Sloping plot

[susieq100]

I've just got an allotment (Hurrah!!) but it has not been cultivated for the best part of 30 years. The Council came in to the site with a digger and scraped off all the brambles etc that have accumulated over all that time and there are are huge bramble roots to dig out and wild bits growing. Huge pyramids of soil, weeds, roots etc. But most of the plots are clear(ish). Mine is on a bit of a slope. I am going to use raised beds - they have worked really well at home in the back garden - but should I put them longways so that the slope is on the long or the short axis of the bed? I know what I mean, I hope that you do? I was thinking of 4 feet wide by about 10-12 feet depending on what size retainers I can get hold of.

[Woofster]

Hi susieq100, I too have a plot that is on a slope - quite a steep one about 30-40 degree incline. It too had been abandoned for about 15 years. The council cleared (strimmed) it for me initially but I have been battling away since. It has needed regular strimmimng plus several applications of glyphosate and it still looks wild in the parts I have not cultivated yet.
I use raised beds which are horizontal to the slope. It is not all doom and gloom and I now have 10 8' x 4' raised beds as well as 5 4' x 4' beds which are producing good stuff.
It is hard work but worth it. Just do it a bit at a time. Good luck !

[Capsid]

Yes, I recommend horizontal to the slope, that way you can retain water by making little gullies between rows. Rather like terracing for paddy fields.

[susieq100]

thanks folks and 2nd question

That's brilliant. thanks for the help. I have been digging out bramble roots - huge gnarly things with taproots that go down to the centre of the earth! However, the soil is beautiful - a lovely fine light tilth. Hoping to get a couple of beds constructed this weekend on the bits I have cleared. As the land has been 'fallow' (sort of) for a very long time, will brassicas be Ok in un-manured soil? I could top feed.

[tootles]

Another possibility for your slope is to terrace it.
The problem with the slope is that however freedraining your soil - there will always be water pooling downhill when you water and in heavy rain your soil will want to go too! The flatter the better! If you make the downhill side of the rised bed higher than the uphill side (if you see what I mean) then you shouldn't have too much of a problem.
My plot is on a huge slope and I have terraced the whole site, but I shall have to split it and terrace again this Autumn I think...

[Snadger]

I garden on a slope and have terraced it. I have just boarded the front of most beds but eventually, once I've collected enough old bricks, I intend to put brick retainers round them which will be higher at the front than the back.

[lynda66]

if terracing, put things that like more water at the bottom, and things that don't at the top, ....... gosh that was very logical for me

Lynda xx

[Snadger]

if terracing, put things that like more water at the bottom, and things that don't at the top, ....... gosh that was very logical for me

Lynda xx

Sounds logical I know but my soil is 'heavier' at the top of the plot and retains water whilst the sandier soil towards the bottom is more free draining!

Often thought though,that a trench watering system set around the edge of the beds and meandering towards the bottom would make an interesting alternative to a seep hose?

[lynda66]

that blew that then ....... ok if your soil isn't heavier at the top .................

or you could just dig all the soil out of the top, and put it at the bottom, so it's all level ........ gosh i'm full of good ideas today

[Snadger]

that blew that then ....... ok if your soil isn't heavier at the top .................

or you could just dig all the soil out of the top, and put it at the bottom, so it's all level ........ gosh i'm full of good ideas today

Gosh, why didn't I think of that!

[lynda66]

Gosh, why didn't I think of that!

dunno, maybe you is not as brainy as wot i am

[Snadger]

dunno, maybe you is not as brainy as wot i am

.........probably!

[lynda66]

either that or not as stupid lol

[cathabercaseg]

4 feet sounds a bit wide, you will have to walk on the beds to plant & weed in the middle. YOu can stand on a plank though to avoid compressing the soil too much. I would do lengthways down the hill to help with drainage if that is a problem in your area. If not I can't imagine it would matter too much which way you had the beds orientated.

[susieq100]

Thanks for all the advice; after all of that the Allotment Secretary has offered me a plot at the bottom of the hill on the flat. the person who was going to take it over originally pulled out! And after I had dug and planted a bed 14' by 4'. Cathabercaseg - you were right, 4' was a bit wide and I did have to stand on a board!! However, word on the street (allotment wise) is that I can dig up my brassicas and transfer them to my 'new' plot. Lord, I thought I was excited before but now I am really looking forward to getting stuck in. Roll on the 6 weeks hols.