Terracing a Small Corner

Strategies

• Planning even a small corner terrace requires thinking in two directions, both up and down. Building terraced beds on an already sloping surface may slow water-runoff and erosion. Raising a terrace from a flat yard surface, on the other hand, brings with it the drainage problems related to sloping land. The terrace needs to be built to hold in place the substantial weight of wet soil. Stone or brick walls need to be well-seated in soil, and wood terracing timbers require rebar or other anchors sunk deep into soil in order for the terrace to remain secure. In general, the width of a terrace bed be should be no more than 1 1/2 times the height of the wall restraining it. A terrace bed 18 inches wide, therefore, needs a restraining wall that is at least 1 foot tall. If your location receives frequent heavy rain, an option is to build a gravel drainage area under your terrace to keep it stable.

Shapes

• Building a corner terrace lets you create a shape custom fitted to the space. If the corner terrace will be next to stairs with a small, paved landing, then the most space-saving design is triangular. Tucked into a rectangular fence corner, your terrace might be triangular, rectangular or even L-shaped, following the lines of the fence. Plan rounded or curved edges to echo the curve of a path or patio, or use a mixture of shapes, rather like a fancy layer cake, to make your terrace as visually interesting as the plants and artifacts it holds.

Styles

• Let the style of your house and yard guide the design and style of your terrace. Your first decision is whether or not your terrace will contain permanent plantings. If your yard has formal flowerbeds, the desire for permanent plantings on the terrace can necessitate building brick or paving-stone-edged planting beds. If you have a more casual or naturalistic yard and garden, then wood beams, logs or carefully placed large rocks can provide room for native or rock-garden plants. In a xeriscape, or low-water-need, terrace garden area, rocks could be arranged to serve as shelves for a rotating selection of container plants. If your house is in a contemporary style, non-natural materials such as polished rock slabs, glass blocks and even cinder-block could be used to create a terrace that maintains a balance of natural and manufactured materials similar to those of the house.

Special Uses

• One reason a troublesome corner may have languished is that its growing conditions differ from those in the rest of the yard. A terrace for plants can turn the conditions into an asset and the terrace into a focal point. A terrace in a glaring-sunlight corner can be used as a Mediterranean-style herb garden. Fill a dark-corner terrace with plants that thrive in deep shade. Native stone can be used to create a terraced rock garden for Alpine plants. Arrange ranks of ceramic or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe or cinder-blocks to create a succulent garden in the corner terrace.