The Wall Project, Part 2

Okay, here we go.....Part 2. We did six rows of rocks on our big retaining wall. We had envisioned the top layer going all the way across the garden to dip into the soil line, but we had to regroup, due to the contour of the ground. We actually had to go inside and Google pictures of "sloped retaining walls" so we could decide how we wanted it. (you know, that whole test of marriage thing) So, we decided to stair-step them down gradually to meet the soil. I think it turned out well! .

After building the behemoth wall, we added our third wall. This one was only two levels high, so it was a piece of cake to build after the big one. It's not designed to hold back a ton of dirt....I like to think of it as "icing" on the whole design. It ties in the rock material over the entire garden and completes the idea.

Here is a pic of the first row, with the limestone base. There is sand underneath the rock that is laid there.

The finished third wall. One key component--notice how the first layer is almost completely buried.

We took on our wall project starting last week. That's right, we built these walls when the heat index was 100+ degrees. Our neighbors pretty much thought we were crazy. Here you see the "shade station" set up for the little ones and us.

Phase two of the wall project involved filling in the garden with topsoil. We also needed to fortify the wall properly so it could drain and the soil would not drain out with it. We used landscape fabric, which the water will pass through, against the rocks and backfilled it with a layer of limestone, then soil.

It took about forty bags of topsoil to fill this in, plus the area by the little wall. Some of the bags were torn, so we got those for $0.66. : ) I considered having a yard or two of soil delivered, but the delivery was going to cost more than the dirt! : ( In this shot, you can also see how we finished out the stair-step look on that wall.

Here is a shot of the last two finished walls. We are planning to plant a tree down on the lower level by the third, small wall.

Whew! Phase three of the project would be moving around some of the plants we had to move to build the walls. That will make for a riveting Part 3, which I'll post next week!