10 Contemporary Retaining Walls Offer Fresh Ideas for Slopes
See how retaining walls can step up landscape designs with built-in water features, benches and cool building materials
If your property requires a retaining wall — an expensive landscape feature any way you cut it — use the wall as an opportunity to enhance the overall design of your garden. Cleverly designed retaining walls not only hold back slopes but also double as dramatic features of landscape. Take a look at these ideas for innovative walls that incorporate built-in fountains, benches and other features as part of their designs and that use contemporary building materials like Cor-Ten steel and rock gabions to add interest to the landscape.
2. Patio Garden
To accommodate a grade change from the upper property line to the pool below, the designers at Decorative Landscaping created a retaining wall with built-in planters, benches and a water feature for this Salt Lake City landscape.
To accommodate a grade change from the upper property line to the pool below, the designers at Decorative Landscaping created a retaining wall with built-in planters, benches and a water feature for this Salt Lake City landscape.
The symmetry of the design — the fountain aligns with a cast concrete gas fire feature and a pool, out of view — creates balance for the backyard. Further, the neutral gray concrete used for the retaining wall and dark steel planters ties in with the home’s materials and colors.
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3. Living Wall
This retaining wall made up of interlocking concrete cells from Criblock allows for far more planting room than most hardscape-heavy designs. Planted with a mix of low-maintenance perennials and ornamental grasses in every shade of green, the retaining wall becomes a lush tapestry of foliage. This vertical garden retaining wall would work well in urban areas that could benefit from additional greenery, but it also complements this woodland garden by Jeffrey B. Glander & Associates in Nisqually Reach, Washington.
This retaining wall made up of interlocking concrete cells from Criblock allows for far more planting room than most hardscape-heavy designs. Planted with a mix of low-maintenance perennials and ornamental grasses in every shade of green, the retaining wall becomes a lush tapestry of foliage. This vertical garden retaining wall would work well in urban areas that could benefit from additional greenery, but it also complements this woodland garden by Jeffrey B. Glander & Associates in Nisqually Reach, Washington.
4. Chunky Boulders With Built-In Benches
On a waterfront home on Puget Sound in Washington, large boulders set into the slope help retain the hillside planting as a naturalistic-style wall. The landscape architects at Kenneth Philp Landscape Architects carefully selected boulders with flat faces and arranged them as built-in stone benches, topped with soft seat-back throw pillows for more comfort.
On a waterfront home on Puget Sound in Washington, large boulders set into the slope help retain the hillside planting as a naturalistic-style wall. The landscape architects at Kenneth Philp Landscape Architects carefully selected boulders with flat faces and arranged them as built-in stone benches, topped with soft seat-back throw pillows for more comfort.
Another view of the garden shows how the slope descends toward the water with more boulders used as stone steps down to the beach. The boulder retaining wall’s curvature mimics the slope and the shoreline, helping the wall keep with the site.
5. Smooth Concrete With Inset Lighting
Keeping the pool close to the same level of the house on this hilly lot meant installing wraparound retaining walls to hold back the slope. The finished design by Shades Of Green Landscape Architecture features a dark, smooth concrete wall and glowing inset lights. Giving the retaining wall a dark finish makes other lighter elements of the backyard stand out in contrast, such as the turquoise of the pool tile, the warm brown of the decking and the white flowers of the Japanese anemone.
Keeping the pool close to the same level of the house on this hilly lot meant installing wraparound retaining walls to hold back the slope. The finished design by Shades Of Green Landscape Architecture features a dark, smooth concrete wall and glowing inset lights. Giving the retaining wall a dark finish makes other lighter elements of the backyard stand out in contrast, such as the turquoise of the pool tile, the warm brown of the decking and the white flowers of the Japanese anemone.
6. Mixed Materials
Sheets of Cor-Ten steel interspersed with large boulders create a one-of-a-kind retaining wall design that almost visually reads as an optical illusion in this design by Avalon Northwest Landscape. It’s as if the boulders have been dropped into a sheet of pliable metal, or that the metal has formed around them. The boulders do more than just look cool — they also help anchor the wall in place, pinning down the sheets of steel.
Sheets of Cor-Ten steel interspersed with large boulders create a one-of-a-kind retaining wall design that almost visually reads as an optical illusion in this design by Avalon Northwest Landscape. It’s as if the boulders have been dropped into a sheet of pliable metal, or that the metal has formed around them. The boulders do more than just look cool — they also help anchor the wall in place, pinning down the sheets of steel.
7. Rock Gabion
Adding a retaining wall made out of metal cages filled with stones — or another material like leftover chunks of concrete or wood — can be a great way to pack a lot of textural interest into a space. In this backyard, for example, the stone-filled gabion retaining wall contrasts with the smooth exterior siding of the building to make the urban space feel warmer and more earthy.
Adding a retaining wall made out of metal cages filled with stones — or another material like leftover chunks of concrete or wood — can be a great way to pack a lot of textural interest into a space. In this backyard, for example, the stone-filled gabion retaining wall contrasts with the smooth exterior siding of the building to make the urban space feel warmer and more earthy.
8. Fire Pit Amphitheater
A handsome design of two curved concrete and stucco retaining walls built into the slope forms a dual retaining wall and bench seat. The oversize scale of both the wall and cast-in-place concrete fire pit works well in relation to the expansive views and mature oak woodland for this backyard by Kikuchi + Kankel Design Group in Portola Valley, California.
A handsome design of two curved concrete and stucco retaining walls built into the slope forms a dual retaining wall and bench seat. The oversize scale of both the wall and cast-in-place concrete fire pit works well in relation to the expansive views and mature oak woodland for this backyard by Kikuchi + Kankel Design Group in Portola Valley, California.
9. Contemporary Wood
Give a classic wood retaining wall an entirely new look by adding horizontally set wood siding. For this project in the Diamond Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, the team at The Garden Route Company first established the tiers and retained the steep slope with walls made of 4-by-6-inch posts of pressure-treated wood set into 5-inch-deep concrete piers with pressure-treated boards bolted to the back. Then they added horizontal 1-by-4-inch cedar boards, stained a rich mahogany color, for a contemporary finishing touch.
Give a classic wood retaining wall an entirely new look by adding horizontally set wood siding. For this project in the Diamond Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, the team at The Garden Route Company first established the tiers and retained the steep slope with walls made of 4-by-6-inch posts of pressure-treated wood set into 5-inch-deep concrete piers with pressure-treated boards bolted to the back. Then they added horizontal 1-by-4-inch cedar boards, stained a rich mahogany color, for a contemporary finishing touch.
10. Minimalist Tiers
The repeating forms of smooth, curved concrete retaining walls and monochromatic plantings create a peaceful, contemporary look for this sloped garden, also by Shades of Green Landscape Architecture. The design both for the walls and the plants — single swaths of one species per tier — creates an effective, restrained result.
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The repeating forms of smooth, curved concrete retaining walls and monochromatic plantings create a peaceful, contemporary look for this sloped garden, also by Shades of Green Landscape Architecture. The design both for the walls and the plants — single swaths of one species per tier — creates an effective, restrained result.
More on Houzz
How to Design a Great Garden on a Sloped Lot
Browse thousands of landscape ideas
Find a landscape contractor on Houzz
Shop for outdoor products
In a backyard by The Garden Design Studio in Dallas, retaining walls made of Cor-Ten steel dramatically warm up the otherwise cool-toned landscape of greens, gray and silver. Unlike other types of steel, Cor-Ten only rusts to a certain point, developing the rich, sought-after patina seen in this photo; then it stops, so it will not degrade over time. The material works well paired with other contemporary building materials like concrete and stone.
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