Making your Newton, MA, home’s retaining wall a seamless part of your landscape design can seem like a cumbersome endeavor if the concept is new to you. The imperious flat face of such walls and their prominent height can make them quite obtrusive, and the seeming lack of design options can be inhibiting to the uninitiated and unguided. With these five innovative ideas and an expert contractor, however, you can make your revamped retaining wall a functional and artistic element of your landscape design.
A Built-in Water Feature
Retaining Wall Newton MA - 5 Examples of a Revamped Walls
You can make your retaining wall a dynamic part of your landscape design with a built-in water feature. Water features tend to be quite engaging focal points for any landscape design and can work wonders for what was considered a dull retaining wall. You can choose a cascading waterfall in the middle of your retaining wall with rounded stones and plants if your landscape design favors a more natural look. For more modern landscapes, a minimalist fountain with a steady, consistent stream of water being deposited into a bed of stones at the bottom could be a better suited choice.
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An Integrated Outdoor Fireplace
Much like a water feature, an outdoor fireplace can become a focal point for your landscape design. Moreover, integrating it with your retaining wall can be quite easy as the same wall units can be used to install the fireplace. An important aspect of this type of installation is that the dimensions of your fireplace should closely comply with the size and shape of your retaining wall to keep the overall design well balanced.
Doubling as a Seating Wall
Retaining walls can make excellent seating walls with a bit of innovative thinking. Doubling a retaining wall’s purpose can be as simple as adding a seating step to create a two-tiered wall, radically increasing the seating capacity of your backyard. Small details such as choosing the right cladding stones that don’t have sharp edges can help to ensure a comfortable experience for the occupants. Lastly, introduce some creature comforts such as cushions and throws for a touch of color and softness.
Taking a Multi-tier Approach
Large retaining walls can be revamped by breaking them down into two or more tiered terraces with their own smaller, individual retaining walls. This can radically increase the usable area in your backyard and could be much more preferable to a large, obtrusive retaining wall, while introducing a softer vertical dimension to your landscape design. The tiered land can be safely used for flower beds and softscaping with steps integrated into the wall to complete the look.
Related: Curved or Straight Retaining Wall for Your Norfolk, MA, Yard?
As a Part of the Softscaping
Merging your retaining wall with your softscaping is an excellent way to make it a congruous part of your landscape design. The entire wall can become a living part of your landscape with the right vines covering the front facade. Choose vines that can thrive in Newton’s climate, and finish off the entire design with planters hanging off the wall itself as possibly stone planters made of hollowed-out wall stones at the top of the wall.