How to repair an ugly eroding terrace

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Every neighborhood has one... an ugly eroding terrace.

They are common along streets without curbs, where people park on the bare soil.

They happen where the curb breaks down, or where it's too shady for grass.

Muddy stormwater damages the lakes, so it's more than a local problem.

 

If you wait for the city to make a repair, Hell's going to freeze over first.  And the problem will get much worse, before it's fixed. 

You can fix it now, for a tiny fraction of what it would cost the city.

Fixing a terrace on Felton Place

A terrace--without a curb and on a steep hill--was eroding. Erosion was caused by shade too dark for grass to grow, and made worse by people parking beyond the pavement.

I began repairs with sod in the summer of 2011 (below)...

...but cars parking on the terrace during the spring of 2012 destroyed my previous work.

I resumed work in May of 2012, this time with shade-loving perennial plants, plus more sod. The deepest parts of gullies were filled with soil removed from rain gardens elsewhere. Reflective warning markers were added to keep cars off.

These woodland plants should survive and spread in the dense shade.

Because I repaired several hundred feet of terrace, the basic work of filling soil and adding sod and plants took about 6 hours.  This doesn't count removing the soil and sod for another rain garden project.  The plants were extras from nearby gardens.  Watering the plants while they take root will take additional time.

 

See more photos here.