Do You Need a Retaining Wall?
You may have seen retaining walls around your neighborhood, but not noticed what they actually did for the landscape. The functionality of a retaining wall is subtle, but it’s also of vital importance.
It provides a stable foundation for sloping grounds or hilly terrain that can sweep your house away over time due to soil erosion. However, there are many more reasons a retaining wall can help you.
It can give you the opportunity to create beautiful terraced gardens with hideaway spaces too.
Top 5 Reasons You Might Want a Retaining Wall
If you’re unsure about whether you need a retaining wall or not, you should discuss your needs with a landscaping professional.
They’ll know more about the type of soil around your home and the problems your neighbors may have with fault lines.
Here are a few times that you want to consider a retaining wall in your landscape design:
1. To Get More Usable Space – If you want to plant along your sloped terrain, this terrain makes it difficult for plants to survive. It does not retain water. This can make it difficult to maintain.
By using retaining walls at various levels, you can create a terraced look that is beautiful and functional at the same time.
You can create islands of plantings and use irrigation for a low maintenance look that is visible from the street at multiple levels.
2. To Divert Water Away from the Home – Water seeks out the lowest level, and if that happens to be your house’s foundation, then you can end up with rot, wet basements, and mold issues. It can create instability in the foundation over time.
To draw water away from the home, you can use a retaining wall to level hills that might otherwise push water towards the house and guide the water down the slope and away from the home.
3. To Slow Down Soil Erosion – Whether the hill is in the back of the house or in the front, you want to make sure to slow down the soil erosion so your foundation isn’t weakened.
If you have a hill in the back, a retaining wall can also serve a dual purpose to create a space that seems somewhat enclosed and protected from winds and serves as your backyard patio.
4. To Carve a Path Through a Hill – If you dream of a winding stone stairway to your front door, you may need to include a retaining wall if the stairway goes through a hilly area.
In the same way a terraced garden makes space available for landscaping islands on a hill, a retaining wall can create a terraced place for stairs.
This can also help you create a garden at waist height so that it is easier to maintain along the side of the side pathway.
5. To Guard Against Fault Lines – If your home is near fault lines, it means that there is some danger that soil will shift. This is especially true if you are downhill from the fault lines in your area.
A retaining wall can add extra stability to your home, in the event there is an earthquake or landslide.
If you’re not sure about the design options available with a retaining wall, speak to the experts at Beyond Landscaping to learn more.