My backyard is quite steep, the soil is poor, thin, and rocky, and there are lots of mature oak and walnut trees. Erosion is a problem and I’ve been experimenting with different ways to manage it. I don’t want to put down sod because I don’t want to waste water on it or deal with the tons of chemicals it would need to remain alive on the aforementioned shitty soil. Clover does okay in some spots. It dies back in the summer but the roots remain and they help hold things in place. Throwing clover seed around isn’t going to solve the erosion issue however.
The biggest drainage problems are in the two farthest corners of my yard. After watching dirt pile up against the fence in those corners, I needed to get serious about fixing the problem this year.
I decided to build a retaining wall using those 22 lb paver blocks. Going into the project, I wasn’t sure I could do it. Conceptually, building a retaining wall with pavers isn’t hard. But there were complicating factors for this particular wall.
This was my first attempt at such a project, and of course I chose an area where I had to step up the bottom course FIVE TIMES to accommodate the natural change in elevation. It also took more blocks and paver base than I expected.
Since I wasn’t ready to commit to an entire pallet of blocks, I got 18 blocks at a time from Home Depot. Because they are heavy, I could only move 4 at a time in the wheelbarrow. And because my yard is so steep and there are other barriers in place, I had to navigate half a dozen switchbacks for each trip. It took me an hour to move 18 blocks from driveway to the job site.
I teach dog classes on Sundays, so I could only work on the wall on Saturdays. Like most normal people, I have other stuff I also need to do on the weekends so I really could only work on the wall for a few hours each Saturday morning. It took 5 weeks to build it, including 6 hours to dig the initial trench.
Is it perfect? Of course not. It’s not even all the same color because Home Depot ran out of grey blocks and I had to finish the wall with tan ones. But it’s reasonably level. I managed to work out the step-up process after a couple of false starts. And I did it all myself.
