How to Care for your Retaining Wall

Fall is here. The leaves are turning color – and you might find yourself enjoying some long and beautiful days in your yard. Now is also the time to check your hardscape. Take a walk around your property and inspect your walkways and retaining walls for damage and cracks. Here are the most important factors you should look out for.

Weeds
Weeds are amazing. They can grow almost everywhere. And occasionally it might happen that something green is growing on your retaining wall or walkway. The easiest way to take care of unwanted weed growth is to pull the first sprout, before the plantlet can grow into a forest. If plucking weeds is not your thing, you can spray annually like you would with the lawn.

Leaves
A few leaves are not a problem, but if they accumulate, especially over the winter, they might discolor the surface over time. To protect your hardscape you also should make sure to wash salts and chemicals of the surface. And if the finish begins to wear, you should seal it again.

Surface Treatment
This is an area, which can be easily overlooked: The areas surrounding your wall. These areas should actually be treated as part of whole the wall design. It does not matter, if they are paved or beautified with landscape planting, mulch or turf. These areas provide an important function for the wall, they capture and route the water. Therefore you should replant bare areas and encourage the growth of ground covers and flowers. Most importantly look for areas of erosion and re-landscape if necessary. A little bit of work can prevent major erosion and therefore real problems.

Site Grading
While all retaining walls should be designed and built so that rain and water can drain easily, you might notice a puddle behind or in front of the wall. These low spots might occur due to excessive settling. If this happens you should not ignore it, but pull the landscape away and add enough fill to allow proper drainage.

If you take care of your hardscape it can last a long time, but it is important to check walls and walkways from time to time. Don’t let a little problem sit until spring comes, it just will get worse over the winter. Contact Albert Group Landscaping if you have any further questions.