Build a Garden Wall

(If you're looking ideas on how to landscape the wall in your garden, check BLI's page on landscaping a garden wall for plant and décor ideas.)

Build a garden wall and you can create privacy, block uncomfortable wind, and provide a home for climbing plants all with one landscape addition. A garden wall doesn't have to block up a whole section of your landscape, either. If you're short on space, consider building low walls around raised beds or creating tiered beds to act as retaining walls on a slope or hillside. This way you can get the classic look of brick or stone into your garden without using up valuable planting space.

Garden wall materials

Your choice of material depends on how permanent you'd like the wall to be. For temporary walls, dry stacked stones or bamboo will work well enough. For permanent walls, though, mortarted stone or brick are durable options that are easy to work with. If you'll be building with stone, look for stones that are between three to nine inches thick and somewhat rectangular. These tend to be the easiest to work with.

For a unique alternative to rectangular stones, try thinner stones between 2-3 inches thick. Stacked thin stone works particularly well in smaller projects like entranceway columns or low retaining walls. You can get these stones in a wide variety of colors from landscape supply companies. Using four or five colors of stone will make your wall more interesting than if you stick with just one color. A long stip of just one color tends to be hard on the eyes and can draw attention away from the garden itself.

If you're building a new wall with stone or brick, add a few homemade "designer" stones for a personalized touch. Use can use concrete and wooden molds to create the "stones" and personalize them with writing, pebbles, or other added material while the concrete's still wet.

Garden wall safety and maintenance

While adding a climbing vine or a wall plaque might seem like a simple way to hide an unsightly crack or crumbling facade, landscaping a stone wall that isn't structurally sound will only exacerbate the damage. Before you settle on how to landscape a wall, make sure your stone wall is free of crumbling surfaces, damage from nearby tree roots or overgrown climbing plants, leaning problems, and cracks larger than 1/12th of an inch (2 mm). Also, check that the mortar is in good shape. If you can easily scrap the mortar out, repair it before you landscape the wall.