Landscaping: Design Ideas Needed

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goodchap Lansing, MI October 21, 2009 03:42 PM	Hi Everyone, I've attached a photo of the area in question. It's kind of a sensitive issue around the house. This chunk of land used to be home to a long cinder block retaining wall that was painted white to match the house. In my opinion it was quite ugly and stuck out like a sore thumb. I busted it out one afternoon, but now I think it really needs to be spruced up a bit. My husband and I have differing opinions. I think it should just be grass, but he thinks it needs to be turned back into a retaining wall for plants to grow over. I'd rather not have another garden bed to weed and maintain all the time. Any ideas? View Larger
JulieQ Cullman, AL (Zone 7b) October 21, 2009 08:18 PM	How does the missing retaining wall change the drainage when it rains? Have you had a good rain since your demolition?
Lynnie6868 (Zone 5b) October 21, 2009 08:25 PM	goodchap I was wondering about the drainage there, too, you look a bit lower than the other houses....my husband suggested drystack fieldstone, unless you're against any wall at all, or was it the look of the cinderblock you hated?
goodchap Lansing, MI October 22, 2009 08:07 AM	We have had quite a few good rains since I ripped out the wall and there's been no seepage into our basement. From talking with my new neighbor, I understand that the guy who owned it a while back brought in a couple loads of dirt, packed it against the house, and the built that ugly cinderblock wall (and yes...it was the look of the block that bothered me...very cheap). The workmanship was terrible...I even found trash tucked in the holes of the blocks, cigarette packs, cheetos, etc. I also spent the summer digging my house out and uncovering quite a few strips of siding in the process. The went overboard with the dirt and didn't address the real problem, which was the slope and the fact that the house did not have gutters. By digging out those flower beds, I corrected the slope (at least it appears that way) and we had a new set of gutters installed. We have not had water leaking into the basement since installing the gutters, so I doubt that wall was really doing any good at all. Here's another photo for a difference perspective. We're doing a lot of tree plating next fall. I was thinking maybe a pathway through there to the driveway which is located to the left of the large grassy spot (we don't have a garage). View Larger
goodchap Lansing, MI October 22, 2009 11:40 AM	and yes, our house is lower than others on our block...it's the original farmhouse for the neighborhood. and i meant that we're planting trees next spring :) thanks for any ideas you can offer!!
themoonhowl Prairieville, LA (Zone 9a) October 22, 2009 11:56 AM	Goodchap, even if you do not want another flower bed, replacing the retaining wall may be a necessity. Repeated rains, snow, freezes, etc will cause erosion to the edge of that berm. You could use the same masonry that surrounds your flower bed to make a dry stack wall. It can be planted with grass right up to the edge of the wall and does not require putting in a flower bed. It will tie the steps back into the landscape and make mowing easier.
goodchap Lansing, MI October 22, 2009 09:07 PM	ok, thank you. it sounds like i should consider rebuilding the wall...so i'll be doing some research on dry stacking *(b/c i do not know what that is!). how would it look to continue the wall on the other side of the steps as well?
Lynnie6868 (Zone 5b) October 22, 2009 09:10 PM	I think that would look awesome! I LOVE stone walls. :)
themoonhowl Prairieville, LA (Zone 9a) October 22, 2009 09:24 PM	Here ya go Goodchap. http://images.google.com/images?q=dry stack retaining wall&o... http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-build-a-dry-stack-st... http://www.ehow.com/about_4676019_dry-stack-stone-retaining-...
Lynnie6868 (Zone 5b) October 22, 2009 09:26 PM	goodchap my husband and I have built 3 drystack walls, if you have any questions let me know...there's a thread with some great pics...I'll find it....
Lynnie6868 (Zone 5b) October 22, 2009 09:27 PM	here it is.... http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1017878/

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