Oh! The curves in the bottom are gorgeous. I would probably do a combination of them both. Like picture #1, I would go 'out' from the back of the fence line, (why explained below) then curve along like picture #2. Be sure to imagine the hoses on the ground as a 'wall' and remember that this will be loss of yard space as your children get larger. (throwing balls, etc.) Very important: One thing you need to remember is that the raised bed will effectively 'lower' your fence. So, if you have dogs or children they may be able to jump over the fence easier, and you may not want this. See how easy it would be for them to jump the fence in picture 1? Now, your land seems to slope upward toward the back, so this may not be the case if you keep the beds along the back, and not attach to your side fence line. Also, be sure you have the back of the planting bed designed before you start. Any dirt you put back there will fall through the fence cracks if not held in place somehow. See how picture 2 holds everything in pace with a solid fence (that is also very tall! so jumping over it is not a problem). Again, because of your slope, if you don't attach to the side fence lines, and only build the retaining walls up to the height of bottom of the back fence line, that shouldn't be a problem. Did you do the patio area yourself? I just want you to know how much work this may become. Those blocks are fairly easy to work with, however, you will still have some digging (due to the slope of your yard) and the bottom blocks must be level to look right. This could be a gorgeous addition to your yard, just make sure you have thought it all out before starting. :)

There's a lot of scary talk here, but the gist is that a retaining wall is trivial except when things go wrong. These things can include anything from waterlogged soil to earthquake, but we won't think of them too much lest they come true. Here in Arizona, the counties regulate building codes, and Pima County says: "Engineering is required if the wall is over 4 feet high, measured from the bottom of the footing, or for any wall height with applied surcharge loads" such as driveways on top or slopes pushing sideways. Also, and here's the good part: "For retaining walls up to 8 feet high, Pima County Building Safety pre-approved details may be used." That means they have a homeowner-oriented form designed to make it easy unless you're dealing with an intense situation. Forget engineers. Forget lawyers. Call the building permits people and ask THEM, not us. If you follow their plans and have it inspected by them you can expect a reliable wall and a lawyer-free future for it. If your building codes/permits people donâÂÂt have such a handout, get the one from Pima County and see if theyâÂÂll accept it. ItâÂÂs very BS free.

Yep, I am in North Carolina, zone 7/8. Crape myrtles are EVERYWHERE here, so I have no concerns about them not growing. I guess one of the questions I need to answer is would I rather keep the crapes and have privacy in 1-2 years, but for only 8 months of the year? Or do I want to move things around and plant a wall of evergreens and not have much privacy for 5 years. If I keep the crapes I may spread them out a bit more. Right now there is 10 ft. between each, but I would like to increase that to at least 12-13ft. I don't really like the look of a crape myrtle hedge where every tree is growing together. Another thought I had was keeping the "miami" crapes trimmed so that they grow a little bit underneath the "natchez" ones, as they are naturally smaller growing anyway. The dogwood I have planted in the photos is in a spot that has about 5 ft. of land between the fence and the retaining wall. Is this too tight? If not, I may move the dogwood and put a crape myrtle there, which may even give me 14ft. between each crape myrtle. Nope I cannot raise the height of my fence at all. My lot is sloped downward a little, so if I play fetch with my dog then my neighbors can't see me which is nice. But if we are on our porch we are very exposed.

So just a quick update.. I spoke to the builder and the fence crew.. Fence guy says he highly recommends not putting the fence between the wall and neighbors property.. He was concerned with the space but also said that if he puts the fence and "raises" it on the post it will not look right.. He recommended putting the fence on top and behind the wall.. Well here is the new problem.. Builder obviously said that he does not want to move the wall.. He said that it was my decision to put it there and if I want it moved I would have to pay the cost to move it which is two days of manpower consisting of three guys and also the use of the excavator.. He didn't give us a price but the last time he gave a price for his excavator it was around 1k for some trench work.. So I am going to assume he would want 2k to do the wall over.. The wall would get moved about 1ft closer to the neighbors property but still give them an extra 6inches more then they are supposed to have.. I am not sure if its worth the money to gain the extra 1ft of space along that side.. Right now we are losing 1ft on a 80ft run.. One of the big concerns is that I have seen this exact same issue come up in the past where people had a space like this that the neighbor took over without them knowing and was using it for YEARS.. And when they went to sell the house there was a problem as the neighbor claimed the property was his and had been using it for X amount of years.. I know everyone was in a court battle but I dont know the end result.. I just remember being told that the neighbor actually had a valid argument since they were using it for X amount of years and were never told not to..