How to Make a Terrace
Making a terrace is a simple way to create a garden-able space from a steep slope. Terracing creates flattened areas where plants can root down and grow straight up. On a steep slope, plants have to struggle just to stay in the ground, but a terraced space allows them to relax and do what they are meant to do — flower, fruit, and seed.
Here’s a no nonsense guide to doing it yourself.
You will need:
A flat, strong gardening shovel.
A smaller digging implement of some kind.
A strong box, bin, or tarp to put the soil you remove while carving your steps.
1. Rip out any ivy, kudzu, or other groundcover
Vehemently, gladly, passionately tear it out. Get mad at it. Have a catharsis. Ivy and kudzu are invasive species and have absolutely no business taking up space where you could be growing food.
2. Observe and assess your cleared slope
How many steps do you want to carve out? How wide do you want them to be? Well, it depends on what I'm going to plant, you might think. Actually, it depends on you. Here's a good rule of thumb: Stretch out your arm. Your steps should be no wider than a comfortable arm's length, say from a few inches above your elbow to your fingertips. Otherwise, how will you reach to the back of each step?
If you plan for four steps and end up with five, or vice versa, it doesn't matter at all. Go with it.
3. Carve out the steps
About a foot or so (30 cm) vertical from where your feet are planted, begin carving out your first step. Press the edge of your shovel into the earth to etch a horizontal line straight across the earth to mark your first step. Now start digging it out in earnest, putting the soil in your box, bin, or tarp. When you have made just enough new flat surface to stand on, stand on your first step. Measure with your eye up another 30 cm or so and mark the next step. Proceed. When your steps are all carved out, take a rest. See what you've accomplished. Stretch your arms to the sky. Smile.
4. Gently open the surface soil of each step
with your smaller digging implement. Gently. You just want to aerate the soil a bit, don't break up all the clods or make the soil powdery. Those clods are important to the soil structure and to hold nutrients.
5. Sit on one of the steps, put your hands in the soil and inhale deeply. Breathe in the good smell of the earth, hold it for a moment. Exhale.
6. Lightly cover the surfaces of your new terrace
You can use pea gravel, mulch, leaves, or even pieces of cardboard. The point is you don't want a heavy rain to hit the newly exposed soil directly, washing out nutrients and minerals. The soil of terraces are like a new skin; protect it.
Additional Instructions
Be careful where you throw the plants you rip out. They will re-root and spread. I recommend putting them in a trash bag in a dark place until they are dead. Really dead. Then you can bury them. The invaders are incredibly tough and will grow back in your new garden, no matter how thoroughly you tear them out. The best way to keep invasive species and weeds at bay is to plant other plants right away.
Make use of the soil you took out carving your steps to fill any containers you can find--planters, large water bottles cut in half, yogurt containers, etc. You can start seeds in the smaller containers and use the larger ones for herbs and edible flowers. Voilà. Another garden!
Interested in learning how to plant your own food forest at home? Visit our partner site, Harvest Drive House for more information.
Harvest Drive House is an urban land regeneration project based in Winchester, Virginia on 0.17 acres,
modeling how to more strategically use the land surrounding a typical American home to both produce food and create a healthy ecosystem.
Kristen Krash is the co-founder and director of Sueño de Vida, a regenerative cacao farm and reforestation mission in Ecuador. Sueño de Vida works to educate and inspire everyday people about permaculture, sustainable living, environmental activism, and healthy living all in the name of living more in harmony with nature.
You can support the Sueño de Vida mission today by purchasing our cacao or contributing to direct reforestation.
Thank you.