3 Awesome Ideas to Incorporate Natural Stone Retaining Walls into Your Yard

Retaining walls are both practical and aesthetic. When your landscape is uneven, retaining walls can be used to break up slopes or to support steep hills, ensuring that the land does not erode over time. The right retaining wall design can also create more useable space in the landscape, giving you more area to plant flowering shrubs or to grow produce, among other things. Retaining walls also have aesthetic appeal because of the stone used to create them, the design they have, and the way they break up the landscape into more intentional spaces.

Natural stone is an ideal choice for retaining walls since it is strong and durable but also beautiful. The right stone will blend perfectly with the natural landscape, and it will stand up to the elements for decades to come. You can work with a stone supplier to find the right material and a landscaper to create the right design, but here are three great ideas for how you can incorporate natural stone retaining walls into your yard:

Boulder Rocks

Boulder rocks offer perhaps the easiest way to create a retaining wall – though it won’t be easy to move them! These large rocks can be pushed against slopes and steep walls of earth to hold back the dirt while also creating a beautiful look for the landscape. The stones look naturally occurring, but their placement will create order in the landscape.

Using boulder rocks for retaining walls can save you both time and money. The rocks don’t have to be shaped and positioned in specific ways to ensure the integrity of a formed wall. Instead, they can be placed in whatever way makes the most sense and looks the best. The rocks are also less expensive than other stones because they are not hewn into a specific shape and they are not rare.

Gabion Walls

Gabion walls are made of strong, wire mesh that holds back stacks of stone. The stones can be round, naturally occurring shapes, or they can be cut into specific designs, such as bricks. Gabion walls are often used to transition a space between private and public, such as along the edge of a home’s yard where it meets the street. The retaining wall provides some privacy while also creating a suitable-looking transition from decorative to more utilitarian.

You’ll need a dense and strong stone that can resist the weight of so much stacking for your gabion walls. The overall cost of your project will depend greatly on what stone you choose and the size of your project. However, gabion walls are generally less expensive than freestanding retaining walls.

Stone Cladding

Stone cladding is one of the most popular choices for retaining walls because it creates a uniform and sophisticated look for the wall that ties in nicely with the landscape and the home design. You can choose from a wide variety of stone types, as well as colors and textures, and the retaining wall can be built in just about any style.
It’s best to work with a landscape designer and a stone supplier to determine the right kind of stone and design for your retaining wall. You are likely to find that you need multiple retaining walls to solve your functionality issues, as well as to create a pleasing design that best enhances your home and your landscape. Think through how well the stone will perform over time, as well as how it will look and how much it will cost. Your contractors should be able to help you find a solution that strikes the right balance.

Centurion Stone of Arizona provides a large selection of natural stone that you can use to create beautiful retaining walls, pathways, pool decks, or other elements for your landscape. We provide the stone and we can install it for you, helping you save time and money, or you can install it yourself. You can visit our 10,000 square foot display area in Arizona, or you can explore our selection online and request a quote. We’ll make sure you find the perfect stone for your retaining wall or other project. Orders placed throughout the week are delivered within 24 hours.