Which style rock wall?

10 years ago

We are building a retaining wall down to a lower part of the yard this Spring. I'd love to hear which style you like. The "solid" rock wall, or the more "natural" transitional boulders. Both will have steps; these are just two stylistic examples of how to transition to the lower section. Thanks!

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Gene Daniels
Original Author

10 years ago

Those are all great comments. We live in an arid climate so mosses, etc don't really grow on things like that.

Our yard is fairly big so the simpler I can make it to maintain the better. So maybe the second one is better, even though I admit the first one is very beautiful. But I like the comment of having some kind of ivy or ground over drooping over the wall. We could do that.

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Comments (14)

User
10 years ago
Top one for sure.
Gene Daniels
Original Author
10 years ago
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emmarene9
10 years ago
I say the top as well.
carolyngarland
10 years ago
Natural
PRO
Bradson Flooring
10 years ago
Top one
PRO
Design Intervention
10 years ago
Top one has much greater warmth and variance in color. Translates to more interesting.
Gene Daniels
Original Author
10 years ago
Do you think the natural version will be too hard to upkeep? Seems like a lot more spaces for weeds to grow. But I do like the look of it better...
PRO
Robert Bulger with ServiScape, LLC
10 years ago
Depends on the planting scheme you want. the top allows for smaller pockets of plants that accent the rocks. the second wall creates a terrace for a larger planting. if the rest of your landscape is mass planting then go with the second. The second also will give more functional space with one wall of height. The first wall will require more depth as it creates a more stable slope.
partim
10 years ago
I prefer a rock wall, and we chose one for our slope rather than scattered rocks.
User
10 years ago
The bottom pic is purely functional correct? Because rock walls are usually intricate and beautiful. Top pic you can grow alpines and mosses.
partim
10 years ago
I've never had the scattered rocks but my sister in law did and you're right, it was a lot of maintenance and often looked weedy. The weed roots got under the rocks and kept coming back. To my eye they don't look like a natural rock outcropping, which is what they should look like rather than scattered rocks. I think that's a very hard look to achieve successfully. I don't have a photo of it, but my rock wall now has a bit of ground cover drooping over the top, which I love.
User
10 years ago
You can grow succulents in a rock garden.
partim
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
If you search in Houzz by typing Retaining Wall in the search function, you'll see lots of different options. Here are a few that caught my eye. The first one is San Diego which may be closer to your climate. The second one shows that you can incorporate seating either within or on top of your retaining wall, which might suit your needs. The next one is San Francisco, and the last one Austin (gorgeous, planted with low-maintenance succulents).
Solana xeriscape, cameron flagstone, drought tolerant, terrace retaining walls · More Info

Le Petit Chalet · More Info

Middlebury · More Info

steps · More Info

Also, I speak from experience when I say that gardening on a slope is harder. The portion of our yard that is not held by the wall is a lot of work. Whatever you need to do (planting, pruning, weeding) you are standing on a slope which is a lot harder than on a flat surface. And the water just runs off so it needs more water than a flat surface held by a retaining wall. Unless you are an avid gardener, I'd terrace the slope with retaining walls. There are lots of options to make it look great.