Designing a Slope

Designing a bank (slope)

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Christelle's parents asked me to design and arrange a bank which would link their terrace to the lawn facing it.

This is where I got the compost I needed to enrich the soil: 0.03 euro/kg! Gotta be stupid to buy some in a supermarket, where it's 10 times that price. I'm trying to explain (without great success) to my stepfather that it would be even better to produce it with his own garden refuse.

The slope in question. First task consisted in stripping off the layer of grass.

Then, using a pickaxe, I had to break up the soil which proved to be as solid as concrete.

Spreading compost.


I also added sand in order to modify the structure of the soil which was far too compact. Sand and pebbles facilitate the drainage. A good drainage is important, otherwise the water stagnates and literally asphyxiates the ground.	Work in progress.	A quick watering to help sand and compost penetrate the freshly ploughed soil.	I also built a flight of stairs leading down to the lawn. It's a bit too straight for my liking, I had in mind to design something with curves, but the material available (paverprints) proved too rigid to do so.


Planting perennials and dwarf conifers. Given it's a slope exposed to strong winds, I opted for Alpine perennials meant to form red, yellow, white and blue carpets of flowers, the colours alternating through seasons.	And finally I created a brick rim to underline the gentle curve I conferred to the bank and to stress a neat separation from the lawn. I left a small gap between the bank and the rim, meant for the mud coming from erosion.	Now and then, you have to break up the crust which gradually forms on the surface of the slope. If you don't, the rain water flows without penetrating the soil.	You'll have to wait till next year for a preliminary result. And it should take at least two years for the perennials to spread all over the slope. Gardening is about patience...!


This is where I got the compost I needed to enrich the soil: 0.03 euro/kg! Gotta be stupid to buy some in a supermarket, where it's 10 times that price. I'm trying to explain (without great success) to my stepfather that it would be even better to produce it with his own garden refuse.	The slope in question. First task consisted in stripping off the layer of grass.	Then, using a pickaxe, I had to break up the soil which proved to be as solid as concrete.	Spreading compost.