Just a quick note before getting underway: All posts will have the image following the caption so you will read about each step first and then see its corresponding photo beneath it.
The exterior of our home needs a great deal of touch-up, so this year one of the weekend projects that goes a long way for some serious curb-appeal is a rock retaining wall with planting bed. We've dug up this same patch of dirt and sand several times over the years, but never really gotten it to a point where it was really formally landscaped. This strawberry patch was last year's efforts to keep this area more tidy, but its neatness was very short lived and by this spring, the entire area was overgrown with 2-3 foot tall weeds of every variety.
Once we were done harvesting a decent crop of strawberries from the new growth, all the vegetation was pulled up then the ground tilled and raked.
We posted stakes at the front edge corners at an equal distance away from the house. The string was then tied between the stakes with a string level. This ensures both a straight and level wall.
The first row of rocks on a retaining wall needs to be nested just a little bit below ground. I dug a trench about 3" deep and placed the first row of rocks in angled slightly back towards the house. The suggested angle is 8 degrees, but I wasn't about to figure that out, so I just made sure they rested with the flat "face" part of the rock angled a tiny bit back rather than straight up and down. Now, we live in Farmington, which means that our yard is very efficient at breeding rocks! Over the years of working through MANY other yard projects we have piles of rocks all over the property so finding a vast variety of rocks to puzzle piece together was a bit easier for us than it might be for others.
As you progress, you will need to backfill each rock as you place it. I kept a small hand pick axe handy for rocks that fit well in the front, but needed to have some of the dirt dug out behind it to make it fit at the back. Since you'll need to backfill all of the rocks anyway, it won't matter at all how far back you might have to dig just so long as the face of your rocks line up neatly.
This is two rows of rocks in place. At this point, I sprinkled 'Preen Garden Weed Preventer' across the soil and then as I raked soil from the back of the bed towards the front to use for backfill, I would then sprinkle a new layer of Preen on the newly exposed soil to make sure it was thoroughly integrated into the soil. I don't want ANYTHING to grow in this bed this year.
This is another view of the two layers of rocks installed.
Once my third and final layer of rocks was completed, I did a complete raking across the entire bed to make sure all of the soil was relatively level. Added another layer of Preen. One thing to consider is your water drain-off, so I made sure that there was a very slight angle from the house down to the rock wall so that the home's foundation wouldn't be retaining any water. I then put down a layer of plastic mulch film (very optional) followed by the most heavy-duty fabric weed guard on the market, which I gently tucked underneath the edge of the top layer of rocks. I started by digging a trench up against the house and using ground/yard staples to keep the guard in place and then backfilling underneath the guard so that any weeds have much less chance of sneaking up behind it. We picked up a tractor scoop of fine mulch from our local dump, which we then spread over the entire bed. Tucking the guard underneath the top layer of rocks and also only backfilling the last portion of rocks up to a few inches below the top made it so we were able to put our mulch in at about 2-3" thick/deep.
Almost finished!
Any time it takes to ensure proper burying of the first layer, resting rocks slightly back, leveling for correct height all the way across and measuring away from the house will ABSOLUTELY reward you in the end. No need to rely on concrete if you follow these few simple steps and rules that don't really add to this project's overall time.
Just adding the finishing touches now. Trellises that Dave built last year and small plastic urn planters to fit nicely inside.
Directly behind this rock retaining wall and planting bed on the opposite side of our front entry path, there is another one of these beds that needs to be given the same treatment. So that project is up next and will be done exactly the same way. We want to give this bed a chance to settle in and tell us if it's going to stay low-maintenance throughout the rest of this year and through Utah's harsh winters. If all looks promising by next spring, this bed will become home to a lovely rose garden in between the trellises.
Until next time! Here's to happy homes!
