Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Feb 22, 2011 1:26 pm I got some excavating in our backyard recently, it ended up being a bigger job that I'd expected and we have a lot more sandstone left than what I expected. Below is a picture (hopefully it shows properly). At the back of our house we have no entertaining area, it was just solid rock, as the picture shows, the rock has been cut out, we now have an area of about 8m x 4 m. The problem is how to pretty it up.... We were initially just going to put some rocks around the top of the wall all the way around to stop dirt/water coming in, and paving the flat area. But we think its going to look a bit funny, with that big smooth sandstone wall (with the saw marks etc that can be seen). I was thinking maybe we could something onto the standstone.... Its a solid sandstone wall so we don't want to go to the expense of putting another retaining wall in front of it.. Just after suggestions of what others have tried for this sort of thing? Also shown in this picture but there is a lot more of it, the excavation company spread it out the dug out rocks and dirt and have given us a level area... but I need to retain it all somehow..... would prefer to use some more the dug out rocks to make the retaining wall, but this may end up costing a lot more due to the inconsistent sizes? Any ideas most appreciated... got a landscaper coming out today but he's been before and normally recommends the easiest stuff but not practical, not thinking outside the square enough Thanks Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Sandstone wall ideas please 2Feb 23, 2011 9:48 am I would be looking at the rock rubble as a resource, definately want to be putting it to use. How about a rock batter retaining structure with vegetation growing over it, they can retain a lot of dirt and be very stable. When done right they look stunning, too. What style of garden did you have in mind? Re: Sandstone wall ideas please 3Feb 23, 2011 7:04 pm We've just had a landscaper over here.... a couple of suggestions..... We ourselves were thinking of having some kind of plant flowing over the top of the rock... He suggested rendering the solid sandstone wall, and or put wood all the way around on the wall and maybe a bench seat all the way around as well. We've gotta build some retaining walls to hold in all the rock and dirt that was dug out for this area to be made....Its been used to level the backyard at the back but needs to be retained like I said. As far as the style of garden.... we are in a bushy area so natives would probably be prefered.... we don't want to go too new age and arty with everything.... Re: Sandstone wall ideas please 4Feb 25, 2011 9:18 am Dry stone dykes everywhere!! Seriously, that sandstone that has been taken out would be put to good use if you made dry stone dykes (you can cement some of the bottom stones in for support if you're using it as a retaining wall). Get some native succulents and creeping plants in and over it. Some native wildflowers too. Don't know where you are, but native pigface is a good succulent to does particularly well when it gets extra water. Ours is doing particularly well on our dry stone dyke that supports the bed to the side of the driveway. Dry stone dykes look great as a backdrop in outdoor seating areas. They provide excellent refuges for all manner of creatures too. If it's a concern, you can seal behind the wall to prevent water seepage through it, but that water seepage will be great for the plants in the wall and will also stop the beds behind becoming too boggy during heavy rain. We're removing agapanthus from a bed where it's against the dry stone wall at the moment and this means that the wall is being pulled apart in the process. We're seriously considering using sleepers to support that bed in future, just so we can use the sandstone and river stones to replace our rotten front fence. Personally, I think that dry stone dykes as freestanding walls along the front of a property look fantastic. Re: Sandstone wall ideas please 5Feb 26, 2011 7:50 am If there are any landscapers willing to take on the job, I'm in Illawong Sutherland Shire. We will be using all that rock for retaiing walls, we'll need a wall about 10-15 metres long. We're tossing up between paving or putting a concrete slab and stenciling.... Any recommendations either way? Thanks Re: Sandstone wall ideas please 6Feb 27, 2011 4:36 pm could you cut a bench seat into the existing sandstone wall?? I would not concrete the area unless you are going to tile with sandstone I went outside once. The graphics were alright, but the gameplay sucked! Settlement:22nd June Slab:27th August Frame:16th Sept Bricked:21st Oct Roof:24th Nov Linings HANDOVER23rd March! Re: Sandstone wall ideas please 7Feb 27, 2011 7:18 pm We can't really do any more sandstone cutting..... The company that cut out that sandstone estimated 4 days to do the job, it ended up taking 17 days because the sandstone is so hard... We've had a couple of landscapers look so far.... as much as the wall is nice, its got too many cuts and cracks in it... so it looks like we'll be bagging it... They recommend stenciling because of the size of the area, which will be less maintenance.... I'd like to get a couple more landscapers over to look and give ideas and quotes before we make any final decisions... I had 28m2 of engineered pavers laid six months back and it was difficult to find someone not taking the pi$$. Internet suggested it should be $85-100/m2 to lay them.… 3 12389 Hi guys We have just removed a very large grape vine which was mounted to a structure along this wall. This is a shared wall with our neighbour, and after removal, we… 0 3954 Thank you again Simeon.. I will call my certifier for that. Have a good day 4 5179 |