Starting a flower bed....just getting opinions...

[December99]

I am getting ready to start to plan on what I'd like to do with the west side, and last side, of my house as far as putting in a flower garden along there and to make it much easier for my dh to mow. This is very exciting and also a bit scary. I want to put in a nice "retaining" wall that will be about 3 or 4 bricks high. This is gonna be about 4' out from the house and in two sections. One section goes from the edge of the garage to the edge of the air conditioning unit which measures about 21'. The other section will be 4' out from the house and from the other edge of the air conditioning unit to the edge of fireplace chimney which measures about 7'.

We are probably, well probably more me, doing this on our own just to save some cost. Yesterday we went and looked at brick and got some ideas brochures. What I'm wondering for those of you that have done your own work, is getting these retaining wall bricks started as difficult as it sometimes looks in those brochures and if you did it over again, would you do it on your own or have someone else come and do it for you? I know in the end the hard work is really going to pay off and I can't wait but it's starting it that is the hard part!

 

[shep]

I am not sure if you are doing a wall similar to mine, but the only hard part was making sure the first row was level..
Here's mine..

The only thing I should've done different was put some kind of drainage think in there which would've prevented the wall from being pushed out...
Also make sure you get enough for your wall...As you can see my top 2 layers don't match..

Also...Wear gloves..This stuff can tear up your hands..

 

[Tulirose]

I had my wall professionally done and it was well worth the money. I really think they did a fantastic job. First they had to take out rotting 30-some-odd year old railroad ties. And as Shep said, the most important step is leveling the first row of stone/brick. DH is very handy but his time is limited. I wouldn't change a thing to my wall....I would love, however, to put in a new surface area around the pool like Alex has....

Here are two photos of my wall:

<IMG width= "300" SRC="http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid25/p6a90ccca8c417af6dcaf8ee0b0b7e881/fd88dee1.jpg"> <IMG width= "300" SRC="http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid25/p620d790fe45733f8f6b47afb3ef05bdc/fd88da47.jpg">

Good luck with your project.

 

[December99]

WOW Shep....just that little glimpse of your house it looks awesome!!!! And it wouldn't be that big of a drop off but more like Tuli's. Thanks for those pics both of you and for your suggestions. I really need nail down some ideas this weekend. While I'm traveling in the car with my dad will be a great time to do a little sketch of what I'm thinking of and seeing if he will help me!!! He's put one wall in himself at his house and it's about the same size. I just don't know if he'll help.

 

[shep]

I got these blocks at Lowe's, and made sure they delivered...I couldn't see putting 100 of these in a cart, then unloading into truck, then unloading in yard...They charge me $20 to deliver(If you are within 15 miles)well worth it....

The blocks also have a lip on the back of them so they 'hang on'..
Another thing to think about is possibly getting some top soil/dirt to put in there....My neighbor had some extra topsoil in his yard from a project and I gladly took the leftovers off his hands...

I had a lot of grief doing the landscaping in my yard..I think this was my 2nd or 3rd attempt...
You need to come down in August & check it out for yourself..
A meet is in the works on the CB..

 

[Serena]

better homes and gardens has some great help.

 

[Snowwark]

Hi Serena, and thank you for the link! There's a ton of great info there!