Don't Let Your Front Lawn's Slope Ruin The Aesthetic, Try This Instead

Curb appeal or the general aesthetics of a beautiful landscape can be challenging to achieve with a severely sloped front lawn. Not only is it difficult to mow, but runoff can make it hard for grass to stay healthy, leading to possible bald spots and ruining the view. Instead of struggling with your hard-to-manage slope, adding a low-maintenance retaining wall that will look amazing in your yard could be a good idea. One of the best things about this project is its flexibility, as you can choose the look you prefer — concrete, stone, brick, or wood. But before you choose your retaining wall material, it might be best to consult a professional. They can examine your space to determine what type of wall would work best in your outdoor space.

While it might be tempting to keep your yard untouched, note that adding a wall structure has several benefits that go beyond aesthetics. A well-built structure can protect your soil from erosion and ground shifts and even increase the property value of your home. A retention wall will also turn your troublesome hill into a focal point, adding a unique visual interest to your outdoor space and possibly creating multiple tiers that you can decorate to your liking with trees, shrubs, plants, and flowers — something that might be difficult or impossible to do without extra support.

As with any project, design a detailed plan to see what will work best on your particular property and decide whether you will DIY the project or bring in a professional contractor. Planning involves analyzing the site and soil, calculating dimensions, soil weight, and pressure, and determining the location of the load-bearing walls to support the structure. 

If your planned retaining wall is shorter than 4 feet, there's a possibility you could do the job yourself, but for anything taller than that, you should call in a professional. This structure needs to be solid because the wall will be holding back pressure from the soil, especially after a good rain. Your soil type, climate, and drainage conditions all play a part in choosing your wall design. So, for larger walls (and maybe shorter ones too), you want to have a licensed structural engineer help you plan and make the necessary calculations. 

Each of the materials you could choose to build your retaining wall has its pros and cons. For example, concrete walls are strong but might not have the aesthetic appeal you're looking for, and stone and brick walls look beautiful, but are difficult to build properly without professional masonry assistance. Timber is also an option that DIY enthusiasts can usually work with but the structure doesn't typically hold up as well as stone, brick, or concrete. Whatever medium you choose, the steps followed to build your retaining wall or walls are relatively the same. Once complete you can decorate your new work of art by adding plants or your favorite blooms in the new wall flower bed.