Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Oct 30, 2009 9:24 pm Hi all I'm looking at landscape designs for my backyard. The yard is 15.5m wide x 12.5m deep. There is about a 1.4m drop which I had cut into 3 steps with a bobcat before the fences went up and access disappeared. The first problem I had was that the builder left far too much fill on the site so instead of going down one whole step with a single retaining wall I had to have it stepped in 3 goes and the rest of the yard rasied. The other problem was there are storm water pipes that project past the house making it easier to drop the level down further out Heres a picture. You can't see the rest of the yard but there is another drop of about 0.5M just before the fence. I'm going to use a timber retaining wall with steel posts just inside the fence line for this as you won't be able to see it. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Scourge180/miscellaneous/Hamilton104.jpg The way I see it there are 3 options here (I don't like decking so I haven't mentioned it): 1. Retaining walls in timber with steel posts and a set of steps in either timber or blocks (Boral, Austral Vertica etc). Advantage is its relatively cheap. 2. Retaining walls in blocks such as Boral or Austral Vertica with capping. The advantages of this is that there are no post holes and a dry bed can be used meaning that aside from alot of digging its a fairly straight forward process. I've done it in the front yard with Linkwall so I'm familar with the process. The cost of the blocks would be at least 10k. 3. Boulder walls using a combination of boulders/rocks and garden beds in a sort of natural landscape look. The best results I've seen come from using a combination of large and small boulders with plants that provide good ground coverage and like to grow around rocks.... The problem is the only backyard access I have is via a sideway that is 1M wide and the rocks would need to be moved down a driveway and about 35 metres past the house into the backyard. Does this seem possible or are they far to difficult to handle for that? Most jobs I see they just back up a truck and dump them right on the site without much moving necessary. It would be a huge job to to with the first two options but I'm just not sure of the logistics of doing option 3. I'm trying to avoid using a landscape gardener as I simply don't have the funds. As for design here is an idea of what I'm proposing if I use the modular blocks. There would be a paved sitting area and it would drop down in 3 stages partly to get rid of the fill: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Scourge180/miscellaneous/backyard.jpg If I was able to use rocks then the design would be a natural imitation and the steps would be curved to suit. I guess what I'm asking is whether people have any experience with any of these options and if so what would be your preference? Also if there are any landscape gardeners reading what do you think would be the most effective option and is the boulder/rock option feasible considering the lack of access. Thanks! Re: Retaining wall options for my backyard 2Oct 31, 2009 6:24 am My only comment is with the "dumped rock" option we had a dry stone wall at our last house and "dumped rock" retainer at the rental before we moved into our place. as much as I loved our drystone wall. it got to the stage that lawn had started to get between the rocks. this becomes a major problem. In the rental we were in which was only completed just before we moved in weeds had started growing in the rocks. we had to keep spraying, weeding constantly. I notice that since we've moved out 4 months ago they have inundated the rocks now. We have to put in retaining walls around our new house. We've both decided that drystone or rock pile retainers are not happening this time because of the plant/weed issues. Blog http://wherethehearthis.blogspot.com/ Build https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=6634: Yard https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27687&p=378401#p378401 Re: Retaining wall options for my backyard 3Oct 31, 2009 9:43 am Mozzie I guess what I'm asking is whether people have any experience with any of these options and if so what would be your preference? Looks very familiar .... http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=25365 My Blog... http://ahouseonthehill.blogspot.com/ Re: Retaining wall options for my backyard 4Oct 31, 2009 1:07 pm Thanks for bringing that up Kexkez - I never thought of that. Firthy_26 - that looks fantastic - damn good job. As soon as I saw your post the other day I was pretty convinced that I should do something very similar. I guess I'm just trying to make sure I think about all the alternatives in case there is an easier solution. It sure does look good though.. Re: Retaining wall options for my backyard 5Nov 04, 2009 7:31 pm Hi Mozzie - and others... We are currently considering buying a house which has a very steep (and basically unusable!!) backyard - similar dimensions to what you mentioned. Can anyone advise me on the sort of costs involved in getting an excavator in to level it out (or at least reduce incline) and then follow through with one of the retaining wall options you have listed?? Many thanks... Re: Retaining wall options for my backyard 6Nov 04, 2009 7:47 pm If you have enough room for Bobcat access then they are relatively cheap. I had one at my place for about 3 hours and from memory it was around $350 (very rough estimate there). It actually cost me more for top soil and road base. If you want fill taken away then that is a whole other story... Howdy all. I am looking for feedback on what people would do to maximise and make an area as flat as possible. First, out the front of the house is a sloping hill, pretty… 0 20147 Thank you again Simeon.. I will call my certifier for that. Have a good day 4 5179 Thanks for the insights, that makes perfect sense, and yeah, I will be leaning on the experience of the excavator operator entirely. 6 16121 |