The Benefits of Retaining Walls

Retaining walls are more than just rocks. These functional structures elevate the beauty and usability of your outdoor space. In this article, we'll explore how incorporating a well-designed retaining wall can enhance your property's value, functionality, and visual appeal.

What are Retaining Walls?

Retaining walls are thoughtfully designed and strategically placed structures for your backyard landscaping. These walls can vary in height, width, and design depending on the backyard space. Typically, they are made out of stone and brick.

We incorporate retaining walls into our landscaping designs for a few key reasons…

The Benefits of Retaining Walls

Prevent Erosion

When retaining walls are being designed, landscapers have to take into account how stormwater affects your property. A properly designed retaining wall can actually provide flooding control benefits to better guide water away from your home and prevent it from damaging the landscape. By controlling the speed of water runoff, it also lessens the effect of erosion on your property over time.

Optimize Space

It’s more common than not for landscapes on Minnesota properties to have some hilly areas, which can make it difficult to use the land. Adding in a retaining wall can create tiered levels of whatever you wish to fill it with: for example, softscapes like a garden or hardscapes like a fire pit area. It creates a functional use out of space that might have been unusable before, and it improves the overall aesthetic.

Increase Property Value

Retaining walls are highly sought after for many reasons: they add function, style, and versatility to your landscape. They are often a balanced mix of soft- and hardscape, which makes them a beautiful focal point in the design. The pavers used can add a certain vibe to the space, and the softscape areas can hold easy-to-manage bushes or a variety of flowers. It gives the homeowner a wide variety of options, so they can get creative with the landscape designer.

Low Maintenance

They are also a low-maintenance addition and quite durable against the harsh freeze-thaw effect since they’re typically made with pavers. If they need repairs, it’s typically smaller needs like replacing a paver. As the wall ages, it will need more extensive repairs or replacement, but it takes a while to get to that stage.

Create a Natural Barrier

Retaining walls help divide spaces. We typically use retaining walls in place of fences to separate zones, but keep a backyard from feeling closed off. Retaining walls are an extremely effective way to surround a pool area to create a division from the rest of the backyard unobtrusively. 

Retaining walls are a smart investment for both function and curb appeal. Contact Outdoor Innovations today for a free quote and see how a custom retaining wall can transform your outdoor space.

Outdoor Innovations Landscaping creates elevated backyards for homeowners in Minnesota. From in-ground pools to luxurious grilling stations to outdoor living rooms, we do it all. Explore our past projects and get a quote online to make your dream backyard a reality.