All About Landscaping Walls and Retaining Walls

Walls can benefit your landscape in many ways. They can enhance the look of your yard. They can also have functional benefits. Retaining walls are the most popular type of wall homeowners build in their yards. There are also many other creative wall uses for landscape. This article will cover many of the options and uses for walls in your yard.

Ways to Use Walls In Your Yard

Retaining Walls

People build retaining walls to hold back soil. Retaining walls are common in yards that contain a slope. You can also build a retaining wall to create tiers. Tiers can have functional uses such as planters. Your retaining wall may need a permit and engineering plans. Requirements are specific to each city. Below are links to city pages and their specifics on retaining walls.

Dividing Walls

You can use walls to section off your yard. For instance, you can make sections for an outdoor kitchen, a children’s play area, and a garden. In the picture above, the wall separates artificial turf from a planting area on the embankment.

Decorative Walls and Planters

You can make walls that enclose raised planter areas. These are functional but the main purpose is decorative in nature. You can use walls as pure decoration as well!

Landscape Wall Materials

You can construct walls for your landscape out of many different materials. The material you choose depends on the function of your wall and your style. Below are some popular materials:

Cinder Block Wall

Cinder block is one one of the most popular materials used to build a retaining wall. These are also referred to as cement blocks. They are gray in color. You can add a finish to the wall such as stucco or stackstone. You will need rebar, and cement to build a wall with cinder blocks.

Keystone Wall

Keystone is another popular material to build walls with. The blocks are attractive and they lock together. They are often available in a variety of earth tone colors. There is no need for cement or rebar with a keystone wall. The stones lock together in place.

Wooden Wall

Wood is another attractive material used to build walls. You can achieve many different looks depending on the wood cut and finish. Some people prefer a natural look. You can leave the wood in an unfinished state to achieve that look. You can choose wood cut into boards and beams and apply finish or paint to get a refined look.

Natural Stone Wall

Stone walls have natural beauty like wood. There are two popular methods for building stone walls.

Dry Stack Method

One method is stacking stones without mortar. You will need the proper stones and follow best practices such as having a wide enough base. These types of walls are good for drainage since the walls are porous.

Natural Stone with Mortar

The other puts mortar between the stones to hold them together in the wall. This is like a cinder block wall.

Information For Your Landscaping Walls

If you would like more information on building a wall on your landscape, call Need For Build at (833) 806-2739. You can also fill out a form below and we will contact you as soon as possible during business hours.

Retaining Wall Specifications by City

Poway Retaining Wall Specifications
https://poway.org/DocumentCenter/View/273/Retaining-Wall—Sloping-Backfill-PDF

San Diego Retaining Wall Specifications
https://www.sandiego.gov/sites/default/files/dsdib221.pdf

Chula Vista Retaining Wall Specifications
https://www.chulavistaca.gov/home/showdocument?id=920

Encinitas Retaining Wall Specifications
https://encinitasca.gov/Portals/0/City%20Documents/Documents/Development%20Services/Planning/Land%20Development/Design%20Review%20Guidelines.pdf

Vista Retaining Wall Specifications
https://www.cityofvista.com/home/showdocument?id=3832

Oceanside Retaining Wall Specifications
https://www.ci.oceanside.ca.us/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?blobid=22466

If your city is not located in the above list, perform a Google search with your city name + “retaining wall”. Your city’s documents about retaining walls will likely be one of the first results.