Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Section 2: Raised Beds and Slope of Garden Site
The slope of your garden site is very important and determines the size, cost or effort re-
quired to build raised beds.
If the site is flat or if it slopes very little, you can build raised beds almost any length and
width as long as you have room. If the slope is very steep, you will be limited to building
small frames unless you move lots of dirt or build stair-stepped beds.
To measure slope over a short distance, you can use a carpenters level and a straight 8 or 10
foot board. A simple string and line level will measure slope over larger distances without
having to buy or borrow a survey level.
Figure 33 shows an example of a raised bed built on a flat to mild slope. Mild being defined
as the width of the lumber you plan to use is sufficient to level the bed.
If the rise (or drop) in the example is only 8 inches over a 10 foot length, 2 x 10 boards
wouldbewideenoughtocreatealevelraisedbed.Iftheriseofthesiteisonly6inchesover
the 10 foot length, 2 x 8 boards would be wide enough to create a level bed, but if the rise is
greater than the width of a 2 x 12 (11.25 inches), you will have to move some dirt, or build
shorter raised beds ( Figure 34 and Figure 35 ).
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