How a Retaining Wall Improves the Practicality and Design of an Outdoor Living Space in Poughquag and Wappinger Falls NY

Erosion can be an expensive nightmare and the most practical solution is often a retaining wall. More than just holding back shifting soils, retaining walls can transform a landscape into a functional work of art and add living space. Here’s how a retaining wall improves the practicality and design of an outdoor living space in Poughquag and Wappinger Falls, NY.

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Added Functional Space 

If your backyard is sloped, you may have a difficult time finding a spot that’s level enough for a patio. And if you do find such a spot, upslope soil movement is always a concern, especially during heavy rains.

Flat outdoor spaces let you take full advantage of your landscape (after all, you pay for the land, so why not maximize your enjoyment of it?). An attractive masonry retaining wall can open up your landscape and allow for spacious outdoor living areas where you and your family and friends can relax, play, and create wonderful memories. 

Terraced yards are common in many parts of the world. Not only are retaining walls used to create living spaces, but they are also used to create convenient gardens. They make every square inch of your property as usable as you want.

Added Beauty

Building a retaining wall adds a vertical dimension and textural interest to your landscape. Even on a pancake-flat lot, you can use low retaining walls to beautify your home’s foundation (by creating a buffer zone of masonry and plants). Walls can also guide visitors along your front entry walkway and offer elderly guests a place to rest if your walkway is long. Retaining walls are an opportunity to give your front entry a more elegant presence that enhances your home’s curb appeal.

Artistic Expression

Adding fountains, integrated light fixtures, or niches for sculptures are a few ways to personalize a retaining wall and take it to the next level artistically. Using a variety of materials can also be a way to add artistic flair to this otherwise humble functional element. If your home has brick siding, a simple decorative touch like a band of contrasting brick on an otherwise stacked-flagstone retaining wall can make it more interesting, and it’s a way to tie the retaining wall in with the home. 

Retaining walls often become natural homes for statues, potted plants, holiday ornaments, and seasonal decorations for a constantly evolving visual feast that means your backyard will never become boring.

Optical Illusions

If your landscape feels small, a curved retaining wall can make it seem bigger. Instead of a straight line where the eye hurries along the line to the end - which makes a space feel smaller than it is - a curved line encourages the eye to meander slowly and savor the experience. Meantime, you’ll forget that the space is actually not that big.

An Uncluttered Landscape

One of the most delightful ways that a retaining wall can enhance your landscape is by housing landscape light fixtures. No light fixtures sticking up awkwardly out of the soil. Light fixtures integrated into a retaining wall can create amazing ambiance, bring attention to the wall’s texture, shines light where it is most needed (on the ground, to provide safe passage), and give your landscape a clean, uncluttered look.

Another way to reduce visual clutter is to add overflow seating. Any low retaining wall can be used as seating, which reduces the need for cumbersome patio furniture.

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