Your Retaining Walls Can Help Your Fire Pit Become More Popular!

In our last blog, we talked about fire pits. Fire Pits are an excellent gathering spot for your yard. They’re a form of hardscaping that blends style and function.

 But what else does your outdoor living space need?

 Fire Pits are great and all, but maybe you want to take it to the next level. And in the most literal sense of the phrase, retaining walls will do just that. (That’s a little altitude humor for you).

 So what is a retaining wall, and why would you get one? 

 What Is a Retaining Wall?

 A retaining wall is any wall structure that holds soil, preventing it from being pulled down to another level by gravity. Retaining walls can be built to help a natural landscape keep its form or be constructed around a manufactured garden or land mass. 

 Retaining walls are composed of many materials, but typically they are composed of brick, stone, and poured concrete. The appropriate material for your particular hardscaping will depend on the purpose of your wall. 

 You will also want to consider your yard’s existing décor when deciding what retaining wall material you want. Fair Lawn will build to suit you. 

 Do I Need a Retaining Wall? 

 You may wonder whether a retaining wall is appropriate for your property. There are two reasons to get one: to maintain an existing landscape or to add something new. 

 Retaining walls are necessary to prevent erosion on some slopes. Often they are used on a hill so that soil from the hill doesn’t migrate down. 

 You also might need a retaining wall to create a multi-tiered garden on your property. Retaining walls work around raised manufactured gardens.

 You will frequently see retaining walls along roads or highways. These walls don’t always have a lot of style to them, but there’s no reason yours can’t. 

Creating Usability

 So what are the uses and benefits of a retaining wall? Besides addressing their already stated function, there are several perks to adding a retaining wall to your backyard hardscape. 

 Seating

 Multi-tiered retaining walls can create seating. Even if you’re not using the retaining wall to “retain,” adding tiers can be an excellent way to create seating around your fire pit. 

 This way, you can have your fire pit in the center with walls around it for seating and another level above. That level can be a backdrop where you also plant whatever you like. 

 Décor

 Retaining walls are more than a practical way to keep your dirt from surrendering to gravity. They can also be a canvas to express your creativity vertically. 

 Adding Natural Decoration

 Your retaining wall can be a background for all your gatherings. As such, you can make it aesthetically blend or stand out from the rest of your property.

 You can get very creative with your retaining walls if you so choose. As the materials vary, you can create a natural-looking background with stones or bricks or an artistic background where you carve designs or paint whatever you choose. 

Retaining walls add a vertical service that you can use to decorate further. Whether you use hanging baskets, lights, or wall décor is up to you. 

Showcasing of Flowers

Of course, one of the main ways that retaining walls can increase your aesthetic appeal is through flowers and other plants. When creating garden beds, you always think about flower color and texture. Retaining walls will give you another dimension to work with – depth.

 The horizontal surfaces in retaining walls are often full of flowers, shrubs, decorative stones, or whatever you choose. In addition, you can use plants with a vertical appeal, such as vines or hanging flowers, so the whole wall below the surface also has natural décor. 

 What more could anyone ask when you’re sitting around your firepit? 

 Light It Up

 Finally, your retaining wall is another area you can use landscape lighting to accent your property. Your lights can be installed within the wall while building the wall, or you can plant in-ground landscape lights into the flowerbed at the top. What is your plan? 

Height Means Shade!

The weather can get warm here in Oklahoma. You might like to go outside and watch the birds, have breakfast, or enjoy a cup of tea, but that doesn’t mean you’re looking to sweat. 

Retaining walls can add the extra benefit of shading the area beneath. You can use this shaded spot in your yard as a family gathering place when the sun is beating down. The top tier can be used when it’s cooler, and the bottom when you need a little respite from the heat. 

Get More Peace and Privacy

You might love your neighbors, but that doesn’t mean you always want to see and hear them. And while you may invite them over to chill around the fire pit, you may have days you want to be alone. 

Retaining walls, when placed strategically, can create a more private space by making your property feel more secluded. In addition, walls can block traffic sounds and other noise and give you a sense of privacy. 

You can even use walls to create a unique oasis in your yard that is just for you, like a spot for a hot tub or meditation garden. Retaining walls make you feel like you have more home!

As you can see, retaining walls can serve multiple functions. They create shade, seating, peace, privacy, flower beds, and art! Talk about a versatile medium! And we are just getting started. 

Like everything in your landscape, retaining walls and how you use them are limited only by your imagination. Whatever you dream, we can build. 

This blog included a lot of information. Luckily, you don’t have to retain all of it. Call us if you have a follow-up question or are ready to build.