Terracing

Use terraces to make flower and vegetable

gardening possible on steep slopes, or simply

to add interest to your landscape.

In your backyard

Terraces can create several minigardens in your backyard. On steep

slopes, terracing can make planting a

garden possible.Terraces prevent

erosion by shortening the long slope

into a series of shorter, more level

steps.This allows heavy rains to soak

into the soil rather than run off and

cause erosion.

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Conservation Service

National Association of

Conservation Districts

Wildlife Habitat Council

April 1998

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One in a series of 10 tip sheets on backyard conservation

Backyard

Conservation

Terracing saves soil, makes better use of

water, and beautifies a landscape.
Materials for 

terraces

Numerous materials are available for

building terraces.Treated wood is

often used because of several advantages: it is easy to work with, blends

well with plants, and is often less

expensive than other materials.

There are many types of treated

wood on the market--from railroad

ties to landscaping timbers.These

materials will last for years.While

there has been some concern about

using these treated materials around

plants, studies by Texas A&M

University and the Southwest

Research Institute concluded that

these materials are not harmful to

gardens or people when used as recommended. Other materials for terraces include bricks, rocks, concrete

blocks, and similar masonry materials. Some masonry materials are

made specifically for walls and terraces and can be more easily

installed by a homeowner than other

materials such as field stone and

brick. Most stone or masonry products tend to be more expensive than

wood.

Height of walls

The steepness of the slope often dictates wall height. Make the terraces

in your yard high enough so the land

between them is fairly level. Be sure

the terrace material is strong enough

and anchored well enough to stay in

place through freezing and thawing,

and heavy rainstorms. Do not underestimate the pressure of waterlogged soil behind a wall. It can be

enormous and cause improperly constructed walls to bulge or collapse.

Many communities have building

codes for walls and terraces. Large

projects will need the expertise of a

professional to make sure the walls

can stand up to water pressure in

the soil. Large terraces also need to

be built with proper drainage and to

be tied back into the slope properly.

Because of the expertise and equipment required to do this correctly,

you will probably want to restrict

terraces you build yourself to no

more than a foot or two high.

Building a terrace

The safest way to build a terrace is

probably the cut and fill method.

With this method, little soil is disturbed, giving you protection from

erosion should a sudden storm occur

while the work is in progress.This

method will also require little, if any,

additional soil.

1. Contact your utility companies to

identify the location of any

buried utilities before starting to

excavate.

2. Determine the rise and run of

your slope.The rise is the vertical

distance from the bottom of the

slope to the top.The run is the

horizontal distance between the

top and bottom.This will help

you determine how many terraces you need. For example, if

your run is 20 feet and the rise is

8 feet and you want each bed to

be 5 feet wide, you will need 4

beds.The rise of each bed will be

2 feet.

3. Start building beds at the bottom

of your slope.You will need to

dig a trench in which to place

your first tier.The depth and

width of the trench will vary

depending on how tall the terrace will be and the specific

building materials you are using.

Follow the manufacturer’s

instructions carefully when using

masonry products. Many of these

have limits to the number of tiers

or the height that can be safely

built. If using landscape timbers

and your terrace is low (less than

2 feet), you only need to bury the

timber to about half its thickness

or less.The width of the trench

should be slightly wider than

your timber. Make sure the bottom of the trench is firmly

packed and completely level.

Place your timbers in the trench.

4. For the sides of your terrace, dig

a trench into the slope.The bottom of this trench must be level

with the bottom of the first

trench.When the depth of the

trench is one inch greater than

the thickness of your timber, you

have reached the back of the terrace and can stop digging.

5. Cut a timber to the correct

length and place in trench.

6. Drill holes through your timbers

and pound long spikes or pipes

through the holes and into the

ground.A minimum of 18” pipe

length is recommended; longer

pipes may be needed for stability

for higher terraces.

7. Place the next tier of timbers on

top of the first, overlapping corners and joints. Spike these

together.

8. Move soil from the back of the

bed to the front of the bed until

the surface is level.Add another

tier as needed.

9. Repeat, starting with step 2. In

continuously connected terrace

systems, the first timber of the

second tier will also be the back

wall of your first terrace.

10.The back wall of the last bed will

be level with the front wall of

that bed.

11.When finished, plant and mulch.

BACKYARD Terracing

2
Other options for

slopes

If terraces are beyond the limits of

your time or money, you may want

to consider other options for backyard slopes. If you have a slope that

is hard to mow, consider using

groundcovers other than grass.There

are many plants adapted to a wide

range of light and moisture conditions that require little care, but provide soil erosion protection.These

include:

Juniper (Juniperus horizontalis)

Pachysandra (Pachysandra terminalis)

Wintercreeper (Euonymus fortunei) 

English ivy (Hedera helix).

Periwinkle (Vinca minor)

Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster spp.)

Potentilla (Potentilla spp.)

Partridge berry (Gaultheria procumbens)

Heathers and heaths 

Stripcropping is another way to deal

with long slopes. Rather than terracing to make garden beds level, plant

perennial beds and strips of grass

across the slope. Once established,

many perennials are effective in

reducing erosion. Mulch also helps

reduce erosion.The erosion that may

occur will be primarily limited to the

garden area.The grass strips will act

as filter strips and catch much of the

soil that may run off the beds. Grass

strips should be wide enough to

mow across the hill easily as well as

wide enough to effectively reduce

erosion.

On the farm

Terraces catch runoff water, let the

water soak into the ground, and

deliver the excess safely to the bottom of a hillside much like

eavespouts on a house.The earthen

ridges built around a hillside on the

contour cut a long slope into shorter

slopes, preventing water from building to a highly erosive force. Some

terraces are seeded to grass, which

provides erosion control and a nesting area for birds.Terraces are often

used in combination with other conservation practices to provide more

complete soil protection.

Stripcropping is a common erosion

control practice on many farms.

Farmers often alternate strips of

corn or soybeans with strips of hay.

Many farmers put erosion prone

areas into permanent cover.

BACKYARD Terracing

3

The stair-step effect of terraces

gives you a level area to plant

on, reducing erosion and 

allowing more infiltration of

rainfall into the ground.
BACKYARD Terracing

4 Printed by the National Association of Conservation Districts 1-800-825-5547