The desire to have a bit of land to call your own is not an uncommon one. However, in the Bay Area, finding our own personal outdoor space can be a challenge. Some of us live in newer housing ...

Ours is an fluid landscape and all its houses, merely mobile homes. For those of us who live in the hills, it seems as though we live upon soils that have long been bored with their current ...

I want to build a three-foot-high retaining wall behind my house out of pressure-treated wood. Thoughts?—Shawn B., Sioux City, Iowa Go ahead, but do your homework. First, call 811 before you dig. The ...

Q: I have two deteriorating (but still standing) retaining walls made of timber and two even worse, leaning cinder-block retaining walls. I was planning to replace them all eventually, but to spread ...

Retaining walls were first created to perform the simple and necessary task of holding back earth. And with good reason: Erosion is a natural process, but when it means soil being washed off your ...

Dear James: I’m planning a veggie garden on my sloping lot so I need a retaining wall. I have used timbers before, but blocks might hold up better. Which method do you prefer? -- Steve W. Dear Steve: ...

Almost all landscaping designs have some form of wood components, most commonly as fencing, decking, retaining walls, pergolas or garden beds. Even though timber is a naturally occurring element, its ...

Retaining walls are the foundation of a beautiful and stable lakefront view. They can turn an eroding hill into a series of terraces, adding usable space to an otherwise wasted piece of cramped ...