Retaining Wall Love: An Afternoon of Landscaping

So after we finished the new retaining wall, I couldn't help myself. I felt the uncontrollable need to landscape.

At least one side...(especially since we need some serious fill dirt for the other side.)

What I thought would be a super quick project turned into a little bit of a more intense project removing a hidden layer of grass. In the end it was well worth it to start with a clean base.

This particular bed gets full sun (6 - 8 hours per day) so I knew this was my chance to put bright, showy, blossoming plants in the front yard.

I went to Home Depot with modest budget of $100 and came out with the following:

• (2) 3-gallon Double Knock Out Roses
• (1) 4-gallon Ornamental Grass (can't remember the name)
• (3) Montauk Daisies (fall bloomers)
• (2) Mondo Grass
• (4) Dwarf mondo grass
• (4) Bags of top soil
• (2) Bags of shredded pine mulch

All of these plants are perennials and will come back year after year. Plus there's a good mix of green, blooms and a general color pallet of hot pink and white, which works lovely next to the slate grey of the stone. They also have varying sizes and will stagger elevations as they mature--at least that's the plan.

If you have a Starbucks near you, be sure to check with them before you plant as they often times give out old coffee grounds for free which can help add nutrients back into your soil--especially soil where perennials will be planted. (And it smells good too)

Tools I used include gardening basics:

• Pointed Shovel
• Pick Axe
• Metal Rake
• Garden Gloves

Voila! The retaining wall is naked no more...

Brick By Brick: A Retaining Wall Goes Up

In order to make room for the new and unexpected driveway that went in this summer, the crews at Cement Brothers Concrete had to dig out a portion of our front yard.

Before they got started, Paul and I rented a jack-hammer and took out the old walkway, since we knew that the area between the new driveway and the front porch would become a garden bed at some point. We also knew that the grade change would be significant and would require the installation of a retaining wall down a large portion of the driveway.

Our first thought was to use a product from the big box stores but after significant research we opted to go with a different product available through a local stone yard called J & R Stone.

While I was traveling for work, Paul and his friend Adam kicked off the project by installing three natural stone steps into the hillside.

We finally decided on a self-locking retaining wall system in a slate grey color and had it delivered. With a crew of three, we got busy digging, laying leveling sand and working to install a perfectly level first row.

All in all, it took us most of the weekend but installation was easy--requiring some upper body strength and a good bit of patience.

We chose an offset masonry pattern--where the seams don't line up--and allowed the top caps to overhang about an inch for some extra drama.

Tools required for this job include:

• Limestone Based Sand
• Rubber mallet
• Speed Square
• Level
• Stone chisel
• Hammer
• Gator Dust
• 3 Tubes of retaining wall adhesive / Caulk Gun
• Wet Saw to cut 45 degree corner pieces (rented from Home Depot for $40)