Retaining walls can make all the difference to a garden, but when do you need a retaining wall and what is the benefits? You may have existing walls that need a refresh or rebuilding, or you may want to consider installing one if you have a sloping garden, uneven terrain, or you wish to landscape it and create a wall as a design feature.

Our wooden retaining walls have been used by gardeners for many years, they make a fantastic alternative to railways sleepers thanks to their ease of use - we do all the measuring and cutting so you don’t have to - and because they are long lasting with a 15 year guarantee you can be assured that they won’t rot or crumble.

WoodBlocX retaining walls are built up using our wooden BlocX and are held together with strong dowels that can withstand 0.9 tonnes of sheer force - no nails or screws needed - this combined with the many joints means our walls remain strong under tension and compression and they are flexible enough to withstand frost damage and ground movement without distorting or cracking. To find out how our system stacks up against walls built using bricks, sleepers and gabions click here.

Use a retaining wall for sloping gardens

Whether your property is at the top of the bottom of a hill, if you want to create a manageable and more accessible space, installing a retaining wall or a series of retaining walls will make a huge difference.

If your garden slopes down towards your house then you may want to use a retaining wall as a protective barrier against soil erosion, by retaining the earth you can create a better drainage system if your garden is prone to water-logging during wet weather. This principle is the same for gardens with the property at the top of the hill as you may encounter the same issue with an area at the bottom of the garden. Read about incorporating drainage into our retaining walls here.

Landscaping

In addition to creating good drainage in the garden you may want to use retaining walls to landscape your space, creating different areas of interest in the garden,; a flat lawn, border and vegetable garden, our walls and integrated steps, seating and planters can help you achieve this.

WoodBlocX retaining walls can be built up to a maximum height of 1.05m this is our recommended height for a single retaining wall. If you wish to make your wall higher than that then we recommend terracing the space, this will ensure your walls remain strong and long lasting, use our free bespoke design service and one of our skilled team will work with you to create a design that fits your garden perfectly. There are exceptions to our height policy; if your wall is for decorative purposes and isn’t retaining earth then it can go higher, some customers have used our walls and a beautiful backdrop for seating areas - we've included an example below (third image on the right).

Retaining walls don’t always have to be high, many of our customers have used our modular system to create low walls and borders for their gardens or to use as facia to hide an unattractive wall behind.

Design possibilities

Lets face it, retaining walls are, for many of us, a practical necessity in the garden, but just like bricks our modular system can be designed to incorporate steps and seating to create something that is totally bespoke to your garden. Check our gallery below to see just how versatile our retaining walls are.