With the materials readily available and the process easy to explain, we are sure that with a combination of the easy how-to steps below and our own range of planed all round timber, you'll be able to create your first wooden retaining wall using just everyday tools and a basic knowledge on the subject.
Fences: Timber retaining walls are specifically designed to resist the sidewards pressure of soil, and to change ground elevation. This is ideal in fence use, as it delivers adequate subsoil drainage for the whole garden, whilst being more attractive than concrete.
Slopes: Aside from their pleasing apperance, wooden retaining walls can stop an existing garden hill from sliding, and likewise provides exceptional support for any new piece of landscaping.
As an overall guide to your first timber retaining wall, we recommend retaining the size to 4ft. Most walls rely on the following material set:
2. Mark out the exact lengths you are going to build your wall in (based on the length of your timber), and dig two square postholes around 12ft wide and 2 1/2 ft deep.
3. Fill each hole with about 100mm of drainage gravel, and place a post in each end, filling with concrete up to the ground level. Leave to set.
4. Ensuring the other posts are aligned, place your horizontal timber down, cutting further down to size if need be to keep them in line.
5. Drill an undersized hole where your horizontal post sits behind the vertical posts (so that soil would then sit behind them), and attach the two together with the carriage bolts or galvanized nails.6. Now use the same process to stack additional timber to reach your desired height. Lay the drainage pipe behind the horizontal layer of timber, and surround with gravel.Depending on your wall's purpose, you can now add more soil behind the two layers of timber (if building on a slope), or add more walls at right angles till you have a complete square or rectangle (for flower beds).