Here are a couple thoughts and some Web sites: 1) As a self-professed beginner gardener, you may want to bring in someone who has this kind of background to help ensure that you're creating a landscape that will give you what you want when all the work's done. Terraces are a labor of love. Moving around large quantities of soil and wall materials is not something most folks take on as a hobby. You'll want to do this project only once, so do it well and move on to the enjoyable task of coloring and shaping the structure with plants. Build the "bones" of this endeavor right the first time so you won't have to rip out the whole thing later and fix problems that were preventable. I'm not suggesting that you have to bring in a landscape professional. That decision is based on a lot of things: the size of the project, the pitch of the slope, your budget plan for the project, etc. But you can contact local professional landscape organizations, the Chamber of Commerce, or the Better Business Bureau for more information about a particular landscaper. Look around for landscaped slopes similar to yours, and if you like what you see, find out who designed it. 2) Timbers used for terracing frequently have been treated to resist rot. Sometimes the chemical that's used to accomplish this goal is considered to be toxic. This is not such a concern when the plants near the timbers are nonedible (i.e., flowers, shrubs). It's more of a concern when you will consume some part of those plants (vegetables, fruits). If you know that you will devote at least a portion of this terraced landscape to vegetable production, then you will need to educate yourself on the various types of wood products available and choose according to your needs. A good place to start your landscaping education is the University of Minnesota's Extension Services Web sites. For example, there's a great one that tells you about the various options for landscaping timbers at http://www.sustland.umn.edu/implement/selecting_wood.html. Be sure to contact local agencies governing building permits in your area. Further, avoid building any wall taller than 2.5 feet because this often requires engineering permits. Walls need to be battered back 1/4 of an inch per course to avoid toppling over. Extension's Web site has good information for you to get ready for your project. It will be a valuable resource for you as a beginning gardener. You can check out the garden landscape design site at http://www.extension.umn.edu/topics.html?topic=5& subtopic=174. In addition, there is an article I think you will find very useful. It's all about building landscape walls with timbers. Check it out at http://www.sustland.umn.edu/implement/timber.htm.

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