Is it possible to leave weep slots in the wall to allow for drainage? That's what's been done here with concrete blocks, though your created stones may not permit that. If he could allow an unmortered joint every few feet, perhaps the integrity could be maintained while permitting for drainage? Otherwise, you may need to figure out how to put a French drain in to wick away the excess water build-up. Kim

If you have mortared block without steel reinforcement, the wall will probably develop cracks. Mortar is a weak, brittle material.

I don't know what kind of block you are contemplating, but there are blocks for retaining walls that have durable synthetic connectors for joining blocks without mortar, allowing seepage. The cores can be filled with sand or gravel to add mass and stability. Another factor in drainage is avoiding a poured concrete footing. A trench wider than the block and 12" deep can be filled with tamped gravel or sand. This works well, but tamping is mandatory.

You can also make an attractive low retaining wall of dry-laid (unmortared) natural stone, flat stones about say 12" x 16" x 3" but not uniform. Such walls will move with the weather and soil pressure without losing integrity. You've seen pictures of Kaye's garden in Arkansas with natural stone retaining walls.

I agree with Michael. Without rebar reinforcement the blocks will shift and crack with winter freeze and thaw. My raised bed is about 2 ft. high and made of patio stones, rebar and construction adhesive and it hasn't moved at all in 5 winters. How high is the bed going to be raised? The higher it is the less problem you'll have with drainage even over clay. In any event a lot of people grow roses in all different kinds raised beds for exactly that reason, clay, and don't have any problems with drainage.

I had to chuckle Hoovb because I know my contractor doesn't know what he's talking about. In our area at least, stone masons/landscape people are not waiting in line to do one small raised bed. So I've had to turn to my long time home repair contractor for help. His ideas on the subject are nil, he's just willing to do the labor. Lowes/Home Depot is what he knows about products even remotely suitable for this project, and that's all I know too. The bed has settled now, and the above ground height is about 24 inches, with some of the timbers settling out below ground. I mentioned to my contractor that I thought rebar would be needed as the sides were pushing out even with the timbers. I was proud I even knew the word "rebar". I am not a handy dandy construction type.....Michael: I've seen Kay's beds a couple of times when Ron was building them. They are gorgeous, but short of kidnapping Ron (and Kay objected to that), there is no one around here that does/or is willing to do such work. I wish there were......What it works out to is my ignorance meets my contractors willingness. Hence my request for information. All your tips will be passed on to my contractor, so I thank you for all your caveats and information......Maryl

maryl,

Look up Mesa retaining walls and Keystone retaining walls. IIRC, I used Mesa in one of my walls and they worked great (with synthetic connectors, no mortar). I got them at a local concrete supplier rather than Lowe's, but check to see what Lowe's has. These blocks can be used to build high walls using "geogrid" soil reinforcement fabric, but that may not be feasible in your case, with soil and roses already in place. On the other hand, 24" might be too high for stability without geogrid. Maybe with corners in the wall, and connectors, it would be.

To make Kaye's wall you just have to locate a supply of stone of fairly uniform thickness. Start in in a trench 6" deep to get below frost, and stack it in a running bond. Lean it slightly inward.

well I think the lowe's type can go to 3'; mine I took to 3 feet and they never budged, are still solid after 10 years. If you have your guy follow the manufacturer's installation instructions it should be fine.

Good, thanks, Hoov. Could you describe these so maryl could recognize them?

Michael: Shows you my ignorance on such matters, but I didn't know there was any system other then mortared or dry set stone/concrete faux stone. You opened my eyes that there might be other types of systems available that would eliminate my drainage concerns and might be available to me. Anyway, I began searching the internet and found one such product called Versi-Lok that might work without the backfill issue and also purports to have a solution to my drainage concerns. I'll probably pass this on to my contractor to see if the "mechanics" of the thing are doable and the product is available in my area (it looks to be when I did a search). I really didn't think that this would be such a big deal, but as with everything the devil's in the details. If Lowes/Home Depot have an equitable product and Hoovb knows of it I'd be interested for sure. The help at our local box stores is less then that - helpful........Maryl

Here is a link that might be useful: Versi-lok system for raised beds/retaining walls