I have a really tall, steep bank that I want to put steps down to reach my shade garden on the other side of the creek.
We are putting rip-rap about 6 ft up the side of it to hold in the dirt.
I will plant ground cover up to the top then install another shady garden area on the top.
If anyone has a similar landscape and can give me some ideas I would be most grateful.
DHB want to use concrete blocks , yuck!
Thanks
Wow, that is really a pretty site. (a pretty sight too).
We have the same problem. Steep bank to a small flat spot above the lake. I will be interested in ideas people have also, as this is not an easy problem to solve.
We first put in large blocks of wood (round tree slabs, or stumps) stacking them overlapping just a little and adding a natural (beaver chewed) railing. This looked nice but only lasted a couple years and then became dangerous as it started to rot.
BIL has a steep hill also and put in short lengths of railroad ties for steps. He secured them in the ground with spikes on each side and then added gravel on flat spots between the steps. This looks nice and has held up for him for several years.
This year we did the same to a different area and it turned out nice. We are planning to replace the "stumps" with the flat railroad ties. Unless I see something better here?
Yes it is a big problem.
I was wondering if i could use the blocks as a base and then cover them with concrete of some kind. Has anyone done this?
Here is a picture after we laid down the rip-rap this week.
Another perspective.
That looks like our bank - find a good carpenter who can build you some redwood steps with rails. It shouldn't cost more than $300 and will last for years. That's what our neighbor did, and it looks and functions great! I think you can also buy them pre-made at HD and Lowes - you can in our area.
Instead of stairs, have you thought of putting a bridge across? There are lots of different style bridges to fit into almost any landscape design plan. That would make it a lot simpler to move things from one area to the other in a wheelbarrow.
Zany, A bridge is a good idea, however we already have one across this creek and DH does not want to build another. I thought another bridge would be nice too, but he nixed the idea.
