Make a Retaining Wall a Statement Piece of Your Landscape Design in the Rockville, VA Area
In the Rockville, VA area, a retaining wall can not only help you establish the landscape design of your dreams, but also be a beautiful feature that makes a statement of its own. While retaining walls are primarily used for preventing soil erosion and controlling runoff water, they can be included in other areas of your outdoor space in fun and unique ways.
Related: To Achieve Your Dream Paver Patio, a Retaining Wall May Be Needed in the Henrico, VA, Area
Why a Retaining Wall?
If you have a slope in your lawn, it may be challenging to find usable space. A significant slope can prevent you from including fun features like a fire pit or an inground pool in your landscape plans. The inclusion of a retaining wall can help keep soil on one side of the wall while the other side remains flat and unaffected by soil movement. If you notice erosion in your yard due to significant water runoff, a retaining wall can help divert that water to a more appropriate place, like a rain garden.
Because retaining walls are so functional, it can be easy to overlook the fact that they can be designed and built to be visually pleasing features as well. Your retaining wall can serve its primary purpose and still be a feature that complements your landscape design.
Retaining Wall Design
Retaining walls are usually made of stone or masonry blocks, often earth-tone colors that are complementary to other features in a cohesive landscape design. While single shade retaining walls can be elegant in their simplicity, you could also mix and match colors. For example, a retaining wall made of blocks in different colors can create a beautiful mosaic-like appearance. You can also include a darker colored material along the edges of the retaining wall to give it a more modern appearance. Consider distinctive coping to create a lip or flat surface that can double as a table or even a sitting area on a shorter retaining wall.
The overall design can be creative as well; a curved retaining wall may not only fit your space better, but is also a unique and eye-catching take on the feature.
Retaining Wall Uses
A modern retaining wall pairs well with a paver patio. By choosing similar or complementary colors, the pair can work seamlessly together to create a flat and functional space for you and your guests to enjoy. More than that, a retaining wall can also act as a barrier to better define different areas of your outdoor space. For example, a retaining wall can create an amazing alcove that houses a fire pit and comfortable seating to give you and your guests a more secluded area to have an intimate discussion.
A retaining wall, or multiple retaining walls, can create a gorgeous tiered effect in a fine garden area. By adding plantings at the top of a retaining wall, you can create a garden that feels more like a museum gallery for guests to gaze at. Include your favorite flowers for beautiful pops of color that can soften the more industrial feel of a retaining wall or add some movement to the sturdy feature by including native grasses. For something more whimsical, creeping plants, like ivy, can be trained to cascade along the retaining wall and create beautiful backdrops of green.
Related: Areas Near Your Paver Patio Where a Pergola Could Belong in the Short Pump, VA Area
With one lawn mower and a lot of determination, Josh Goff started Commonwealth Curb Appeal in 2004 as a way to make a living while spending time in the great outdoors.
In 2007, he traded the lawn mower for masonry and carpentry skills and began building outdoor living spaces. By 2015, he was named among the Top 40 Under 40. Over the years, the company has grown into the full-service landscape design and build firm it is today.
