Inexpensive Retaining Wall Ideas - Landscaping Inspiration

Cascading Plants for Retaining Walls

For many, the big draw to a retaining wall—aside from contouring and ensuring stability—is the look that comes with plants cascading over the edge. So what are some great cascading plants for retaining walls? You’ll have quite a few choices.

The first choice to make is between annuals and perennials. Annuals will need to be replanted each year, which is nice if you want to change things up year after year. Perennials will keep coming back, offering a low maintenance option.

Among annuals, there are quite a few plants to choose.

• Wave petunias are a good choice if you want a prolific bloomer with a beautiful scent. They’ll spread up to four feet, which lets them fall quite a bit below the top of the wall.

• Sweet potato vines give you beautiful chartreuse foliage which spills down the sides of your wall and lasts all summer long.

• Trailing lobelia is a tightly growing plant as well suited to rock gardens as it is to retaining walls. It features tiny blooms in shades of white, pink, purple, and blue.

• English ivy comes in all kinds of varieties, from green to interestingly patterned leaves, making it an ideal choice if you want foliage without the flowers.

Among perennials, there are a few options that will give you prolific spring blooms followed by beautiful greenery the rest of the year. These include:

• Creeping phlox, which features flowers in a variety of colors. This trailing plant is good for steep slopes and because it trails up to 20 inches, it’s great for retaining walls, too.

• Rock cress gives purple and pink blooms in the spring. In a retaining wall, it’ll trail up to 18 inches.

• Candy tuft grows a bit taller than rock cress and phlox—up to 10 inches high—and it’s an extremely hardy plant with evergreen foliage and white flowers. It trails up to 24 inches.

Retaining Wall Planter Ideas

Whether building a low wall or something much bigger, one way to unite a retaining wall with the rest of the landscape is to find a way to turn it into a planter. One of the most popular inexpensive retaining wall planter ideas is to include planters at the top of the wall that you can turn into flowerbeds—or even a spot for a shrub, if the planter area will be large enough and deep enough.

Terraced retaining walls give you several levels of planters. These planters are perfect for low-growing plants or trailing greenery that spills over the side. We customize our retaining walls to optimize for the shade, sun, and even drainage conditions of your specific yard.

The beauty of retaining walls that feature planters is that you can create them with a wide variety of materials. Concrete blocks are popular, but stone and bricks can be used to create beautiful hardscape contours featuring plenty of planter space.

Retaining Wall Lighting Ideas

When it comes to retaining wall lighting ideas, you’ll have three basic choices (and a lot of customization options depending on the types of light fixtures you choose). The first is to run lighting along the top of your retaining wall. Anything from solar lights to trail lights will work—and if you have terraced or layered retaining walls, lights on every level can be especially beautiful.

Another option is to run lighting along the wall’s facade. This is a good choice for taller walls or when you need to light pathways. Mount them flush to the wall if you’re placing them low to the ground, or for overhead lights, consider lamps or lantern-style lighting that brings the light fixture away from the wall.

Lastly, if you have stairwells running through your retaining walls, then you can opt to light the steps themselves. Place lights on the walls lining the stairway, or place lights on stair risers. Not only is the illumination beautiful, but it will make the steps safer to use at night.

Retaining Wall Cap Ideas

Once you’ve figured out other aspects of the design, you’ll need to consider retaining wall cap ideas. It is possible to build a wall without a cap, but putting a cap on it will give it a beautifully finished look.

The biggest choice to make here will be between material similar to the wall’s construction or a contrasting material. For instance, if you have a sandstone wall, you can use slightly larger slabs of sandstone to create the cap—or you can draw a contrast between the rough-hewn look of the sandstone and a smooth concrete cap with a fluted edge.

Walkout Basement Retaining Wall Ideas

Does your home have a walkout basement? If so, then that means it’s built on a slope—and retaining walls will not only look beautiful, but help prevent erosion along that slope.

Where walkout basement retaining wall ideas are concerned, the sky is the limit—you’re free to use any style already discussed or your own ideas. Create planters, curving walls or something else. The most important thing is to choose materials that complement the style of your home.

Another thing to think about is the area that your basement opens onto—and what you’ll be doing with that space. If it’s garage space, you’ll benefit from concrete or pavement. But if you’re planning to use this spot as entertaining space, it’s worthwhile to create a patio or maybe even an outdoor kitchen.

Pool Retaining Wall Ideas

If you’re planning an in-ground pool, you’re probably going to need retaining walls unless your yard happens to be perfectly flat! So what are some great pool retaining wall ideas? Here, you’ll need to base this choice on the pool’s surroundings. Account for the style of your home and the landscape around your property.

Let’s say that you have a craftsman-style home nestled into a wooded landscape. Here, it’s probably best to avoid sleek and modern retaining walls like smooth concrete. Instead, consider rustic stone. Shaped and square stone works well in both modern and traditional settings. Save the smooth concrete for modern and mid-century modern designs.

There’s a lot to consider when you’re designing retaining walls. Use these ideas to help guide yourself down the right path!