Creating a healthy and beautiful yard is as much about the hardscaping as it is about the landscaping. Retaining walls are one type of hardscaping especially worthy of consideration. Whether made from stone, brick, concrete, or even wood, these walls offer numerous advantages for any property. Learn about them here to help you decide whether they’d be right for your needs.
Why Add Retaining Walls?
1. Control Water
Even areas that aren’t normally prone to flooding can become saturated with water after heavy rainfall or a similar incident. This can drown your plants, cause decay in your wood and hardscaping, and flood your foundation. Retaining walls are built to direct water flow toward a storm drain or designated drainage area on your property. You’re less likely to deal with water damage if these walls are around to help.
2. Manage Erosion
Wind and water gradually move soil from one place to another in a process known as erosion. This can make your soil less fertile, and it can wear away your home’s foundation, which is particularly dangerous if you’re on a slope. The loss of soil also makes it more difficult to resist flooding and may even clog nearby waterways, raising the likelihood of flooding. A retaining wall can slow or prevent erosion with its elevated layers and sides that keep the soil contained in the same place.
3. Create Borders
Whether you want to clearly distinguish your property from a neighbor’s or separate different sections of your own landscaping, a visual marker helps. Retaining walls are a great way to create a clear border. If you include steps or a pathway somewhere among the wood, stone, or brickwork, the borders will be even more useful and charming as a means of moving from one area of your property to another.
4. Boosts Attractiveness
Alongside all the practical benefits of retaining walls, they also boast a pure aesthetic quality. Concrete, brick, wood, and stone have a natural attractiveness that makes your property more beautiful and sophisticated. The layers can also be used to plant a variety of colorful flowers or hold statues, fountains, lighting, and other lovely garden decorations. They can even enable you to reshape your land if you don’t care for the way it slopes or if there are mounds of dirt left over from construction.
As always, be sure to contact your local masonry experts for chimney repairs, fireplace repairs, tuckpointing, waterproofing and stone work of all kinds! Call Oberer Construction Company today at (513) 829-5270.
