Retaining walls are a vital part of many landscapes in Halifax County and Mecklenburg County, VA, because they hold back soil and control erosion. With the right materials and expert construction, they can also become a beautiful feature of your property that you will admire for many years.
Related: Retaining Walls Can Be Beautiful: 5 Ideas for a New Wall in Person County and Granville County, NC
Seating Wall for Gatherings
Building a retaining wall at the right height to be used as seating around a patio is a common way to increase the functionality of a landscape. You might even find that adding a seating wall that matches another taller retaining wall can help to tie your landscape together.
Shorter retaining walls could be the perfect solution when your property has a gentle slope that you would like to turn into a flat patio area. A seating size wall can blend in nicely with the surrounding landscape and could make a perfect border for a paver patio.
Many homeowners also choose to have seating walls that don’t actually retain anything because they are simply meant to look attractive, provide ample seating, or serve as a boundary between different spaces. This idea is often used to create a comfy area around a fire pit where friends and family can sit and enjoy the warming glow.
Presentation of Pretty Plants
The area above a retaining wall can be a great place to host some decorative plants that will not only look beautiful but can also aid in erosion control. Having shrubs or grasses planted above a retaining wall may also help it to blend in better with the environment.
Retaining walls can be used to create more flat areas that will be better for flowering or edible plants. The wall blocks of a retaining wall can serve as a nice backdrop to a garden in full bloom or as a divide between different beds.
The vertical face of a retaining wall might also make a great host for climbing plants like American wisteria, yellow Jessamine, or wild passion flower. These are just a few of the amazing climbing plants whose blooms you will look forward to every year and whose foliage can make a calming cover for a retaining wall.
Privacy and Seclusion
A well placed retaining wall can make you feel like you are in your own little world. The solid wall can block out many sounds as well as the eyes of any neighbors or passersby. Retaining walls can even be constructed around your entire property for added security.
Placing a patio at the foot of a taller retaining wall makes for a more intimate feeling. This can be a great location for a patio where you can eat a meal without any interruptions from the outside world.
Multi-Level Landscaping
For steep inclines, a combination of retaining walls and stairs can give you access to and allow you to use more of your property, while also keeping the soil in place. Maybe you would like to build an elevated patio area where you can have a different view of the world.
If you would like multiple patio areas connected by stairs, coordinated pavers and wall blocks can give your landscape a unified feeling. The different areas of a multi-level patio also allow you to use each area for its own purpose, such as a dining patio, a relaxation/lounge chair patio, or even a dancing patio!
Related: 5 Landscape Design Ideas to Think About This Fall in Halifax County and Pittsylvania County, VA