Hi, I have a cinderblock retaining wall as well, and I have often wondered how to conceal the look of it. When my budget permits, I plan to brick the wall to match our home. Our wall sits on the driveway as well, and there is no lawn to plant directly into to cover the wall. However, I came across this picture and it seems like a great solution. You could construct a planting border similar to the one shown below, and then use plantings to cover the wall. I don't know your budget, but if you are a DIYer, you could build this yourself right on top of your paved driveway. Just a suggestion, I hope this offers some inspiration. : ) [IMG]http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p292/maliblue007/retainingwall.jpg[/IMG]

I think you are on the right track in thinking past this contractor to a finishing carpenter, metalsmith, or other craftsperson. Even if this fellow agrees to one of your options, he doesn't want to be doing this work - he's done what he's good at, now the finishing should go to someone else who will enjoy the challenge. I too suspect that mitered trim or a metal cone would do the trick nicely. If you choose something weather sensitive perhaps it could be removable for winter, or would that be too crazy? On the upside, you will count your blessings (or a future owner will thank you) if those posts ever need to be replaced; I think the point of the brackets is as an alternative to setting the posts themselves in concrete or dirt. KarinL

I too have lots of drystone wall, and hate to mow or weedwhack at the base. I have planted the wild violets I weed out of my raised beds hard against the base of my walls -- they make a nice contrasting stripe, withstand sun or shade, prevent other weeds from taking hold, and I don't care if the mower overlaps them. Hope this helps! LynnT

I can't believe your installer did not put edging stone around! Highly unprofessional! I wouldn't think that would survive intact through the first winter. It's trickier to install edging stone AFTER the patio is installed, it should have been done at the time. Two choices that I can see: - buy edging stone like large pieces of cut granite. Many cities use this kind of stone for curbs. It needs to go below ground level. I have a hard time seeing this work effectively unless you use VERY large pieces now. The problem is that years of water coming through the patio and frost heave will be pushing it out. It should have been installed with a deep foundation and probably mortared together. Might be too late. (your installer never thought of this???) - you may prefer to get a few loads of topsoil in and have a gentle slope from the patio to the lawn. It would probably be easier, and would nicely eliminate the step from the patio to the grass. To be effective and not look funny, it will have to be a small gradual slope, so you are probably looking at adding topsoil 8 feet or more from the edge of your patio. That is a lot of topsoil but I think would give you nice results.