Retaining Walls in Princess-Rosethorn

Rear yards on these 1950s and 60s custom lots are generous, but generous doesn't mean flat. A gentle fall across a big lawn adds up: over the depth of a large yard, the far corner can sit noticeably lower than the patio, and rain drifts toward it. You don't need a tall retaining wall for that. Low walls placed in the right spots can split the yard into a level patio, a flat lawn and planting beds.

Seat walls do double duty. Built at roughly bench height around a patio or fire area, they hold a small change in grade on one side and give people somewhere to sit on the other. Planter walls frame a lawn and catch the drop at its edge. Because each wall is short, the yard is shaped by moving a modest amount of soil rather than regrading the whole property, which also spares the mature trees many of these yards have.

Drainage is what keeps a big lawn healthy once it's levelled. Every wall gets clear stone and a perforated pipe behind it, and the levels are set with a slight fall so water keeps moving instead of pooling against the stone. Older walls on these lots, often thin concrete or timber edging from decades ago, tend to be cracked or rotting by now, and they can be removed in the same job. Where a lot borders ravine land, the City's ravine mapping and TRCA regulation are checked before any grading starts.