Andy Scott

@Jean-Paul Calderone WOW I've never heard of this hugelkultur style of raised bed gardening. It's super interesting, I may have to find a way to incorporate this into my planning and design. So many great ideas right now, thanks so much

@Steve Thorn Thanks for the feedback. I think my biggest concern is how I'm going to prevent soil from getting into the drainage pipe(s). Also I'm not certain about the wastewater that would be coming through the drainage under the raised parking spot. That's why I was considering running the drainage to a separate rain garden. Still not sure what direction I'll go, but hopefully the feedback on here will be beneficial!

I have a familiarity with designing raised beds and a working knowledge of construction techniques. What I'm lacking though, is knowledge about irrigation and drainage, so I'm seeking out advice from the internet. Here's the situation, my new backyard is slightly sloped towards the house with a raised car parking spot (see attached photo) and I want to design/construct a raised bed around the drainage pipes from the raised spot. What I need to decide is whether or not I should try to incorporate the drainage pipes into the raised bed irrigation or just divert a new drainage pipe(s) through the bed and create small rain garden to absorb excess rainwater? I'm planning on growing vegetables in the bed(s) and rotating them in succession with the seasons and leaving it dormant in the winter only. I've attached some sketches to this post as well to give you all an understanding of the idea I originally conceived. I'd love to hear how some things work vs. better ways to accomplish my goal. Additionally, I'll try to answer any questions about the environment/site, plans for veggie selection and/or design implementation. I hope to start construction in March 2019, so I still have a decent amount of time to figure out all of the details.

Thanks in advance for any feedback!