How to Dig a Flower Bed Into a Hillside

Mark out the area where you want to dig a flower bed into a hill using spray paint or a garden hose. Walk down the hill and consider the size and shape of the flower garden, and adjust the dimensions to suit your taste. .

Remove the grass and sod from the area using a shovel. Ensure that you completely dig out all the roots to prevent the plants from emerging later in your flower bed.

Mix in organic compost to the parent soil to provide additional nutrients and improve soil drainage on the hillside. Dig the compost into the top 6 to 8 inches of the soil to create a rich planting medium that will help encourage rapid, healthy development of plants growing in the flower bed.

Cover the compost with a 2-inch to 3-inch layer of topsoil, and apply a general, well balanced flower fertilizer. Rake the topsoil smooth to complete the soil preparation.

Dig a 6-inch to 12-inch trench around the perimeter of the flower bed, and set the soil aside.

Cover the flower bed with an organic erosion control blanket, and secure the edge of the blanket to the bottom of the ditch using landscaping staples. An erosion control blanket is composed of tightly woven materials that allow moisture to trickle through slowly while protecting the soil in the flower bed from wind and rain erosion.

Repack the soil around the trench of the flower bed to hold the erosion control blanket in place.

Cut holes in the erosion control blanket in the areas where you want to plant flowers. Organic erosion control blankets will decompose slowly, allowing flowers to propagate naturally once established to create a full flower bed on a hillside.