small garden wall questions...

[Baltimike]

My old school landscaping timber garden wall (only about 10 inches high) has finally given up the ghost. While I have be toying around with the idea of replacing it with composite landscaping timber (same look, but will last virtually for ever) but wanted to see if you all had any experience with wall bloxk and what did you think or recommend.

Thanks guys!

[csziggy]

1. I've had a couple of small walls made with decorative concrete blocks

They are listed under the category "retaining wall blocks" at Lowe's. The blocks we got were about 12" long, 7" deep, and 4" tall. They have a little lip at the back to 'lock' each layer to the back of the previous one.

To install them, the best practice is to dig about 4-6" below the ground level, making a level flat bottom trench wider than the block. Fill about 3" deep with a 3/4" gravel, place the first layer of block, fill in behind and between the blocks with gravel, place the next layer, and so forth. Make sure each layer is level.

Since the blocks are wider at the front than at the back, it's easy to make curves and even circles. We used red, but they come in different colors.

One of our walls is about 24" tall next to the carport. The other is about 18" tall next to the generator. Next winter we plan another retaining wall to hold the soil along a path and above a new planting bed, plus we will put in some steps down from the screen porch. I'm also thinking of using the same block as edging for some of our flower beds.

The worst part is that the blocks weigh about 25 pounds each. While that is manageable, it adds up, especially if you're building a long wall or large planting bed. The first wall we put in we bought a pallet of 126 blocks and hired two guys to do the work in one day. The second one, we got 50 blocks and my husband did the work over three days.

Here is a video that shows how to use them: