A sloped property can often feature spectacular views, but it can also potentially lead to landscaping challenges such as erosion, standing water, or flooding. Even worse, if the land slopes toward the home, you might face costly foundation problems. However, strategic placement of retaining walls will protect your home and landscape by preventing soil movement and directing rain and snowmelt into appropriate areas. Here’s why landscapers may suggest a retaining wall for your project in Wyomissing and Blandon, PA.
1. Prevent Erosion and Flooding
When heavy rains fall and the soil becomes saturated, it becomes extremely heavy. Worse, it becomes unstable. Waterlogged soil no longer holds together firmly and when given the chance, it will slide downhill. A well-built retaining wall which contains a drainage system will help water seep out of the backfilled area to prevent slides. On shallow slopes, your retaining wall could be a gravity wall that’s just a few feet high. On steep slopes, it may need to be more than four feet high, in which case you’ll need engineering and additional supports to ensure the wall is structurally capable of handling the massive load of waterlogged soil.
Flooding after heavy rains is especially concerning if the slope means water will cascade toward your home, across your driveway, or toward other structures or features; and it’s often not just water that’s flowing, it’s the debris it carries. The force of moving surface water can cause significant damage to your home and landscaping. Retaining walls divert water where you want it to go.
Allowing water to drain from behind the retaining wall will also help prevent soil movement due to the freeze-thaw cycle. While a retaining wall won’t stop the freeze-thaw cycle, accumulated water will have a chance to filter away so the soil remains more stable.
2. Expand Your Living Space
Outdoor living space is always at a premium on sloped properties. Excavating part of the hillside and supporting it with a retaining wall will create an amazing amount of extra usable space. A retaining wall could incorporate seating; placing a fire pit close to the wall will create a cozy fire nook that takes advantage of views. The retaining wall will reflect the heat from the fire pit, which will keep the space much cozier than an exposed fire pit - even in the coldest weather.
You can maximize space even more by integrating certain features right into the retaining wall. This integrative approach could include an outdoor fireplace, which will beautifully turn the space into an outdoor living room. The back of an outdoor kitchen, which is the hub of outdoor living, will create a cozy space for cooking and sharing meals. A water feature will bring beauty and tranquility to the space (a waterfall spilling out of the retaining wall makes your retaining wall into a stunning focal point).
Retaining walls are also a great solution for housing landscape lighting to reduce clutter while accentuating the texture of the wall when the sun goes down. And, adding a few niches is an opportunity to display interesting objects.
If you’re a fan of gardening, then terraced gardens - reminiscent of ancient Mediterranean gardens that make the most of impossibly steep slopes - give you ample opportunity to beautify your landscape and grow flowers, fruits, or vegetables even if you’re otherwise short on usable land.
