Slopes And Level Differences At The Summer Cottage

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

When planning a summer cottage, a gardener will have to pay attention to a variety of factors and circumstances. For high-quality decoration and a spectacular view of the site, you need to catch and think over all the nuances. Of course, you should first choose a certain style of the garden. They choose a design, first of all, taking into account their own taste preferences, habits and fashion trends

But the conditions of the site do not always allow you to create a preferred atmosphere. These include the composition of the soil, the level of lighting and the relief of the territory. Therefore, areas on slopes or with surface drops require special attention from gardeners and landscape designers.

Most summer residents believe that the territory of a summer cottage with slopes is quite difficult in creating decorative elements and tiresome in terms of caring for the site. But not everyone has such an opinion. Some gardeners are even happy with the fact that they will have an extraordinary experiment and the possibility of installing original decorating details on an uneven area.

Moreover, the slopes themselves can be an excellent opportunity to bring comfort into the general atmosphere of the garden. Design designs for slope sites can be tailored to a wide variety of stylistic trends. Summer residents will be able to embody a lot of incredible ideas and connect their imagination.

Naturally, the preparatory process for a site with slopes will take a lot of time, because retaining walls, terracing and the installation of additional structures will be included here. But the result will show all the advantages of the efforts made and will delight its owner with a spectacular and charming look.

Terracing process

First of all, terracing of slopes on a site is the formation of special ledges (which are called terraces), reinforced with retaining walls. When terracing the landscape, several levels of the territory should be created. This procedure is often used in areas with a flat relief. They decorate slopes, ravine slopes and reservoirs with the help of terracing.

During the implementation of terracing on slopes, attention must be paid to inspecting the size of the entire territory. Usually the dimensions of the terraces are no more than eighty centimeters. The width, at least, should include four to five meters. As for the number of terraces, it is also difficult to give an unambiguous answer here. A lot of circumstances affect this factor, including the size of the site itself. Most often, two or four terraces are installed in the garden. But the larger the site, the more ledges are introduced into the territory.

To prevent excess moisture from accumulating on the terraces, it is required to create specialized drainage systems, drainages or storm sewers. The advantages of terracing the territory include the creation of a mass of possibilities for decorating landscaping, because each ledge can be decorated separately from the other. It is worth noting that slope terracing is a kind of soil protection from landslides and erosion. There is also a high-quality zoning of the garden. For example, in this way, you can separate the front area from the recreation area.

About retaining walls

Horizontal terraces during terracing should be reinforced with special retaining walls. Such a structure is necessary in any case. The size and shape of the terraces do not matter here. Retaining walls are called a part of the vertical planning of the site. The engineering structure becomes the possibility of treating the garden surface and serves to fix the soil mass. The walls restrain the movement of the earth. For a spectacular look, retaining walls are often decoratively processed. Not only in landscape design, retaining walls are used as similar elements. They are found in industry and construction. In structures, even stones or bricks, as well as wooden materials, can serve as a retaining wall. In the case of a rustic garden, retaining walls should be created by installing vertically placed logs. At the dacha, their shape is not always straightforward. Curved or flaky details look more beautiful. In general, the type of retaining walls depends on the style of the garden.

There are capital and light retaining walls. They differ in height. The former can reach three meters, while the latter always have a height below one hundred centimeters. Capital elements are more suitable for installation on loose soils. Moreover, they are additionally sprinkled with gravel or fine gravel for stability.