A sloped property quietly wastes outdoor space while erosion compounds with every rainfall. Our garden retaining wall construction solves both by turning that slope into structured, usable garden space that’s built from the footing up and engineered to handle the load long-term.
Garden Retaining Wall Construction Services
Garden Retaining Wall Construction – Zero Shortcuts Policy
A sloped garden that loses soil with every wet season or remains unusable because the grade is too steep isn’t just an aesthetic problem – it’s a structural one that compounds every year if left unaddressed. The right garden retaining wall construction solves it permanently rather than managing it season to season.
That permanent solution starts with understanding the site properly – slope angle, soil conditions, drainage patterns, and load calculations all need to be assessed before a material or approach gets recommended. As a family-owned company with over 20 years of hardscape construction experience, Allison Bros handles every stage in-house. From excavation and footing preparation through to the final capping course, so nothing gets handed off and nothing gets compromised along the way.
The result is a garden wall retaining structure that holds its position, manages drainage properly, and adds genuine usable space to the property.
The Stages Behind Every Retaining Wall Construction Project
Every garden retaining wall construction project starts with understanding what the site actually requires. Proper garden wall retaining construction involves more stages than most homeowners expect and every one of them matters – here’s everything that our team delivers to each property:
- Site assessment – slope angle, soil load, drainage patterns, and frost-line depth evaluation
- Excavation to the correct depth for footing preparation and base stability
- Concrete footing installation for walls requiring structural reinforcement
- Garden soil delivery for new planting beds behind the completed wall
- Yard rubbish removal before site preparation and post-construction clean-up
- Residential property maintenance to keep the wall surroundings maintained after construction
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FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
How deep should a garden retaining wall be?
The garden retaining wall footing needs to go below Ontario’s frost line, typically 4 feet deep for this region. For every foot of wall height, the base should extend roughly one-eighth of the total height into the ground. Getting footing depth right is the single most important structural decision.
What are common retaining wall mistakes?
Insufficient footing depth, no drainage behind the wall, skipping geogrid reinforcement on taller walls, and using the wrong backfill material. Each one creates pressure that compounds through freeze-thaw cycles until the wall finally fails. Every retaining wall construction Allison Bros completes addresses all four before the first block goes down.
How to build a garden retaining wall step by step?
Start with excavation to the right footing depth, compact the base, set the first course below grade, and work upward with the correct batter angle. Drainage pipe and gravel backfill go in as the wall rises, not after. Finish with the capping course. A garden wall retaining structure built in that sequence holds its position for decades without needing correction.
What can I do instead of a retaining wall?
Terracing with planted slopes or using deep-rooted ground cover plants to hold soil are common alternatives. For anything beyond a gentle slope, particularly where soil erosion, drainage, or usable space are the concern, a properly built retaining wall is almost always the more effective and longer-lasting solution.
What are the three types of retaining walls?
The first is gravity walls, which rely on their own weight are typically made of dry-stacked stone or concrete blocks. Second is anchored walls that use cables or rods driven into the ground behind the wall for additional support. And the last type is the cantilever wall, which uses a reinforced concrete base that extends beneath the backfill to counterbalance soil pressure.
