If you have a lakeside home, chances are you’ve found the sloping hills a challenge to maintain. A retaining wall can help you reclaim a sloped yard or hillside so it can be used for recreation or gardening. It can be a great solution for many homes, especially on Walled Lake in SE Michigan.
Retaining Wall as a Solution
Belgard Solutions
Creating an outdoor living space with a sloped yard is easy when you implement retaining walls. Adding stone, brick, or wooden walls to your uneven landscape can serve both practical and aesthetic purposes.
The wall protects the soil on one side, while allowing you to create another space on the other. You can add a great looking retaining wall with plantings on one side, for example, and a patio on the other.
You may already have some of these walls in your landscape, or you may have never heard the term retaining wall in your life.
No matter which end of the spectrum you’re on, you can always gain from the perspective and experiences of others-hence this post. Maybe a retaining wall is just what you need to get your garden in shape!
What is a Retaining Wall?
Basically, it comes down to landscape potential. What do you want out of it? Do you want a rose garden where your yard slopes down at a sharp angle, causing water runoff? In this case, a retaining wall would do just as it’s name implies – retain soil and runoff so that a garden can flourish.
Garden Wall
If you have a large sloping garden, using tiered retaining walls to create multiple terraces can add interest and help to prevent erosion. This clever design has walls that also act as raised beds to add interest, make good use of the space, and keep the garden relatively low-maintenance. They have used shrubs and hedges smartly to differentiate between the spaces.
Beautiful and Functional
Retaining walls have both practical and aesthetic purposes in gardens. On Walled Lake, many yards naturally slope down to a beach or dock. A retaining wall can help you capture part of that yard and transform it into an outdoor entertaining area.
Soil Erosion
On a slope, a retaining wall can help prevent soil erosion. It can also help make the space more functional. Retaining walls can also be used purely as a design element. There are lots of ways they can be used to add visual interest to your outdoor living space.
In fact, one of the best things about retaining walls is that they often serve a dual purpose. Natural stone is so aesthetically pleasing. It’s a great way to enhance your yard with a feature that already blends into the surrounding naturescape.
Drainage
Homeowners also install retaining walls if their property has drainage issues. No one wants to hang out in a muddy, wet, swamp-like backyard. Retaining walls allow rainwater to run off the terrain more effectively than if it was still a steep slope. If you find that your yard is pooling with water after heavy rainfall, consider consulting with a local landscaping company to determine if retaining walls are a useful solution to the apparent drainage problem.
Materials
Many homeowners like the look of stone for retaining walls. There are a wide variety of stones to choose from. Most of our customers like to mix them for a more interesting look. Some of the stone choices include:
- Boulders
- Flagstone
- Sandstone
- Limestone
- Granite
A customized retaining wall can increase the curb appeal of your home and help you reclaim a difficult slope. They can also be used to carve out an entertaining area, to frame a fire pit or garden, or just to create privacy in your own backyard. Contact J and S Landscaping, an experienced landscape design company, to transform your hillside into something your family can love and use.
