Thanks for all the suggestions! Tanowicki, you're right about the timber wall. We will be getting engineer help with that one. The weird thing about that wall is that the dirt it's retaining is way below the top of the wall. The top two timbers aren't actually retaining anything! (Why did someone build a wall taller then they had to?) I like your thought about building in the handrail! I hadn't even considered that. Deviant-deziner, I definitely wish we could have gone with a stacked stone or other "wow" wall, but it was cost-prohibitive. We had a few landscapers come in to give us estimates for this project; they ranged from $4-6k. We did the whole project ourselves for $800, including all the gravel and sand for the footings. It was just no contest. But you're right, they're one step above cinder blocks (but I'm still proud of my sort-of-ugly baby!). I like the climbing vine idea. The ficus pumila is very cool, i've never seen it! I wish I could grow it in my zone. Chibimimi, thanks for the suggestions! Vinca is a great thought, and guara is gorgeous! I think I might try starting it from seed, Dr. Google tells me it might be easy to start from seed. Thanks for all the suggestions and advice. I stopped by my local landscape supply store today and came home with a car full of plants. The folks there were so helpful and full of information. They helped me pick some winners :)

Sorry I was not very clear, I was just referring to the walls proper. You can run each wall conduit back to the house or from wall to wall then the house, depends on what is convenient. Just be sure to size the conduct properly (larger is ok) for the number of wires required. Your local building inspector can tell you what he will accept. Add one wire for the earth ground, it must be connected to your panel. I would suggest you get some landscape wire and run one to each wall, then you can connect speakers to it (the purest s will complain) but it works. 5 amp at 8 ohms will give you about 200 watts. Remember to check the voltage drop in the wire so you can size it properly.

I think that the wall needs to turn the corner back into the hill toward the path to reduce erosion from the bottom of the bed. Doing that now before planting, making it as as high as the top of the lowest tier of the main wall, will save considerable grief down the road. Think about how you are placing the landscape rocks in the bed to direct or retain water flow to reduce runoff and erosion. Get rid of the landscape cloth and use a highly textured mulch and well rooted groundcovers to retain soil and reduce weeds. If you doubt the problems with landscape cloth (for other than in subsurface drains and under paths), read a few of the threads here or here. Leaving it there will be something you are extremely likely to come to regret.

@JoJo (Nevada 9A) I like the woodland garden idea, but not sure what that could look like. Do you have a picture you can share? Great point about the trees taking much of the soil. I know very little about gardening or plants (learning as I go – more of my husband’s territory), but the soil does feel very different here. Almost clay like. The soil is definitely full of roots -there’s tons that are poking up through the soil. Is that a sign the bedrock is right under the surface and we need to be careful with what we plant? @callirhoe123 When we first moved in we had a ton of vines on the fence and we didn’t love the look, especially since there’s so much fence line to cover. @Christopher CNC A gate in that section of the fence does sound good – especially when my daughter tossed a frisbee over the fence and it was a long walk to go get it. Love the idea of painting it black. Starting to think everyone is right- it probably just needs a good clean up and it will make a huge difference. Especially since we’re not replacing the fence. @ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5 I love your questions – and yes I am being generous calling it a retaining wall! Some more pictures of the property below. We have almost an acre, but the property is very wide, not deep. There is an inground pool on the right side of the house on the hill – that’s the additional fencing you see. It’s abandoned and needs fixing, but that’s hopefully in the budget for next year or following. For the portion with the retaining wall (actual wall, not just rocks scattered about 😉 ) we are thinking of potentially building a fire pit area in that space? That’s just an early thought though and we haven’t spent time investigating. Maybe at the base of the stairs we’ll level out the yard a bit and put pavers down to build a patio area? Feel free to tear apart these ideas and impart some wisdom!