Retaining Walls

At this client's property sits a corner house, five feet above the ground level, in the Tarrytown neighborhood of Austin, Texas. We will be featuring all of the retaining walls that help keep this property's soil from eroding onto the street and explaining how to prevent the walls from becoming an eye sore to the rest of the neighborhood.

Erosion Control

The two car garage was built at the back side of the house and sits at ground level. The closest entrance to the house, from the garage, sits 5 feet above the ground. A metal stairway was built to solve that problem. There is a retaining wall that shields, not only the stairway, but also a ton of soil, tree roots, and river rock. It runs, right up against the sidewalk, for about 20 feet from the edge of the garage. When that wall ends, there are evergreen plants with fibrous root systems that help keep the soil in place towards the front of the property. A combination of erosion control solutions helps keep the house from becoming an unapproachable fortress.

Photo taken from the front corner of the house of the retaining wall that holds the tree's root system in place.

Rough Stucco

The 20 foot retaining wall and short half circle retaining wall (used for a tree) were finished off with a rough stucco look to hide the natural color and texture of the rubble. There was too much of the natural stone and it quickly became unpleasant to look at. It also helped to match the color of the stucco to the color of the front of the house. What stands out in this property now, are all the bright natural colors in the plants, trees, and grass.

Photo taken from the side of the house of the evergreen plants holding the soil in place with their fibrous root systems.

Worthy Mentions

Some more landscaping elements on this property worth mentioning:

• Grand walkway to the entrance of the house.
• Riverbeds with large rocks for water control.
• Great selection of trees and evergreens.