What are Some Good Layout Ideas for Retaining Walls?

Your front and back yards are extensions of your home, and often leave a lasting impression.  All the more reason to invest a little extra time and effort into designing them into something worth remembering.

A retaining wall in a garden can be for a fundamental or architectural reason, or just a landscape feature.  When you add walls in your gardens, they will look better as a result.  Gardening is a passion for many home owners and expressing their creativity brings lasting satisfaction.  Here are some great layout ideas that will make some outstanding impressions.

Express yourself with Terracing 

If you have rolling hills or slopes in your yard, terraced retaining walls might just be your best friend.  Create more usable space by terracing in your gardens.  This will tame tall slopes and add aesthetic beauty.  Choose an Allan Block Collection that best suits the look and feel of your home and yard.  Enjoy not bending over so far by raising your plantings.  Transform your landscapes into dynamic works of art.

Create a Variety of shapes and sizes

One of the most common mistakes in designing your yard is the lack of variety.  In nature, we see plants and trees that grow naturally in their variety.   A good layout uses walls that vary in size and meander to organize a space.  The same is true with plantings.  Having plantings in mind can modify how you want your walls to look and how to utilize the space created by them. Choose a variety of plants that grow and mature well together. Organize them as a painter brings order to their paintings.  Avoid planting in rows, keep it natural.  Enjoy expressing your creativity with plants and walls.

Contrast is another design tool

Have you noticed that everything tends to look much better as the sun begins to set?  The sun highlights some spots and darkens others as the intensity decreases as it sets.  Contrast is a key to transforming your landscape.  Consider adding a contrasting color to the cap, or just under the cap, of your retaining walls.  Consider plants that contrast each other as the seasons change.  Use contrasting mulch that highlights your planting and walls.

With these endless possibilities in mind, your yard can be transformed into your own personal oasis. Check out our Design Ideas for further inspiration!