or knee pads and work the bed with ease. Also 1/2 soil volume is 1/2 irrigation water !
It would take my husband and myself a year of weekends to get that done. Looks really nice Brian.🌷💚🙃
That is what I was thinking. Paying for professionals to install it might have been worth the extra cost to save time.
I live Tennessee, everything is terraced. Helpful guidance!
It looks fantastic. Thanks for the instruction. I have a hill that's much steeper, but much shorter in width. It's a bear, and although it does have a retaining wall at it's base, the dirt overflows it because it is not terraced. This is a great way to make it a useable space for planting or maybe even a small deck too!
I would suggest rebar through the hole in the bottom layer of stones going into the ground for stability
Love how the terraces look! Got my book today and am so excited to read it and get to planning for this years garden!
You did an awesome job and I love the look.! I have a hillside that's unusable so I am going to check into RCP to create a terraced garden. Thanks for showing all the steps with details so I have a better understanding of what is needed for this project. Looking forward to seeing the garden blossom.
Holy smokes!! What a great looking garden!! The retaining wall looks like a professional built it!! Personally, I would have installed a Hot Tub first. 😉
Thanks for the details. It's so needed. Wondering if you could give us a painting tutorial for making a container look like concrete? Concrete containers are SO expensive. You're so creative, and your other painting techniques are fabulous.
I can't tell you how much I love your book! I've been studying it nonstop since I received it! I'm in southeast Alabama in zone 8. I'm getting ready to start adding more raised beds and inground bed to my gardening space. We deal with a multitude of pests and disease here so I'm hoping companion planting will help. Thank you for writing your book!
Wow. Thank you
I love this! I have just such a hill and I'm excited to start terracing it! ❤
Thanks for sharing.. looks great and is very useful 👍🏾
Your handiwork is beautifully done and very tidy... and I love seeing the plans for your garden bed...your hardwork and dilligence is paying off..well done...
It looks good G. I don't like raised beds but I could work with this.
Looks beautiful, can't wait to see all the greenery that will really put it over the top!
That is really great looking! Can't wait to see it all filled in with plants!
It looks really nice. Wish I had neighbors with tools and tractors like you! Can’t wait to see what you plant!
Thank you for your helpful videos. I have multiple gardens and I am working on increasing my garden. There is a patio room with a porch here. I have garden plots surrounding on both sides of the patio room. Off the porch is raised beds. I want more containers on the porch. And I need more vertical garden structures for certain crops. I have subscribed and I have been watching your videos to get a plan to improve my produce.
Great tutorial Brian! A lot of work. We’re rebuilding a keystone retaining wall that has sunk in the middle due to water run off and gopher tunnels! I like the style of keystone block you chose and since I’m adding a new wall below the one we have to fix I will see about the one you chose.
Absolutely beautiful…thanks for videoing all that to help us!
You are starting to make your new property look as good as the old one. Great job! ♥ Your walls look very fancy.
OMG what a massive project and it looks beautiful! You are such a hard worker. Thanks so much for sharing the how to. My niece recently bought a house with a large back yard and is looking for ideas. I think she would really like your channels - and your book!
This is great! We plan to add another terrace to the side of our yard that’s been an unusable dirt slope since we bought the house. There’s already a small flower bed there but I want to add another for more planting space/to help stop erosion.
I received your book today! I am so excited to glean more from it! Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
Fantastic! What will you plant on those outer slopes beyond the stone? Deep-rooted native plants maybe? What fun will follow planting this new garden!
I'm so proud 👏 of you. And I'm happy for you too. Enjoy your dream garden.
Great job Brian. It looks beautiful. I can’t wait to see it all full of wonderful vegetables. Very professional job. Lot of work But well worth it in the end it’s so beautiful.
It looks beautiful! You did a great job building those walls.
amazing!! it's so beautiful!!
This is amazing! Well done! I am sure it is soooo satisfying to see that hard work complete!!! 💪 🎉
Unfortunately there isn't a hill for miles around, Fl. Got plenty of sand I'm trying to convert to soil.
Thank you!
I hope you’re proud: that was a lot of work! 😳
Also, the tapping dance was my favorite. 😂
Great tutorial! No use for this right now, but you never know.....and I'm loving your book!!!!
Wow awesome job. I think it looks great. I was curious how they supported retaining walls. Now I know. Your instructions were very helpful in understanding the build. Thank you
Works well. 💪
What an amazing job! Awesome job.
That is gorgeous. Thanks for sharing.
Looks fantastic! I wish I had that amount of space. My project is laying pavers in a weed covered area. Then I’ll add planters.
Well done!
Well done Grasshopper.
It's stunning! I'm in San Bernardino County so it wouldn't be cost effective to use your vendor by hooray for them for the discount and all the advice they provided. You did a fantastic job and as you say, it will last a lifetime. I can't wait to see your veggies thrive n it.
I needed this. Thanks for explaining. It looks very nice!👍
Looks great
Beautiful! You're an artist AND an engineer AND a biology geek - anything else to add to your resume Renaissance Man...writer? musician? This was a very helpful video - good details and videography. I've done a few projects like this and although it seems the procedure is simple, it really is tricky and requires some finesse to get it level so your tips are great. I guess that's why you're on your way to a million subscribers :)
Not sure if I ever shared this with you but if you want to see the most amazing work that can done with the power of terracing watch the Regreening the Desert with John D. Liu a vpro documentary. Keep on terracing!
i have an area someday I'd like to use this for fruit bushes and trees, but I'd want to get the riding mower onto each layer.
Looking good Brian! I don’t have an area that big and the wall I built was done all wrong after watching this. It’s maybe a do over.
Beautiful. Great job!
Doing a catch up on your videos...this is so interesting...learn something new everyday 👍
You can also make your string level and then measure down from the string with a tape measure instead of using the level!
Fantastic job!
We’re currently terracing part of our back yard to use as garden beds. We didn’t do the trench and gravel step. I hope they last. The bricks are a keystone product that has a lip on the back so they lock into place on top and behind the brick below them.
Looks great! I would love to build one.
Fantastic instructions‼️
I'm so jealous, you have dirt that you can dig with ease!
Only when damp. It's hard as a rock when dry
Beautiful!
Looks just great!
Looks great!
JUST BEAUTIFUL! What more can I say?