Hi all. I have a large yard in Seattle, right by Lake Washington, mild
climate. I planted vegetables last year for the first time and had
tremendous success with tomatoes and cukes on a flat, sunny part of my yard.

My available planting space would be dramatically expanded if there are
vegetables that would tolerate being planted on a slope in our back yard.
The slope is fairly steep, perhaps 30-40 degrees, and during the summer
would be partially shaded by all of the trees and brush that surround it.

Can anyone suggest some vegetables that might do well on the slope? I was
thinking cucumbers might work OK; they seem to require less in the way of
sun than things like tomatoes.

Thanks in advance for your help! Gardening is fun, even for computer geeks!

-KF

A lot of leafy greens don't require full sun - various lettuces, spinach,
etc. I think cabbage family stuff does better though in full sun - so
collards, cale, etc would not work as well. But parsley and mint would also
be fine in partial shade.
"Ken Fine" wrote in message
...
Hi all. I have a large yard in Seattle, right by Lake Washington, mild
climate. I planted vegetables last year for the first time and had
tremendous success with tomatoes and cukes on a flat, sunny part of my
yard.

My available planting space would be dramatically expanded if there are
vegetables that would tolerate being planted on a slope in our back yard.
The slope is fairly steep, perhaps 30-40 degrees, and during the summer
would be partially shaded by all of the trees and brush that surround it.

Can anyone suggest some vegetables that might do well on the slope? I was
thinking cucumbers might work OK; they seem to require less in the way of
sun than things like tomatoes.

Thanks in advance for your help! Gardening is fun, even for computer
geeks!

-KF

On Fri, 12 Mar 2004 21:57:33 -0800, "gregpresley"
wrote:

A lot of leafy greens don't require full sun - various lettuces, spinach,
etc. I think cabbage family stuff does better though in full sun - so
collards, cale, etc would not work as well. But parsley and mint would also
be fine in partial shade.

Which way is your slope facing? How large is it?
You'll have better results with one that is south facing, next best is
west or east facing, and you could be dealing with serious shade if it
is north facing.

If your slope is south facing, you have some serious early garden
potential. It's soil will be warm before any other part of your
garden, and it will receive full sun until the trees leaf out.
Put in a cold frame, and you can have greens in January and February!

The cut off for when full sun plants will do well in partial shade is
six hours. If they are getting six hours of full sun, they will be
just fine, just a little less vigorous than their sun blasted
neighbours.

Rhubarb and raspberries will be satisfactory - just not as sweet
asthey would be in full sun. Also try lovage (celery's bigger wilder
cousin) One plant will keep a family of four in cooked celery flavour
(soups, stocks, stews) after it's second year. They get pretty
spectacular when they flower - 6 ft tall. Chives will do OK there , as
will chevril, winter and summer savouries, - just not as vigorous as
in full sun. Lovage, mint, chives and most other herbs are perennials,
the chevril and summer savoury are annuals..

If your slope is a larger one (anything longer than 6 ft) I'd suggest
adding some terracing as time goes on - just boards staked into the
ground will do. When you are gardening on a slope that steep, you will
run into issues of surface erosion earch time you cultivate the soil.
A bit of terracing (and lots of mulching) will control that.

Shirley Hicks
Toronto

"gregpresley" wrote in message ...
A lot of leafy greens don't require full sun - various lettuces, spinach,
etc. I think cabbage family stuff does better though in full sun - so
collards, cale, etc would not work as well. But parsley and mint would also
be fine in partial shade.

Essentially correct. Never buy greens again, even though you are
gardening in partial shade. But collard does reasonably well in less
than full sun. I have one bed that is substantially more shaded than
the other beds, and that one is used exclusively for radicchio and
lettuce. The shadiest part of my garden has sorrel. Garlic and various
hardy greens do also well because they grow quite a bit before the
trees leaf out. Mache even goes to seed before the trees leaf out.
Other things that do reasonably well in part sun include chard,
potatoes, carrots and arugula. These are all fairly easy-to-grow
vegetables, mostly immune to disease and productive. Many of them will
overwinter in Seattle, providing 12 year round vegetables (I
overwinter collard, lettuce, radicchio, tatsoi and arugula under cover
in Michigan). One can push the envelope and try kale, some squashes
and cherry tomatoes on the slope, which are the most shade tolerant of
all tomatoes. I would use the flat spot solely for heat loving
veggies, such as tomatoes and peppers.

Finally, having gardened on a slope in CA, I suggest some terracing to
avoid losing the topsoil to runoff. Nothing fancy or pretty, just a
little stabilization.