Landscaping with Retaining Walls

By J. A. Young

Retaining walls are generally installed in gardens and across landscapes to keep the soil in place and to create level terraces on which to garden. Slopes, even very steep ones, can employ retaining walls of stone or wood to transform a difficult gardening situation into a prime focal point of the garden. The following article offers some advice for building retaining walls as well as how to landscape a terrace garden.

Retaining walls need to be strong - strong enough to maintain the earth and water in their hold, so the building of such features is generally subject to stringent building code in most areas. First, assess the landscape, choose your slope and choose your materials. Retaining walls may be built with concrete, brick, stone and landscaping ties. Once upon a time, the ancient Romans simply built their walls with stones into the earth, without mortar. If you prefer stone, you must decide between a stone and earth retaining wall or a wall of mortared stone.

For the earth and stonewall, the slope must be excavated in L-shaped terraces that tilt slightly into the hill. The same goes for a mortared stonewall, but it should sit on a concrete footing installed below the frost line. Also, no mater what material you choose to build with - brick, concrete, stone or wood - proper drainage is essential. Water drainage is important to the garden you’ll be planting, but without it, your walls are likely to topple from the water’s pressure as it builds up.

Behind the wall leave about a foot of space of a fill of gravel for the water to seep through. At the base of the wall, install weep holes; space them about two feet apart from each other. To further help with drainage, once your wall is complete and has cured for a couple days, you can install a drainpipe behind the wall. Stability is dependant on how well you can drain the terrace.

If you choose to use railroad ties, be certain they are pressure treated. Wood is not as reliable as brick or stone, but it has decorative appeal and is less expensive. Rock should be your choice if you are also planning to incorporate cascades or a watercourse over a section of the slope. Once your terraces are built, you can begin to design your beds. Usually, slopes have very poor soil, but once you transform your slope into terraces, you can begin to build up the soil with organic material and garden as you would any flowerbed.

A very elaborate terrace garden will also require steps built into the slope for the gardener to use for maintenance purposes. If you want a more low-maintenance series of slopes, consider planting a variety of low-growing ornamental grasses and hardy foliage plants. An alternative to perennials could be a terrace rock garden filled with rock loving alpine plants. Whatever your choice, consider plants that easily thrive in your area for a healthy garden feature that will rival the other features of your landscape.

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