If you have a disintegrating retaining wall, consider replacing it with a sloping stone wall. By terracing the wall up into the yard, you can add both beauty and strength. For added attractiveness, include areas for plants and steps. Materials:
Mountain stone
Shovels
Pry bars
Wheelbarrow
Hand truck
Canvas or burlap drop cloth
Cold chisel for shaping stones
Small sledgehammer
Safety glasses
- Use a pry bar to remove the existing retaining wall. Be careful: concrete blocks are heavy. You may be able to recycle parts of the old wall.
- Dig out a slope to create a terraced angle for the stone wall (figure A). Don't cut too far into the root systems of nearby trees and shrubbery, or you may kill them. You may need to add or remove dirt to accommodate the different sizes of stones.
- Begin fitting stones in place. You'll need help with this task because some stones are very heavy. No mortar is needed: just place each stone firmly before setting another stone on top of it. You'll need to try stones of different shapes in various spots. Try to maintain a balance between large and small stones. Use the dirt you removed in creating the slope to fill in gaps so that the stones are seated firmly.
- Dig out an even slope to create steps (figure B).
- Place stones and cut-out dirt as necessary to get the proper step height and depth (figure C), which should be as close as possible to those of standard steps. This will involve some trial and error.
- Plant flowers and shrubbery in the appropriate areas in the wall, and spread mulch around the new plants (figure D).
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