What Is The Purpose Of A Retaining Wall?

A retaining wall may appear to be nothing more than a stack of stones, blocks, or timbers, but in reality it’s an engineered system designed to battle gravity. Retaining walls increase usable space in your yard by terraceing sloped areas for easier landscaping and maintenance of your property.

Before beginning to lay blocks for your retaining wall, lay a layer of gravel to form its base. A carpenter’s level should be used to ensure this first course is perfectly even left-to-right and front-to-back.

Prevents Soil Erosion

A retaining wall helps hold back soil and prevent erosion in your landscape, which can uproot plants, destroy landscaping and even damage foundations or homes. By adding one to your garden design you will reduce erosion while making room for new gardens and flowerbeds to be planted which will act like roots to hold in place the soil over time.

Walls can also help prevent flooding during heavy rainstorms by channeling rainfall into specific areas for use by your garden and grass turf. This allows you to make use of raindrops for gardening and grass growing purposes.

A retaining wall works best when its backfill is made up of gravel or sand rather than dirt, as dirt can expand when wet and press against its structure, increasing risk of cracks in its structure. You can choose different stone colors and sizes for an eye-catching patchwork appearance or opt for uniform blocks to match the style of your home.

Creates Usable Beds

If your property features sloped land, planting can be challenging. A retaining wall can reclaim this space for landscaping use – such as vegetable gardens or flower beds.

Retaining walls help combat soil erosion by keeping soil in place against the retaining structure rather than blowing or washing away in wind or rain, so that lawns, gardens and trees continue to receive essential water and nutrients from their surrounding soil.

Dependent upon the material chosen, retaining walls are long-term investments that require regular inspection and repair to remain in good condition. You must ensure proper drainage behind your wall adelaide gardener is operating smoothly so water doesn’t pool behind and cause cracking or other forms of damage; for this reason it is advised that professional services be used when building any type of retaining wall.

Creates a Decorative Look

Retaining walls don’t just have to serve their function in your landscape; they can add an aesthetic element as well. There are endless creative retaining wall ideas available from traditional stone designs all the way through contemporary concrete sculptures that resemble mountains ranges.

Moss and hardy flowers add an attractive element to cottage-style gardens when growing over retaining walls, adding color and charm. Seating options for your retaining wall may include benches or built-in wall seats; creating staircases in it is another great way to connect different areas of the yard and make getting around easier.

Rendering existing retaining walls can also give them a fresh new look by adhering a mixture of sand and wet cement to their surfaces, giving it a solid concrete appearance. This cost-effective approach makes an ideal way to transform retaining walls that were built from another material into solid structures.

Creates Space

If your property features steep hills that make enjoying nature difficult, using retaining walls to convert them to flat areas may help. This allows you to set up flower beds, lawns, or other forms of landscaping features which look lovely while providing greater usage efficiency on your property.

Retaining walls are also great for creating separate living “rooms” in your yard. A low retaining wall with smooth coping can serve to define dining areas without losing the open feel of your backyard, which works especially well if you have pets who might otherwise trample through your garden.

Larger retaining walls can be built to transform entire slopes into usable land, using terracing as a technique. This enables structures such as houses or parking lots to be constructed on steep hillside terrain more easily; also making crops grow easier on these challenging soils. Furthermore, adding curb appeal with an inviting-looking retaining wall increases both curb appeal and value of any home.

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