If you have ever considered adding a retaining wall to your Maple Valley and Covington, WA, area home, you may know only one or two benefits to doing so. However, there are many excellent reasons to add this type of wall to your property, from the beauty it can introduce to an outdoor living space to the functionality it can provide by minimizing the effects of erosion in your landscaping.
Related: Choosing a Retaining Wall Design That Will Withstand the Seasons in Snoqualmie and Redmond, WA
Create a Barrier Between Outdoor Spaces
Retaining walls can be used to delineate where certain activities take place in your landscape. For example, if you want your backyard patio to primarily be an entertaining spot that’s sectioned off from the rest of your yard, a strategic way to do so is by adding a retaining wall. From a visual standpoint, your landscaping contractor can make your retaining wall blend in with the rest of your outdoor space—perhaps by using a similar color wall block as your patio pavers—or have it be a bit different to stand out.
Consider a Border for Walkways
Retaining walls can also serve as excellent borders for walkways. These outdoor features can be built on one side, acting as a guide for friends and loved ones to your door and a place to sit and chat.
Include Outdoor Lighting Fixtures
Retaining walls offer opportunities for beautiful light fixtures or discreet outdoor lighting. As you have the retaining wall built, you can have outdoor lights embedded into the structure, to give your property ambience and lighting for easy accessibility. The lights can be for illumination purposes alone or to add a bit of style to the area.
Provide Extra Seating
With some limitations, retaining walls can be built at different heights. If you want your wall to provide extra seating space, you can have this structure built at a lower height. This type of use is especially beneficial in an area where you entertain outdoors, such as by an outdoor kitchen or fire pit. You can have this wall built by your outdoor dining area so that guests can grab a drink and a slice of wood fired pizza from your outdoor oven and socialize with everyone else in attendance.
Defend Against Erosion
Retaining walls offer aesthetic beauty but they are also useful for minimizing the effects of erosion. Soil in your yard can shift, and if you want to keep them from moving down toward your home or other area of your yard, a retaining wall offers a fitting solution. This is an important purpose of a retaining wall as erosion can cause damage to your home’s foundation, in addition to affecting the state of your landscaping.
Create a Focal Point
Retaining walls can introduce beauty to an area of the landscape on their own, by creating vertical interest, adding to a rustic if you prefer the look of natural stone, or bring out the modern sense you want in your outdoor living spaces, if you prefer monotone, flat stone blocks for your wall.
Related: How a Retaining Wall Can Help Create the Perfect Outdoor Space for Any Backyard in Redmond, WA