19 Retaining Wall Ideas Using Affordable Materials

Cheap retaining wall ideas for any landscape

Retaining walls are practical and often necessary landscape features. They help to provide stability in areas that have sloping surfaces and allow for enhanced landscape upgrades like driveways, walkways, and other features.

Installing a retaining wall can be a complex and expensive venture, but there are some budget-friendly options to do it in ways that won't break the bank. With the right materials, you can make a cheap retaining wall that functions like a higher-cost one.

Depending on your needs, retaining walls can be built using concrete, stone, or wood. You can use variations such as cinderblocks, bricks, pavers, solid stone such as granite cobblestones, or flat pieces of river rock like shale or slate. You can also add a veneer of stone or render to a concrete retaining wall.

Here are 19 of our favorite cheap retaining wall ideas you can make with affordable materials.

Build a Raised Bed

Retaining walls can also serve as excellent raised beds for a garden space. This wooden retaining wall is the perfect height for a flower bed that wraps around the flagstone patio.

Add a Seating Area

This comfy wooden bench is built right into this retaining wall, an excellent multi-use structure.

Use River Rock Veneer

This concrete retaining wall has a rugged and beautiful veneer of rounded river rock that looks stylish and solid.

Create a Landscape Feature

This sturdy wood retaining wall allows access to maintain this simple landscape area, as well as an attractive edge for the driveway and stairs leading to this home.

Make It Round

This stunning patio made of stone pavers is surrounded by a low retaining wall (also made of pavers) and stone steps made with larger pieces of stone. The effect is rustic but also very sophisticated in its well-realized design elements.

Match Retaining Wall and Path

These white pavers look clean and striking alongside a retaining wall built with white stone blocks.

Try a Render Wall

Render is the term for a concrete coating that creates a water-repellent surface. It has the look of smooth plaster or marble, and it's a very similar concept to plaster as used on interior walls but the methods and materials are somewhat different.

Build a Rock (Garden) Retaining Wall

This gorgeous retaining wall is practical and beautiful and can be made rather inexpensively by using natural boulders. Add some creeping groundcovers and succulents that love to grow in the cracks and you have a living wall that will become more and more charming as time passes.

Go for Some Color

The two-tone look of this retaining wall uses paver bricks in earthy, attractive tones of reddish brown and dark grey.

Build In Some Stairs

This clever and cute design in Bristol, England, combines great workmanship with practicality. The chunky wood retaining wall also provides a sturdy stair for entering the raised tier of this walled garden.

Try Two-Tone

This light and dark gray walkway and retaining wall is built entirely of pavers placed strategically, with some being cut to fit.

Add Some Soft Colors and Curves

This low, curved retaining wall has softly colored stone pavers in different shapes and sizes that fit together to create a simple geometric structure.

Go Bright With Brick

This bright orange brick-and-mortar retaining wall matches the brick wall behind it. It's a warm, inviting frame for the lovely fairy garden creation below.

Build a Backyard Lounge

This enchanting outdoor hangout space includes a stone fire pit on a stone patio with low retaining wall built of stone pavers. The grey tones of the stone echo the faded natural wood of the fence.

Choose Earth Tones

Pavers come in many colors and styles, and these smooth ones in earthy shades of brown create an appealing low retaining wall that matches the bed of tan gravel, providing great drainage and a striking design element.

Grab Some Granite

These granite blocks and stair risers are a solid, clean makeover compared to what was once a rotting set of wood stairs and wood retaining wall.

Streamline for Simplicity

The clean, square lines of this classic old house call for simple curves in the walkway leading to the entrance. The low retaining wall built of stone pavers also serves as a bed for shrubs and trees.

Make a Simple Cooking Area

This patio built of stone pavers has a semi-round retaining wall, with a round fire pit or grill space in the middle and handy square tables built right in.

Tip

The key to saving money on a large-scale project such as a retaining wall is to do your research and find out what's involved. Search for creative solutions that make retaining walls dual purpose, and free materials. Don't forget to consider things like longevity of materials, and whether you need to allow for drainage when building.

Install A Water Fountain

Installing a fountain or some other type of water feature such as a pond, brings a sense of tranquility and visual interest to the retaining wall.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the cheapest type of retaining wall?

Poured concrete is the cheapest type of retaining wall, in terms of materials. Pressure-treated pine is next, and wood retaining walls are becoming more popular now. If you prefer stone, granite is generally the least expensive option. Truly, though, the cheapest retaining wall is one made of salvaged materials that you don't have to buy. Check around your community for supplies on offer, like pavers or bricks. You can also save money building the retaining wall yourself, but be sure you have the necessary skills and tools for the job.

What is the simplest type of retaining wall?

The simplest retaining wall is one you build yourself with concrete blocks or large pavers, which can be stacked closely together. Some pre-made blocks are molded to fit together precisely.

What is the best DIY retaining wall?

The cheapest material for a DIY retaining wall is pre-made concrete blocks. Using pavers or concrete blocks allows you to build your own secure and attractive retaining wall cheaply and easily.

Read the original article on The Spruce.