Retaining Wall Ideas Wood Stone Concrete

What Can I Do With a Sloped Backyard?

Install a retaining wall for a sloped backyard and you can carve out functional outdoor spaces where once there were only precarious slopes. To help you, we asked our experts for their inexpensive retaining wall ideas so you can choose which sturdy and stylish structure for leveling your landscape.

What Is the Cheapest Type of Retaining Wall?

The cheapest type of retaining wall is poured concrete. Prices start at $4.30 per square foot for poured concrete, $5.65 for interlocking concrete block, $6.15 for pressure-treated pine, and about $11 for stone. Installation or supplies, such as drainage stone or filter fabric, are not included.

4 Retaining Wall Ideas

1. Terrace the Backyard

Reader Mike Sieber of Mannington, West Virginia, stacked large stone modular blocks to level off a steep decline and make distinct areas for entertaining and game-playing.

2. Carve Out a Patio

Readers Dominique and Eric Butters of Silver Spring, Maryland, cut into the slope behind their home, lined the ledge with interlocking concrete blocks, and gained a patio with a sitting wall.

3. Transition to the Sidewalk

Reader Sandra Yoshioka of Torrance, California, used stuccoed-block walls to create a flower-filled buffer between the sidewalk and her front door.

4. Create a Driveway

Reader Clifford Parker of Jamestown, California, raised the grade in his yard and built a hybrid stone-and-timber wall to hold up the outer edge of a new gravel drive.