Wooden Retaining Walls

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6" x 6" pressure treated timbers make great retaining walls for your backyard.  Properly installed walls are level and built on a solid foundation.  It is imperative that deadmen are built into the wall to provide strength and support.  

A deadman is a 6" x 6" timber that is set into the dirt behind the wall.  This keeps the wall from tilting, or worse yet, falling forward under the weight of the dirt and water.  Deadmen should be installed every 8' on every other row, excluding the top and bottom rows.  It is also important that five 10" spikes are used for every 8' timber installed.  Using only two spikes will result in the timbers warping over time and also weakens the wall.

Wood retaining walls have a life expectancy of 20 years.  It is a good idea to stain and seal the exposed wood to increase it's life and improve it's appearance.  Staining should not be done until the timbers are 6 months old.  Since the timbers are straight, in lengths from 6' to 12', you cannot make curved walls out of wood. When making terraced planting beds, you may want to consider adding a gravel drainage system.  The system prevents water buildup behind the walls, which could make the soil soggy and drown the roots of your plants.

We recommend retaining walls in the front of your yard be made of a stone or modular block.  A rotting wood timber wall will not increase the value of your home. We do not recommend using railroad cross ties.  Cross ties come from railroad track lines and some are rotten on the inside the very day they are installed at your house.

Introduction      Modular Block      Stone Walls     
Stone Patios     Paver Patios
Return to Landscape 101