Raised bed against the house (brick)

[Glendale]

When we purchased our house there was some type of motar smeared on the bricks about 18 inches above the foundation. I have no idea why it is there, but would like to hide it with a raised flower bed. Would this cause any problems with the basement or the bricks if I sloped the bed away from the wall, but had it right up against the wall?

Thanks

[Chris]

No problem at all. If you view this article:

http://www.backyardgardening.net/article/brick-raised-bed/

It is exactly what I did.

Because you are raising the soil near the foundation, you're actually improving the grade. The bed will drain really well, so don't plant something that has high water needs in it, and if you want, you could smear waterproofer on the brick first, but I didn't.