Creating Space with Garden Walling

Although you may sometimes feel that having a sloped garden is a disadvantage, there are many ways you can use the lie of the land to your advantage incorporating features such as terraced levels or raised borders for example.  You may also require a stand-alone wall to create a division in your property or perhaps a low seating area around a BBQ. With a wide variety of materials and finishes to choose from, any wall can be comfortably introduced to your garden whether it has a structural or aesthetic role.

Construction Materials

Walls can be built out of timber, concrete blocks, natural stone, bricks or ready-made blocks dressed to resemble dry stone walling. As part of our service we can design any type of wall, with or without steps, curved or straight, for installation in your garden. During this process we will discuss what kind of materials would suit your project and budget and explain our method of construction.

Retaining Wall Construction Details

Rigid walls require a concrete foundation the depth and width of which will depend on the dimensions of the wall. As a guide the width of the foundation should be approximately a third wider than the width of the wall and the depth should be a quarter to a third of the height of the finished wall. If reinforcement is required, metal reinforcing bars will be placed in an ‘L’ shape in the wet concrete foundations at a spacing suitable for the size of the wall. Hollow concrete blocks are then laid over these bars and filled in with concrete to give a rock solid strength.

Drainage

Drainage pipes are included at the base of the wall to allow seepage of water through. The back of the wall is also packed with a layer of pea shingle to aid the quick movement of water to the base of the wall and away, reducing the problems of damp. In addition, we frequently use a waterproofing sealer such as Thoroughseal painted on the back of the wall to increase its damp protection.

Coping

Once the wall is complete a coping stone should be laid on top. This again helps to keep water off the wall particularly if it is being rendered. Coping stones are available in many different materials such as concrete, natural stone or even simply using paving slabs is a popular option.