Retaining Walls

Retaining walls are important structural components of the landscape. Although they are sometimes used for aesthetics, retaining walls are primarily designed to retain and stabilize soil behind them. Walls that will have significant loads placed on the material behind them should be constructed with engineered products like Concrete Segmental Block, geo grid, and clean gravel backfill. Products like Versa-Lok are engineered to be installed to heights of greater than 50 vertical feet. Walls under 6’ high can be constructed of natural stone like fieldstone, trap rock, or limestone. These are gravity walls that rely on mass to retain the soils behind them. Natural stone walls can be installed in either a “Stacked Look”, which is uniform sizes placed in a brick like pattern, or “Random Look”, where various size stone is placed randomly to create pockets throughout the wall. This “Random Look” allows plants to be planted in the pockets to visually soften the look of the wall. Regardless of the wall material you choose, base preparation, backfill, and drainage are key elements in the longevity of your retaining wall.