Terrace Garden Tips

Location

• You can build your terrace above or below ground or at ground level. The simplest of the three options is installing the garden at ground level. To install either a sunken or raised garden, you also need to also install a retaining wall to prevent erosion in the garden. Use bricks, concrete blocks or stones for building the retaining wall. The most complicated step in building a raised garden is getting it level.

Soil Preparation

• It is important to enrich your garden soil with things such as compost, cow manure, peat moss or rich loam. This ensures that you fertilize your soil adequately, as erosion causes soil to lose richness. To prepare your garden floor, lay burnt bricks on the level floor of your garden and cover them with wire mesh to keep the soil out of the bricks.

Drainage

• You can provide drainage to your garden by a using a central drain that leads to a drain tile line or by an underground pipe near your retaining wall. You need to install drainage pipes at various locations throughout the garden. If you do not install proper drainage to your garden, it will turn into a mud pit and your plants will die or become stagnant.

Plants

• Choose plants according to the amount of sunlight your terrace garden receives. Check the information card on plants to select the most appropriate plants. Plants with fibrous root systems are ideal for terrace gardens. Other successful terrace garden plants include sunflowers, herbs and money plants, as well as palm and flowering plants.