Do raised beds need to be level?

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Sam Houston

Sam Houston

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I'm planning on making a raised bed garden but the land here is hilly and rolls in all different directions. Do my beds really need to be level, or can I just adjust my method of watering to account for the slope? I am worried I'll have to dig quite a bit into the ground to make a level bed.
 
Obviously, this is up to you. If you have tilted raised beds, water will seep deeper on the downhill side, so you will need to consider this. Making raised beds level only means digging down the high half of the raised bed, and adding that dug out soil into the lower portion of the bed to make it level, so your work would be cut in half to make level raised beds.
 
havasu said:
Obviously, this is up to you. If you have tilted raised beds, water will seep deeper on the downhill side, so you will need to consider this. Making raised beds level only means digging down the high half of the raised bed, and adding that dug out soil into the lower portion of the bed to make it level, so your work would be cut in half to make level raised beds.
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Yup

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Ben
 
Sam Houston said:
I'm planning on making a raised bed garden but the land here is hilly and rolls in all different directions. Do my beds really need to be level, or can I just adjust my method of watering to account for the slope? I am worried I'll have to dig quite a bit into the ground to make a level bed.
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Yes reason being if they aren't I will walk with a twitch until they are fixed 😂
 
I tried just leaving strips of grass between the garden rows, I think that I will try it again, but I will need to find a rear bag lawn mower, still nicer than walking in mud, or weeding in mud
 
I always had mine level and waist high. I don't like bending over due to back injuries. I filled them half full of gravel. I might suggest terracing your beds like the Hunzas do their fields. Several long length but narrow width, level beds, with walking space between, can make an easy care and efficient raised bed garden.
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Ive built 10 beds 2' high. Some are reasonably flat. A couple of them are on a slope. Haven't seen a difference in production. The compost does seem to migrate a little more. My slope isn't drastic. Maybe a 4-6" drop over 4 feet. I made most of mine from aluminum roofing. Wouldn't be hard to cut one side longer than the other to level them out some. There are ways around a drastic slope.
 
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Thanks folks. After some contemplation I think I'll try my hand at leveling the beds. My slope isn't as extreme as some others in the thread have mentioned so I'm not sure if leveling is necessary but at least the low amount of slope means it'll be less work to level. I'll try to report back this weekend to tell you how the leveling goes.
 
Although water will run and settle downhill, if you water the dirt regularly the dirt will retain the moisture but the excess will settle at the bottom. If you water too much it will flood at the surface towards the lower end of the raised bed. If your soil is good quality it will absorb and hold the water for the plants to use. If the soil is lousy and unable to retain the moisture, sandy or gravely without organic matter to hold the water it wont matter if it is level or not.
Just my thoughts.
I have a berm along the property line on the uphill side of my property I have it planted with trees and various plants. I use drip irrigation on the top of the berm and the water soaks the top and then works it way down the side (and inside) of the berm to the other plants. Everything is happy. Well, except for July and August when the sun is brutal and the temps are above 90* in this high desert area.
 
Sam Houston said:
Thanks folks. After some contemplation I think I'll try my hand at leveling the beds. My slope isn't as extreme as some others in the thread have mentioned so I'm not sure if leveling is necessary but at least the low amount of slope means it'll be less work to level. I'll try to report back this weekend to tell you how the leveling goes.
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Here is a pic that shows mine on the slope. Again its not a lot, but I'm having no problems with them
 

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Bacpacker said:
Here is a pic that shows mine on the slope. Again its not a lot, but I'm having no problems with them
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Alright, this pic has made me reconsider. Here is a pic of the bed. Is it worth leveling this? When I look at it in person it seems a lot more uneven than in pictures, lol. The level is on the final, right-most section.
 

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I would try a garden hose level and find out what the total drop is over 20 feet. you may have to put some kind of cross barrier int to stop erosion in heavy rain or put in dividers and close to level each section. the slope is far less than I had envisioned
 
There are two kinds of raised beds
1) first is the in the ground bed, most are double dug, some have post or rocks around the bed. They stay wetter than the 2nd type of bed & need to be fairly level to stop washing away of compost.
2) Is a bed built up from ground level & can be fairly level, but if you do not full it fill, than no washing away of soil.
You should do what is best for you & call it freedom of expression.
 
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